The claims duck numbers were plentiful was no more than wishful thinking or a fantasy dream by some shooters and indeed irresponsible politicians who opposed the closure of the season this year.

The sad and most stupid part is that next year will see even less numbers of ducks; they are being shot into endangerment.

Even though the guns blasting away has diminished, it still indicates some shooters would shoot every last duck just to make them feel manly in their quest to put wild food on the table.

The few black ducks and teal that did breed on our wetlands were heavily preyed upon by hawks and foxes, negatively impacting numbers even further.

This is exactly how species survival gets into trouble.

Tim McCurdy was one politician, among others, who fought hard for the killing to go on.

Had commonsense prevailed the ducks would have been given a chance to breed towards greater numbers again, allowing shooters to continue with their so called sport.

Just one season among dozens would have actually demonstrated that shooters care about sustainability of duck populations, making the public less critical of the sport.

Our politicians failed in their duty of care to the environment, and indeed the shooters. Finally this all makes the tourism benefits from duck shooting absolutely ridiculous; hey Tim?

I AM writing to you about the standards of health services in Australia and how it affects the lives of ordinary Australians. 

My husband was registered with Albury-Wodonga Health Care on August 3, 2015, to undergo a procedure for a lesion in his bowel. At the time of registration we were told that there would be a three-month wait. 

After the three-month period, I phoned the hospital a number of times to ascertain when the procedure would proceed. I was not given a definite time but was advised that they would let us know. Finally, we were notified that the procedure would take place on February 11, 2016. 

This had blown out to a more than a six-month wait. 

On February 11,  the surgeon ordered a scan to be done. The subsequent scan revealed the cancer had now spread to my husband’s liver and lungs and nothing could be done. 

I am disappointed and angry that the wait had allowed the cancer to spread from my husband’s bowel to other organs in his body. 

We are told by governments (both state and federal) that we enjoy a top health care system. If the health treatment my husband has received is top class then the good Lord help us. 

TO my knowledge the vast majority of Australians are heterosexual, so why is this topic taking up so much time of our government leader’s time? 

Why should I as a straight guy have to vote on this issue when I really couldn’t care less.  

If gay people of either sex want to marry each other then go for it but don’t waste my time. If however the powers that be deem it necessary that every Australian have a say, even if they don’t really care then why should their taxes be spent on it?

As I understand, and am open to correction, a plebiscite vote is not compulsory anyway so you may well get only the gay people voting. If we have to vote with a federal election looming, why can’t an extra yes or no box be added to the election paper?