12 NT NEWS. Tuesday, October 30, 2012. www.ntnews.com.au

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On this dayIN THE TERRITORY

10 YEARSAGO: Darwin City Council iswilling to contribute $5 million tobring the Alice Springs to Darwinrailway terminal into the city.

20 YEARSAGO: The CLP candidatefor Arafura, Bernard Tipiloura, wantsthe right provided for Aborigines bytheNT Land Rights Act to vetominingmaintained.

25 YEARSAGO: Confusionsurrounds the RAAFAIDS casefollowing conflicting claims inCanberra and Darwin. Officials inDarwin admitted to one case.

Letters to the editor should be kept to 175 words or less. Send yourletters toGPOBox 1300, Darwin, 0801, or email ntnmail@ntnews.com.auYou must include your name, home address or PO Box number. Nameand address will be withheld on request. The Northern Territory Newsreserves the right to edit letters. Responsibility is taken by the Editor,NTNews, GPOBox 1300, Darwin, NT, 0801

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2012

Grogmust befreely chosenNEWLY elected politician Francis Xaviermakesa good pointwhen he says Tiwi islanders — andpresumably all other Aboriginal communities —should be allowed tomake decisions on theimportant issues affecting their lives.In particular, hewants people to have the right tosaywhether full-strength beer should be allowedback at the Nguiu social club.It is hard for outsiders to understand theimportance of such an issue.After all, Tiwis suffer ill health, horrendous suiciderates, poor education standards, low self-esteemand chronic unemployment.And theirs is one of the Territory’smore successfulindigenous communities.But the full-strength versusmid-strength grogdebate seems to be a raw subject.Mr Xavier, who is refreshingly honestwhen hedoesn’t haveminders and spin doctors leaning overhis shoulder, says: ‘‘If you talk about closing the gap,does thatmean thatwhites can drink heavy andblacks cannot?’’In a democracy, it is hard to argue against allowingindigenous people a vote on full-strength beer — or,indeed, on allowing the sale of alcohol at all.But any votemust be free of intimidation from thedrinkers’ lobby.There is a fear thatwomen in particular will bebullied by their menfolk into supporting the returnof grog despite them knowing all the trouble thatwill inevitably bring.

... and another thingIT’S galling for Territorians that Justin Nona — theman who condemned a family to a lifetime of griefby killing an eight-year-old boy in a fire — is able tosue the Territory Government for damages after al-legedly being thumped by a prison guard. But that’sthe agewe live in.

LettersWehear somuch about the housing/rental crisis, but is there really aproblem?— SEE LETTER BELOW

TIME FORSOMECYCLING COURTESYJUST curious as to whetherit is still the law for bikes tohave bells.

I take my dog for a walkmost mornings and get reallyannoyed with the rudeness ofmost people on pushbikes.

They do not use a bell anddo not say ‘‘excuse me’’.

They expect you to hearthem and just move out of theway. Sorry, but I will notmove unless I am asked pol-itely or I hear a bell.

Maybe this should be a les-son to children (and adults)when they first get a push-bike, to be taught somebasic courtesy.

I know it is old fashioned,we certainly learnt it whenwe were kids, but sadly itvery rarely happens in thisday and age.

Comes the question —should manners be taught byparents or by teachers?

Maybe both would be agood idea.Suzanne Jackson, Driver

KUDOSTOLIBRARYANDE-TECHNOLOGYTHIS IS a letter of praise!

Thank you to the public li-brary for finally getting on toebooks and starting publicborrowing for all of us wholove our eReaders.

A year ago, when I in-quired about ebooks, I wastold they could not give meany information or dates forthe NT library system to jointhe technological age.

Recently I attended the Tel-stra/Peter Blasina workshoptalking about smartphones(also an excellent workshop,thanks to Telstra) and wasexcited to learn that ebookborrowing was alive and wellthrough the public library

system! Not only am I nowinvestigating which smart-phone I need to buy, but I ra-ced around to the Darwinpublic library to join up forebooks immediately.

As a borrower of hard copybooks many years ago, it isnice to be back with the pub-lic library system as a veryhappy camper.

I also have to thank our lo-cal Chan Ward aldermen andwomen. Recently a veryprofessional, timely andinteresting newsletter wasdropped off, keeping theelectorate informed aboutevents and projects in ourneighbourhood.

Now it will be interestingto see who takes notice ofratepayer discontent aboutthe despoiling of the greenspace near McDonald’s Lud-milla, whether local councilor our elected member.NancyBatenburg, Ludmilla

SENIORSWANTDAYOUTATTHEMOVIESJUST wondering why CmaxCinema in Palmerston is notcatering for the older gener-ation living in Palmerston.

For a while my friends andI were able to go to themovies every couple ofweeks, but not now.

First we wanted to seeMental, but the excuse was itwas not a very good movie.

Then we wanted The Word.This got four stars, but wasstill not on.

Next was To Rome with

Love. This had 3½ stars, stillnot on. The latest is The In-

touchables with 3½ stars. Allthese movies were recom-mended as good viewing bothon TV and in the paper.Three of these were only onin the city.

There are many people liv-ing in Palmerston who like togo to the movies during theday and do not have trans-port to get into town. It’s along way by bus.

Why can’t these movies beshown during the day, cater-ing for the seniors of Palmer-ston? The last few weeks theyhave not had a decent movieon at all. They have had chil-dren/teenager movies onduring the day when theyshould be in school.

Next thing we will be hear-ing the cinema is closing asthere are not enough peoplesupporting it.Erin Southee, Rosebery

RENTALCRISIS,WHATCRISIS?RENTAL problem?

Recently I advertised afully furnished, three-bed-roomed, airconditionedhome with pool for short-term rent, extension poss-ible. Rent per week was be-low $600.

I requested interested par-ties call after 10am, so comethat time I braced myself forthe flood of calls expected.

Four days later I receivedmy first call from a localagent who left their number,but when I called them theywere unavailable and neverrang back.

We hear so much about the

housing/rental crisis, but isthere really a problem?Bob Johns,Moil

SPITTINGCHIPSOVERINSURANCERENEWALI RECENTLY received mystrata title insurance re-newal for 2012-13.

You have got to love TIO.They are the only option I

have for strata title insur-ance in the Territory as, ac-cording to my broker, ‘‘al-ternative insurers declinedto quote due to the age andlocation of the property’’.

Wow! The property wasbuilt in 1984, way after Cyc-lone Tracy, is to code and hasall certificates. This wasnever a problem for my pre-vious insurer, QBE.

No competition, so TIO cancharge what they like. Mypremium for 2012-13 has ri-sen by 100 per cent.

Nothing has changed atUnit 1 or Unit 2 at the addresscovered by the policy, noclaims have been made, nodamage to the building struc-ture has occurred, but I havebeen hit with a 100 per centincrease.

Reason why? Because theycan. I am a very unhappylongtime Territorian.Trish, Leanyer

NOPITYFORLANCEARMSTRONGPLEASE stop defendingLance Armstrong.

He cheated and shouldapologise. What he did anddoes is not honourable orbrave. He is akin to a drugdealer selling millions of dol-lars worth of drugs and thenpopping 50c into the guidedog tin.

He does not deserve yoursupport or respect.DeanHall,Winnellie

The FixerWHAT: Streetlightsout on VanderlinDrive, for about200meast from theHibiscus lights.WHO’SRESPONSIBLE:PowerWatergeneral manager Power Networks BirtramBirkCONTACT: (08) 8924 5400.

DOYOUknowof something in theTerritory thatneeds fixing?GiveThe Fixer a call on8944 9750,email thefixer@ntnews.com.auor followonTwitter@NTNTheFixer

Email: ntnmail@ntnews.com.au Text: 0428 NTNEWS Fax: 08 8981 6045 Letters: PO Box 1300, Darwin NT 0801

VOTE LAST WEEK’S VOTE

Your SayShould people be allowed to climb Uluru?

Should the Banned Drinkers Register be re-introduced?

To cast your vote go to www.ntnews.com.au Yes 62% No 38%