From: yar@cs.su.oz.au (Ray Loyzaga)
Subject: Re: Save Vic!
Reply-To: yar@cluster.cs.su.oz (Ray Loyzaga)
Organization: Basser Dept of Computer Science, University of Sydney, Australia
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1992 07:38:17 GMT

In article <724829414.AA02976@csource.oz.au> Fernando.Jose.Olmos@f366.n633.z3.fidonet.org (Fernando Jose Olmos) writes:
>This is a letter I've sent to many newspapers and
>other media outlets.
>
>
>18 December, 1992
>
>
>          Mr. Kennett and his government are shredding this
>          state to pieces and with no heart what so ever. His

I didn't think that there were many whole pieces left to shred?

>          government have turned the clock back decades and
>          without no prior public consultation. Schools are

I think they last consulted on election day.

>          being wiped out like flies and for what ? To save a

Please estimate the number of schools being closed and the number of files
in Victoria, is there a small amount of exaggeration?

>          few million ? To then spend that money on pay-rises

Probably a few tens of million and probably in areas that have
low numbers of young families. In NSW the same thing has happened,
many North Shore schools have been closed and sold to finance a move
to the areas that have lots of children.

>          for themselves ? Why is this happening ? More
The net cost to the Vic budget from the "pay rises" was minus $1m
yup it was a pay cut. Of course it looks better if you only talk
about the 8 that got rises not the 120 that lost in the changes.

>          seriously - Why do we let it happen ?

Maybe it didn't happen?

>          Labour opened many wounds, but the Liberals are

At least learn to spell the name of the party you support.

>          rubbing more salt into those wounds. They want to
>          impose a 'softer' GST, get rid of many government
>          enterprises, reduce the dole time to 9 months,

The dole stuff is no longer true, and your "softer" GST
line seems to indicate that you should know this.
Even the 9 months thing was a furphy, it just meant that the
people out of a job for more than 9 months would need to
go to a more stringently monitored program. It was dumped
once people like you managed to convince enough Australians
that the long term unemployed would be dumped onto the scrap heap.

>          further reduce the number of schools, and even get
>          rid of public transport all-together. Who do you
>          think is justifiably going to suffer ? The rich
>          bureaucrats that lived of rorting the system ? No!
>          You and I are going to suffer and hurt real badly
>          the way things are going.

In the end you would have to pay off the madness that had gone on
in the previous 10 years, your choice is to do it under Kennett
or under the IMF. I would personally prefer Jeff K, then Attila the Hun
then the IMF.

>          Children are playing in the streets because their
>          playgrounds cannot be funded any more, middle aged

Wow in just 3 months huge forests have retaken the playgrounds
rendering them useless, sounds like Jeff K is a green.

>          workers are joining the queues because they are
>          considered 'in excess'. At a time when unemployment

yeah Jeff did that, in the last 3 month unemployment went from
0 to 11.4 just because of Jeff K in Victoria, you've convinced
me.

>          How about petitions to the government to stop our
>          schools from being closed ? Letters to Mr. Kennett

How about you offer to pay for your childrens education and
leave the public school system for the disadvantaged, that
would solve lots of funding problems, how about that good
old socialist maxim of "to each according to need", surely
the parents of all the public school children can't be so
impoverished that they can't afford to pay their way.
Why are so many of the kids in the North Shore dropped off
to school in such utilitarian vehicles as Volvos and Mercs?