Bega District Letters to the Editor for September 16

Editor's note: The green FOGO caddy liners can still be used Mike. They comply with the Australian standard for commercial composting. The EPA explains what can and can't be used on its 'FOGO information for households' web page

I am rather confused about the changes to the rubbish disposal for us. We have become very used to the three bin usage and distribution of our waste. What I don't understand at present is that in all the notification changes, there has been no mention of the yellow bin.

Why are they saying that all cardboard, paper towels, packaging, etc now must be our into the red bin? It doesn't make sense. Why would all that effort and cost made by businesses to comply with a cleaner environment not be useful. Surely these would go into the yellow Bin now.

In response to Sue Middlewood's letter "Don't feed the birds" (BDN, 9/9).

I grew up in Bega close to Kiss's Lagoon and have always enjoyed going to the lagoon and throwing food/bread scraps to the waterfowl, as have many other local residents for 50 plus years. As I work in Bega, I regularly visit to take photographs or just sit and watch the birdlife for a bit of peace and quiet.

Bread is not toxic to birds, the simple fact is that it just doesn't really have any nutritional value for them. In a healthy environment, like Kiss's Lagoon, there is an abundant reed bed, which is the main diet of a lot of waterfowl. I love watching the swans teaching the cygnets how to harvest it.

There are many locals who still enjoy watching the birds and throwing them some food, be it grass, vegie scraps, seeds, oats or bread. They are not dependent on it and I can say I have never seen a case of "Angel Wing" or any other deformity in the years I have been observing.

To be honest Sue, we should all be much more concerned about the huge amount of carp damaging the ecosystem in the lagoon, and the growing population of eels that maim and eat the baby waterfowl!!

Newby Treasurer Jim Chalmers invariably qualifies any public or parliamentary comment about the budget and the economy with the excuse: "and we're dealing with a trillion dollars of Liberal debt".

The fact is the Liberal/National government inherited $330billion in debt from the Labor government in 2013 - yes, about a third of it due to action to combat the impact on Australians of the 2008/9 global financial crisis.

Of the estimated $670billion increase in debt since, about half is attributable to action to combat the impact on Australians of the global COVID pandemic. So it's not "Liberal" or "Labor" debt, it's Australia's.

King Charles has pledged not to talk about climate change and environmental matters. As a world leader in relation to climate change and the environment in general, these involvements by King Charles, and his obviously well researched associated comments, will be very much missed by a large number of people across the globe.

I can understand a pledge being made in relation to not talking about politics, but about climate change and the environment I find to be unnecessary and bewildering.