Letters

Campaign season

On the last weekend of January, outside Woolworths in Balmain, I was handed my first election material of the NSW campaign by a candidate. It is a bit like seeing the first blowfly of summer, or the first Santa of Christmas. So what do I make of the harbinger of the 2011 state election? Besides being late, it is lacking in credibility. One hopes the pamphlet does not truly reflect the thoughts of James Falk, the Liberal Party candidate for Balmain.

The pamphlet states that James is running for State Parliament because he believes, amongst other things, that, “Government should be about project management, not media management.” I wholeheartedly agree that government should not be about media management, but I wholeheartedly disagree that government should be about project management. Government should, amongst other things, be about planning for the future and overseeing, rather than managing, current policies and projects.

James also believes that “jobs and a vibrant economy are the bedrock of our quality of life – and without them we can’t protect our environment or help our disadvantaged.” James does not state whether he also believes in the tooth fairy. Nor does he state whether he believes in same-sex marriage, abortion, voluntary euthanasia or many other things that I would like to know his views on.

He does, however, reiterate the Liberals’ “Five Point Plan to Make NSW Number One Again” (good to see that James now believes government should be about planning, not project management). These points include:

* “Rebuilding the NSW Economy: through lower taxes.” Most taxes are controlled by the Federal Government, but if there were lower taxes, there would also be less money to do item number two, namely:
* “Returning quality services to the Balmain electorate: in areas such as transport, hospitals, mental health, education and policing.” I humbly suggest that what is done in Balmain on these issues will have little effect on rebuilding the NSW economy.
* “Renovating infrastructure: By building the north-west rail link to get the commuters off Balmain roads.” The north-west rail link is sorely needed but how many commuters will be removed from Balmain roads by building it?

If James’ leaflet is a portent of electioneering to come, I look forward to more mangled syntax and meaningless monologues from him and other aspiring Balmain politicians… as well as the Easter bunny.

Fergus Fricke, Birchgrove

Déjà vu

Angry? Hurt? Let down?

Dear, dear. Poor Verity.

Now she knows how special needs students in the public education system feel.

Now she knows how Labor voters across the state feel.

As a parent representing this group, I have been trying to get a meeting with her for 14 months.

And she’s the longest-serving Minister for Education this government has yielded in the past six years.

Jane Salmon, Lindfield