Switch off
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Joke: “Why is ringing the Shire like going to the Dentist?”
“Because you wish you had the needle before the drilling!"
I have got to the stage where I put off ringing the Bega ValleY Shire Council (6499 2222) unless I absolutely have to.
I am convinced the switchboard staff have been issued with instructions to be as obstructionist as possible.
It’s not their fault.
It is understandable switch may want to know something general about the reason a resident rings and why they want to speak to a particular staff member.
But my experience is that the questioning goes on and on.
I’m having to juggle the phone trying to answer the operator's questions – for example “What date is on that letter?” as if that’s going to help me get through to the person I want to speak with!
I have worked on a switch so I have some idea what it is like.
But I also know none of the shire staff I ask to speak to are so important or paid so much money that as a resident I shouldn’t be able to speak with them with minimum fuss when I telephone.
Less bantering on the part of switch may mean residents will not have to wait as long to be answered in the first place.
Ian Dalwood
Kalaru
Political opportunism
So it seems the Member for Bega Andrew Constance is intent on treating the residents of the Bega Valley as April Fools.
In his media release dated April 1, Mr Constance claimed “the NSW Government was getting on with the job of rebuilding our health system”; that “for 16 years Labor neglected our health system”; and that he was “incredibly proud of the investment the NSW Government has made to enhance health care for the people of our region”.
Mr Constance’s claims should be a major source of embarrassment to both him and the current NSW Government, given that the former federal Labor Government provided 95 per cent of the $170million cost of the new regional hospital, while his government’s contribution is to busy itself looking the other way while the health bureaucrats plot the demise of Pambula Hospital.
That Mr Constance’s media release offers not the slightest acknowledgement of the critical effort made by the former federal member for Eden-Monaro, Mike Kelly, in successfully securing this wonderful resource for the region, surely demonstrates that he not only lacks good grace, but that he is nothing more than a political opportunist.
John Richardson
Wallagoot
Choose wisely
Generations of ignorance, fuelled by religion and its ridiculous (very convenient) message about God giving mankind dominion over all living things, created solely for the use of man, has produced an very unfortunate, increasing ignorance in people today.
Beef, pork, poultry, seafood, milk, eggs are merely “words” - products taken for granted in so many daily lives, without a thought for the processes which brought them about.
Who cares that milk has been produced from a fellow creature, a warm-blooded mammal that went through the pain of birth, then had her calf taken away (often to be butchered for veal).
She bellowed for that calf for days.
We drink milk meant for a calf.
When eating an egg, who considers the bird that laid it?
In nature, she would lay a clutch of eggs in a cosy nest, incubated for 21 days to hatch chickens, lovingly protected and cared for.
Many fowls in batteries (also some so-called free range) produce an egg daily, with no quality of life, bred by man, to virtually lay themselves to death.
Imagine having a baby every day!
And the despicable lives of birds bred for meat.
Pigs, animals intelligent as dogs (and who would treat a dog that way?) confined all their short lives in metal pens on metal floors.
Sheep, packed into trucks like sardines, and a litany of other terrible, sheep sufferings.
As for seafood, extreme cruelty has always been, and still is, rife.
How sad it is to see a photo of a proud fisherman displaying some magnificent, dead creature who fought so hard to live.
Just think what a difference it would have made if ethics had replaced religion!
How many wars could have been avoided?
Surely it is non-ethical to treat other living things as human fodder and ethical to believe that we are part of nature as a whole?
Children should be given the choice of vegetarianism or meat eating, before the latter is instilled in them from birth, as normal!
Diana Gillies
Moruya
No rest for farmers
Despite our significant win for farmers over land access principles, we will not be resting on our laurels when it comes to advocating for a better regime for the regulation of mining and gas activities in NSW.
Two weeks ago NSW Farmers, along with other landholder representatives, secured land access principles with two of the state’s major CSG companies - AGL and Santos.
We are pleased these companies committed in writing to not force access where a farmer did not want it.
But with this win behind us now, our lobbying efforts will continue to concentrate on fixing the current regulatory regime for CSG.
We are advocating for independent and easily accessible data on baseline testing and for ongoing monitoring of soil and water quality so farmers, communities and decision makers are fully informed about the implications of the CSG industry on land and water.
We also want to see the government utilise its power to ensure potentially harmful projects on productive agricultural land are denied approval.
As it stands, the government’s independent gateway panel cannot recommend that a project not proceed.
NSW Farmers is to some extent comforted by recent decisions the government has made including the rejection of five CSG applications in the Riverina and a six month freeze on all new CSG exploration licence applications.
But along with more stringent scientific processes, we need a truly binding aquifer interference policy based on rigorous science.
Put it in regulation, give it some teeth.
Let’s stop beating around the bush on this issue and start providing adequate scientific backing and balanced regulatory decision making processes.
Fiona Simson
NSW Farmers president
Recovery care
Floods, fires, cyclones and heatwaves made the recent summer a difficult one for many Australians.
Yet again we’ve been reminded just how disruptive and devastating emergencies can be. Disasters can happen in a moment, but their effects can be felt for a lifetime.
As time passes and media attention shifts, those not directly affected tend to forget, but for people impacted by the disaster the process of recovery has just begun.
People who have experienced a disaster may be contemplating significant changes to their lives.
Whether this includes rebuilding, missing friends and loved ones who have relocated or dealing with the trauma of the experience, it can be a daunting time.
It’s so important that people look after themselves emotionally, and not be afraid to reach out for help.
If you are recovering, seeking support from family, government agencies or organisations like Red Cross is a critical part of taking care of yourself.
For people concerned about loved ones, checking in to make sure they’re ok is a simple step to show support.
Red Cross has developed recovery resources to help with the psychological and practical stages of recovery, which are available on our website.
I encourage people to take care in recovery and to take action to prepare for the future disasters.
Andrew Coghlan, national manager of emergency services
Australian Red Cross