I and many others will miss it and we will miss Chris who was always so cheerful and helpful.

Thank you Chris.

The new NSW Minister of Education admits that he is “no expert in matters of education” (SMH, 9/2).

Then why is he the Minister?

Regarding housing affordability, I continue to be amazed at the seeming lack of common sense and understanding of those who have the power to solve this problem.

We are getting rather tired of all the talk and no action, but it’s nice to that Scott Morrison cares enough to take the trouble to travel to England to find out how Britain is handing its housing problem.

It would have been sensible (and less expensive for the taxpayer) to first watch the BBC series of Grand Designs. The whole series can be purchased for around $50 and includes several episodes on co-operative building.

This method of providing housing involves the future owners (who in Britain are in lower income brackets) being involved in the building of their own and their neighbours’ homes.

It is done with the assistance and supervision of qualified builders and tradesmen so the job is done properly.

The participants have to commit to a certain number of hours over the period, but they have input into the design and furnishings of their homes and learn valuable skills which can lead to future employment.

The houses are not flash, but are modern and comfortable and can then be paid off in rent to the various authorities which have provided the land and materials and building expertise, without the burden of a crippling mortgage. Their labour forms the deposit and provides incentive.

Of course it would take real cooperation between all forms of government to firstly release the land in viable areas – where there is suitable infrastructure and employment.

Decentralise – there are many lovely country towns crying out for families to move to them – Sydney is not the only place to live and kids need a backyard.

Slow down immigration until the infrastructure is in place, including schools and health services – employment is a natural follow-on

The next would be to return TAFE services, particularly in the trades. Also to overhaul rthe planning departments to cut some of the red tape surrounding owner-builders.

An alternative is to reintroduce a similar plan to what the NSW Housing Commission had some years ago where tenants only needed a low deposit and could pay off their homes in rent.

The more you paid over and above, the sooner you owned your home. If that scheme was stopped, why?

The most importnat aspect I feel is the tenants have the incentive to look after their homes rather than trash them as so many in public housing do. Has to be a win-win for the Housing Commission.

Another past success were Crown Land auctions – do they still have them with these conditions attached?

Back then the buyer had to build on the land within two years and live in the house for two years before it could be sold. It meant that opportunist investors could not simply buy cheap land and hang on to it for resale at a profit without building a house.

Finally, do something about negative gearing! This tax break should not be available to multiple property investors, including some of our wealthy politicians.