Tough love
There has been much said recently about bullying in work places, schools and parliaments. I believe it has been around since people first inhabited earth. There is no question that in its severest forms, bullying should be stamped out.
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Intimidation comes in many forms, physical, mental, political, financial, religious, etc. Then there are wars, extortion, bribery and terrorism and more.
It is most important that the milder forms of bullying such as name calling, friendly banter, jostling in the schoolyard and a bit of bossiness and bribery must definitely be retained.
If this does not happen, then an important tool, indeed a building block of education, would be lost.
Young children who do not have exposure to some form of bullying would lack the inner strength, mental prowess and experience to handle the buffeting and rough and tumble they will almost certainly encounter later in life.
There is as much chance of eradicating bullying as there is of banning prostitution and alcohol use.
So we must teach our young to hold their heads up high, square their shoulders and face their oppressors.
We must teach them not to cave in to bullies, nor cry for mummy for she will not always be there.
If they don’t learn this, they only embolden their oppressors and weaken their own position.
Law enforcement agencies follow and recommend these very same principles.
Norman Alexander
Wagga
Water works
My enduring memory of Malcolm Turnbull will be of him as Water Minister separating water from land and the starting of water trading. Most people feel that this is irreversible but I have a book whose sub heading is ‘How Free Trade in Water will Cripple Australian Agriculture.’ It says that the policy is reversible and describes how it can be done.
I support the policy of Rise Up Australia Party, which says ‘cutting the cost of water to our rural farming communities.’ They are on side with the book which states ‘the water markets for agriculture, urban, industrial and environmental uses remain as separate markets, with separate prices based on delivery costs.’
When I was in Griffith Primary School urban water was used by seven million people. Now there are 25 million and more every day. Most of that 25 million are on the coast so they should pay for desalinisation plants and not take precious inland water.
The MIA and Coleambally Irrigation Area were established with dedicated water from Burrinjuck and Blowering dams. Irrigation water costs in those areas should be based only on delivery costs. In December 2011 after the betrayal following the Ban the Plan meeting, some water was taken away by MDBA for environmental purposes. Government bought water for the environment. My contention is that water traders are dealing with environmental water. Prices are now sky high and rising. If water traders are dealing only in environmental water my guess is that even those prices will drop because they are betting on farmers getting desperate enough to pay more for water.