There has been no relief and we all have our own tales to tell. We all know someone that has faced the frontline, or we are that someone.

Amidst all of this there is an ongoing and increasingly savage line being drawn across Australia. Climate change activists versus deniers.

On one side the 'lefties', 'hippies' and 'millennials' spouting their 'nonsense' as they adhere to their almost cultish view of what they believe could be the end of everything. Indeed terms such as 'climate cult' and 'doomers' are being commonly utilised to describe them.

On the other side, 'the right' or 'the boomers' whose arguments range from the blasé, 'it's all just part of Earth's cycle' to the outraged, 'they're trying to cripple our economy'. They are vitriolic in their attempts to shut down any calls for climate action.

Between these two extremes lie millions of Australians; confused, frustrated and genuinely afraid of what may come to pass if the 'doomers' are proven correct.

The staggering scale of the bushfires, in many cases burning where no fires have burnt before, has heightened the anxiety of the so called 'quiet Australians'. It's too hot, too dry, too out of control to be part of a normal cycle.

The fear is everywhere. Every conversation, in Woolworths as you grab milk, over the back fence with your neighbours and with the rellies you caught up with over Christmas, is drawn inexorably to our own experiences of drought and fire. 'It's just so damned hot and everything is on fire'.

In all of these conversations, however, the words climate change are very rarely mentioned. Passionate, productive conversations about climate change must happen.

Every time we share our experiences the words need to be said. Not to antagonise, or to stir controversy, but to start conversations about how we can do better.

Solutions to terrible problems aren't created in silence. They are woven together through the experiences and knowledge of those who need to overcome them. Nor too are these discussions just for holders of science degrees. They are for everyone.

Australia is a country filled with exceptional, rugged and inspiring people; farmers, indigenous people, engineers, gardeners, artists, inventors, parents, grandparents. The list is endless. The possibilities are endless.

To say the words out loud however, is fraught with risk. You are immediately relegated to your side of the line, activist or denier, and in danger of being undermined, ridiculed or outright abused.

Post a comment on any news feed saying that maybe, just maybe, the science is settled and we should listen to it so we can find some solutions and you are likely to be subjected to a barrage of abuse.

It's vicious and unsettling. 'Hey! I was just trying to start a conversation, not to be called a moron or sworn at'. No wonder 'quiet Australians' are so quiet on the issue.

Being verbally assaulted for wanting to create a better future for their children is not something many people are likely to expose themselves to.

Sadly this savage divide is not just found on the internet; it's permeating our everyday conversations.

We might not deride each other to the same extent, but the confusion, fear and frustration that we all feel is making us unkind. We are afraid to bring the subject up because we don't know what the response may be.

To move forward and ensure that we do not leave our children and grandchildren with a dying planet we have to talk to each other.

We have to have conversations that are not guarded and closed because we are afraid to make each other angry, and these conversations need to be about solutions.

Whatever side of the climate change line you may be on every one of us knows that we can do better. That humans are 'screwing up the planet' and future generations are going to pay the price.

As long as the voices of Australia are raised against each other there will be no way forward that doesn't leave them in a world that has lost too much.

Kym Hadley, Inverell

I am from Tamworth, I am for Tamworth and I support our festival, there is nothing like going out and meeting old Mates that you only see every year and meeting new ones at a great show.

I urge Tamworth locals to back our festival and be a part of what our great Rural City is all about and that is having a good time.

My many thanks go to the venues I have been to and the buskers who fight through the rain and heat year after year, to the performers and our many guests from Australia and around the world.

They are there giving their time to entertain you.

Please support them.

Thanks to all involved for supporting the festival and a good time will be had by all.

Shane Moran, Tamworth