Firstly the papers are full of photos of airports and arrivals being tested. However nowhere is anything mentioned about the arrival by sea of passengers and crews who may have come from China and whether the same precautions are being taken.

Secondly China has an epidemic of swine flu and has 700 million pigs. Is there a connection as with the AIDS virus and monkeys?

Thirdly are "all" the containers arriving from China subject to severe scrutiny? Back in the old days the plague was brought to our shores by rats that started arriving with the First Fleet.

Fourthly as no-one seems to know what coronavirus is, how do we know the tests we are using are adequate?

I hope somebody has all the answers because I don't

An Australian farmer has ordered a new 4wd. She and her husband run a very successful farm, survived the drought, and can afford a new vehicle. The old one still goes okay, but why not?

That was last month, and last week the bushfire took all they owned - home, sheds, cattle...the lot. Of course the new vehicle will be postponed ("put on the back burner" is the phrase we use! An intentional joke).

Multiply a few million times and Australia has an order for submarines to the value of $225 billion (underwater tin cans) - are these value for money? Will they save us, the most difficult country in the world to defend,with the next war being run by computers?

Gladys, I am sure that stadiums and two new museums are a fine idea for $3billion approximately total, notwithstanding blowouts of a billion or so, but thousands of people struggling to rebuild their homes and lives will not put going to the footy games no matter how beautiful the stadium is.

Tathra is small community, slowly rebuilding lost homes. How long will it take to rebuild the hundreds of homes from Queensland, NSW and Victoria? Throw in Tassie and South Australia, even Western Australia. Do we have enough builders? Should we be spending some of the money on training, say, builder's labourers for example.

Just a few thoughts from an elderly Australian who won't live long enough to see the country back on its feet.

I am finding it harder and harder to find real bacon. I have searched Woolworths, IGA and Coles supermarkets from Narooma to Bega and almost every brand is either "manufactured meat" or has 21% ingredients imported from Northern America or Europe but packaged in Australia. One even had 3% pork. What makes up the other 97%?

Even the people on the counter in the delicatessens can't tell me if the diced bacon they are selling is Australian or real pork.

What chemicals make up the "manufactured meat"? How frightening is that, when we are supposed to be looking after our health and avoiding chemicals. It is still packaged and sold as bacon!

I urge everyone to read the labels and do not purchase this rubbish that they are pushing onto their customers as food. The only Australian bacon I can find is at Coles in Bega and it is labelled "Australian Bacon Shortcuts" that is 98% Australian pork.

I have no affiliation with any pig breeders, but unless we start looking into what chemicals are being pushed onto us as food, then the cancer rates will continue to rise.

Can anyone tell me what "manufactured meat" really is?