Jan Morris, 

West Tamworth

The media's preoccupation with Barnaby's personal life is an unfortunate distraction to his incompetence as the Federal Minister of Primary Industries. He has failed to show any leadership to bring an end to the water theft by major cotton growers in southern Queensland and northern NSW.

Following 4Corner's revelations of these irrigators' rorts last year, his responses were inconsistent, seemingly dependent on which part of the western electorate he was addressing at the time. Overall, he showed little real concern for the smaller farmers, the honest, compliant irrigators, the health of the Murray-Darling system itself and SA's water supply.

Within his national portfolio, he could have done so much more to help the difficult multi-state water agreement succeed. 

Sue McLeod, 

Myocum

I find it interesting that some TRC councillors are so shocked that anybody would “…..active(ly) and wilful(ly) neglect….” a building like the West Tamworth Railway Station. Historically TCC deliberately allowed the old Library (Guy Kable Building) to fall into shocking disrepair.

For the past 25 years plus TCC & TRC both have allowed the two city pools to fall into disrepair so that they can justify building a new “Taj Mahal” pool at the Longyard.

My caution to TRC is this: accepting Government funds for every wish and dream project is all well and good, but the practice carries a “kick”, every bigger, better and newer asset built requires more and more funds in future maintenance budgets.

Allan  Joyce, 

Tamworth

Barnaby Joyce refuses to resign, ignoring the risks to the Coalition. Well now the Coalition knows how most Australians feel as the Federal Government ignores the risks to this nation of climate change and of defunding the ABC and the CSIRO. 

Climate change is harming farmers and our native forests and animals. It intensifies bushfires so that they no longer prompt seeds to grow but leave sterile ground in their wake. It intensifies all weather events and it’s killing off our Great Barrier Reef. It’s swamping the Pacific Islands, ruining the homes of very poor people. 

The response of this Government (until public outrage stopped it) was to offer $1 billion to the Adani Coal mine, knowing quite well that a fair bit of that billion would make its way back to the political parties in the form of donations.

No wonder Australians are cynical about politicians. 

The Government defunds the ABC, knowing that the ABC is likely to challenge its poor practices. It defunds the CSIRO because the Coalition is dominated by ignorant conservatives who don’t understand how heavily we rely on science in this modern world. 

The only positive about Barnaby Joyce’s recalcitrant behaviour is that it may help to rid us of this irresponsible government.

Rosemary Walters, 

Palmerston ACT 

The media consider the story of Barnaby Joyce more important than the operation of the parliament to govern for the benefit of the voter so they make thirty pieces of silver.

“Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth” Abraham Lincoln, but the media now control the government.

Bill Caley, 

Moonbi

The good news is that New England and Australia have been spared another by-election had Barnaby Joyce been tossed to the wolves by his colleagues and forced to resign ("Joyce survives push to force him to quit", February 15). The bad news for the Nationals is that their fragile reputation has been nationally trashed, the tangled aftermath is a train wreck, and they can only hope the fish and chip shops get very busy, very quickly. 

It would be nice to think that their decision to give their discredited leader a second chance was based on compassion. No chance. It has obviously been a decision based on trying to limit the damage. With a poll showing that one third of their supporters have already deserted them in disgust, they would have faced an election disaster if they had been forced back to the ballot boxes again. As usual, that reptilian brain politicians depend on for survival clicked in and they have chosen compromise as the default position to protect their privileged situations. 

But Barnaby hangs by a thread. As a Claytons leader he now has an irretrievably fractured party to handle. And he can only blame himself for creating the faction that wanted him out. Hubris seems to have given him a fondness for decisions that smack of nepotism. His choice to back the promotion of Bridget McKenzie to deputy leader put several noses well out of joint and he is paying for it. Along with his other poor options it has created the perfect political storm around him.

As a representative of farmers Mr Joyce should have understood that you reap what you sow, and from little things big things grow. But then he obviously thought he was untouchable.

Bert Candy, 

Glenvale, QLD