Much of the commentary has focused on the fact that “no one” has heard of Mr McCormack, either ignoring the fact that he is clearly well known within his electorate or more likely dismissing that as being quite irrelevant. After all, what does it matter if the country folk of the Riverina are familiar with Mr McCormack – it’s not as if us country folk matter anyway!

It’s hard to imagine now, but at some point I am sure even Barnaby Joyce was an “unknown” to the vast majority of Australians, and the same could be said of most of our famous and infamous politicians.

One thing is certain – I, for one, now know far more than I ever wanted to know about Barnaby Joyce.

It's mind-boggling that vulnerable women and girls of Wodonga have medical privacy while a few kilometres away those in Albury continue to be harassed. I pray for change.

But change will only happen if enough people call for it. 

I urge people to support the Reproductive Rights Rally in QEII Square on Saturday March 24 at 1pm. 

The Victorian Labor government has pushed a labour hire licencing scheme through the lower house without consultation or consideration for its impact on farmers. They naively hope the scheme will prevent the exploitation of workers, but VFF Horticulture Group is gravely concerned this scheme will destroy access to labour through complex compliance regulation, and still fail to provide the necessary protection to vulnerable workers. 

There are already many state and federal laws and regulations that make labour exploitation illegal, the crucial missing element is uniform enforcement. We need access to a reliable workforce with contract hire managed through a national licencing system with clear audit and enforcement processes, to remove and prosecute rogue operators. 

Creating disjointed schemes in different states creates inequalities between growers and the red tape will force legitimate businesses out of the industry. We are asking readers to contact their local upper house representatives to let them know this bill passed must be defeated. It will simply disadvantage local farmers, without preventing unethical practices and put the horticulture and meat industries at risk. 

Love the Americans’ logic: “The only thing that will stop a bad guy with a gun, is a good guy with a gun”. That may be correct. But hey guys, what if the bad guy was unable to get a gun in the first place?

Why is the Rotary Club banning dogs from the Sunday markets? The people and most of the stall holders want the dogs to stay but from the start of March, dogs will be banned from the public car park while the markets are on. It’s a chance to socialise dogs with people and they want to take it away.