Right-wing parties benefit
Ross Tyson hit the nail on the head in his editorial (“Political brinkmanship hurting the country”, Bendigo Advertiser, December 3).
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The country is suffering at the hands of a government without sufficient seats in the house to govern, an opposition who see there sole purpose being to obstruct the government at every turn, and minor parties and independents using the chaos to cut deals to allow legislation through.
Malcolm Turnbull is being criticised for his lack of action, but what can he do? The government is a stalemate.
All of this, of course, plays neatly into the hands of the emerging right-wing populist movement.
Right-wing parties like One Nation need only wait for the left and centre-left to alienate enough of the electorate to become even more influential than they have recently become.
I think Ross Tyson is right. We may see yet another Prime Minister in 2017, and some major changes taking place in Canberra.
There needs to be.
Murray McPhie, Epsom
TAFE creative accounting
Gayle Tierney has used her first round of announcements to continue in the incompetent footsteps of her predecessor.
The Training and Skills Minister poured $1 million into Bendigo Kangan Institute this week, claiming it would mean the provider could “hit the ground running”.
This is the second year in a row the Andrews Labor government has artificially inflated TAFE’s bottom line in time for the end-of-year Auditor-General’s annual audit.
In December last year, the government handed out $160 million in cash grants to TAFEs in order to improve their short-term liquidity in time for the Auditor-General's review.
Deceiving Victorians as to the true financial state of the TAFE system by artificially inflating Bendigo Kangan Institute’s bottom line is not the solution to two years of falling revenue from declining enrolments.
Youth unemployment is as high as 18 per cent in some areas, but Daniel Andrews and Gayle Tierney have no interest in making sure young people can get the skills they need to get a job.
Steph Ryan, Shadow Minister for Training, Skills and Apprenticeships
Thank you to volunteers
International Volunteer Day is a time for us to reflect on the immense contribution volunteers make to our society and thank them for all that they do.
Red Cross is an organisation built on voluntary service, made up of 17 million volunteers worldwide.
Volunteers help us save lives, build resilient communities, support people in disaster, and prevent and alleviate human suffering in times of war and conflict.
Every day throughout the year our 35,000 members and volunteers in Australia improve the wellbeing of those who are experiencing extreme vulnerability.
I can’t thank them enough for their time, energy and commitment, and I feel privileged to work alongside them.
Voluntary service not only helps the recipients, but also the volunteers whose lives are enriched by the act of giving.
We aim to build an inclusive, diverse and active humanitarian movement based on voluntary service.
Penny Harrison, volunteering director, Australian Red Cross
Welcome peek at hospital
Wonderful to see the photos of the inside of our new hospital with out a publicity seeking politician in sight (“Hospital throws open its doors”, Bendigo Advertiser online, December 3).
That's how it should be, after all it’s our hospital. We, along with many other Victorian taxpayers, paid for it, not politicians of any colour, despite what they may claim.