www.ntnews.com.au Thursday, July 25, 2013. NT NEWS. 13

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I welcome genuine refugees andmore should be done for genuine refugees but economic refugees arecheating the system for all. —AF ofHS

ONSEXDISCRIMINATIONFINDINGSATADFAn Designed to protect wom-en? What is designed then toprotect males from sexualharassment? D.R.I. of Syd-ney Suburbs

n This has always been ajoke. You want people whoare prepared to take life, en-dure horrors and if necessarydie for Australia’s sometimesbizarre foreign policy, yet youwant them to be PC. The nor-mal mind rebels at this ‘‘hav-ing your cake and eating ittoo’’ unrealistic idealism.Greg of Karama

n The type of person thatcommits these offences is notgoing to pay any attentionwhatsoever to a couple oflectures. But the DefenceDepartment can now tickthat box to say that they areaddressing the problem. Bobof Gunn

ONASYLUMPOLICYPROTESTn I’m also cranky as hellabout the ‘‘PNG solution’’ —not because it’s inhumane butbecause it’s an astronomical

waste of money that will ac-hieve absolutely nothing atbest and involve us in anotherdangerous international in-tervention at worst. Kadad-jingera of forty years intheNT

n That’s fixed half the prob-lem as far as them not beingin Australia! But Rudd is stillusing our tax dollars and fromwhat I hear it is millions morethan before — and how longwill it continue to cost Austra-lia? Our hospitals are still

holding raffles to raise fundsto buy much needed equip-ment. I can’t for the life of meget my head around this.Wilbur of Darwin

n ‘‘Backdoor/front door’’.Where are they in relation toundocumented, statelesspeople? People without em-bassies from which to applythrough these ‘‘doors’’? As faras fear of evil people goes,they’re well and truly withinour borders — concocting theirevil policies to persecute and

abandon victims of terror,persecution and genocide —they’re the Australian bigotsplaying out their powergames at the expense oftraumatised victims. Javaraof Darwin

n Fifty people is all that don’tsupport this Rudd decision. Iam not a Labor voter but Isupport Rudd on this. By theway, I think the Nauru centreshould not be rebuilt either.The money should be spenton the Australians who paid

the taxes! Outback Aca-demic of Alice Springs

n For the record, I’m workingtwo jobs, 60 hours a week(how many hours do youwork, BKH? FNR?). I re-arranged my schedule to at-tend this protest because Iam that disgusted at politic-ians who are content to whipup nascent racist tendenciesand play games with real livesin order to corral voters forthe coming election. Labor isoffering different personalit-ies but the same liberal poli-cies, so I’ll be putting themlast when I vote this year.Larry of Darwin

Speak Up: DO YOU think Darwin aldermen should participate in compulsory drug tests affecting council staff?

YES I reckon theyshould all be tested. Ifthey are saying theydon’twant to bedrugtested then theyhavesomething to hide.

KIMGODWIN,Rosebery

YESEveryone in thesameorganisationshould be tested. Theguys that are out onthe job interactwiththe public as do theadministration staff.

JOHNHOLLOWAY,DarwinCity

YES If they are goingto test staff then theyshould beprepared todo it themselves.

ALLENMEREDITH,HowardSprings

YESThey should betested. There aremanyimportant thingscominguphere in theNorthernTerritory.

AJAKAJAK,FannieBay

YESEveryone in thatkind of position shouldbedrug tested.

MEREDITHHAEREWA,Moil

0428 NTNEWS (686 397)txt the editorRe: council handing out fines for posters.Posters add character and vibrancy to our cityand are a simple and cheapway to get themessage of entertainment out to locals andtourists alike.

ONASYLUMSEEKERSn If an asylum seeker had$18k to spare they would pay4 a plane ticket. It’s amazinghow quickly the average Aus-sie moron swallows our govt’slies. Oh, that’s right, we’re the‘‘good’’ guys, our govtwouldn’t lie. Wake up. Matt,Palmo

n They said they would burnNauru and they did. They willburn it again and they willburnManus. John, Bayview

n The government messageto those associated with peo-ple smuggling is not writtenin Indonesian.

n With the change in asylumseeker policy rent a crowd isback in full force in Darwin.Poochy, Virginia

n Re: refugees. How abouthousing homeless/low in-come etc in detention cen-tres, with security/supportstaff?Worth a Try

ONOTHERTHINGSn What a shame some peoplecouldn’t simply enjoy thecheap costume hire from theWinnellie op shop enablingfamilies an affordable nightout. Those of you whogive false contact details orsimply don’t return the cos-

tumes have spoiled it foreveryone else.

n To King Roman: re BottomLine. You’re right. Let’s lock allthe drunks up in our prisons,which are already bursting atthe seams, instead of treatingand educating ‘‘them’’. Afterall it worked so well before.PH supporter, no explanationrequired. Lowly CommonerofHomeless . . . Again

n A worker on a mine site istold they have a DUTY OFCARE 2 look after work matesby reporting any workplacehazards. Yet someone is letloose back on the streets withso many conditions. Does thismake them a safe person?Where is the DUTY OF CAREfrom the NT Supreme Court?Barmyof Pine Creek

n Every morning I wake hop-

ing against hope to learn thatan election had been called.Every morning I realise mydream is still an illusion, notyet realised. But that an-nouncement is coming andour wait grows shorter by theday. Living for Politics

n Congrats for the story onon the Facebook page. Somereal hard-hitting, investigat-ive journalism right there.

n I heard MP Gunner say Lar-isa Lee’s never bought fuel inher electorate! He clearlydoesn’t know the NorthernTerritory! There’s nowhere tobuy fuel in Larisa MP’s elec-

torate! Silly man! Larisa’sConstituent

n Movie-length hybrids ofThe Kardashians? P-Lease.One can only pray Academymembers are not realityTV junkies. RU Serious,Darwin

n How amusing to read KrisKeogh’s ‘‘wish list’’. I applaudhis aims and ideals, but like allgood lefties, he had no cost-ings. They just don’t get it, dothey?GC, Jingili

n Hey girls, I’ve opened akissing booth at the show.Pucker up!Reg, Bakewell

LettersLETTER OF THE DAY

Housing costa voter issueMAKE housing affordabilityan election issue.

It’s not acceptable that in awealthy country like Austra-lia, one in 10 households arein housing stress and famil-ies are increasingly stayingin rent due to difficultyaffording a home.

With median rents andhouse prices increasing fas-ter than incomes and in thiselection year, NT Shelter be-lieves it is important that ourelected representatives knowthat housing and living costswill play a part in how peoplewill vote.

As reported in the NT

News on July 15, housing af-fordability was ranked as themost important issue in a re-cent Auspoll survey.

In the Solomon electorate,

15 per cent of renters and9 per cent of mortgagees areconsidered to be in housingstress. In Lingiari, it’s 7 percent of renters and 10 percent of mortgagees. The NTalso has 17 times the nationalrate of homelessness.

Housing affordability istherefore affecting a lot ofTerritorians — renters,home owners, parents, thewhole community — rightnow and into the future.

We believe that the closerthe election draws, the moreattention members of Parlia-ment and hopeful candidatesneed to pay to their com-munities and to voters intheir electorates, and that weall need to be raising this asan issue for their attention.Toni Vine, Bromley

Children’s ward patients — including Alyssia Moloney, 2, from the Douglas Daly — at Royal Darwin Hospital couldn’t makeit to the Royal Darwin Show, so the fun of the show kindly came to them on Tuesday Picture: KATRINA BRIDGEFORD

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