All those public meetings that were held protesting against the mergers were a complete waste of time and effort. 

Realistically, the government had already made up its mind and was just going through the motions to make out that everything was fair and above board. 

It may only be a coincidence that the person who was responsible for reporting the findings of those meetings back to the government, John Turner, held the role of deputy leader of the National Party in NSW from 1999 to 2003.

And perhaps it is a coincidence that he has been rewarded for his efforts by being appointed administrator of the Mid-Coast Council.

And while on the subject of coincidences, Christine Ferguson, who has been appointed administrator of the Gundagai/Cootamundra merger, just happens to be a life member of the National Party and was elected the party’s federal president in 2012.

How lucky was Walcha to have Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce in their corner?

Because of his intervention, Walcha will now stand alone.

I don’t like saying that I told you so – but I will. 

In my letter in February to the Gundagai Independent, I gave this advice to mayor Abb McCallister and co: “if you think that you will get help from Katrina Hodgkinson MP, just forget about it. You’re only wasting your time”.

My advice was spot-on. 

Ms Hodgkinson is on record as saying that she worked tirelessly and gave it her all to prevent the amalgamations.

However, whatever she may claim to have done is overshadowed by the fact that she voted with her party to bring about council amalgamations in the first place.

And she voted along with her colleagues against releasing the KPMG report because it may have, in all probability, supported all councils’ efforts to stand alone. 

And it must be remembered that she had to be dragged screaming and kicking just to attend one of our meetings.

And it did not instill much confidence in anyone when she addressed the meeting with a few feeble and uninspiring words.

It was obvious to everyone from her demeanour that she was disinterested and was only there under sufferance.

I read just recently where Member for Riverina Michael McCormack has said that he cannot intervene in the dispute because it is a state matter. 

Perhaps someone should remind Michael that being a federal politician didn’t stop his leader, Barnaby Joyce, from successfully intervening in the Walcha proposed merger. 

I believe that the main contributing factor to council’s downfall was to place too much faith in a safe-seat MP.

Katrina Hodgkinson has put the ill-conceived policies of a handful of her back-flipping, promise-breaking colleagues first, and put the wishes of the vast majority of her now shell-shocked constituents second. 

So much for the democratic process.

I’M NOT sure if the readers of this newspaper are aware of the problems of our city on the other side of the tracks, so to speak.

I'm talking about Tolland.

It would be the worst suburb of Wagga.

The area around Denis Crescent and Rae Street with boarded-up houses, houses that have been vandalised, rubbish bins turned over with rubbish all over the street, graffiti on every light pole, groups of young people roaming the streets all hours of the night.

I don't know how they go to school.

Is this the way a our society is heading?