The Northern Territory news Thu 21 Apr 2011
NT news
The Northern Territory news; NewspaperNT
2011-04-21
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English
Community newspapers -- Northern Territory -- Darwin; Australian newspapers -- Northern Territory -- Darwin
Nationwide News Pty. Limited
Darwin
Copyright. Made available by the publisher under licence.
Nationwide News Pty. Limited
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019C00042
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/232267
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/664628
14 NT NEWS. Thursday, April 21, 2011. www.ntnews.com.au P U B : N T N E W S D A T E : 2 1 -A P R -2 0 1 1 P A G E : 1 4 C O L O R : C M Y K On this day IN THE TERRITORY 10 YEARSAGO: THE Government needs to create 449 new child care places by the end of June if it is to meet its own 1996 target of 1150, the Territory Opposition said yesterday. 20 YEARSAGO: THE Government is believed to have rejected a recommendation to close a number of Territory schools, with Berrimah preschool likely to be the only victim. 25 YEARSAGO: NEWNT tourism, hospitality industry training committeemanager Leon Vasserman says proper training will make or break the industry. Letters to the editor should be kept to 175 words or less. Send your letters toGPOBox 1300, Darwin, 0801, or email ntnmail@ntnews.com.au You must include your name, home address or PO Box number. Name and address will be withheld on request. The Northern Territory News reserves the right to edit letters. Responsibility is taken by the Editor, NTNews, GPOBox 1300, Darwin, NT, 0801 THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2011 Bright green result for all INPEX and the Environment Centre can arm wrestle as much as they like over who should take credit for scrapping the plan to blast away Walker Shoal in Darwin Harbour. Most Territorians are interested only in the heartening news that an alternative has been found. Thousands of tonnes of rockwill now be cut away by a suction dredger a far less environmentally damaging process. Therewas other good news in the Inpex environmental statement lower greenhouse emissions, grassfiremanagement studies, a contribution tomonitoring the health of the harbour, themaintenance of public access to nearly all waterways and evenmoney for dolphin research. In comparison, the bad newswas not so bad an additional 14ha of vegetation to be removed at the LNG processing plant at Blaydin Point. The natural tendency ofwell-intentioned, liberalminded people is to view all resources companies as rapacious capitalists. But surely even themost rabid greeniemust now accept that Inpex is shaping up as a responsible corporate citizen a company that places great emphasis on community consultation and iswilling to listen. Of course, environmentalists should continue to keep the company on its toes, scrutinising every announcement, testing every strategy. Thats howdemocracyworks. Thats how any adverse effects from such amajor project can be kept to aminimum. ... and another thing THE special 32-page supplement inside todays NT News is a simple, heartfelt tribute to Vietnam veterans. The men were treated badly some would say disgracefully when they came home. But they are enjoying great status today. That recognition is long overdue. Letters How can the Ombudsman quote this figure as true and accurate . . . Maybe we do things differently down south, but I thought evidencewas a universal concept. SEE LETTER BELOW LIQUORRESTRICTIONS AREHALF-BAKED THE more one has dealings with these half-baked liquor restrictions the more ludicrous they turn out to be. Two old mates and I were sitting around having a cup of tea. One mentioned a supermarket chain had good discounts on wine and he was going up to get a dozen. Get me a dozen of reasonable quality wine not the cheap stuff, sez I, and a two-litre cask of red for quaffing with meals. Same for me, sez mate two. You guessed it. Friend goes to checkout with three dozen bottles of wine worth over $600, but could only buy one two-litre cask. Have you ever met such stupidity? Bill John, Tiwi MATARANKASTATION CATTLE INQUIRY I AM hoping someone could enlighten me as to the actions necessary for the Ombudsmans report into the welfare of cattle on Mataranka Station to be re-examined. Isnt anybody concerned with where the figure of 800 head of cattle came from? That said, how can the Ombudsman quote this figure as true and accurate when her report lacks the key element of proof. Maybe we do things differently down south, but I thought evidence was a universal concept. RuthDickson, ACT OTHERUSESFORTHE DETENTIONCENTRE A PROPOSED detention centre for 1500 detainees at Wickham Point, hey presto, instant Inpex workers camp, an endless supply of fresh guest workers, after being processed. Im surprised the WA Government hasnt already built one on Barrow Island. The Gorgan gas plant with a construction cost of about $50 billion will suck up every tradie in Western Australia. The only difference is WA still has affordable housing, and an affordable first-home owners plan. Wolf, Palmerston TRAINWORKERS, DONT IMPORTTHEM I AM sick of hearing about a skills shortage. Twenty years ago there was a skill shortage in the mining industry so they brought in the 12-hour day, which fixed the problem. Instead of three shifts, they now only had two, and companies stopped training people. My older brother did his trade with 27 others. Ten years later I did mine with three others. Start making companies train us dumb Aussies. How do people get jobs in the skill shortage area? Start training, not importing. Aussies want skilled jobs too. Paul, Palmerston EMERGENCYTEAMS PROFESSIONALISM IT is about time the Emergency Response Team became educated and up-to-date when it comes to how it handles a so-called situation i.e. road accidents they seem to take forever to arrive. And when they arrive it never seems in a team environment they seem to take forever to become active as a team. It is as if they dont have a procedure. It is time for a complete rethink. A real upgrade to smarten up and become a more professional unit, not a bunch of seemingly lost souls. Thank God, the firies know what they are doing. Lift your game. SalvatoreePasqualie, Palmerston MINESDISCHARGEOF TOXICWATER NLC Chief Executive Kim Hill asserts 150,000 litres of radioactive contaminated water a day has leaked into Kakadu National Park from Ranger Mine. He says this adds weight to calls for an end to selfregulation of the mining industry (NT News, April 19). Ranger is not selfregulated. It is monitored by the Federal Governments Office of the Supervising Scientist and is one of the most highly regulated mines in the world. Furthermore, the Supervising Scientist has confirmed the surrounding environment (Kakadu) has remained protected and Ranger continues to have no detrimental effect on it. The LoneRanger, Darwin ALCOHOLPRICING ANDAVAILABILITY RE: ALCOHOL reform plan challenged (Letter Of The Day, April 18). The writers challenge the alcohol policy ministers statement on pricing and say they would be happy to provide the minister with overwhelmingly consistent public health evidence which has been available for some time and clearly documents that price and availability are the two most potent drivers of alcohol consumption. How is it possible that the minister is unaware of these clearly documented facts? The question is: Why does the price and availability of alcohol remain unaddressed in the current reform agenda? JuneTapp, Katherine ROSEMARYFOR REMEMBRANCE DO you know why they place poppies on the Statue of Remembrance on Anzac Day? Its because they cant get rosemary. As Ophelia stated in Hamlet: Here is Rosemary, thats for remembrance. Chyilpie, Darwin HONOURINGKOKODA TRACKVETERANS IN response to the article Trek in officers honour (April 14), the only men who should be honoured by walking the Kokoda Track are those who served, fought and died on it. The thought of anybody outside of the 1942 servicemen, especially someone killed in a pub fight, being honoured is outrageous. Disgusted, Knuckeys Lagoon Email: ntnmail@ntnews.com.au Text: 0428 NTNEWS Fax: 08 8981 6045 Letters: PO Box 1300, Darwin NT 0801 VOTE LAST WEEKS VOTE Your Say SHOULD women be allowed to serve on the frontline? SHOULD cigarettes be sold in plain packaging? To cast your vote go to www.ntnews.com.au Yes 53% No 47% The Fixer WHAT:Residents have complained that the BuchananHighway has been virtually impassable formore than amonth. WHOSRESPONSIBLE: Department of Construction and Infrastructure. CONTACT:Katherine Regional Director Phil Harris: 8937 8668 DOYOUknowof something in theTerritory that needs fixing?GiveTheFixer a call on8944 9724or email thefixer@ntnews.com.au