Daily Advertiser, letters to the editor, May 2

There is a line between light-hearted humour and offence.

FOR Anzac Day, the Australian War Memorial commissioned a song On Every Anzac Day to recognise the Indigenous members of our defence forces. The reason is that they were banned from serving as they were not even by law citizens of their own country.

The first Australians who did serve neglected the fact of their aboriginality on enrolment forms or were eventually accepted due the huge loss of immigrant-descended lives.

Frequent acknowledgement to country is a small thing we non-traditionals can do for our ill-treated original custodian families whose ancestors reach back at least 40,000 years. A welcome to country by an indigenous elder (or an acknowledgement of country in a council meeting) is an occasion whereby we symbolise how the earliest immigrants might have treated the owners of their chosen new country and is a tacit apology for the injustices of the past.

So be courageous, men and women of Junee Shire Council. 

Show leadership, compassion and a real intent for us, the descendants of immigrants to this country, to reconcile with the families of traditional owners of the land.

I READ with interest and some dismay the comments of Cr Julian McLaren regarding council services. Firstly, his comments advocating removing the nine-day fortnight.

He apparently is not aware that council employees work the hours as set out in their relevant awards.

He also stated that workers are paid more than he thinks is appropriate.

As far as I know, the pay system allows for a number of grades and includes recognition for experience as well as competence.

To my mind, this is a progressive and sensible system.

The councillor posed the question as to whether council should only charge a nominal rent for childcare centres. 

He refers to centres owned by council but does not name any.

If centres are on council-owned land, technically the council could be seen as the owner but in the case of some pre-school centres the funds for the buildings were funded by public fundraising activities.

The family day care play centre at the Botanic Gardens was originally the property of the Scout organisation. Throughout our city there are many community buildings on council and crown land. 

Is the councillor advocating that council should require the users to buy the buildings even though most have been long since paid for?

I do not believe council owns any of the privately built day care centres and I fail to see how the councillor can advocate that  community-based facilities should become a source of revenue for council.

I challenge his comment that local government has evolved poorly, presumably based on his apparent view that local government is not about something more than roads, rates and rubbish.

Many of the demands placed on local councils have come about because of cost shifting by the state government which makes his call for reform laughable.

I would advise the councillor to do his homework.

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