Letters, August 23, 2023

EV uptake

IT’S encouraging to see the sales of EVs has risen 216% in Mt Barker last calendar year (The Courier, August 16).

This is wonderful news for our community, so we can all breathe cleaner air and reduce reliance on foreign oil.

Also timely with the RAA’s new ultra rapid EV chargers under construction at the Homemaker Center in Mt Barker together with recently opened units at Bridgewater, to give residents and interstate visitors a contemporary charging option.   

I’m dismayed, however, to note Tom Gilbert’s comments about the lack of EV enquiries and infrastructure and ‘using coal power to charge them’.

I suggest the former maybe due to the fact that Toyota sadly doesn’t offer any EVs in the showrooms to enquire about, and the latter sounds like someone who hasn’t driven an EV in SA – where we have no coal-fired power stations and the highest adoption of solar PV.

I’m happy to help with this, Tom, and take you for a drive – I just got back from Swan Reach camping in our EV and from a Melbourne return trip last month, with no issues at all ... and all powered by 100% renewable energy.

Daniel Hockin, Nairne

Praise deserved

IT was extremely disappointing to read this article (Heysen legacy immortalised in Hahndorf sculpture, The Courier, August 16) and see how poorly the artist Robert Hannaford AM was credited for this new sculpture of Hans Heysen.

Like Hans Heysen in his day, Hannaford is SA’s greatest living artist and deserves huge praise and acknowledgement for this, his latest artwork. For his name to be finally mentioned in the last sentence of the first paragraph almost as a by-product shows a complete lack of understanding of his profession and his art.

Hannaford’s previous public commission was of Queen Elizabeth II which now stands in the gardens at Government House. For that sculpture Hannaford travelled to Buckingham Palace and had a number of personal sittings with the Queen and was able to present the sculpture to the Queen himself – by then unfortunately via video link due to Covid.  

The headline of the article in The Courier should have read: “Heysen legacy immortalised in Robert Hannaford sculpture” to properly acknowledge and pay tribute to Hannaford’s immense talent and contribution.

He should have been given credit in the first line which would read “A man whose name has become synonymous with Hahndorf has been immortalised with a life-size sculpture by renowned South Australian artist Robert Hannaford AM.”

Yet credit and fanfare was all given to the guests who were present.

This was made even worse by the accompanying three photos, only one of which included the artist Hannaford and then he was hardly visible being in the back row.

To give the credit that was due to the artist there should have been a main photo of just Hannaford with his sculpture. Hannaford may be a humble man but a photo should have been arranged with the proper decorum and respect that he deserves.

This statue is Hannaford’s.

He is a staggeringly creative artist and a South Australian living treasure.

Anton Johnson, Aldgate

Outsider problem

IN response to the front page story in The Courier August 9.

We have a lot more traffic on our country roads than ever before.

It’s not always the country residents that are causing accident issues.

We have an influx of town dwellers that now reside in the Hills/rural areas and have not grown up on these roads, like we have. Give the country folk a bit of a go. We know these roads.

It’s the newbies that don’t and think they can get to work quicker if they rush. That, you cannot do safely.

On that note, now these residents want to drive Ram utes up on these roads. Really?

T D Wise, Bridgewater

Wonderful project

WHAT’S happening at Monarto Safari Park is probably the most brilliant and wonderful  project in the State.

Apart from the new visitor centre and hotel, to create eight new watering holes for rhinos and hippos to live a natural life here in SA along with growing waterhole vegetation, food for grazing and a refuge for smaller animals is miraculous and everyone involved should receive a medal.

The Courier should also be congratulated for running the story.

Geof Nairn, Verdun

Romping free

I AGREE with Christine Pierson in her belief that Monarto won’t provide a suitable habitat for elephants.

Surely they should be turned loose so that they can romp in feral glee with her beloved cats.

Together the cats and elephants could not only eat our native animals but trample their homes while they’re at it.

Colin Rogers, Meadows

Censorship threat

THE Albanese Government has proposed a Bill that would form a “ministry of truth” with the power to determine what information and speech is permitted online.

This is nothing less than blatant censorship and government overreach.

Identification of supposed “misinformation” and “disinformation” is subjective at best and coupled with the fact that government and mainstream media communications are exempt from the Bill, would create an environment capable of skewing public perception by permitting only communication of approved narratives and ideologies. No government should ever hold such power.

Passing of this Bill would infringe on our most basic of human rights which is to have freedom of expression as granted in the Human Rights Act 2004.

Freedom of speech is essential for a functioning democracy, thus the resulting censorship and suppression would create a political environment that operates in a dictatorial manner leading to a communistic-like society under the guise of democracy. The dangers of policies such as this have been explored by George Orwell in his book titled 1984.

While a fictional work, this in no way diminishes the accuracy of the dystopian society it portrays.

Australia must remain free and by extension this means it must remain free from censorship.

Darren Kelly, Hahndorf

Support local

IT was good to read of the recent top award for excellence given to a local car dealer in Mt Barker and reassuring to know that such customer service and product reliability are available to us in the area.

There are many other businesses in the district which, although they might not receive specific awards, always give their best to customers where they can, which is important as we are again being encouraged to shop locally by the State Government.

The closures of the newsagents and the hardware store in Aldgate in the past year are a definite loss to the community as they were always a pleasure to deal with.

The expansion of the Homemaker Centre and the establishment of new outlying shopping centres and supermarkets are welcome additions, and I hope more stores will soon be added to them in order to increase the possibility of more local shopping.

S Tarrant, Hahndorf

Not simple

BOB Innes (The Courier, August 16) feels that the Voice Vote is simple.

Unfortunately that is far from realistic.

Regardless of the warm and fuzzy statements from the PM and the Minister for Aboriginal affairs, voting yes sends a clear statement that we are prepared to accept racism.

One skin color on one side, the rest on the other. That is not the Australia I have always known.

The no vote is a vote against racism.

It is a vote saying we are one nation, regardless of ethnic background, skin color or cultural and religious beliefs.

That is the country we should be proud of.

Peter Vincent, Nairne