Every transport business uses the buzz word “logistics” on their vehicles and in their advertising except for Australia Post. They don't seem to understand the meaning of the word. Oooops! Sorry, yes they do, they interpret it as meaning “increase charges and decrease services”.

Logistics: In a general business sense, logistics is the management of the flow of things between the point of origin and the point of consumption in order to meet requirements of customers or corporations.

I don't think customer requirements mean to send their mail via Canberra. Don't get me wrong, I find the staff are fantastic, it's just that the system leaves one scratching their head.

It is interesting to see the Labor Leader Bill Shorten jumping on the initiative of the Corowa (birth place of Federation) branch of the Liberal Party in seeking four-year terms for the federal government.

The Corowa branch has had two motions supporting a four-year fixed term cycle for federal parliament passed by the NSW Liberal Party's State Council in the past couple of years. This has been followed up by a recent petition, both locally and at last weekend's Liberal party convention is Sydney, where it has been widely supported.

It is disappointing as is often the case, the negative response had gained more coverage than the positive. It is only to be expected that people like Senator Nick Xenophon would oppose such a change for self-interested reasons. Part of our petition is for a half Senate election each four years. It was clearly demonstrated in the recent double dissolution, a full Senate election halved the percentage of the vote needed to be elected to the Senate, making it much easier for minor parties like the Xenophon Party and independents to be elected, and creating the dysfunction we currently have in the Senate.

We think the benefits of four-year terms outweigh the negatives, giving governments more time to implement their less popular policies and for the benefits of these to be recognised before they start electioneering again. We understand there are only seven countries that have three-year election cycles and 330 who have four or five-year terms, as well as all the states who have four-year cycles.

Water is the lifeblood of communities across Northern Victoria. It fuels agriculture, recreation and tourism, and has a multitude of other functions from which our communities and environment derive important benefits.

The Nationals recognise the importance of healthy waterways, which is why recently we moved to establish a Parliamentary Inquiry into the Management, Use and Governance of Environmental Water. This is a chance for water users, concerned community members and stakeholder groups to give their views.

Written submissions are now being accepted. These can be emailed to enrrdc@parliament.vic.gov.au. I strongly urge all interested parties to take up this opportunity before submissions close on August 25.

A letter in Tuesday’s Border Mail incorrectly identified Bill Baxter as State President of the Nationals for regional Victoria. The Nationals’ current president is Neil Pankhurst.