It is to be hoped the voters told him what they wanted him to hear and not what he wanted to hear.

Of course, there was the usual whinge about Tony Windsor, this time for attacking Richard Torbay.

I noticed with interest that in his letter Senator Williams did not extol the virtues of Richard Torbay.

Very revealing, in an election year.

Is it because Senator Williams, Greg Kachel and Ben Franklin are discovering that their perceived master stroke in recruiting Mr Torbay as a National last year is proving to be anything but?

Many people cannot stand hypocrites, others turncoats.

Many, like me, were very surprised to hear Mr Torbay announce he was joining the National Party, as we all thought that if he joined a major party it would be the Labor Party.

That has been a long-held view.

Me thinks Mr Torbay, having acquired a taste for power as the former speaker of the NSW Parliament, knew full well, as did the New England electorate, that the National Party was desperately seeking a high-profile candidate to run against Mr Windsor and would agree to anything to get the man they wanted.

Perfect timing for a political opportunist!

And even better to be in a winning federal Coalition government and reap the rewards for unseating a very high-profile member.

Memo to Mr Torbay: “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Senator Williams would have been appalled to read in the SMH (January 11, 2013) that, according to the International Monetary Fund, Australia’s most wasteful spending took place in the Howard years.

Howard did leave a big surplus, but he wasted billions of dollars on needless tax cuts.

Billions that should have gone to the upgrading and building of new hospitals, schools, roads and ports, not to the latest plasma television for the living room.

Such a golden opportunity missed!

Another big waste is the Baby Bonus.

More tears for Senator Williams before Christmas when it was revealed that federal government spending for the first four months of the fiscal year was $1.3 billion down on the projected forecast.

Which means the first broken promise of the Abbott government will be to keep the carbon tax.

It won’t be repealed, because a) Mr Abbott needs every dollar he can lay his hands on; b) he won’t have a majority in the Senate; and c) he has no desire to face an electorate enraged by even a hint of calling a double dissolution and the resulting waste of money.

So keep the carbon tax, enlarge the mining tax, and – something to think about – how about a levy on all the water extracted from the Great Artesian Basin?

BHP Billiton uses 500,000 litres a week at Roxby Downs, all from the artesian basin – or it did two years ago.

MURIEL CAPEL

BARRABA