Letter wars

The Hon JB. finally sent a letter the local newspaper. Ironic perhaps that after declaring the greens "irrelevent" 2 weeks ago, the content was exclusively about the greens.


She probably figured that it would be the last edition prior to the election, but the paper does come out on Friday afternoon, so few of the elctorate might get to see it.

With that in mind, I contacted the editor who agreed to print my reply. The catch, however, was that JB would also receive a copy and would have a right of reply.

Am I right back where I started ?

Anyway here's the letter:

Dear Editor,

We welcome greater scrutiny as called for by the Hon. Julie Bishop. We would also welcome greater opportunity to discuss and inform your readers about our policies.

We are mindful of economic costs, but it is not just these we should be concerned with. The social, environmental and health consequences of policies and decisions should also be equally important. In this area both major parties have performed notoriously badly and certainly deserve closer scrutiny.

It is ironic that Ms Bishop calls for our policies to be costed when the Coalition - with far greater resources at its disposal - has failed to submit their own to Treasury.

We have proposed a dental care plan costed at $4.3 billion, to improve our health and well being over the long term. But our plan is for all Australians, not just the defence forces.

Good quality health is not cheap - and if you think education is expensive; consider the price of ignorance. Lack of investment in key areas inflicts far greater costs on society in the long term.

Currently 75% of resource profits leak overseas. The inflated salaries paid in this industry put upward pressure on living costs and results in a distorted two-tiered economy affecting all those on pensions or working in unrelated industries and professions.

We support a sovereign fund, such as that in Norway, to ensure the wealth from these one-off projects can be shared by all Australians, present and future.

Our policies would reduce electricity prices through investment in energy efficiency, ending the $10 billion fossil fuel subsidies and placing a price on carbon which will use market forces to put downward pressure on emissions and will also end the paralysing uncertainty that stymies current investment.

While we are burning more coal, building more coal-fired power stations, the rest of the world is leaving us behind. Renewable energy technologies are being fast-tracked in China, Germany and many other countries.

The "level" of the price on carbon, or effective ETS, must deliver a 40% reduction in emissions, as recommended by our scientists. As a leading polluter, with plentiful renewable resources and enjoying better times than our peers, we have a moral imperative to act.

Our stance on asylum seekers is and has always been clear. It is not illegal to arrive in Australia seeking asylum, 60% of those that do are women and children and 95% are found to be genuine refugees. Asylum seekers make up on average 1% of migrants and these people can be processed right here.

Our borders are secure – people attempting to enter are intercepted - yet the Coalition wants to spend enormous amounts bolstering our border protection, on offshore processing and overly expensive, wasteful defence projects.

In effect, this approach amounts to spending big to erode our standing in the world and deflate our moral currency whilst vilifying and punishing the persecuted and traumatised.

We have the good fortune and opportunity now to be able to plan for the daunting challenges facing us; Challenges that will require all of our commitment and ingenuity.

Simply excusing ourselves because it is difficult or expensive in the short term is irresponsible and certainly does not show leadership.