Decisive leaders needed

Decisive government and resolute decision-making no longer occurs. Our duly Liberal elected government has been forced to accede to the ever-increasing demands of vocal independent members, some of who have defected from the major political parties, and single issue minority groups, while ignoring their clearly-stated plans for SA's future which voters elected them for.

The focus of government should be directed towards issues that matter - employment, health, infrastructure, education, tax reform, workers' wages and minimising the waste of taxpayer dollars. We need a government which has the guts to make decisions and uphold them.

Party policies and programs should be designed to garner the electorates support to form government, not be a watered-down version to appease the needs of everyone. Abraham Lincoln once said, "You can please some of the people some of the time, all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time, but you can never please all of the people all of the time."

To say that we "are up that creek without a paddle" is certainly accurate, if we continue to swing away from the parties which can actually form government and elect "independents" who hold up the implementation of important policies and programs until, at times, their unrealistic demands are met.

On Saturday, March 19, give your vote to either Liberal or Labor and allow decisive government to occur.

IAN MACGOWAN

Ceduna

I went to the bank with cash in hand to pay into my bank card account. The bank was empty with one assistant on the counter. Unbelievably the answer was, "sorry we can not take your cash". To say I was shellshocked is an understatement.

After settling down I was offered help to go out on the street with my cash to the automatic teller machine and shown how to operate same and put my cash through the hole in the wall. Fortunately, there was no line-up. Imagine if there was? How dangerous is that to the older population who can not fend for themselves?

There are a lot of older-generation people who are not well enough to do this, regardless. Once again, the ageing population is being well overlooked and treated like peasants. How many banks are operating like this or is it just my bank?

Talking to a friend who works 9-5pm, her bank was closed between 12-1pm on a Friday. Why do banks shut at lunch hours? It is about time our political parties took notice how the ageing population is being treated.

IAN HARVEY

Port Lincoln

Last week, Sam Telfer spoke at the Grain Producers Meeting in Cummins. He was asked whether the $125 million he said was being spent on roads is in fact also for the Port Augusta to Western Australia national Eyre Highway and only $32 million is for all other roads on EP. He agreed that was so.

Why doesn't Mr Telfer make it clear that this sum of $125m he keeps referring to includes Federal money for the national highway that goes through the seat of Giles?

The closure of the rail by the Liberal Party meant 60 trucks for every train now comes through Port Lincoln. It is only a matter of time before someone is killed.

And many elderly people tell me they don't want to drive on our terrible roads when they have to sit behind truck after truck.

I have read the report of John Hill that the cost of reopening the rail and connecting to the national gauge is about the same cost as the Riverbank basketball stadium, of $662m.

Surely reopening the rail and getting trucks out of Port Lincoln is more important.

Apparently not if you are a safe Liberal seat. Whichever party gets elected, only an independent can represent our interests and not an Adelaide based party.

DION STACEY

Port Lincoln

Last October, we all read the announcement that SA Water had chosen Billy Lights Point as the site for the $100 million desalination plant project and had an option on the site.

We all saw the seafood industry and Lincoln people protest about the threat to aquaculture and the fishing industry. How could they get it so wrong?

Was it just the cheapest? Surely the water supply for Eyre Peninsula is more important than the Riverbank basketball stadium?

What SA Water and the Liberal Party have not told us is: How much did they pay for the contract on the land and the option at Billy Lights Point?

I am worried that they just appointed a big committee as a distraction to make it look like they are looking at other sites. They have not come out and said, "We ended the agreement at Billy Lights Point. We no longer have an option".

They have not told us how much they will lose if they pull out of the agreement.

Is that because they will go ahead anyway after the election? I haven't heard election candidate Sam Telfer answer these obvious questions.

That is why only an independent can be trusted to work for the peninsula.

KATHY HETZEL

Port Lincoln

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