Good people out there
I am largely confined to my electric wheelchair these days. Recently I was sitting in my wheelchair thinking.
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I was in the playground in Pat Gould park. Two young ladies came by with their scooters. I guessed their age to be about 10, but it’s dangerous to try to guess a lady’s age.
When I was thinking, one young lady asked, “Are you all right, Mr?” I replied, “Yes, I’m all right and thanks for asking.” How proud must the parents be of those two young ladies. And that episode reminded me of a couple of weeks ago when I was stuck in gravel at the side of Pemberton Street. Two men stopped their cars and came back and manhandled my wheelchair and me out of the gravel. Isn’t it sad that all we hear on the news is about bad people and nothing about people like the two young ladies or the two gentlemen who go out of their way to help others without seeking any reward.
Gordon Osmond, West Albury
Church must change
The indictment of George Pell has caused our society to look at how our legal system handles the involvement of children in the judicial process and the place of the churches in our society.
As a penal colony NSW inherited legal processes from the mother country. Such laws were in place to protect the king and the nobles against the thuggery of the serfs and the lower classes.
Our present judicial system is adversarial and combative and is not well suited to family law cases and for crimes against children, who may be unable to understand or be able to tell others what is happening.
Since the arrival of white settlers, religion has played a major role in our society and clergymen given a venerable status. Governments have always offered special consideration to the churches because it could mean votes, as well as education, care of the less fortunate and the advantages of having a God-fearing society.
Many Australians, both clergy and lay people, are sincere in their beliefs and they have been shattered to hear the evidence during the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. We have taken for granted that the clergy take their instructions from Rome, putting their religious institution first, but where does this fit with the needs of the society, in this day and age, especially the needs of women and children, and the law of the land?
Perhaps it is time that the faithful took back their organisations, installing more women in decision-making positions and no longer accepting rules handed down by celibate males dressed in ceremonial robes.
Ann Brennan, West Albury
Murray may go too
There is increasing commentary on the plight of the Nationals and the fact they may cost the Coalition the March 23 NSW election. One report this week stated the Nationals are in trouble in Upper Hunter, Lismore, Tweed, Barwon and Coffs Harbour. I am surprised there was no mention of Murray, where there is massive discontent at the manner in which the Nats have abandoned this once traditional heartland.
It used to be a safe seat, but was retained by only a narrow margin at a byelection in October 2017. With the anger boiling over at lack of representation in this electorate, I think Murray should be near the top of any list of seats that the government could lose.
