There is a wind of change.

Thankfully the environment is no longer a non-entity and has become an international and national election issue - we have been watching and waiting (a long time now) for governments to act. 

Now in Paris we need a lot lot more than words and non-committal “promises”. 

And Australia has to make up a lot of ground after the shame of Kyoto, where we, alongside our good mates, USA, thumbed our noses at the rest of the world.

What soldier in any war on either side wore face coverings?

Why not? Because they believed in what they were doing, right or wrong, and didn’t care who knew.

So how come all terrorists including the current bunch cover their faces so they can’t be identified?   

Fluoride? Freedom of choice? 

As a long-term ratepayer I strongly object to paying for fluoride to be added to my drinking water. 

Personally, I do not want fluoride in my drinking water.

If council does not put fluoride in the drinking water, everyone still has a choice...fluoride tablets are freely available.

A total fire ban is in place for most of Victoria, with forecast hot and windy conditions described as the perfect "formula" for triggering bushfires.

“The winds will be up. It's a very hot day. It's a day with potential for fires across most areas, to burn freely and if they let run they will certainly become problems quite quickly."

The opening headline on the ABC online news website followed by quote from Emergency Management Commissioner Craig Lapsley.

Lightning is the only natural cause staring a fire, whereas the majority are human related, whether deliberate (arson), carelessness (burning off, camp fires), or unintentiona (machinery, power lines).

So, no such thing as a fire season, just more potential for wild fires due to fuel load, lack of precipitation and winds fanning a fire started by one of the fore-mentioned causes...not triggered out of thin air.

It is upsetting to see thousands of hectares of bushland incinerated due to avoidable human error.

On the radio, in South Australia, 9000 pigs perished (how frightening for them) in the latest round of bushfires; cause unknown, which indicates not through natural causes!

Barring those despicable losers who inflict untold damage through their inexcusable actions, locally and nationally we can rein in bushfires with vigilant measures such as the Rapid Earth Fault Current Limiters reducing ignition from downed power lines by 90 per cent.

Waking up before sunrise I was met with a cold breeze, now two hours later the wind has whipped up with an unnerving blast of hot air - who knows what today's weather will bring.

This is where our community, state, national and international leaders need to step up to the plate in order to “combat” the consequences of global warming.

Frustratingly, there appears in every sector a reluctance to make the hard decisions, which inevitably will cause job loss, inconvenience and disruption - a small price to pay to secure a liveable existence. 

Depressingly I can only envisage that lack of vision, purpose and commitment from us, the most intelligent, innovative and capable species inhabiting this wondrous and giving planet of ours, will be our downfall.