He is supposedly worried about jobs. Go back 20 years and think of how many green grocers, delis, butcher shops, corner shops, service stations, bakers etc we had. Coles and Woolies destroyed them with their predatory pricing and massive advertising campaigns.

For every job they created, three were lost in the small shops. Finally Coles and Woolies have some competition and, for the first time, they are feeling the heat of real competition.

Last weekend’s open garden at Bowna was amazing and our region is blessed to have such kind generous people like the owners. Gardens bring people together and create desirable lifestyles and make our region a show piece. Well done to all involved. The Border Mail showed great support for the event and the paper is so important in our community to take us all forward.

We have a problem with juvenile crime and most normal people like me have been saying that for years.

With soft or no jail sentences and juvenile detention better than many resorts, what do you expect? 

Add to this the parole board, that is out of touch with reality, and judges and magistrates, who are pathetically weak with sentences, and you have the beginning of anarchy which we are now seeing.

Criminals are treated a lot better than the victims. If they get caught then they go to a nice centre with all the amenities you can imagine and great food etc, which is far better than our pensioners get. And then what do these little thugs do? They destroy it and intimidate the staff while the government tries to hush it up. Wake up, because you elected these pathetic governments that have been weakening the laws for years.

Tell your local politicians to get tougher with the criminals or you will not vote for them. They will do something about it when their lucrative pay packet is on the line.

Despite the Turnbull government billboards flashing "people smuggler" slogans and stars and stripes gimmicks, the Australian international reputation has been nourished by the conscience of great Australians rather than politicians.

The "guilt-edged" attacks on the president of the Australian Human Rights Commission by the Turnbull government will be worn as a badge of honour by professor Triggs as she joins a handful of great Australians whose courage in public office have defined  those values that have built our national identity.

Gillian Triggs, Sir William Deane and Professor Marie Bashir have embodied and defended the values of a "fair go", of justice and equality in the face of political forgetfulness.

Despite the deafening  barrage of conservative political missiles toward Professor Triggs, Australia's most steadfast ally has been the quiet unfettered exercise of conscience surprisingly exemplified not by parading prelates, military commanders or champagne Charlies, but in policies that uphold principles of compassionate treatment of vulnerable people.

The current climate "down under" has produced a drought of kindness and compassion.

Professor Triggs has called out the "cruelty that dare not speak its name" and the efforts of the current government in silencing her may backfire as a "cooee" to recover authentic Australian values.