Your call to dump member for Barwon Kevin Humphries from the front bench, I predict, will leave you extremely vulnerable. 

The water portfolio alone is extremely complex. Water is not an issue the Nats want to go playing musical chairs with. 

Love him or hate him, Kevin’s knowledge on water and rural issues is unsurpassed within the current crop of Nationals MPs. 

His background in the industry and local representation of such a huge electorate at the heart of irrigation and native vegetation issues also makes him the logical candidate for the agricultural portfolio.

This decision not only denies rural NSW of a strong voice in Cabinet, it also renders the party exposed when you put a “fresh face” into such a complex portfolio.

Case in point: I believe northern irrigators were left fuming recently watching water flow down the Gwydir while they waited for a ministerial call to lift an existing embargo. 

I am disappointed in The Nationals and can only now feel any sort of sympathy for the likes of Bob Katter and Tony Windsor.

If this is how the party treats ministers who tell it like it is and speak out for their constituents, then they will keep treading water – dangerous when a new country party is sniffing around. 

Gwen Owens

Lightning Ridge