By raising money, carrying a lantern or donating, you’ve shined a light on families facing blood cancer, showing them they’re not alone even in their darkest hour.

The Leukaemia Foundation provides families with blood cancer with emotional and practical support, information and educational resources to beat blood cancer.

Almost $8800 has been raised by the wonderful Wagga community. Thanks to you, patients will receive transport to and from medical appointments, hundreds of regional families will be provided with free home-away-from-home accommodation near their treating centres and you are helping more Australians with blood cancer survive and live a better quality of life.

Thank you for your support as together we will be there to provide every family with the support services they need to beat their blood cancer.

With your help we’re lighting the way forward.

This week’s announcement by the Berejiklian State Government to demolish and replace one perfectly good sporting arena and rebuild another to the tune of $2.7 billion is a shining example of the contempt with which country residents who live west of the Great Divide are held by the elected representatives of this State.

Nobody loves their sport more than I do, especially rugby league. However, when you pick up the daily tabloids and read how essential services in the bush are being downgraded, politicians telling constituents there is no funding for the local hospital or school, towns without a doctor and the list goes on, it really makes you wonder if any one of those who fill the halls of Macquarie Street have ever heard of the word fairdinkum.  Just recently, Tumut’s own Gadara school for pupils with special needs was denied a miserable $8000 to assist with the registration of the Parents and Citizens’ owned school buses. To rub salt into the wounds some days later the minister of the day made an announcements of gigantic proportions telling all and sundry how many millions upon millions of dollars are going to be spent on housing and other infrastructure in our already overcrowded metropolitan areas and the coastal fringes.

Thirty-odd years ago politicians from all persuasions thought they had invented a new catch cry, it was called decentralisation. They were going to bolster towns in the bush with sustainable industry, funding and a population to support the industry. All the pollies and bureaucrats want now, is to build high rise apartment blocks, and of course they are able to find funding the infrastructure needs to handle the population overgrowth. Again, no dollars for the bush. Then you hear the pollies and bureaucrats questioning the reasons why the electorate is so cynical.

Considering what I have outlined above makes one wonder how the politicians of today, regardless of persuasion, can seriously look their constituents in the eye. The announcement made last week regarding the development of the sporting arenas in Sydney is just another example of how “second class” country citizens really are in this once great state of New South Wales.