To the person reporting the bloke over the road for not wearing a mask, the person leaping into the bushes because someone nearby sneezes, the person holding their breath as a cyclist rides past ... get a grip.

Yes, we all need to be careful and considerate and we should be doing what we can to minimise the chances of potential coronavirus cases, but let's keep things in perspective here.

There are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 currently on the Border, there are usually reasons behind the apparent poor decisions of others and there is always the option to stay home if you really feel that unsafe.

Let the sensible people of the community go about their business and stop being so paranoid.

I fully concur with Jim Jefferies' approach on the problems that are being imposed on us by city-centric state governments ('Absurdity of fiefdoms laid bare', The Border Mail, August 24) .

The Murray region is suffering from the ignorance evident in Sydney, Tweeds Head/Coolangatta is suffering from Brisbane, SA/Vic border from Adelaide, Border Village from Perth and the Stuart Highway from Darwin. The states and territories have been well past their use-by dates for decades.

Get rid of the states.

IN OTHER NEWS:

I own a timbered lifestyle block in Ardlethan for my children to enjoy country life.

The block borders a residential area and lies within a flood zone, so I am regulated with regards to any buildings I can develop or alterations to the lay of the land. My experience has also shown I cannot graze the property as the fences are regularly destroyed due to flood waters. Because I border a creek, under the pesticides act I can't spray the property to control fuel loads and I have native grasses which are protected by native vegetation laws so I can't use machinery on the property to cultivate it.

If I burn the property, my insurance company refuses to insure me for liability should a fire escape the property. I am also liable if smoke obstructs the Newell Highway which adjoins the property.

When I have done the right thing by the community and burnt the property to control the fuel load, a number of trees caught alight and over a week, trees with a base of one metre fell to the ground, leaving me liable for personal injury if somebody was trespassing.

So can somebody please tell me, other than paying someone to trim acres and acres of grass with Whipper Snippers, to collect leaf litter, how am I expected to reduce the fuel load of fallen timber and dried grass when there are laws prohibiting every action I can take? Simply authorising the Rural Fire Service to burn my property doesn't solve the issues I face, nor change my liabilities.

The problem is that I can't make commonsense decisions about management techniques I can best apply to my land without breaking the law.

MORE OPINION

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