Four years of working in a prison left me with a horror of ever finding myself an inmate. A friend of mine was recently imprisoned in the Victorian prison system where he was brutally bashed and suffered other abuses. This is not unusual, whether in a male or female prison.

All the TV and regular meals do not begin to make up for the danger of being set upon by other inmates or those running a prison. This is as well as the psychological abuse of being stripped of personhood that imprisonment entails. Undoubtedly Margaret means well. Very few of us are aware of what imprisonment really involves.

There must be a better solution found to help our homeless brothers and sisters. But please do not imprison them.

I write in reference to Kevin Mack's latest message in “News From Alburycity”, about our landfill life of another 15 years or so, and domestic waste collection.

Albury Council should not have invited every other shire around the place to use our landfill. Albury Council sacrificed a long-term waste disposal area for income and now Albury ratepayers are starting to feel the pain of rationalising our waste disposal, because now the council can see, with further development and increasing population, here and in other shires, there will be a future problem of where the rubbish goes.

Other shires should have taken responsibility for their own waste problems, but Albury Council made it all too easy for them. Maybe it is time to advise other shires to make alternative plans for their waste.

The major parties are failing the electors and residents of Australia.

They have become point-scoring machines, more interested in big-noting themselves than in providing proper government for Australia.

When either party tries to pass legislation in the interests of Australian citizens, the other party opposes the legislation on principle.

While they whinge about the powers of one-issue senators to block legislation, they ignore the fact that, if both parties supported legislation when it is advantageous to Australia and its people, the ratbag element in the Australian Parliament would be powerless in blocking or amending that legislation.

It is time that the Coalition and the Labor Party realised that they are not there to represent the people who voted or may vote for them. The electors who voted for the major parties and Australians generally are entitled to expect that the major parties will  represent all the people of Australia and not just those who voted for them.

Unless the major parties co-operate with each other in passing sensible legislation, they will cease to exist and Australia will be governed by a ragtag group of single issue independents.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank most sincerely the young man and the lady who came to my assistance when I almost fell getting on the escalator in the Myer centre car park last week.

I really appreciate their assistance. From my experience I can only commend the actions of the young generation.

I have found them to be kind, thoughtful and helpful.

As my Samaritans of last Wednesday left too quickly for me and my daughter to thank them properly, I really appreciate this opportunity.