Your say: Wagga Guides reunite almost 50 years on from Mexico trip

Jean Nancarrow, the Guide leader of the First Turvey Park Guide Group at the time had previously travelled to Our Cabana, one of the five World Association of Girl Guide and Girl Scout Centres (WAGGGS). World Centres enable Girl Guides from around the world to connect, explore and become empowered young women with the confidence and leadership skills to create a better world.

Once back in Wagga Wagga, Ms Nancarrow was determined to create this experience for the Girl Guides from Wagga Wagga. After much fund-raising and convincing nervous parents, nine Girl Guides and six Guide leaders headed off to Los Angeles, California, Mexico City and Cuernavaca, Mexico in December 1976.

Sally Pizzey, Lisa Parker, Meredith Veale, Merrilee Hansford, Janette Graham, Jane Anderson, Kay Dunn, Megan Plant and Tanya Toohey had the opportunity to visit Our Cabana, Mexico.

This was made possible by their amazing Guide Leader, Jean Nancarrow (Lieutie), Jenny Heinjus and other leaders. A day spent at Disneyland and a visit to an ice cream parlour with their Girl Guide billets in Los Angeles were also highlights. Many life-long friendships continue, between the girls and their leaders as well as with the many people they met on the trip all those years ago.

After much reminiscing and laughter, this group are already planning their next reunion.

On Thursday, Nationals leader David Littleproud called for restraint in outrage over the deaths of aid workers in Gaza, including Australia's Zomi Frankcom.

He tells Sky News, "I think we just need to be careful in understanding while the grief is raw, there is circumstances here beyond the control of a government itself and they admit the mistake; that those mistakes happen in an environment such as war".

Let's call a spade a spade:

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's government ministers have been very clear that denial of aid is a tactic for defeating Hamas and negotiating the release of hostages - these attacks are a feature of their approach not a bug.

We then keep being told that aid worker and civilian casualties - even 'mistakes' - are solely at the hands of Hamas. This is logically incoherent. Hamas is evil - but Netanyahu's approach to negotiations is based on the expectation that Hamas has a greater moral compass than his government: that Hamas will acquiesce as more people die.

Expecting terrorists to value human lives is a ludicrous, contradictory proposition that the Israeli government has leveraged to kill more than 33,000 Palestinians - and is happy to bet at least a million more lives on through purposive starvation. And not just any lives. In famines, it is babies (in utero and newborns), toddlers, pregnant and nursing women, and the elderly who are the first to die because of their greater nutritional needs and frailty - which is what is now occurring.

So why are the Nationals and Liberals blindly echoing Netanyahu's propaganda that this is just an unfortunate cost of doing business? It is worse than Labour's own pitiful 'outrage' - coming only now because an Aussie aid worker was killed. Why are they not coming out with a stronger position seeking to de-escalate a conflict that is now expanding, pulling resources and focus from the war in Ukraine, and putting us all at risk?

Surely this does not reflect the views of us, their constituents. Do the people of the Riverina really view systematic civilian and aid worker attacks as just acceptable 'whoopsie-daisies'?

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