They are a vital part of the seasonal workforce but should not be seen as a substitute for full-time Australian workers.

What concerns me about Michael McCormack's comments in the DA on February 5 is him saying "other MPs don't fully appreciate how this tax change will affect regions of rural Australia".

Surely as a federal representative, an MP must vote for what is good for the nation.

They have to realise that agriculture is one of the few industries we have left that creates wealth for the nation. I mean, what do 5 million people in Sydney do?

What governments seem to do, both at a state and federal level, is to make it harder and harder for farmers to make a profit, even though Australian farmers are becoming more and more efficient.

As a possible future leader of his party and therefore deputy prime minister, we need Mr McCormack to carry this message to his city-based Coalition partners and remind them they will most likely need the Nationals vote to remain in government.

SOMETIMES lateral thinking is needed to secure an opportunity.

Here is the opportunity: merge Tumut, Gundagai and Cootamundra shires to create a strong foundation for governance in our region, with the governance centred in the geographic centre of the new shire - Gundagai.

Tumut council publicly accepts the inevitability of a merger with another shire, and would prefer Gundagai in the mix. Cootamundra accepts the benefits of a merger, initially with Harden, but now with Gundagai. Gundagai wants to stay independent, largely because it fears job losses, and Tumbarumba doesn’t want to merge with any other shire.

The merging of three Shires is not beyond comprehension, as has been demonstrated in IPART’s initial proposals that Tumut, Tumbarumba and Gundagai merge, and the IPART and state government proposal that Harden, Young and Boorowa merge.

A merger of Tumut, Gundagai and Cootamundra should be able to address the concerns of these three councils, plus the concerns of Tumbarumba, which can be left independent.

Add to this scenario the benefit that the number of local government staff employed today in Gundagai is protected into the future under the Local Government Act, as Gundagai has fewer than 5000 residents. Therefore, the greatest savings from reducing the number of senior staff in local government in our new region will be achieved by basing the administrative centre in Gundagai.

Will Tumut and Cootamundra oppose this idea because the administrative centre moves from Tumut and Cootamundra to Gundagai? They shouldn’t because they publicly support the merits of Council mergers. Will Gundagai oppose this idea? They shouldn’t because of the benefits to Gundagai of basing a larger local government office in its community.

We wanted to extend a heartfelt thank you to some very kind people in our community. On January 10, we enjoyed a lovely breakfast at Infuso Cafe in Mt Austin.

We left Infuso feeling full and happy, however, in our culinary daze we managed to leave our wallet behind.

Despite minimal ID inside our wallet, the staff at Infuso managed to track us down. We truly appreciate your extraordinary efforts and honesty in returning our wallet.