DODGY FIGURES USED TO JUSTIFY CAR RACE

APART from catering for the needs of the hoons who are already a
problem, the V8 Supercar race (CT, September 1, p.1) raises some other
questions.

The taxpayer is forking out the $10 million, but who collects the $50
million? If it is the private sector, shouldn't they be paying the $10
million? If it is such a good idea, that shouldn't be a problem. How
long will the 150 jobs last? If it is only for the few days of the
race, that's not much to crow about.

If my cynical thoughts are correct, couldn't we spend the spare $10
million we appear to have in ways which would bring genuine and
lasting benefits to the community? Both our schools and health
services desperately need extra funds.

Drug-taking starts among our school-age kids, yet we do little about
it. 51 per cent of the adult population has smoked at some stage, yet
the figure for Year 12 students is a massive 71 per cent. One in five
students have tried sedatives, with nearly the same figure trying
heroin. One in 20 have tried designer drugs and more than half have
tried marijuana.

The Department of Health, which collects this data, provides only
$36,468 for health education in schools. Think of the reduced health
costs, and lives saved, among our young people if we could spend the
$10 million in this area. There would also be a huge drop in teenage
crime figures. Surely the revenue saving for these could be estimated
just as easily as for a car race?

Such expenditure would bring genuine benefits to the taxpaying
community - not the dubious ones applicable to the car race.

AUDREY GUY
Ngunnawal