The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Commentary By Roger Cathcart Disasters: Natural and Government-Made There were many natural disasters over the winter, especially in the "down under" countries (where it was summer). The Australian rains and floods started things off with massive media reports of lives lost, especially in Queensland and New South Wales. There were also stories of flooded homes, the heroism of rescuers and the response from other nations to help out. A trip to Brisbane Ð which suffered massive flood damage Ð shows how quickly the recovery was, and there was even a sign on a severely flooded McDonald's saying, "We are re-opening next week." Thousands of people pitched in to help with the clean-up. The January Aussie floods were followed by the disastrous earthquake in Christchurch, with huge numbers of buildings destroyed and great loss of life. Surrounding nations pitched in to help in the rescue and clean-up, but many ancient and classic buildings were destroyed. Denare Beach friends Don and Heather were on a cruise stopping in Christchurch the day before the quake hit. The third natural disaster was the March earthquake in the country most prone to quakes Ð Japan Ð with the following tsunamis destroying many cities and towns, causing massive loss of lives and with thousands of people still missing. Most had no chance to escape the wall of water that left millions homeless. Nearly 600,000 people were evacuated into 2,050 evacuation centres, and 170 emergency response hospitals were set up. Many hospitals and seniors' residences were destroyed, with many left without food or medicine, and millions of people were without water, electricity or gas. The devastation is beyond belief to us. Japan did, however, get huge help from the U.S., Canada and Australia. The major follow-up problem was the damage to the nuclear power plants, which continues to endanger the surrounding population. Nuclear power provides 30 per cent of the electricity in Japan, but the plants are located in earthquake danger zones. And even though the plants were well built, some could not handle the powerful quake. What about North America? Experts claim a major quake is overdue on the West Coast and if it happens, thousands will die. Interfere There are other disasters, some of them government-made. In Australia, we see how much governments interfere in the lives, jobs and businesses of citizens. Critics say this is caused by Labour governments and the influence of unions. Australia's proposed carbon tax, if it ever appears, will greatly increase the cost of living and of running job-creating industries, and will do nothing to stop global warming and pollution. This is why the Labour party is tanking. Labour recently brought in a paid parental leave law that entitles primary caregivers of newborns and adopted children up to 18 weeks leave at $570/week, all funded by the federal government. This in a country where 72 per cent of employers already offer parental leave. A problem is that small business has to do all the paperwork and could be bogged down by red tape, a common menace in the country. All businesses must implement the new scheme by July 1. Another scheme, "Fair Work Australia", is being heavily criticized by small business, especially in the food industry. Pay rates for those who work weekends are set at double time, even for casual workers who may only work weekends. A number of fast-food outlets and cafes are shutting down on weekends because of the prohibitive costs, which of course means that part-time student workers will not have jobs. As the chief executive of the Restaurant and Catering Industry Association said, "For the first time, the rate of business closure has exceeded the rate of opening." It does not seem to be the fault of government, but angry dairy farmers are asking for government to do something as the price of milk has dropped to $1/litre because of competition from food heavyweights Coles and Woolworths. Coles started the cut and Woolie's followed, something we would think was normal in grocer competition. Milk producers are fearful, especially since National Foods announced they are pulling out of the cheese business in South Australia and Victoria, as operating multiple manufacturing sites is not profitable. The Dairy Farmers Milk Co-operative is hostile to the shutdowns and fearful that many dairy farmers will stop producing. More to come. Roger's Right Corner runs Wednesdays.4/27/2011
