Nationals must stand up
Do you voters remember that just prior to the last election we all received a nice colourful brochure from Michael McCormack telling us about all the wonderful cash handouts that he has arranged for various clubs and groups in our electorate?
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It looked great at the election and the thought you were supposed to get was that he was doing great work for us all in making sure we got our fair share of taxes spent on good things in our electorate. Even the local marbles club seemed to get some!
Well, that is all rubbish. Nearly every member of parliament could have sent out similar garbage to their electorates.
What we want to see is the Nationals standing up for regional Australia and actually doing some good for the country.
After the election Michael was part of a group of government MPs who went to Dubbo for a talk fest on the drought.
And what was the result for each farmer? Nothing. Except that they are setting up a big government fund, of a piddling $100 million, to help all farmers in the future.
And no doubt creating another mob of government employees to oversee this bit of expenditure. Not a word about saving broken dairy farmers and helping farmers to stave off cheap imports. Not a word about having the intestinal fortitude to build some new water storages and drought-proof some of the country for the future.
I understand Michael does not reply to letters in the papers, but I am very sick of waiting for something 'big' to get started.
Michael might even do something about the robbing of our farmers of water that is being wasted in the bottom of the mighty Murray?
Des Goonan, Wagga
Put the bill to the people
When did Australia become a communist country? Why is it we don't have a referendum on important issues?
If there is an important issue, why can't it be put to a referendum, like it used be? There would be very little cost if it is run at an election.
I am not against abortion in early pregnancy, but I am against abortion at 22 weeks or birth. I consider this to be murder.
I am against politicians making these decisions when it should be put to the people.
When will the people have a say in the country? What the politicians are doing now is what communist countries do to their people. I didn't vote for an independent, but I must congratulate Joe McGirr for voting no and defending babies who can't defend themselves.
Peter Wright, Wagga
The cycle starts again
As a farmer who has spent a lifetime studying the life cycle of parasites, I am now turning my attention to studying the life cycle of the liberal free-market system of economic rationalism. First, find gold in any form - it could be coal, iron ore, wool, meat, milk, wood, almonds, or anything worth a dollar, but better if it is scarce.
Then the cycle starts, boom and bust, greed and fear, rape and pillage. Recession, depression, unemployment.
The situation we irrigation food-producing farmers find ourselves in right now is because of the 2007 water act drawn up by Malcolm Turnbull. The act perfectly turned water into gold. The liberal free-market cycle is underway.
Russell Crichton, Cohuna
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