Big plan only way to win
I believe the ratepayers of Albury are far too intelligent to believe Darren Cameron’s scare tactic concerning the proposed indoor pool as reported in The Border Mail (July 7).
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When are the present councillors going to realise that this is not just about an indoor pool for “elite swimmers”, it is about a sports and leisure centre benefiting many sports and services.
We all know that pools do not make money, that is why all pools in forward-thinking rural cities are built incorporating other services like rehabilitation, learn to swim pools, creche, gyms, steam and spa facilities, sports medicine rooms and cafes (which incidentally would serve all the other sports in the area).
I hope we do not make the mistake that Wodonga made in building a multi-million dollar pool usable only for swimming for six months of the year. Of course we will need both federal and state funding to make this a reality. Take Albury forward, not backwards.
NAN BRANDT, Albury
Let’s get rid of the Senate
I agree with Bill Shorten that there should be an election by the end of the year and Malcolm Turnbull would be wise to call it.
That election should be a referendum to abolish the Senate which serves no practical purpose and has now rendered this country ungovernable. A lower house election could only replace one unstable government with another.
We already have 150 members of the House of Representatives all but about 10 of whom are redundant..
If these can't frame sensible legislation, what makes anyone think that another 75 sucking on the public teat will do any better?
What other organisation has one board to make policy and another to block it? New Zealand has no upper house and is better governed than Australia; Queensland has no upper house and is governed as well as any other state.
Our Parliament is now loaded with political opportunists who bear no responsibility for any damage they might cause and who are carrying this country to bankruptcy by demanding outrageous populist spending.
D.A. CORBETT, Albury
Time to tinker with rules
Having been a campaign manager and a booth worker for many years at federal elections, I would like to make the following comments.
It is far too easy and cheap to nominate for the Senate or the House of Representatives. If an individual wants to stand for the Reps all he needs to do is get 100 signatures and a deposit of $1000 or $2000 for the Senate.
I think the deposit should be at least $100,000 which the candidate would recoup when they exceed 4 per cent of the primary vote along with the $2.62 for each vote as is currently the case. This would overcome the ridiculous situation now, where the Senate paper is a metre long with 160 candidates totally confusing many voters and making a joke of democracy.
I think candidates, and particularly party leaders, should be subject to the same truth in advertising rules as companies. There were so many blatantly false and misleading statements and advertising during this campaign that people really did not know what they were voting for. Once again making a mockery of democracy.
I also think we should extend the electoral cycle to four years, and maybe a fixed term. The Australian federal system is one of the few democracies that have such a short flexible electoral cycle.
We are almost continually in an election mode, making it difficult for any party to make the tough decisions that need to be made, to flow through the system so the benefits can be seen by the voters.
This would also save some money, as the $200 plus million cost of elections would be spread over four years.