Clearing away the backlog
Kudos to Consumer Affairs for organising Shredfest! I am sure there are many people (like me) who have accumulated stack-upon-stack-upon-stack of personal documents over the years that should have been binned long ago, but are loathe to get down to the painstaking chore of neutralising ('tearing them into itsy unreadable bits ') them first. That's why the 'shred-o-matic' van parked outside Central Square yesterday was a godsend. It shreds and it rids it all in one go. It is a very thoughtful touch by CAV that helps make a city a community.
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Kimmy Fam, Ballarat
Why not food scraps?
I currently use the green waste service provided by Suez at considerable cost, so I welcome the service the City of Ballarat will provide; albeit a contentious issue for some residents. However, I am somewhat surprised that food scraps i.e. vegetable peelings etc. are not allowed to be put in the new bins. Are they not an integral part of composting? Waste meat, fish etc. is understandable. Hopefully this is an oversight and I don't need to increase landfill waste.
Ian Clarke, Delacombe
Disillusionment over the policies that matter
For the first time in 40 years, I am contemplating not voting.
I have voted Labor all my life and find most of the Greens policies sound, except on social issues e.g. pro-life and same sex couple adoption. It is distressing that the DLP was unsuccessful in its bid to roll back abortion laws. The ACL has a good pro-life policy but I don't agree with their foreign policy and economic views. I can't vote for parties that break the 5th commandment ( thou shall not kill).
With 64% Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities, why don't more people stand up for life? None of the parties wish to address current work cover legislation that favours insurance companies over victims. No party wishes to address prison reforms despite David Cameron ordering reform in the UK, and recommendations by the Australian Red Cross, Justice Action and leading academics in Australian universities. The party has in effect brought back a class-structure in relation to education costs. No one wants to address late VLine trains 7 days a week from Southern Cross for shift workers. Refugee detention is prison and violation of human rights.
Renee West, Alfredton
Social good over price benefit
For most Australians, milk and dairy products are basic consumables. Dairy products provide many with needed nutrition, vital vitamins, mandatory minerals. Dairy products are essential eatables for a significant majority of Australians. Most of us buy dairy products at Woolies and/or Coles; Australia's duopoly pushing ever-lower prices. Since the duopoly chains are registered businesses, they have a fiduciary obligation to their shareholders to make a profit. Thus, charging lower prices translates directly to a lower price paid to farmers. This means, we who purchase our dairy products from Woolies and/or Coles at low, lower, ever-lower prices are strangling our dairy farmers. Starving them. Pushing them out-of-business. We consumers share responsibility for driving our farmlands into the hands of foreign buyers. Wake up, Australian consumers! In our quest for lowest prices, our farmers go bankrupt. The duopoly is more concerned with profit-making than with the health and security of our farmers and farmland. Wake up, Australian consumers! If we want food security by food production ownership, we must pay for it. Our government should not be expected to provide subsidies. We consumers must pay a fair price so the first-hand producers - our farmers - cover their costs of production and make a fair profit themselves.
Judy Bamberger, O'Connor, ACT
