HISTORY COLUMN
Dear editor,
I always look forward to Frances Windolf’s article in your paper. Thank you to Frances for publishing them. Being a resident of Yinneburra St, I was most interested in “Yaroomba Street Names revealed”. I enjoy knowing that I live in a street with a name connected to the original inhabitants and while I recognised its indigenous origins I had not picked up that it was a derivative of Jinibara.
Wouldn’t it be great if someone could find out the totem animal of Geerbauch and then have Sunshine Coast Council commission a sculpture of that animal to be erected at the end of Geerbach Lane labeled with its Jinibara language name?
By coincidence, when I was a student at the University of Queensland in the 1970s I had a part-time student job cleaning the house of Dr Whitehouse. That was long before I had ever heard of Yaroomba. Small world.
Lucy Wittholz,
Yaroomba.
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RAPID ANTIGEN TESTS
Dear editor,
Rapid Antigen Tests are increasingly seen as an effective means to help us “live with COVID”. Many workers are asked to prove a negative test before starting work, especially where they work with vulnerable people in aged care and childcare.
The national shortage is down to the Morrison government not ordering RATs last year when urged to do so by health experts, long before the Omicron variant emerged. They are more critical now because Omicron is so highly infectious.
Some countries, such as the USA, United Kingdom, Germany, and Singapore are giving their citizens free RAT kits. Not that they are really “free’ since taxpayers’ money is purchasing them.
The Labor opposition is calling Mr Morrison out on his failure to do his job. That is not a scare tactic, it is the truth of the matter.
Robyn Deane,
Bli Bli.
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Volunteers
Dear editor,
Volunteers are our nation’s unsung heroes! Many charities depend on voluntary staff to maintain services. It is this shadow culture of an unpaid workforce, which keeps the wheels in motion. They are the salt of the earth.
“Work for the dole” staff conscripted as volunteers, are excused in times of physical or mental challenges. The Government determines some external conditions mean work may be a threat to these welfare recipients. In times of fire or pandemic outbreaks anywhere in the nation, they have been given time off, if there is a threat to air quality or health. However, this leaves a skeleton volunteering staff for charities to maintain in crises.
“Meals on Wheels” is a crucial service for shut-ins and the elderly, who can’t provide for themselves. Coolum “Meals on Wheels”, ( Advertiser,19 Jan) like all voluntary services, has felt the consequences of the Omicron surge. Like all charities dependent upon volunteers, it has fallen victim to staff shortages. Thankfully, the wider community has heard the call and responded promptly, with vigour and practicality.
Needing extra freezers to overcome meal delivery staff shortfalls, local MP, Dan Purdie, rallied the troops. Coolum High has made its freezers available for the duration. Pick-up and delivery was arranged within the hour by Syd Hillier Hospitality staff. President, Sue Green, has a safe contingency plan for both staff and volunteers, allowing meal delivery services to continue.
It makes you proud to be Australian, living in a country where our most vulnerable citizens are guaranteed safety and services, upon which they rely. It’s the unique Australian spirit of “mateship”, which makes our great nation the envy of the world!
E. Rowe,
Marcoola.
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