Now we can add another “leave your name and number and we’ll get back to you” business to our no-show list.

I don’t know why businesses bother to have this service. It seems it is too much trouble to pick up their phone and reply to our need for the service. Obviously they don’t need our custom or money.

The only business to reply to our messages left on their phone were Chris from Southern Tyres, Bruce at Bega Mower Centre and Kelly at the council. The three other people from the council who took our phone number to various inquiries still haven’t got back to us even after a lot of weeks of waiting.

I would have thought it was good customer service and instills confidence in people that their custom and inquiries were valued as a ratepayer in this shire.

While I applaud badly needed grants to community organisations because they desperately need it and more than deserve it, I can’t work out the priorities of Andrew Constance and the state government.

Children and volunteers are the big winners of a $974,677 funding allocations to Bega Valley Shire Council announced recently through the NSW government’s Stronger Country Communities Fund. Member for Bega Andrew Constance was joined by Bega Valley Shire Mayor Kristy McBain in making the announcement that is set to breathe life into a number of local community projects.

At the same time, South East Regional Hospital at Bega is set to have $990,000 cut from its budget, while Pambula Hospital is losing $60,000 and they are already badly understaffed.

Both the amount of community grants and the funding cuts to our hospital are nearly identical?

The feds blame the states, the states blame the feds  and they are both Liberal governments. Health is everyone’s major priority. No-one wants to bring a critically ill relative particularly a child or the elderly to a vastly understaffed hospital and in regional areas there are no alternatives.

Andrew, find another million in the bottomless infrastructure and footy stadiums budget and make up for the cuts in the budget of Bega hospital.

Also of note, why does it take something like the Tathra fires to get better funding for mental health? We have had a major mental health issue in the Bega shire caused by ice, alcohol, unemployment, housing depression and so on for years and no-one cares.

We should be grateful China has alerted us to how we have willingly exposed ourselves to the predicament of not being self-sufficient, particularly in recycling and in general waste disposal on this occasion – hopefully, before it's too late.

The strategic implications of our reliance on overseas suppliers of services and products should be ringing bells loudly and clearly in Canberra. A metaphorical stroke of the pen in China has caused this alarm to be sounded, but what would happen if someone "over there" said they no longer wanted to buy such large amounts of our commodities or no longer wanted to sell us motor vehicles or tractors or aircraft or the tyres or the fuel they run on?

With all the leaders running around criticising each other, hopefully some will be motivated to show some real leadership and create some jobs and growth in areas to ensure we are capable of ongoing self-sufficiency.