Enlisting some advice
I QUESTION David Gardiner's comments (The Daily Advertiser, April 19) indicating that names were only added to war memorials at the place of enlistment.
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Many in both World Wars enlisted remote to their homes, often because there was no recruiting office at the time in the town, village or district where they lived.
Quite a few men from the Junee district enlisted at Cootamundra, some at Goulburn, some at Sydney Showground and so on.
This no doubt happened at Wagga as I suggest that some genuine Wagga district men enlisted on an impulse in other centres for a variety of reasons.
Should these men be deprived of the right to have.their names on a Roll of Honour at Wagga when their mates who enlisted there were eligible?
If this has not been considered, then perhaps it should be.
I wonder whether a DCM or VC recipient would be rejected?
Graham Elphick
Junee
PM’s populist posturing
I AM old enough to remember when would-be immigrants to Australia could be subjected to a dictation test using a language unlike their native language.
This was used to support the odious White Australia policy.
I feel that there are echoes of that policy in the announcement by the Prime Minister this week about a new citizenship test.
He talks of Australian values without being specific.
I hope that he doesn’t consider the almost daily murders of women who are subjects of domestic violence or the drinking culture are Australian values, or the fact that women’s pay rates are generally less than those of men.
I heard the deputy prime minister saying that would-be citizens should prove their integration by joining Rotary or Apex or St Vincent de Paul.
Worthy organisations indeed but the deputy PM’s throwaway remarks do nothing to add to the discussion and are a bit unrealistic.
We need calm, well-considered public consultation on issues of migration and citizenship, not overblown imitations of what is happening in so many parts of the world.
Mary Kidson
Wagga
Drug testing continues
ANY suggestion drug testing has stopped, or that there are no resources to conduct drug testing in Wagga - or any other region in NSW - are incorrect.
NSW Police and Transport for NSW are committed to drug testing drivers and will continue to have a highly-visible presence on our roads as a deterrent to save lives on NSW roads.
Research shows taking drugs and driving is dangerous to yourself and other road users for a number of reasons, including; slow reaction times, loss of concentration, poor decision making and aggressive driving.
In 2016, there were 2374 mobile drug tests conducted within the Wagga LAC, where 631 drivers returned a positive result, a ratio of 1 in 5.
So far this year, 463 tests have been conducted, with 27 drivers returning a positive result, a ratio of 1 in 23.
By the end of this financial year, NSW Police intend to complete 97,400 drug-tests throughout NSW.
Given that more tests are now being conducted, there is the obvious potential for a broader range of results.
This is highlighted in random breath testing for alcohol, where testing in the previous financial year saw 6.2 million drivers tested, with a ratio of 1:305 in return, which has continued a trend of deterrence in drink driving. The same is expected for mobile drug testing.