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TWO CAN PLAY NAME GAME
I hear in Question Time Prime Minister Anthony Albanese calling Opposition Leader Peter Dutton "boofhead".
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Well, I suppose he could call Albo a compulsive liar. Another good name for Albo would be Mr Magoo, or The Mobile ATM the way he's been flying around the world handing out taxpayers' money.
Now that Labor has won the state election, I hope Chris Minns can keep a promise. Time will tell.
Russell Breed, Mount Austin
CLIMATE CLOCK IS TICKING
The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report about the state of our climate makes sobering reading.
With extreme weather events set to increase three to fourfold, our children are going to bear the brunt of climate change. But there is still a small window for change.
Forestry, clean energy and farming are identified as the main areas where emissions can be reduced. Transport and industry follow close behind.
Australia has relied on revenue from coal and gas exports in past decades, but there are growing opportunities for investment in clean energy. Individuals can do their bit. However, the government needs to lead the way and reign in our big polluters.
We must do what we can to reduce pollution, for our kids' sake.
Anne O'Hara, Canberra
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LESSONS FROM BY-ELECTION
The recent by-election in the Northern Territory seat of Arafura may not have been front and centre in most local minds, but it should give us pause to think.
The division of Arafura is a top end division comprising the Tiwi Islands, West Arnhem and Kakadu National Park, and includes the communities of Gunbalanya, Jabiru, Maningrida, Milikapiti, Minjilang, Pirlangimpi, Warruwi, and Wurrumiyanga. It covers a large area of approximately 57,410km, yet like all NT electorates it has a relatively small population.
The 2021 census shows that the division has a population of 6124 people of voting age, and that 82.6 per cent are of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander ethnicity.
The Australian Electoral Commission state that there are only 5536 people actually enrolled, i.e. approximately 90 per cent. Of these only 3210, or 58 per cent, bothered to turn up and vote.
The Labor candidate claimed the seat with 66 per cent of the vote, and party head and NT Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said that support for the Indigenous Voice to Parliament was a major factor - but was it?
The Labor vote represents less than 35 per cent of those people who are eligible to cast their ballots. The remaining 65 per cent either voted for their opponents, the NT Country Liberal Party, who had opposition to the Voice as one of their major platforms; couldn't be bothered to even turn up and vote; or can't even make the effort to get themselves on the electoral role.
With so many residents of Arafura either voting against the Voice, or clearly having no interest in having their views heard, this should make us all think very carefully when we have to cast our ballots in the referendum.