In Bridget's defence ...
A lot of recent media attention has focused on the $100 million of sports grants that were awarded prior to the last election by the then Minister for Sports, Senator Bridget McKenzie.
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It has been stated that many of these recipients were not prioritised by Sport Australia; in the case of our local Wangaratta Clay Target Club, the money went towards an upgrade of a toilet facility. One doesn't need to be overloaded with common sense to realise that toilets are very necessary for any sporting venue; apparently silver tails like John Hewson don't agree. He couldn't work out the GST on a bakery item, so what credibility does he have?
The fact that the Senator was given a membership valued at $180 is insignificant when compared to the handouts to the Clinton Foundation and associated organisations by Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard; $460 million, with Julia Gillard going on to chair the organisation. The foundation was not legitimate for much of this time and it has been suggested that it was a slush fund to get Hilary Clinton elected as President.
Keiran Klemm, Londrigan
Convoluted argument
Perhaps instead of subtitling the column On the Wallaby as "Opinion" it could more accurately be labelled "Ill-informed waffle". The latest contribution from David Everest (January 25) makes a strangely contorted contribution to the fake news that "Greens" are stopping hazard reduction burning.
He concedes that the Greens as a political party do not oppose hazard reduction but he still argues that "green sentiment" is affecting local decisions which may include stopping hazard reduction. The next step he says is "anthropomorphism", which when carried to its conclusion is opposed to meat eating and companion animals. Thus his argument appears to be that vegetarians are causing bushfires. Is that desperate or what?
Graham Parton, Beechworth
Selling spin and lies
I endorse the views of Stewart Eiseman (Border Mail letters, January 27) and those of Fire and Rescue commissioner Greg Mullins, who both demonstrate the "moral leadership" that our government singularly lacks in addressing the threats from climate change. Making a big show of helping people recover from the fires that government leaders played a part in creating only confirms their failure - it is following the horse out of the stable door.
Representing many Australians of good will, Greg Mullins also noted that "we have taken a lead on apartheid and nuclear disarmament", and I believe that this was true. As a moral and honest man, Mullins may think better of Morrison and his cronies - in America, Britain and Israel - than is merited. Because right now they are giving full support to nuclear-armed Israel to annex Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley and its illegal West Bank settlements, normalising Israel's apartheid state and illegal occupation of Palestinian lands.
It seems little different to what was done to Australia's Indigenous people 200 years ago, except that now we have the pretence, and the means to sell the lies beneath it.
