From Chris Donoghue.
CONGRATULATIONS to Deputy Andrew Green for reducing the number of future cyclists by approximately one third (read the research).

I hope Senator Ben Shenton doesn’t mind paying for the additional ambulances and medical equipment to accommodate the increased incidence of obesity. As a taxpayer I don’t much like paying for alcoholics, drug dealers, teenage baby factories and malingerers, but guess what? I don’t have that choice either.

Once again our government has failed to comprehend that their role is not to unnecessarily interfere in the daily lives of the population by introducing emotive laws with no statistical or researched evidence to support them. How on earth they expect to enforce the law in a cost effective and efficient way I don’t know. But then, that doesn’t usually worry our States, does it?

They can just increase GST to pay for the additional expenditure. The fact is that it’s very easy for our politicians to grasp at such emotive issues. By forcing their opinion on people they feel they have achieved something, but it has a direct impact (no pun intended) on people’s lives.

Sadly though, such headlines belie their failure to be able to grasp the really important issues which they have been elected to tackle. Health agreements with the UK, incompetence in managing large capital projects, grappling with the issue of diversifying our economy which still remains too reliant on finance – that is what, as a taxpayer, I am paying them to do.

Oh no, heaven forbid they should have to think wisely and not have to rely on knee jerk reaction.