Anger at ‘cash for comment’ assertion
PUSHING the hidden agenda of the Vladimir Putin-powered, fly-in, fly-out green groups seems to be the latest trend in the pro side of the great onshore gas debate.
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I know this because I am generally working alongside her, hoping for the same result, now and long before she start getting rewarded for 10 per cent of her time.
I am not employed by Lock the Gate and neither are the many others here in Katherine who have been part of the core resistance to this invasive, self-serving industry since the beginning.
I am sure the community members who attended the dinner and enjoyed a nice, three-course meal and free beverage had a very good idea where their $30 went – on a bargain bite and an enlightening evening of first-hand, factual information.
Gus Elliott, Katherine
ONE thing “Paid opposition on the nose” points out vividly is that this person is really sinking to the lowest of the low.
What is wrong with Charmaine Roth working for Lock the Gate?
Charmaine has devoted over three years of her time learning about the fracking industry.
She felt she had to, as all that was available were glossy brochures put out by mining companies and the government telling us everything will be alright.
Just recently, she took on a two-day-a-week job with Lock the Gate, whose aim is to give farmers a voice, because the government that spends our money on advertising how we need this industry and mining companies - who have lots of money - are biased.
Not once do they tell you what can go wrong or how many drilling pads you will end up with on your land, and how your property will end up looking like an industrial site.
Now that sounds biased to me.
The cost of the dinner held in Katherine to give people the opportunity to hear people talk about living with gas drilling on their land covered the guest speakers and food.
They had a donation tin for people to donate to the cause.
The oil and gas companies employ people to sell their clean, green image.
Was Che Cockatoo-Collins paid by the oil and gas companies to win the Aborigines over?
How much did the station people get who have said yes to fracking on their properties and who continuously write letters saying how great it is going to be for the Northern Territory?
Thank god we have people like Ms Roth among us who will stand up in public for what they truly believe in.
Unlike you, Name and Address Withheld, I am standing behind a person willing to go out in public and strive to demand an agenda from both political parties to be concerned about the environment, and not just by monetary interests.
Petrena Ariston, Katherine
Grog policy will play key election role
BATTLE lines will be drawn at the Northern Territory election in August over a range of issues.
For Katherine, one of the most dominant features of the pre-election battleground will be alcohol policy.
People will ask themselves – temporary beat locations or the banned drinkers’ register?
Katherine has been at the front line of alcohol-related problems for decades.
Successive governments have tried, and failed, to find a policy that actually makes a difference to everyday Katherinites.
Hark back 18 months ago.
Prior to December 2014, Katherine’s social landscape was vastly different to what it is today.
Drunks on the streets; drunks on the footpaths – you could barely make it from the car to the supermarket without being accosted for your trolley or be subjected to a tirade that cannot be printed.
On the day TBLs were introduced, it was like turning off a light switch.
The town changed its character and there was a marked reduction in the level of antisocial behaviour.
Since TBLs started, alcohol-related assaults have dropped, not by just a few points, but by a whopping 25 per cent or more.
That is 25 per cent fewer women and children being bashed and abused every single day.
Contrast that to the introduction of the BDR by the previous government in 2011.
The BDR did nothing to stem assault rates, which were climbing out of control.
Hospital presentations went through the roof and police raced from one domestic disturbance to another.
Under the BDR, the “drunks on streets, drunks on footpaths” was the norm – no one could possibly disagree with that.
The BDR just did not work.
It is well understood that the Katherine economy is a bit slow right now, but it is a lame call by outsider Natasha Fyles to suggest that TBLs are solely responsible for this.
The slowdown in mining and a few issues with local agricultural production are also having an effect.
With due respect to the editorial in last week’s paper, it is highly unlikely there will be bipartisanship on alcohol policy, as Territory Labor has sworn to scrap TBLs if elected in August.
It is fair to conclude that scrapping TBLs will result in more women and children at risk.