More letters not published

To Sydney Morning Herald 13 December 2006

Dear Editor,

"The end of the Great Australian Dream can’t come soon enough" – Elizabeth Farrelly – 13 December 2006

It is pleasing to see Elizabeth Farrelly realizes now that there is a great coalescence of agreement between the left and the right in Australia (and elsewhere for that matter) in that land must be opened up to allow people affordable housing.

By "affordable" we mean that people should not be required to spend any more than three times their annual income to house themselves. Not the absurd and artificial six to nine times their incomes, inept politicians and planners are forcing them to pay at the moment.

Amazingly, Ms Farrelly bemoans this and suggests instead that we should experience the "joy" of living with the Germans within their urban environment. Ms Farrelly and her supporters should seriously consider migrating to the one million vacated East German Soviet style slab developments. Following reunification in 1989, the East Germans couldn’t get out of them fast enough.

Yours sincerely.
Hugh Pavletich
Co author - Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey
18 Jane Deans Close
Riccarton
Christchurch
New Zealand
Tel ++64 3 343 9944


To Sydney Morning Herald 23 November 2006

(Not printed. However similar letter sent to other papers as a test were printed)

Energy Australia is stretching credibility by suggesting that the cause of the wide-spread power failures on the hot Wednesday was a small grass fire ("Power jitters as heat bites", Herald 23 Nov).

The reality is that the State Government has been forcing high-density into suburbs originally designed for lower density living. The infrastructure of our suburbs was designed for the density of dwellings then built. Higher density and power-hungry multi-unit structures must overload infrastructure. Energy use per person in high-rise is double that in detached houses due to lifts, airconditioning, common lighted areas and clothes driers.

We can look forward to more and more breakdowns as infrastructure spare capacity is eaten away.

Tony Recsei