Daily fright on our roads
WE have a major issue right across regional Victoria from Mitta to Eskdale, from Tallangatta to Wodonga, via the Weir, especially, and also the Kiewa Valley Highway. The roads are a death trap. The amount of people out here expressing their concerns and giving details of vehicle damage shows that the people have had enough. The amount of swerving, near misses, the scrunch and pop of our tyres rims and suspension is costing people so much grief, and for what? VicRoads won't listen to our complaints. The only thing they do is put 40kmh signs up and walk away so claims can't be made against them. I drive six days a week from Tallangatta to Wodonga and the fear of those roads has me on edge every time. The trucks are ripping the potholes even more and they remain untouched and dangerous. Please if there is anything you can do to help our communities, reach out and we will talk. VicRoads ignore our calls and concerns. It is not dramatic when we say someone will die with these conditions or have a serious accident.
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Amy Burkitt, Tallangatta
We must demand better
READING the story about Jayda Cousins, I felt a profound sense of sympathy for her personal struggle and the distress faced by her family. However, this empathy is paired with a deep-seated frustration and despair at the obvious deficiencies in mental health care available to our community. It is abundantly clear that there is a dire need for a more committed political willpower to establish a competent mental health system - one that is preventive, responsive, and in line with the expectations of our community. In assessing the response of the health services, it is simply no longer acceptable to receive disingenuous apologies and empty promises of continued systemic improvement when basic needs are not being met. The problems within our mental health services are neither new nor unknown; they are deeply embedded and recurring issues. Mere lip service does not suffice anymore. There is an urgent need for concrete action, reform, and visible changes to the system. We can no longer allow bureaucratic red-tape to stand in the way of critical healthcare improvement. The fight for quality mental health care should be a priority, not an afterthought.
Richard August Hendrie, Albury, (long-term consumer social worker student, doctor-of-law)
Positive hospital experience
A FRIGHTENING experience resulted in a trip to the Wodonga Hospital one cold, wet night last week. The care I received was thoroughly professional. The hospital staff, doctors and nurses were wonderful and the overall climate in the hospital was one of calm, cooperation and quiet practise. We are so fortunate to have people of this calibre working in our local hospital. Thank you.
