CENSUS CONCERNS
Next week is census night. This would normally be considered a valuable exercise by well-meaning citizens. After all,the census is a snapshot of our community that allows efficient administration of the country.
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However, this census is very different. During the distracted week before Christmas, the Australian Bureau of Statistics quietly announced it was going to retain names and addresses linked to all of the data provided "to provide a richer and dynamic statistical picture of Australia". That may be true. But it forms a quantum leap in the amount of personal data the ABS, and therefore the federal government, has stored and can use for largely unspecified purposes.
For example, given some of the hard-line attitudes developing towards Islamic people in our country and within Parliament, how many residents of Syrian, Iraqi or Iranian background are going to feel comfortable providing the federal government with a detailed breakdown of their household circumstances?
The Australia Card was abandoned as an idea back in the 1980s because of the perceived invasion of privacy. The 2016 census is simply a backdoor implementation of a similar device.
M. Corrigan, Vincentia
VISITORS LOST
I am extremely disappointed at Shoalhaven City Council’s recent action in closing the Visitor Information Centre on the corner of Pleasant Way and the Princes Highway, Nowra and relocating it to the foyer (or should I say a section of the foyer) of the Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre.
It was a well-located centre which showcased the Shoalhaven as a tourist destination. It had a plethora of brochures, maps, books and samples of the produce of the Shoalhaven. It was staffed by a team of knowledgeable and very helpful people. There was also plenty of parking for all.
Sadly, there are now scant resources, very little space, fewer staff and inadequate parking. Also it is no longer in a prominent position on the highway to attract tourists.
How can this possibly be a good thing?
B. Davey, North Nowra
GET ON WITH THE JOB
Why is it that we keep on asking Shelley Hancock when the building of the promised Bay and Basin police station will start?
Ann Sudmalis, returned with the smallest of margins, should be a wake-up call to Mrs Hancock.
Believe me, Labor will learn from the recent election and so they should. So over to you, Shelley. Start building.
B. Cumberland, North Nowra
MEMORIES STIRRED
The article about the plane wreckage being identified (SCR, July 29) brought back memories via my father’s Royal Australian Navy log books.
On November 26, 1956, my father Chief Petty Officer John Maby, and Lieutenant O’Farrell were scrambled from HMAS Albatross in Sycamore helicopter XA 902, to rescue the crewmen of a downed Fairey Firefly in Jervis Bay.
They arrived at Hare Bay, and Dad commenced to winch Sub Lieutenant Eagles and Midshipman Debus on board, before repatriating them safely back to HMAS Albatross.
As fate would have it, Dad had just received 50 minutes’ instruction on winching that very morning in Sycamore helicopter XA 220
The next day Captain Harding RAASC (Royal Australian Army Service Corp) and Dad flew in Sycamore helicopter XA 220 to Jervis Bay to drop a wreath in honour of Sub Lieutenant Arundel and Midshipman Fogarty
Hopefully one day the crash site of Fairey Firefly WD 887, will be discovered, a memorial placed, and this sad chapter of RAN history can be brought to a closure.
