Lettersto the editor

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Stinging tree is a native plant

I AM a botanical consultant from Sydney on holiday in Cairns.

Just some feedback on your April 14 front page story. I was just perplexed as to why Nick Dalton referred to Dendrocnide moroides as a ‘weed’.

It is not. It is a native plant species, obviously dangerous, that is natural to rainforest areas.

It plays a pioneering or colonising role in disturbed and regenerating rainforest. It is even a listed threatened species in NSW.

The media have a responsibility to get this detail correct as it influences people’s views on how the plant should be treated.

There is no reliable online web references at all that label or consider this plant a ‘weed’.

Dan Clarke, Sydney

Get behind the Voice referendum

SINCE the colonisation of this country we now call Australia began, the hundreds of tribes and groups that had lived here and in the surrounding islands for tens of thousands of years have been subjugated, dispossessed, controlled, incarcerated and even massacred.

They have been rounded up into missions and settlements, made to wear European clothes, read the Bible and eat European food, and introduced to tobacco and alcohol with devastating impacts on their health.

Some early attempts were made to ‘protect’ Indigenous people, and later to ‘assimilate’ them. Both approaches failed dismally.

I believe that mostly the newcomers to this country were doing what they genuinely believed was best for the ‘natives’.

However, we can now see the catastrophic results of over two centuries of Indigenous people having things done to them or for them but never with them or by them.

Today, by virtually any measures you care to apply, Indigenous people are disadvantaged. They have shorter, more traumatic lives, poorer health, worse education outcomes, lower incomes, and higher rates of imprisonment.

In August we have the opportunity to change the course of history in this country by empowering Indigenous people to finally begin to take some control of their own lives and address their own unique problems through the Voice to Parliament.

By voting ‘yes’ we will be taking the first step toward a better future for all Australians, because improving the lives of Indigenous people improves the lives of us all.

People living daily with challenges are in the best position to identify solutions, and the Voice to Parliament will make it possible for our Indigenous brothers and sisters to begin to do so.

The Voice won’t instantly resolve decades of injustice and disadvantage, and it won’t overnight bring peace to the streets of cities such as Alice Springs caught up in this ongoing tragedy, but it will be a step in the right direction.

We should all get behind it.

Andrew Smart, Earlville

Nothing to fear from the Voice

THANK you Richard Holme (letters 14/4) for coming out in favour of recognition of Aborigines (and I assume Torres Strait Islanders) in our Constitution.

Hopefully state opposition leader David Cristafulli understands the Uluru Statement from the Heart and can find it in himself to declare his ‘yes’.

Richard, I ask you just what in that humble, simple, statement do you fear?

You claim that the federal LNP supports recognition in the Constitution but fails to explain why they did nothing in their nine, long, long, years.

Truthfully, why didn’t they respond to the statement in 2017?

Sean McGinn, Clifton Beach

Scrapping nukes is dangerous

WOW. I’ve just listened to the news on the TV and some really scary stuff from Anthony Albanese.

It seems our ‘leader’ wants to scrap our deal with our allies and do away with nukes altogether.

That gives Australia no way to deter nations that “wish to be a threat” to our way of life.

I’m wondering if Mr Albanese knows that ‘stone throwing’ just ‘aint going to be much of a deterrent.

He has been making some not bad decisions of late, but talk like this crap will be his political suicide.

Noel, Cairns

Avocados are not selling for 80 cents

REPORTS that avocados are currently retailing at prices as low as 80 cents each in Australia are incorrect.

Avocados are currently retailing at between $1.80 and $2 each in the major retailers across the country and we have no evidence of avocados being sold at 80 cents each.

We monitor avocado retail chain prices across Australia on a weekly basis.

Be it hass avocados or shepard avocados, the price varies depending on supply and demand.

While we currently have good supplies of Australia avocados, domestic demand is currently strong and we are expanding our footprint in key export markets.

Every month of the year, Australian avocado growers work hard to

Last week we asked the question: Have you had an encounter with a stinging tree and what was it like?

Here are some of your comments.

They can be found in backyard gardens. Some people put them in soup or make tea. Personally l put them in the compost because they are full of goodness. l don’t particularly like the stings but a cold pack will settle it down.

John, Manoora

Vinegar works and then wax strips or masking tape to get rid of the silica hairs that cause the sting.

Megan, Edge Hill

Brushed against one with the back of my right hand in the Daintree rainforest when I was 15. The pain was horrific and lasted months.

Chris, Brinsmead

I wonder whether someone has asked some local Indigenous produce quality avocados to meet consumers’ expectations.

Shepard avocados supply the February to April window that enables Australian growers to supply all year round.

The shepard season is coming to a close and new season hass will begin to dominate supplies in the coming weeks.

Avocados Australia is working across the industry to increase domestic consumption and to increase consumption of Australian avocados in our key export markets.

Support Australian avocado growers by buying Australian avocados in retail stores.

Be it shepard or hass, avocados are incredibly healthy and versatile, they add something special to a wide range of meals.

There are plenty of recipes consumers can try on the Australian Avocados website: www.australianavocados.com.au

John Tyas, chief executive officer of Avocados Australia people what they know about the tree and what they use to treat the pain and reaction.

Jess, Gordonvale

Rub the stung area with a dock leaf. That’ll fix a nettle sting.

Susan, Palm Cove

Vocal Local join our online debate be a THIS

I fell into a stinging tree when I was 18. I ended up on penicillin. The enduring needles were extremely painful.

Bob, Manunda

It’s not that bad, and Elastoplast works well to remove the nettles. It sucks, sure, but it kind of sounds like an overdramatisation by someone who has no idea what they are talking about to me.

Robert, Kuranda

Varley St, Yorkeys Knob: Bus stop upgrade near Rhonda St. (stop #750063). Temporary bus stop relocation.

Casuarina St, Holloways Beach: Sand nourishment project. Noise, works on beach and traffic control as required.

Walker Rd, Bentley Park: Construction of water pump station at Griffin Park. Traffic and pedestrian control where required.

Woodward St, Whitfield: Water main works between Heavey Cr & Nolan St. Expect temporary lane closure.

Links Dr, Skull Rd, Kowinka St, White Rock: Sewer rising main upgrade. Expect temporary lane closure, property access disruptions, pedestrian control.