Reflecting on this I thought it might also be a good idea if parents in our cities kept their under age children contained at night, instead of letting them roam round the cities. Some, very young, are being led astray by older people. 

I am aware cats can do harm to birds and small animals but people can do harm to property and humans. I think we should be more concerned about vandalism and harming humans before cats. Animals are an easy target, but very little is being done about destructive and unruly behaviour. 

If we are to have a cat-free zone at Thurgoona, could we please have a yapper-free day and night in Lavington and Hamilton Valley. Owners please love your pets, don’t ignore them.

Cutting penalty rates will hurt family budgets and the federal budget. It's bad for workers, bad for households and bad for the economy.

One of the great things about being an independent representative is the freedom to work with all sides of politics to get the best results for the people of Indi.

Keiran Klemm rightly points out (The Border Mail, March 25) that Senator Bridget McKenzie hosted forums in north-east Victoria to determine the needs of young people in rural areas though failed to include that in a speech to Parliament on March 22 I thanked Senator McKenzie for her work and welcomed the government’s move to make higher education more accessible for rural and regional students.

I was pleased to support the legislation. As always I welcome feedback and encourage people to check my speeches at my webpage cathymcgowan.com.au under “Parliament”.

I write in response to Mr Liscomb’s letter (The Border Mail, March 25) “Don't blame the British”. 

Looking at the historical facts in context, what the British government did or allowed to happen to their own people does not excuse them for what they did in Ireland.

They emigrated thousands of Scots to Ireland in an attempt to breed out the Irish and left Northern Ireland at war with the rest of Ireland.

Because of the British government policy of phase-a-fare more than one million Irish starved to death in the midst of plenty, more than one million emigrated and after the potato famine the poor houses were full of orphaned children and adolescents who were then shipped to England, America and Australia as farm hands and domestic servants, including my great-grandmother. 

But why focus on Ireland only? Without British ships and the protection of the British navy it would have been impossible for thousands of Africans to be shipped in horrific conditions to the slave markets of New Orleans.

They annihilated thousands of Australian Aborigines, chain ganged and incarcerated into camps thousands more, a policy we continued to our eternal shame – the stolen generation. When they left India they seceded Pakistan from the rest of India and left the continent on the brink of war ever since. They tried to subjugate New Zealand and ran into a brick wall, so they drew up a treaty to which they have never honoured.

Wherever the British went in the world they caused mayhem and destruction on numerous indigenous populations. So yeah, why shouldn't we blame the British.