I think I have raised this issue before and I can certainly agree that this state is in one of the most difficult political/financial times I have ever seen and I am 53. What annoys me the most is that we pay SOOOOOOOO much to public servants to also manage large sections of the state governments business. The appear to be grossly overpaid, in relation to the private sector and underworked. My daughter recently applied for a job in the state public service after working for 6 years in the private sector she was stunned by receiving and extra 18 thousand dollars pa for doing the same job she was doing in private enterprise, she has been given less than half the case load she was expected to manage in the private sector and by the way double the sick leave. Multiply this by how ever many public servants we have running this state. I pose the question does the minister run the SRA or does he have a raft of senior public servants running the system. I think we have a culture of overpaying our public servants and having or accepting low expectations of them to work productively and efficiently. Whilst I'm disappointed by this government I am outraged that many ( not all) of our public sector employees have grown into very FAT LAZY CATS. I won and operate a small buisness that employs about 20 people. Unfortunately no matter how hard i try I can't match the governement employees conditions and pay rates and my employees work very hard trying to eaqrn enough margin to keep funding our tax system.

It should not be forgotten in your Manly Matters that St Matthew\'s Manly has a new senior minister in Bruce Clarke. 
We all wish him well.

Now even the Rural Fire Service is joining in the push to eliminate the people of the northern beaches. Starting the hazard burnoff in such explosive conditions as existed on Thurs and Fri seemed inordinately insensitive to those who remember 1979, 1994, etc. Luckily the weather gods brought rain behind the winds. 
J-Alice HOFLER, Casey\'s human benefactor

Thank you Mike for making sense of this mess we are all in, it is good to see a politician seeing the pain and hearing the crying out for help. Barack Obama is a good man in my view and the much needed light America needs now, and we in our part of the world need more people like you Mike who puts people first and politics second.

Did anyone in NSW actually vote for the Government that is currenlty running this state? Not only a different leader but most of cabinet - how can that happen without someone saying it's time we vote again.  
 
2011 is a long way off.