Of late we hear well deserved accolades for our courageous volunteer firefighters. They volunteer their time, effort and expertise to protect people and property in the most dangerous situations. Imagine the impact of bushfires without them!

As a Rural Fire Service volunteer, it is a mandatory requirement to undertake a host of various training courses. There are also additional courses for those aspiring to leadership positions. What many in our community may be unaware of is that our volunteers have to sacrifice income or leave entitlements in order to attend these training courses. I believe this to be not only unfair, but wrong.

Our firefighters volunteer to protect the public. They fulfil a vital role. They should not suffer loss of income in order to do so.

I believe it is incumbent upon the NSW government to compensate volunteer firefighters for loss of income/leave entitlements due to attending training courses.

And no, training courses should not be consigned to weekends, thereby infringing on family time of volunteers. Our volunteer fire fighters are invaluable. Its time to value their input, by ensuring their training is not an out of pocket expense.

I cannot believe how cruel these monsters are. They should be flogged. Poor animals not doing anything but eating. What mentality do they have if they are cruel to animals. Makes me sick.

I am not sure how many of the board or staff at Potoroo Palace agreed with this action by the director and Ms Seddon. Killing animals in this way is not in any way normal behaviour. In fact, its very frightening behaviour. Although their aim was an act of compassion and empathy - perhaps Ms Seddon and the director needed to wait till justice was completed in the courts. As it is, the perpetrator has many hours of community service to comply with.

I was hugely saddened to read that Potoroo's staff are being abused for the compassionate actions they and management are extending to the young man who perpetrated such horror on our native wildlife. I would like to express my admiration for Alexandra and her colleagues. If only our society had more people with such good hearts, our world would be a far better place

Returning to Australia after years of working in countries where school students are not required to wear uniforms, I struggle to understand why so much emphasis is placed on uniforms in this country. I can see no evidence that it contributes anything to the educational outcomes for our children. If anything it detracts.

Hours of teacher time is wasted on chasing up students who don't wear the exact prescribed attire. This is time teachers could put to far better use. Uniforms aren't a leveller either, as is often argued. Uniforms worn by children from lower socio-economic backgrounds reflect exactly that.

I have come to the conclusion that under pressure from private school competition public schools have fallen back on the superficiality of strict enforcement of uniform in order to project a good public image. From there it has become an instrument of discipline, too readily resorted to by teachers who know no other way.

Has anyone asked, "What's the point?" A code of acceptable school wear works well, saves time and avoids unnecessary conflict between teachers and students.