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JOURNAL OF THE
ILLAWARRA ALPINE CLUB |
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VOLUME 44 |
MAY 2004 |
NUMBER 2 |
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PRESIDENT |
SECRETARY |
TREASURER |
BOOKING OFFICER |
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Fiona Montgomery Cremorne 2090 02-9908-1464 (H) 0410 405 358 (Mob) |
Jenny Charker 02-4226-4269
(H) |
Michael Di Leva Figtree 2525 02-4228-3720 (H) 02-4275-6947 (W) |
Karen Irvine Figtree 2525 02-4272-1410 (H) enquiries on email bookings@iacski.com |
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EDITOR – Ian Stuart Ph: 02-9412-1402
Fax: 02-9412-3043 Email: coldfacts@iacski.com |
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Web site: |
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Illawarra
Alpine Club Lodge: |
Tel: 02-6457-5240 |
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Lodge
mailing address: |
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Business
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Print
Post Approved: |
PP
248890/00023 |
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NOTE:- WORK PARTY MAY 29/30 see Lodge Maintenance item inside. |
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President’s
Message Dear all, Well the temperatures have dropped and there is snow
on the ground already, hopefully it is a sign of a good ski season
ahead! As the 2004 ski season is about
to get underway, there is a lot to update you on. The AGM was held at the North Wollongong Surf Club
on Wednesday 28th of April and once again we had good
attendance. Sadly, 3 long standing
members of the committee stood down this year – Steve Ainge, Jarvis Fletcher
and Tim Lee, so there are some new faces on the committee for this year. Your new committee and their primary functions are: President Fiona Montgomery Vice
President John
O’Donnell (Legal and Lodge Management) Vice
President Phil Warren Treasurer Mike Di Leva Secretary Jenny Charker Directors Karen Irvine (Booking Officer) Geoff
Mettam (Supplies) Tony
DiMilia (Maintenance) Geoff
Sturday (Club Captain) Viola
Hallahan (Website management) Ian
Stuart (Cold Facts Editor) I would like to take this opportunity to thank
Steve, Jarvis and Tim for their time, effort and commitment to the Club over
many years. Concession for Full Time Students The AGM approved a motion that full time students
over the age of 18 may receive a 50% reduction in their annual subscriptions
whilst they are engaged in full time study until they reach the age of
22. This will apply to all Secondary
School, University, TAFE or Apprenticeship students. This will be applicable for the 2004 subscriptions,
so if you fall into this category, or you have children that do, then please write to the Committee to request the 50%
discount. You will need to include
a copy of some evidence from the Registrar of the education facility to
confirm the full time status of the student. Après
Membership To address the increasing number of resignations of
older members, the AGM approved a motion to introduce a new category of
membership called “Après Membership”.
You can become an Après member if you have been a fully paid ordinary
member for at least 30 years and have attained the age of 65 years. An Après member will have the same rights
as an ordinary member except that bookings for accommodation in peak season
or school holidays cannot be made until the 1st of June. The Après member subscriptions will be 15%
of ordinary subscriptions. I would also like to take this opportunity to invite
any of our readers who have previously resigned from the Club to re-join as
Après Members. We would love to have
you back in the Club again. For current members who wish to convert or for
former members who wish to rejoin, please
contact Mike Di Leva (treasurer@iacski.com
or address on front page) if you have any enquiries. LODGE MANAGERS Once again we welcome back John Pihlman and his
partner Beata Benadikova as lodge managers.
Anyone who enjoyed their hospitality last year will agree that we are
in for a treat again this year. Please
do your best to work in with the managers to ensure your stay is a pleasant
one. Should you have any issues during
your stay at the lodge, please speak to the designated hut captain. INTERNET & WEB NEWS Email updates & Cold
Facts - via Regular Mail or Web/Email? We are still after people to add their names to our
email address list so we can keep you up to date with occasional emails. Also, we can stop sending you a hardcopy of
COLD FACTS if you let us know (treasurer@iacski.com). We will just send an email to advise when
each issue is available online (on the website). Please consider that this method of keeping
up with news at the club will save time, money and resources. Hope to hear from more of you soon. CLUB PERSON OF THE YEAR This year at the AGM, the Club Person of The Year
was awarded to Jarvis Fletcher. Jarvis
was a member of the Committee for some 21 years and held various roles
including President during that time.
He actively participates in all aspects of Club life – he is an active
racer, organiser of working bees, and of course the social aspects. Jarvis has made a significant contribution
to the Club over many years and is a worthy recipient of the award. SLOPES UPDATE – RESORT HEAD
LEASE SLOPES have been in contact again regarding the Head
Lease proposal for the resorts. Their
position is that the head lessor should NOT be Perisher Blue - a position
which we support as a Club. We are
asking for all Club members to write to their member of parliament, and/or
send an email to lodges@fairgo.org to express their opposition to the
appointment of Perisher Blue as the head lessor. Please don’t leave this for “someone else” to
do. FairGO/SLOPES have provided a
number of sample “messages” that can be included in your emails /
letters. There are more details at the
end of Cold Facts. The information, though lengthy, is well worth
the read if you’re concerned about the clubs’ future. We have gone to the trouble of circulating
this as we feel it is important for club members to have this information. Graeme Anderson from SLOPES writes: “Handing over the entire The We accept that there be a Head lease to get NPWS off the management
hook, but we want a Head Lease with a Democratic body, and we want new Sub
Lease documents protecting our rights. Your time to act is NOW.” This is probably the biggest threat to the future of
our Club, so I strongly advise all of you to write in and hopefully a flood
of responses from Club members in NSW will have the desired effect. In the meantime, have a great season and happy
skiing. Fiona Montgomery From the Booking Officer
The bookings season is
well and truly open, with many of the popular periods booked out already,
although the first week of August and parts of July still have some
vacancies. Have you thought about
visiting the lodge for the opening weekend in June? Last year we had wonderful snow, and
although not many lifts were running there were no crowds and the cross
country skiing was sensational but there were only 7 people booked in!! What a waste!! Even if the snow isn't great this year the
lodge is a great place to hang out, put your feet up and indulge yourself for
a couple of nights with good food and good company for only $40 per night for
adult members and there have been some snow falls already, so we may have a
repeat of last year's fabulous early conditions. A couple of reminders;
when bookings are made over the web, they should still be followed up by a
deposit within 7 days. A booking is not confirmed until a deposit
has been made, so I don't send out a receipt or confirmation until the cheque
has arrived. If anyone would like to
try booking over the web but doesn't know their ID and password, just drop me
an email at bookings@iacski.com and I'll mail
you back the info you need. I've just been to the
Cross Country trail working bee last weekend, where we work with the National
Parks personnel to maintain and improve the cross country trails around
Smiggins. Most of the trail posts and
fencing were destroyed in last year's fires, so although we replaced many of
the marker posts last year and the NPWS has replaced a lot of the fencing,
there was still plenty to be done. Happy Skiing Karen Irvine From the Club Captain
Race
Update - May 2004 Tim Lee bowed out as Club Captain at the last AGM. I
have been asked to step into the job with Phil Warren helping to keep me
on the straight and narrow. Tim did a great job for 10 years and I am sure
that you will agree that IAC owes him many thanks for a job well done. No doubt
he will relish the chance to get out on the slopes without having to be
distracted running the Club's ski and snowboard racing and
development program. Racing Junior
Race Training Geoff Sturday OTHER
NEWS LODGE
MAINTENANCE – working bee MAY 29/30 With snow already on the
ground we are certainly looking forward to a good season. We do however,
still have minor maintenance required at the lodge as well as receiving the
bulk food delivery. We know it’s short notice but the final Working Bee will
be on May 29/30 and we would still like more volunteers if you are available.
There are only small jobs to be completed, but there are plenty of them, so
if you can help please call me on 42685197, or the new maintenance organiser
Tony Di Milia on 42281158. Jarvis Fletcher / Tony Di
Milia
Discounted Lift Passes Perisher
Blue is discounting prepaid 5 day lift passes for club guests from 12
September to the end of the season.
Purchasers must arrange and complete purchase by JINDABYNE
DAM WORKS Indicative
Timing of Activities Over the next few months Belmadar Constructions will
prepare and establish the site so that construction can start.
Indicative timing of activities over the next six months is provided below. Indicative Timing of Construction Works Early May - mid June 2004 -
Site establishment (i.e.
fencing, establishment Mid June - mid Nov.
2004 - Construction of
coffer dam, excavate bottom
of plunge pool, tunneling for outlet works, diversion of Early December 2004 - Diversion of Road
Closure Tables Table 3 - Permitted Blasting Times - Out of Ski Season (i.e. October Long Weekend to June Long
Weekend) Monday to
Friday - Notes for Tables 1, 2 & 3: Blasting activity will occur during these times. Expect
delays of 30 minutes during a blast. Times above do not indicate continuous road closures. Permission to close the NO CLOSURE FOR BLASTING ON ANY PUBLIC X/C SUMMER GROOMING Held on the weekend of May
22/23. Works included were fixing coloured trail markers around the 2/4km
trails; the repositioning of several trail marker posts; the ‘gardening’,
removal of dead timber and burned bushes from around the track to allow
better snow conditions in those areas; the removal of the old timber trail
head and trail marker signage and the installation of the bases for the new
metal signs. There was not enough time
to install the new signs as the concrete poured around the bases needs
several days to set properly before the new signs are fitted. The new fence system has mostly replaced the
old system. The only original piece of
fence is right down near the car park. The new system, funded by insurance,
is far more robust and a lot more flexible in where the fence posts can be
positioned. There should be a lot less time spent on maintaining this in the
future. Pat and Sue Edmondson also
fitted some trail markers up between Spencers Ck and the Chalet. We were assisted this year
by Tim Greville from the NPWS who provided all materials and most tools
including a motorised auger for drilling the post holes and a 6 wheeler bike
for carrying all the materials around the trail for us. Also in attendance
were Pat and Sue Edmondson and grandson Rowan, Ian and Fiona Stuart and their
children, Karen Irvine and non members Chris and Trudi McClory and daughter
Kaitlin. Ian Stuart HUTS REPORT 2004 17 workers travelled to
Dead Horse Gap on Easter Thursday for a The walk in was extremely
dry and in many places on the track we were walking through what seemed like
desert bull dust, this is not normal for this time of the year. The working bee aimed to
continue the maintenance of the Hut sites at Cascades and the two huts at Tin
Mines. Due to the recent fires Cascades is now the only single room hut in
its style of construction and with its accessibility from Dead Horse Gap, one
of the most visited sites in the park. Tin Mines continues to be heavily used
by walkers and bike riders. Those that have visited the sloping dunny sites
will be aware of the somewhat treacherous visit required by those in need.
With the increase need for ‘poo’ storage the NPWS have planned for the
installation of pump-out dunnies at each site, these will be fitted with the
original tin walls to maintain some authenticity. Danny Corcoran (NPWS) has
advised that due to the recent loss of so many huts the Parks see the ongoing
maintenance of our huts as a priority. As a result we will be looking at
restumping of Cascades in the next two years. It is also pleasing that we are
now able to plan working bees for each Easter, allowing everyone to plan
ahead. This year’s work included
painting of the huts with the magic solution, ably led by Karen. Geoff Mettam
and his youth teams’ tireless re-establishment of water supplies at both
sites, realignment of the Tin Mine roof line, rehinging the Cascades door and
replacement of damaged wall slabs at Cascades. This work could not have been
completed without the tireless efforts of the dedicated workers’ union
delegate, David Irvine. Planning for next year,
please call Jenny on 42264269. Jenny
Charker HEAD LEASE ISSUES
To give you some idea about what is going on with
the head lease problem, following is some correspondence between Tracey Dear Graeme, I have been
asked to follow-up on the head lease issue to obtain more information which
will assist Cooma Hut members to most effectively lobby their respective
ministers as well as through fair-go.
Some questions that we have raised are: What is the purpose of a "head lease"? What will they be responsible for? What will National Parks continue to do? How will it be different to the current situation?
e.g. Services
provided Fees and lease payments "voice" of private clubs etc.. What are the pros and cons of a head lease situation
for: Head lease holder National Parks Private clubs/lodges Other commercial operators Day visitors What are the details of the various models you are
aware of? e.g. "Victorian
Model": What are the roles/responsibilities of the
Board? How is the Board structured and positions
appointed? As to your letter to National Parks, Perisher Blue would not be able to
effectively manage a head lease? National Parks are not able to hold PB
accountable? What
would need to change to make this possible? The needs of private clubs and other non-P/B
operations will be abused. If so,
how? Thanks for
your assistance and thanks for all the work you do via SLOPES. Regards Tracey
Dickson Vice President Cooma Ski
Club Lodge Ltd. 0412 707577 Graeme’s response – Your questions are pretty extensive, but a synopsis
follows. 1. The purpose of having a Head Lessor as far as
Government is concerned is to remove any govt instrumentality running a large
business associated with a lot of risk. Thredbo was the catalyst, where NPWS
were out of their depth. The idea is
coming from the Premiers department and Treasury and Planning. NPWS do not like the idea, but the rest of
Govt is adamant. 2. NPWS will back off to having an observation role
only. DIPNR will do all the planning, NPWS will have a say, but not a veto. 3. How will it differ? Currently SLOPES (Clubs) has
significant input due to good working relationships with NPWS. NPWS are
currently the Resort Operator, who run the Community services budget of some
$2.5m per year. A head lessor would take over this function entirely. I believe the voice of private clubs unless a
Council with powers is available, would be NIL. I anticipate the costs will
increase significantly as P/B switch the valley around to suit themselves.
Say a 50% increase in MSU fees would be the least I expect. Lodges provide a steady stream of skiers as we clubs
fill our lodges. We are a captive base. The accent by P/B is therefore to
increase revenue by pushing the day trippers, as this is the only growth
available. I am very concerned at the manner in which
manipulation can increase the day stream at our expense. Currently NPWS act
as a brake. Without this brake the powers are unlimited. Fees and lease payments to government are
currently limited by public reaction and pressure. 4. PROS and cons. Head Lease. In They have CEOS answering to the Boards who are paid
about $130,000 a year so they get good people. Board members get paid minimal
expenses only. I have in front of me the annual report for Hotham
for 2001/2002 and it is a very sound document. The ski tow operator is just that. The Board supply
all other services, such as transport, garbage, water, sewage, roads etc.
They also run all promotions advertising etc. This is important. They run
with the dream of promoting the resort for mutual benefit. The Victorian MSU costs are under half ours per
Lodge. There is a reason in that the rental streams and entry pass monies
also go to the resorts. So there is
much more monies available. Now if P/B gets a Head lease, the figures are all
hidden. The only benefit is to P/B. So if NPWS give the entry fees to the
resorts, it just vanishes into P/B's income stream. This makes it unlikely to
happen. Whereas if we could get the Victorian model up, where everything is
transparent we stand in my opinion a very good chance in getting the NSW Govt
to compete with the Vic scene by acting in a similar fashion. If you visit the Victorian scenes you just have to
be impressed at the quality of the scenarios and the way they run The Ski
Lift operators in The beauty of the Vic operations is that the head
structure survives even if the ski lift operators change. Put it all in one basket and the whole scenario,
with hidden figures, can be flogged off to unknown management skills. Remember in all this that the Clubs at Perisher have
building worth some $100m. So our assets are currently larger that P/B's
lifting operations. (P/B also of
course also owns the Skitube. But as the figures are hidden, no one apart
from P/B knows how this section runs for profit). THERE WILL BE A HEAD LEASE TO SOMEONE. To protect our interests we do not want to be
submerged into an unknown business with no say in any outcomes. I believe it to be a 100% certainty that
given a head lease over the whole area will mean that P/B will be quickly up
for sale, so we do not know where it is all heading. 5. Could P/B manage a head lease? Yes, it is not a
big deal; some 15-25 employees extra would see it manageable. Could P/B be held accountable? Once a lease is signed it all comes back to
the fine print. As years go by the accountability weakens considerably. Abuse of the private Clubs? I think we already have signs of abuse and this
was my earlier message. These abuses would not happen in the Victorian cooperative
model. Do not underestimate the desire of P/B to remove some of the Lodges,
particularly the northern Lodges. The desire to put in the Telemark road is an abuse.
The desire for open roads regardless of Club feelings and access is an abuse.
The potential for two classes of skilift tickets has already raised its head.
The isolating of Lodge member from the Skitube on Fridays morning and Sunday
afternoons without other arrangements being provided is an abuse. Purely to
get in more day skiers. The EIS foresaw this and required the Skitube to
handle the baggage. Sundeck has already found this is affecting their Weekend
bookings. The Commercial lodges are very upset at the P/B
abuse of the lift ticketing system which means some commercials have to
handle up to $70,000 of lift tickets sales without margin. All power corrupts, and P/B with their new village
centre will become very focussed on their own requirements. In 1997 in exchange for SLOPES supporting their
application for the Village centre, they promised to stay out of headleasing
over our Lodges. Three years later they reneged. We believe we had a strong probability of keeping our
Clubs out of any head leasing arrangements and maintaining our leases direct
with NPWS, but they shot the ground out from under our feet. They are PUSHING
for a head lease over the Clubs. One must ask why? Whatever is in it for them
must be bad for us. The Victorian Models have been running successfully
for over 20 years. Everyone works for the common good. All the numbers are
tabled. This is the preferred
position. Hope the above assists. Graeme Anderson (You can find out more
about how Mt Hotham runs the resort at their website http://www.mthotham.com.au/rmb/responsibilities.htm
- Editor) Following are
“sample messages”- These were sent in an email by Greg Bloomfield at FairGO. You can have
a look at their website if you wish at http://www.fairgo.org/ “If you have already sent a
Votergram or a message to us about the proposed Perisher head lease, thank
you. Urgency of the situation precludes us from sorting through our address
book and excluding you from this message. Please forgive us. If you have not yet acted
on the campaign for Perisher, please respond now AND
circulate this to other lodge members. We need lodge members willing to help
us send information to NSW Parliamentarians on the benefits of the system
successfully used in Victorian resorts. We will draft the message and submit
it to you for your approval. If you approve it will then go to MPs. Otherwise
we will modify it with you. If you are willing to help
us in this please click reply (which would go to "Greg Bloomfield" Greg@fairgo.org) enter your name and
contact details, then send immediately. Time is running out. We want to
convey good factual information on a good system and at the same time
demonstrate how many of you are very concerned about a head lease. Look forward to hearing
from you soon, Greg Bloomfield, FairGO” And in another email “We have prepared some sample messages to
parliamentarians to help lodge members quickly convey their views on the
proposed Head Lease of Perisher to parliament. Some messages are political.
Some are not. Labor only gets mentioned because that party will be the
ultimate decider. Votes are the currency of democratic politics. Politicians
do something because it will work well for them, not the public. We are all a
bit like that. You can delete any words you don't like and add any
you prefer. The message is yours. It is important if possible to avoid party
political prejudices and promise support to whoever does what you want.
People living in NSW but out of We have tried to reach everybody, but would you
please check with your other lodge members, in case they are new or their
email address has changed since I last contacted them. Please forward this to
them if they have not received it. Apologies if you received two copies. Please pick a message from those below or write your
own; copy into the text of an email to lodges@fairgo.org
(not in attachments); mix and match various messages if you can so that they
don't get boring for politicians, or pick one and then add and subtract bits
of your own to personalise it. Add your name, address and email address. Then
send to me and we will dispatch the messages in an orderly way. We had great
support last time and we hope that everyone will do the same again. Greg Bloomfield, FairGO” Here are the sample messages:- 1. Government should directly
control all leases over Kosciuszko snowfields because this unique and fragile
area is far too important for its control to be passed to any profit oriented
commercial enterprise. Please see that no Head Lease is given to Perisher
Blue or any other commercial enterprise. 2. If the NSW Government does
not want to retain its direct control over 3. If the Labor Party which
holds Government in NSW, wants to hand over the Kosciuszko Perisher Range to
a private company via a head lease, we shudder to think what it would do with
other public assets if it won Federal Government. Public land belongs to the
people and it is hard to understand why Labor does not support that
principle. 4. Use of Perisher by private
lodges under direct lease from the Government means that commercial
"mining" of this fragile area for maximum profit is avoided and
community members aware of the need to protect such places have personal
responsibility to do so. A political party that hands this asset over to
commercial interests will pay a high price in supporters who move to a more
socially aware party. Ban any head lease to Perisher Blue or anyone else. 5. We elect government in NSW
to protect and manage our assets for our benefit, not to hand them over to
commercial enterprises who extract the maximum profit from them and pay us a
relative pittance. No head lease at Perisher should be contemplated. The
individual leases have worked well and simple changes can be made to enhance
management. 6. Just because there was a
disaster at Thredbo, the government should not shirk its responsibilities to
NSW voters. Lessons have been learned from the Thredbo landslide and the
Government should move forward stronger, not weaker. We still want the
government doing things like controlling leases. Surely it is not going to
stop building roads because it has failed to stop the hundreds of deaths each
year. Surely it is not going to get out of hospitals because its negligence
has killed some patients. Surely it is not going to abandon education because
many poorer children still received inadequate education. The Human condition
is to learn from experience and do better next time. If a political party
cannot do that, then we are surely unwise to elect it to office at state or
national level. 7. The miserable rent the
Government received from Thredbo undoubtedly prevented it from taking
appropriate safety measures it might otherwise have taken and which might
have avoided the fatal landslide. The great enduring lesson from Thredbo is not to
ever again grant a head lease over a ski resort area on public land, to one
commercial enterprise, no matter how much it donates to the party or how well
it treats its workers. When the Government leases to individual operators,
commercial and community, it retains control and can take action as and when
needed. A head lease removes that control. Thredbo has been a disaster for
the Government in more ways than one, so please don't let it be repeated by a
head lease at Perisher. 8. There are far better
options for management of ski field communities than those proposed by the
commercial operator seeking monopoly control of the 9. If Labor gives Perisher
Blue a Head Lease over Perisher ski areas, alienating the public land from
the public, some of us will simply have to campaign in the most effective
areas to keep it our of power federally and in NSW for the duration of that
head lease. A hard task, but there are a number of organisations, not just
community based ski lodges, which detect dishonesty and corruption in this
seizure of our NSW snow fields. 10. What right does the Labor
Party, controlling government in NSW, have to sell our 11. What will happen if the
holder of a Perisher Head Lease goes broke? Will the asset be sold overseas
to the highest bidder? Will the Man from 12. The NSW Government can
write all the protection it likes into a Perisher Head Lease, like it did
with Austeel in We ask the NSW Government and Opposition to examine
the management alternatives used in places like 13. A danger of granting a Head
Lease to a company, like Perisher Blue, is that the shares in that company
can then be sold to the greatest environmental rogue in the world. Governments have been notoriously
unsuccessful at saving valuable areas from destruction, because unscrupulous
commercial operators move faster than governments. When damage cannot be undone judges often impose
token penalties instead of rectification to the former situation. Companies
can easily be deliberately drained of funds so that there is no money for
rectification or fines and the Head Lease may have been sold just before the
destruction for a nominal sum. The real damage is rarely undone. 14. If anyone is going to
benefit financially from the unique features of the 15. What is the logic behind
the NSW Government on one hand abruptly cancelling leases on timbered farm
lands so that they can be incorporated back into public holdings as state
forest controlled by National Parks and Wildlife and on the other hand
granting a new Head Lease over the whole Perisher range in our best National
Park to a private company for flogging to death for higher profits? 16. Has the malaise that struck
NSW Health, Public Transport, Planning and infrastructure, spread its deadly
influence to the It would be appreciated if the Labor Party took a
strong stand on this issue and ensured that commercial benefits did not
over-ride political wisdom. 17. (To Federal and State) Which political parties will give us an undertaking
that if elected to power Federally they will challenge any Head Lease which
delivers monopoly power over the 18. If the Labor Government
delivers a Head Lease over Perisher to Perisher Blue, then it will be a party
to every blue over even the smallest issues, whether it likes it or not. We
will all remember that it was Labor who gave PB the power over other users
and so we will always call on the Labor party to help fix any problems that
arise from what it did when in government. For ever more a lease which robs
the public of its assets may be known as a "Labor Lease". The party would be better to accept the
responsibilities for which it was elected and ensure that the area is well
run by a structure that serves the whole community, like 19. The government leases to 20. How can the NSW Government
tolerate a situation where Perisher Blue opens the ski lifts early just for
the exclusive use of its own clients? The government should resume the lifts
and lease them out on a five year basis to operators who will provide the
best service at the best rental. 21. In A wise government will not go down that path,
because pulling up and reversing direction would be very difficult indeed.
What political party would want to be known for its destruction of the most
precious natural asset in NSW after |
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