E-DEVICES 

Dear editor,

Last August, Sandy Bolton, MP for Noosa, called on the Crisafulli government to bring forward the inquiry into personal mobility devices as a matter of urgency, but they declined.

All this time later, the LNP government says it accepts, or accepts “in principle”, all the inquiry committee’s recommendations finally handed down. It is hopeful that they will act more swiftly and introduce the relevant legislation before more lives are lost or impacted by the dangerous behaviour of unskilled daredevil riders.

While the government has increased police numbers across the state, road safety needs to be prioritised with more visible presence so all riders, especially young people, realise they are likely to be caught doing the wrong thing and perhaps have their devices taken from them.

Parents also need to step up and ensure their children are fully aware of the traffic rules to help make them and others safe on our roads.

Robyn Deane,
Nambour.
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WAR AND PEACE  

Dear editor,

History gives us every reason to believe that wars end not by accident, but because ordinary people refuse to surrender hope.

The greatest mistake we can make is to accept conflict as inevitable. The moment we do, peace slips further from our reach.

I was born at the end of the Second World War, when the generation before me – despite hunger, grief, and unimaginable loss – found the strength to forgive, rebuild, and reach across old divides.

In the darkest days, when the airwaves carried nothing but bad news, they still held fast to hope. Leaders like our own John Curtin reminded them that courage is not the absence of fear, but the refusal to bow to it.

Because of their determination, we now count Germany and Japan among our closest allies, even after the horrors inflicted on Australians and so many others.

That transformation did not happen by magic. It happened because people believed reconciliation was possible.

Look to our own lifetimes: guerrilla wars in Vietnam, South Africa, and Ireland eventually gave way to peace because the world persisted. Hope was not naïve – it was necessary.

So when we speak of today’s conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, history tells us something vital: peace is not impossible. It is simply unfinished.

If our generation cannot complete the task, then we must clear the path for the next.

But we make that task harder every year that we allow children to die before the age of five.

Among the children who survive, we can only hope that future global leaders emerge with the courage of Malala Yousafzai, who survived being shot at all for insisting that girls the world over deserve an education.

At just seventeen, she became the youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate, a global symbol of what moral clarity looks like in a troubled world.

Our parents and grandparents showed us what is possible when hope is stubborn and peace is pursued with discipline.

Our role now is to do the same: to end the wars we can, and to lay a foundation strong enough for the next generation to finish the path to peace.

Garry Reynolds,
Peregian Springs.
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E-BIKES  

Dear editor,

Queensland’s proposed ebike, escooter and PMD laws are dangerous for older people and people with disability.

Across older Sunshine Coast suburbs, there are no safe footpaths, leaving disabled riders in electric wheelchairs travelling at 5 to 6 km/h forced onto roads with 50 km/h traffic while much faster personal mobility devices zip past wheelchairs at five plus times the speed of the wheelchair.

Councils still refuse to fix narrow, sloping, noncompliant paths, claiming they are not required to act.

The State should not expand PMD use on broken footpaths without first funding proper upgrades and safe, separated space for everyone.

Colin Caudell,
Coolum Beach
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WASTED WASTE

Tips are overflowing, and unnecessary packaging materials are increasing. Disposal costs are climbing.

Many other countries have solved the problem by incinerating waste and generating energy at the same time.

Incineration is a thermal waste treatment process that combusts waste at high temperatures, reducing waste volume by up to 90%. It reduces landfill reliance and can generate energy (waste-to-energy).

Key aspects of waste incineration include:
Process: Waste is burned in specialised furnaces (grate-type or rotary kiln), which can destroy pathogens in medical or hazardous waste.
Waste-to-Energy: Many incinerators operate as power plants, converting waste heat into steam and electricity.

Let’s encourage governments to adopt smarter solutions!

J Konrad,
Peregian Beach.
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PHONE USE & CHILDREN 

Dear editor,

The proverb about training children in wise and right living: “Train up a child in the way he should go, and, when he is old, he will not depart from it,” is an ancient saying for parents and guardians. This proverb is about teaching parents responsibility for raising children in sensible decision-making, for a lifetime of success.

It is also a matter of leading by example. Adults are commonly seen on phones, heads down, setting the tone and modus operandi for children who see this as the norm, especially in public. When you witness generations of children, young adults and older people constantly on their phones, disconnected from their surroundings, it leads to what the experts call ‘digital dementia’. They miss interacting with the real world. This leads to isolation by choice. It is anti-social behaviour detrimental to living.

However, when we see parents who hand restless young children and babies their mobiles to keep them entertained online for peace and quiet in public, in particular, it leads to addiction later in life. Children learn what they live. It is sad to know that the majority witnessed in public depend on their mobiles for their social lives. Children’s lives are inadvertently bound to the internet and social media as a consequence.

Taking tech giants to court, when children are thoroughly addicted to their mobiles, traumatised or worse, is unconscionable. When giving children a phone because it is the norm, the blame lies with providers. They have no case. The fine for those using mobiles while driving in Queensland is $1251. It’s too late once the horse has bolted.

E. Rowe,
Marcoola.
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JUST ASKING

Dear editor,

Can the Monty Python song “I’m so Worried” still bring about laughter and a lesson in life? Just asking.

Margaret Wilkie,
Peregian Beach.
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