No, not shocked, because it's been evident for many years now that walk-in customers are a little more than annoying botflies buzzing around stealing employee attention from more lucrative tasks. Rather, I'm amazed that they condescend to open their doors at all to we multitudes of the great unwashed.

And it's nice to know that we have geniuses like Snowy Valleys mayor James Hayes who can explain why slashing banking hours by over a third is nothing to worry about.

His informative reassurance that even though funnelling customers into a three-and-a-half-hour window of banking time "will change the way people bank" (or are unable to bank, one might think), he's "not too worried as it's just part of change".

Got that? "Change is just part of change", so get over it. Phew! What a load off the collective mind genuine intellectual insight can provide!

Mayor Hayes, who is also a Bendigo Bank director, obviously sees no potential conflict of interest when he assures all of us ordinary punters that "less face-to-face contact will not have a major impact".

Well, no it won't I suppose; going to the bank is already the most miserable part of the day so one more poke in the eye is likely to go pretty much unnoticed.

Regarding the article "Frustrating: Long wait for COVID test results", July 24.

I am sure if the mind-boggled, anonymous 34-year-old whinger had told Laverty staff of her importance and impatience to received her "passport" for her weekend away the already overworked Laverty staff would have fast forwarded her straight to number one ahead of the other 500,000 people tested that week.

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Robert T Walker counters Graham Parton's so-called "faulty logic" with his own fruity logic, and likens carbon auditing to eating apples ("Pointing out faulty logic", July 23). If only it were that simple. A major challenge for the Australian economy is the likely introduction of carbon border tariffs by our trading partners.

A carbon border tariff is a charge imposed on overseas businesses that make products leading to greenhouse gases being pumped into the atmosphere but don't face a cost for them at home. This is the case in Australia.

A recent investigation by Deloitte Access Economics found that the effect of carbon border tariffs on the Australian economy, with no action on climate change, means additional costs in the order of $15 billion by the end of this decade with over 70,000 fewer jobs created.

With Barnaby Joyce holding the Morrison government hostage over a net-zero 2050 emissions target, Australia is making little headway.

But getting back to apples. Fortunately, apple production systems can sequester carbon and act as carbon sinks.

Next time Mr Walker munches on an apple, let's hope he remembers the importance of accounting for carbon.