Lettersto the editor

Bring back the rattan cane

A FIRM whack in the name of discipline could help Cairns’ problem juveniles.

In light of the fact that we have 15, 14 and 12 and 11-year-olds running around the place creating havoc, I think they need a bit of discipline.

I brought up four children and youngsters needed boundaries.

The occasional smack on the bum – all my children got them and they have turned into reasonably good citizens.

It was a last resort. If they stepped over the line, they got a smack on the bum and it didn’t do them any harm.

I got rapped over the knuckles with the cane when I was at school and it led to respect and a healthy fear of authority.

I got the cane, not often, but I did get six of the best once when I was innocent.

I wasn’t allowed to plead my case so I had to cop it.

They should bring back the cane in schools. Suspending kids doesn’t work.

Geoff Royle, Manunda

No insurance for Yorkeys Knob man

I READ with great interest your article about the high cost for property insurance (CLN, May 12, 2023).

I have often watched an advertisement from the Youi insurance company on TV, which shows a person telling the audience how much they saved with Youi.

I contacted Youi for a quote for my house and content insurance and a lady transferred me to a man in New Zealand, “who would help me,” she said.

After lengthy questioning and he had checked out where Yorkeys Knob was, he told me that they cannot insure me because I live too close to the ocean, which is 1.1 km away in fact.

I told him that in over 50 years living in this place and experiencing many cyclones, I had made in this time only two small claims and the damage to my property was caused by the neighbour’s tree, which is now gone.

The Youi man also said if there was a big tree on your property or the neighbour’s property that is 20m or less from your house, we will not insure it. This means of course that the whole of the northern beaches will not be insured by Youi.

I tried with Cairns Regional Council to make a bylaw to have big trees pruned down, but they said that they can’t do this, only the government can do it, yet they have a bylaw to tell us how many dogs or chooks we can have.

Former Division 8 councillor Jessie Richardson supported me in this as she had the same problem.

I told this to the three local members of parliament and wrote them a letter, but I never got a response.

Werner Schmidlin, Yorkeys Knob

The Voice proving to be devisive

RE: The Voice.

Sean McGinn (letters, May 26) seems a little fuzzy on his subject.

He claims Section 51 (xxvi) already allows race-based rules. That is correct, but that section refers to “any race”.

Reference to a specific race was removed in the 1967 referendum.

The new referendum is to reintroduce race in the constitution with specific reference to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as a particular racial group. The two are not the same.

One may even ask why a referendum is needed since the government already has the power to, and does, create laws based on race, for example, the creation of the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA).

He also states that we have no problems with the RSL telling off the government so why not an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders voice?

The difference is that the RSL, the unions, Federated Farmers, an anti-gun group, or in fact any group, can form a lobby group to influence the government, but they are not constitutionally enshrined.

There are many Indigenous groups that already lobby the government, including the NIAA which considers itself the ‘Federal ATSI Voice’ and is funded by the Federal Government to the tune of over $1 billion per year.

Another issue is that nobody, in spite of what they claim, has any idea what the voice is. A yes in the upcoming constitutional question will result in insertion of Chapter (ix) in the constitution.

This chapter will include, among

Council News

Ecofiesta this Sunday

Cairns Ecofiesta will take place on Sunday 4 June from 10am to 6pm, at Munro Martin Parklands, with sustainability markets in Florence St from 10am to 3pm. The region’s premier sustainable living event, is free to enter and includes live entertainment, workshops, food and market stalls, and educational activities for children.

Council advises that Florence St, Cairns City, between Sheridan and Grafton streets, will be closed on Sunday 4 June from 5am to 6pm.

Council apologises for any inconvenience.

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