Letters to The Editor.

I have been writing Letters to the Editor frequently for the past few weeks on the Federal Election and it's issues. None of these have been published. For that reason I have decided to use this opportunity to publish a few of them myself. Why rely on the Cairns Post to do it when they fairly obviously are not interested in the views of ALL the people?

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Cairns is right now, on the verge of a new beginning. We have many fantastic projects within weeks of a start that will change the whole outlook of our beautiful pocket of paradise.

My fear is that with a change of Government now, these things will never go ahead and we will go back to barely functioning.

We have a great Highway Upgrade on the south side of Carins coming that will enable us to travel from Gordonvale to the city without hitting a single traffic light along the way. We have a Cultural Precinct in the preliminary stages that already has partial backing from the Federal Government. We have several smaller projects about to commence that are partially or totally funded by the Federal Government. All of these projects are at risk.

Julia Gillard has announced a new initiative called 'Building Better Regional Cities'. This is primarily in regard to planning for growth in terms of roads, parks and facilities in order to have a sustainable future. Cairns is one of only 44 regional centres applying for the 15 positions in this program. I would like us to have the advantages it offers but if the Government changes, we won't have a chance at all because the program will no longer exist.

I have seen footage and pictures of the visits thus far to the North by the Opposition. Out of all of them, we recieved no promises, no guarantees and frankly, no ideas.

JiM Turnour has worked hard to get the funding for our region so that we can open our opportunities to more than just overseas tourism. It has taken him the past few years to secure this and now, just before the beginning of it all, it is all at risk.

I urge the people of Cairns to vote for the future of our region, it's businesses, it's people, and it's personality.


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A few short weeks ago, Kevin Rudd lost his position as leader of his party due to public opinion that he had grown arrogant, single-minded and had lost touch with the general population. Julia Gillard entered the position promising to re-connect with the people, listen, talk and make decisions only after consultation had occured.

She immediately set about establishing dialogue with the mining community, resulting in a fairer tax package for all. Then she contacted East Timor, trying to establish a broader solution to the 'boat people' issue, resulting in open and transparent communication that included us all in the process, regardless of the outcome.

The next issue she tackled was Climate Change.

The ETS was thrown out because it did not have the support of the Greens, the Opposition or the wider community. The Greens wanted more, the Opposition wanted none of it and the rest of us just wanted to know if it would change prices for utilities and groceries. Nobody really knew anything about it, unless they worked in the field.

Julia has decided that a group of 'everyday people' will be afforded the explanations, the right to debate the issue and given the opportunity to come to an agreement that should be of benefit to us all. Nobody seems too sure what this really means exactly.

It's pretty simple really. The public want to be informed. Julia will establish dialogue with the public through this small group. When the issue has been consulted over and a decision has been made regarding the exact direction the Government will take on Climate Change, we will be the first to be informed. Using this approach means that the decision will be made as fairly as possible, and according to the exact wishes of the people.

I feel pretty good about that.

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Letters To the Editor are consisting primarily of Liberal voter's views, there are pages and pages about how a stadium we could not hope to fill is somehow an essential part of the immediate future of Cairns, letters stating that Warren's plan with the $240 million is a much better one. This is the most interesting point of view expressed so far......how can he spend state and local money earmarked for a Council run development? It's not even a Federal plan!! Bizarre. The letter's insisting his track record and experience should speak for itself. It does. It says precisely nothing! Name one single thing that Warren achieved in the 12 years he was this regions' representative? Can't? I am not suprised. Even after researching, I can't find anything.

If this is an election run on spin, Warren and his cronies are spinning us around so far, most people can't see straight.

Where are the letters stating the fact that Jim has secured funding for the starting phase of the Cairns Cultural Precinct, funding for stage one of the Highway Upgrade, or funding for the entire GP Super Clinic in Edmonton? No sign of those.

In just 2 and a half years, Jim has accomplished more for our region than Warren did in 12. Warren appears to have friends at The Cairns Post and he appears more than willing to use them.

I just hope that at this election, people will vote with their eyes wide open.

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JUST FOR FUN!!

Letters to the Editor are a bit monotonous sometimes, and at election time, repetitive. Here's some fun quotes by the Opposition that are just for entertainment value.

Reporter: 'RU486?" Tony Abbott: 'I am for 86ing anything not in the bible.'

Tony Abbott once said that therapeutic cloning could create 'demonically possessed, animal-human hybrids.'

'It is estimated that there are around 176'000 Australians living with dementia.......almost the whole of the Northern Territory.' Julie Bishop.