Our Reserve Bank and voting history
During our recent Federal election campaign, very little of practical value was unfortunately debated or said about urgently correcting Australia’s current $1,000,000,000,000 (trillion) national debt now running at about $38,000 per head of every man, woman and child in the country. In addition to this largely unsolved and growing financial problem, history has repeated itself from the 1930’s Great Depression days when the ruling Scullin Government went on another over-spending spree...
Beware of politicians bearing gifts
It is about time that all we Australians of different political persuasions spoke up against the way our tax monies are all too often being manipulated and used for non-essential vote collecting purposes. Each day during the current national election campaign we have been wont to hear this or that politician standing for election often making 'pie in the sky' promises...
Our lack of early emergency information
At the time of the Clarence Valley election last year, I wrote a column urgently imploring all pertinent authorities to provide ratepayers and tourists with written details on how to combat states of emergency ... only a few months after my written appeal, yet I and other local residents and visitors feel we have once again been left somewhat high and dry.
Facing up to world differences
With major changes now facing us throughout the world, it is becoming more important than ever to get to grips with the growing need to stem the creeping invasion of Chinese Socialism and Russian Communism across the old Cold War boundaries with the East. We Australians in the hard-pressed Democratic world now have the responsibility to take a stand against forces both without and within our country…
Cash must be ‘King’ this year
Towards the end of this 2025 year, all Australians have been guaranteed continued access to using cash by special mandated legislation. This development at Federal level will be one of the most important advances facing each of us personally in the near future as it will hopefully deter those who set out to steal our hard-earned money.
A case of fiction vs fact
Civilised society has for centuries depended on the truth and accuracy of the written or spoken word, but we are now starting to face major challenges to this historical and accepted fact. The current rapid appearance on the computerised Web of more and more unprofessional social and political influencers is fast bringing with it the threat of mass brainwashing, poor grammar and the loss of essential truths and even words.
Floodplain flashbacks
A not so well-known bard once remarked that one cannot learn the lessons of the future until you thoroughly know and accept the history of the past. These prophetic words came to mind when I attended a recent meeting in Yamba and most of the people present were relative newcomers to our town. I soon realised they had not experienced the original fears suffered by most local ratepayers over the then first attempts to develop our controversial floodplain areas…
Putting humanity back into humanity
As a person in his nineties and born in the past Holicene Age with the prospect of leaving it in the current Anthropocene Era, I have started wondering when the world is going to put humanity back into our sense of true original humanity. This question has been uppermost in my mind as I realise my life so far has also spanned two deadly world wars and 96 serious military actions between countries and states with a total estimated death toll of well over 120 million often innocent people.
Our hope for a new council
In welcoming our newly elected Clarence Valley councillors to their important positions as custodians of the interests of all ratepayers, may I make a gentle plea for them giving their utmost attention to the new Council’s public finances. On listening to all the Council candidates give their final speeches to the Yamba Chamber of Commerce “convince the ratepayers” meeting, I came away with two major thoughts.
Your mysterious power bill changes
Many of the 5.7 million Australian electric power users without solar panels on their roofs are likely to face very different power costs when they receive their next quarterly bill. Although we have continually been told in recent times that the already high price of power will be reduced, certain power retailing companies are simply currently advising their customers that “new electricity rates” will apply from the beginning of this month. They do not, however, warn that the new rates will generally sharply increase...