Greg Mirabella’s negative condemnation of the Liberal coalition partner the Nationals was a copy plate of what the electors of Indi suffered in the Panopoulos-Mirabella era. Border Mail readers became so familiar with Sophie and the headline seeking stunts she sought to pull off more often than not for the wrong reasons (national Sorry Day, terrorists within the Parliamentary Liberal party etc.)

Unlike Greg, Cathy McGowan graciously welcomed deputy Nationals leader Senator Bridget McKenzie to Wodonga. Having the high-profile senator based in North East Victoria who has the runs on the board, a tireless worker for rural and provincial Australia, will be a great asset to the electorate. 

Finally the only positive to come out of Greg's interview was that he is now having second thoughts about nominating for Liberal endorsement for Indi. Greg Mirabella could muster only a relatively small number of votes when he stood for the local government election in Wangaratta. I believe a prospective candidate would have to be in complete dream world to gain the respect and trust of any federal electorate when you cannot get a seat at your local council.

Instead of being miffed, Greg Mirabella should welcome Senator Bridget McKenzie’s intention to establish a Coalition federal presence in Indi (‘Libs fume over office move’, The Border Mail, October 25).

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The resources that an electorate office in Wodonga will bring will materially assist in returning Indi to Coalition hands. Mr Mirabella would be better employed reflecting on why his beloved Liberal Senators for Victoria have their offices in Mentone, Richmond, South Melbourne and Moonee Ponds respectively. He should ponder why not one of them believes regional Victoria is sufficiently important to warrant a presence by a Liberal Senator. 

It was refreshing to read John  Walker’s letter (‘Populist without policy’, The Border Mail, October 23) and for someone to finally call out the lack of political understanding by a large percentage of the voting public.

As John Walker says “the Labor and Liberal  parties are the only parties that are forced to promote a long-term economic plan for the country, whereas populist candidates promote ideas which seldom have much to do with wealth creation”.

Father Brendan Lee says in The Border Mail on October 24 that people make their decision to vote for a politician on ‘emotional’  grounds, which I would think has very little to do with good government.

And the fact that good governance of this country has actually gone backwards over the last 10 years surely shows that very little positive effect has come from electing Independents. 

It would seem that if this trend continues, the popularly elected government of the day will be held to ransom, and the longed for prosperity and productivity gains will not eventuate.