WE IN North Queensland have gotten a very raw deal from the LNP governments and the North West minerals province centred around the city of Mount Isa in particular, yet North Queensland in general seems to vote for conservative politicians instead of progressive ones.
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We must learn that to achieve a different result we need to vote differently at the next state and federal elections.
The North West minerals province in particular produces a huge amount in revenue for both governments, yet, as in the rest of North Queensland, sees little to show for all that government revenue in the way of infrastructure or services.
The latest, most obvious insult being the refusal of the state conservative government to make any contribution to the North West mineral province rescue helicopter.
If they don’t care about us, why should we continue to vote for them?
SHAUN NEWMAN, Deeragun
The fine print
CAMPBELL Newman’s government is spending millions and millions of public dollars to assure us that the Queensland health system has been fixed and there will be minimal (if any) waiting time for surgery any more.
What they don’t tell us is that anyone considered obese will no longer be operated on.
Obese, to this government (and it appears, to the public health doctors) is body mass index of anything over 30, waist measurements for men over 94centimetres or more and for women 80 centimetres or more.
Of course, these measurements don’t apply to people with private health cover.
This government has no concern for anything but votes at the next election and has come up with a plan to cut waiting lists at the expense of people’s lives.
So get out your tape measures, go and see your doctor and then decide who you’ll vote for at the next state election.
This LNP government is also spending millions of public dollars to assure us that they have listened to the people and there will be no more asset sales. They tell us that our electricity (an essential service) will now be leased rather than sold.
Unfortunately, they haven’t said for how long. Leased or sold makes no difference to the consumer – prices will still rise because whether leased or sold it no longer belongs to the public and neither we nor the government can control an unregulated private company.
At the end of the lease, when/if it’s handed/sold back to the public, the public will have to compensate the lessee for maintenance costs and new infrastructure.
Personally, I’d be more impressed if these millions of dollars were spent on hospitals and electricity maintenance and/or subsidies.
If governments can’t make a profit from owning and managing public assets and consequently have to sell/lease them, then why do we have governments?
We’re being ruled by corporations that governments owe billions to anyway, so why bother with elections which put useless people into power?
We pay them obscene amounts of money, for what exactly?
MAUREEN PAUL, Blackbutt, Queensland.