DEAR News Of The Area,
YOUR correspondent, Mr Sean Van Der Heide, has a real crack at our conservative local member, Mr Gurmesh Singh, about not backing up his claims with facts regarding the closure of timber mills in our area (‘MP needs to check his claims about the Great Koala National Park’, NOTA, 4/11/2026).
Mr Van Der Heide identifies as a history teacher and a member of the Labor Party who is, or was, sustained by the public service.
Therefore I am not surprised by his political stance and inclination to hinder entrepreneurial moves by the private sector.
What people of his ilk ignore or fail to understand generally, and not just specifically about the timber industry, is the fact that things have to be made from raw materials, processed or grown into a whole range of commodities by the private sector, who have to make a profit and pay taxes to fund the public service.
No profit, no taxes, no public service.
It seems to me that a socialist government employs more and more public servants to implement more and more compliance rules.
Mr Van Der Heide quotes a population of 12,000 koalas, 36,000 greater gliders and 100 other threatened species as facts.
If one was to examine who provided these figures as facts, one might find that they are educated guesses exaggerated by organisations sympathetic to the cause to suit the purpose.
Mr Van Der Heide quotes a government source guesstimating this GNKP will attract 85,000 visitor nights a year. I’ve been around long enough to not believe government spin, so how does this become a fact?
May I identify as anti-Labor because I don’t vote with my pocket? I vote for what I consider to be best for Australia.
I don’t turn a blind eye to a socialist government that, in my opinion, is pro-Hamas and anti the democracy of our friend Israel, and I believe created the atmosphere in which the Bondi massacre occurred.
I don’t excuse or forgive a government which, in my opinion, tried to divide us by race, and is quickly turning this country into a more dangerous place to live.
It’s a desperate situation and I’m scared that petty issues, like the ones above, are more prominent in the minds of the red brigade come election-time.
Mr Van Der Heide highlighted the fact that he used a red pen to mark his students papers which, in a quirky way, seems appropriate.
May I suggest he uses a blue pen at the next election. It may be cathartic.
Regards,
Dave Williamson,
Coffs Harbour.
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