I consider myself an Eden local - I grew up on the shores of Twofold Bay, I was educated at St Joseph's and Lumen Christi, my father is your Sergeant. Our community raised myself and my sisters - they gave us part time jobs, they let us mind their children and they helped my parents teach us to drive.  I would hate to think that the love and acceptance our community gave our family was because of my family's race, ethnicity or religion.

I have recently graduated from university with a degree in human rights and have qualifications in international law. I have spent considerable periods of time in regional Asia assisting with some of the world's most vulnerable people - people who have fallen victim to human and sex trafficking, child marriage, the commercial and sexual exploitation of children - people who have had to flee their country of birth due to war, to threats of death, for the safeguarding of their family.

I would like to implore to the community of Eden that refugees and immigrants are most often escaping poverty worse than we in Australia could ever, ever imagine. We are all human, we all have families and we are all capable of feeling love and fear. To consider that these people are anything other than human, or less of a human than you (and to post in a public forum such as Facebook) that these people are anything less is considered as fostering hate speech and is a crime, as is stealing and vandalism.

Asylum is a fundamental human right as enshrined in international law.

Having just read Judith Brett's "The Enigmatic Mr Deakin" about Australia's second Prime Minister, who served in that role on two further occasions, I am struck by the glaring contrast with our present crop of political leaders.

This was a man who truly served his country, not himself or his party and wanted nothing more than to exit politics to lead a quiet life with his family. But his sense of duty drove him on, exhausting himself and in the end probably contributing to a premature death.

All that we read and hear from Canberra is designed to scare the daylights out of the people, with exaggerated claims or plain lies for a singular purpose, which is to remain in government, or to replace the  government. This, frankly, has applied to all sides  of politics and over the last 30 years or so has increasingly become the main game so that serving the people becomes a second order issue.

All I would ask of voters at the upcoming state and federal elections is to consider which parties and policies best serve those of us most in need, which side will look after and respect our first peoples, will protect our environment rather than pander to fossil fuel interests and which party will prioritise lower paid and middle income people rather than the so called big end of town.

Travellers continue to stream down Bermagui Road expecting to cross the closed Wallaga Lake Bridge.

The only sign before reaching Akolele is outside the old Alpha Cheese Factory on the Princes Highway that encourages drivers to go through Cobargo via the Princess (sic) Highway.

There was a sign before the Wallaga Lake Koori Village turnoff in the lead-up to the closures, but that was removed for some strange reason.

Even some of the speed signs are chaotic where, heading north through Wallaga Lake Heights, the speed limit drops from 60kmh to 40kmh for about 200 metres then back to 60kmh and near the bridge 40kmh, 25kmh and then 60kmh into Akolele. No wonder drivers are confused and frustrated.