Thursday, December 31, 2015

As the initial first responder from the Barnawartha Fire Brigade I am amazed at the foresight of Mr Banks. 

Given the detoriating weather conditions at the time and the point of origin of the fire I doubt very much if even the Mt Pilot tower had been manned that the timeframe for his system of alerting would have been any quicker to brigades. 

I find ramblings like this not only upset the residents of the fire affected community but also CFA volunteers that battled this fire. We knew the tower was not manned and the reasons for it. 

I feel the tower operator's safety is of paramount importance and the comments are misleading and of no help in the recovery phase that is in place now for this fire affected area.

AS its name suggests, the Andrews Labor Government's Fair Go Rate cap is about giving local residents a fair go.

With Wodonga ratepayers facing an average rate increase of 5.18 per cent every year for the last decade, enough is enough.

Just like households, councils need to budget, and they need to make responsible decisions about their spending.

With council rate rises across the state capped to 2.5 per cent in 2016-17, our Fair Go Rates system will encourage councils to do exactly this.

If a council wants a higher cap they can apply for permission from the Essential Services Commission. 

But to do so, they will need to prove that they have consulted their local community and their budget is as efficient as it can be.

We designed the Fair Go Rates system to give councils this flexibility because we don’t want to see  important community facilities or services cut.

But we do want councils to get back to funding the things that matter to their communities.

Our message couldn’t be clearer: residents deserve a  say and councils need to be listening.

WHEN needing to send an urgent letter, Australia Post guarantees next day delivery within their express post network. 

Just a word of warning – this network does not include the Albury-Wodonga region, while their website advises it will still be the quickest way to send your letter.

Understandably, Australia Post can limit their network, but it would be appreciated if locals using the service could be greater informed of this when posting their mail. 

AS A regional food producer I welcome the latest support being received from member for Farrer Sussan Ley.

In a Christmas message, she highlighted the need for social and economic assessment of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. Ms Ley has also demanded audits of environmental water, including results so far and how it is going to be delivered.

It will be interesting to see the response she receives from the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, which has under-estimated the plan’s social and economic impacts.

But it’s not only our region that is suffering. Our nation, at a time when it is reeling in debt, is missing billions of dollars in economic activity, simply because we have not been able to find the right balance between food production and environment flows for our limited water resources.

In 2016 food producers look forward to working with Ms Ley to tip the scales back towards common sense.