Your Views: Letters to the Editor
This week, InDaily readers have their say on the $102.5 million algal bloom Summer Plan and a controversial new push to restrict abortion access in South Australia.
Responding to Sarah Game stalls abortion bill vote
The linkage of the introduction of this abortion bill with a parliament steps demonstration and other forms of public exposure confirms that this exercise is a pre-election political strategy. This flies in the face of the dangerous consequences of the passage of this amendment to the current termination of pregnancy legislation, whereby the failure to define or identify life-threatening disorders will result in avoidable and unnecessary maternal deaths. Surely the welfare of pregnant women supersedes the political ambition of an election candidate. – Warren Jones
Responding to Bloom support plan swells to more than $100m ahead of summer
Sadly, the South Australian government’s response to the bloom refuses to acknowledge the impact on human health. The reassurances of no lasting impact are not based on epidemiological evidence. Because there have been no examples of the type of long-term exposure to this particular blend of algae that coastal residents are having in South Australia, there is no evidence of long-term harm. And there is no evidence of long-term safety either. There is no evidence either way. It may be safe, or it may not. We simply do not know.
What we do need is research. We should be collecting data about who is suffering from itchy eyes, skin rashes and serious acute coughing and breathlessness, and why. But in the great Summer Plan, there is no research into human health impacts. This is irresponsible and very risky. It is important not to panic people, but it is also important to recognise and address risk. – Paul Laris
Responding to Old Holden factory to transform into $500m parcel hub
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Australia Post’s plan to turn the old Holden factory at Elizabeth into a $500 million parcel super-hub has been welcomed as a major investment in South Australia’s north, and rightly so. It brings jobs, confidence, and purpose back to a site that once defined our state’s industrial strength.
But the symbolism of this transformation runs deeper. Where once stood the proletariat, the industrial working class who made cars and built value, there will now stand the boxetariat: the new workforce of logistics, data, and delivery. Their task is not to make things but to move them, scan them, and deliver them faster.
This change says much about the direction of the Australian economy. We’ve shifted from production to circulation, from factories to fulfilment centres. We’re becoming a nation of consumers supported by a vast logistics network, rather than a nation of producers supported by industry.
There’s nothing wrong with progress or with parcels. But we should be honest about what kind of future this represents. A warehouse, no matter how advanced, is not a factory. And a logistics economy, no matter how large, does not replace the creative, technical and manufacturing ecosystems that once gave Australia good jobs, manufactured and complex exports and industrial sovereignty.
If we’re serious about “reindustrialising” South Australia, we must connect projects like this to the next generation of making: green transport, battery systems, and circular manufacturing. Elizabeth could once again be a symbol of national renewal, but only if we build more than we deliver.
Otherwise, the transition from Holden to parcels may come to define not just one suburb, but the story of a country that stopped making its own future and started ordering it online. – Stewart Sweeney
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Responding to Andamooka’s 110 million-year-old fossil in mint condition
Thank goodness the madness at the South Australian Museum died down, because if it had not, they probably wouldn’t have had any skilled staff available to carry out this work. – Andrew Phillis
Responding to Traders brace for bird season as tree nets challenged
Just remove the trees in the outside dining areas and plant more somewhere else. No more nets. – Deborah Blackman
For once, common sense prevails at the council. Owners need to put a canopy over their clients or adjust their businesses to nature. The food is absurdly overpriced in these restaurants; they could close during “bird season”. – Ross Hill-Brown
Responding to ‘Better late than never’: Beachside eateries wade through bloom
I went to the water’s edge last night and within thirty minutes had a sore throat and a cough.
As did the nine other people who were with me.
We’ve all still got the symptoms today.
I won’t be going back in a hurry, voucher or no voucher – sorry! – Chris Brougham
