In a recent letter to the Hobart Mercury (Friday 17/9/04) Daniel Hulme wowed us all with his astonishing statistical analysis of Senator Paul Calvert’s Ralphs Bay survey.  Conducted from his remote laboratory 216kms from Lauderdale, Mr Hulme, through his obviously exhaustive and ground-breaking socio-economic research, reaches the scintillating conclusion that 1300 is 12% of 6000. Crikey!  Surely the Nobel Prize for applied mathematics is in the post and on the way to Invermay at this very moment!

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why local, state, and federal leaders of all shapes and sizes are lining up against the Ralphs Bay development.  The Walker “vision” is as unpopular in the community as it is myopic, rotten, and transparently greed-driven.  Unfortunately for Mr. Hulme his vision is apparently blinded by a struggle with primary school mathematics. Maybe Daniel should charge up the batteries in his solar-powered calculator?

The real missing variable in the Ralphs Bay equation is why those in the Lennon ministry have allowed, even encouraged this mockery of a development proposal to get this far.  Long ago Lang Walker and his “proposal” for Ralphs Bay should have been sent packing back to NSW where, of course, such canal estate developments are banned by law and for good reason (Reference: 19 April 2000, Bob Carr, The Brisbane Institute).

The Lennon team might well invest in a few calculators of their own.  Unless the current State Government ministers show real leadership on this issue they may well be sweating the figures come 2006.

Thomas Moore
Lauderdale, Tasmania