PUBLIC SERVANTS ADVANTAGED
Are we all in this together?
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
What a load of rubbish, no way we are.
No public servant has lost their job and all holidays and leave loading etc are intact.
But what about all the employees of small employers who have been stood down or worse, still 'put off' (that's the nice way to say it).
Our tourist industry (that's Aussies going on holidays within each state) is hoping for a big revival in their trade as soon as restrictions are lifted.
I don't like to be a prophet of doom, but many, many people who have been stood down and put off have used their accumulated holiday pay just to keep on paying their day to day living expenses.
So there will not be a lot of people who have spare cash or spare holidays to enable them to go for a holiday.
Des Goonan, Wagga
MAKE USE OF WASTED SPACE
Councils love solar farms and I must say, I hate them!
If the argument from proponents is that a solar farm may power 36,000 homes, well why not put the panels on 36,000 homes and sheds?
They are all wired up, connected and metered to the grid and ready to go.
The ownership of the panels can still be the investor, instead of putting them on the ground occupying arable land, create roof-top solar.
The homes with a "smart meter" can then use the available power, the surplus goes back into the grid and a rebate passed onto the investor.
Maybe I haven't thought it through properly but all these empty roofs seem such a wasted space and I would like to hear from company power owners what they think.
Alan East, Cootamundra
TIME TO DEVELOP GAS FIELDS
Here is a letter I sent to Angus Taylor, the federal Minister for Energy.
Dear Mr Taylor,
I see that you are advocating that Santos should be allowed to develop the gas fields near Narrabri.
Here are three reasons why you should reconsider:
- The Pilliga field poses a threat to the Artesian Basin;
- If Santos got the nod, with no competition, we'd be faced with a lifetime of the current high gas prices in NSW;
- There is a much better alternative.
Several years ago a NSW survey reported that there were three substantial gas fields capable of meeting the state's needs for over 100 years.
Read more letters:
They are all well away from the basin, sited in the Central West, New England and the Riverina.
You should urge the NSW government to develop all three fields as soon as possible, using tenders for the work, to keep them state owned and operated.
Then, to complete the job, use some "good" debt to resume the distribution and retailing of gas, making it an essential service, a bit like we did with railways for over a century.
Then expect the state's gas bills to fall to about a quarter of their present size; then industry will return making even more jobs.
May I also suggest that NSW builds a gas-fired power plant in each field, partly to cover the shortcomings of wind and solar, but, mainly because it could well compete in price.
Bert Adams, Wagga
HAVE YOUR SAY: Do you have something to get off your chest? Send your letters to the editor to letters@dailyadvertiser.com.au.