Party politics
I was dismayed to read the "Party Games" article in NDL 3/5/21. I believe one of the strengths of the Tamworth Council has been that none of the councillors have been elected on a party platform but have all been elected as concerned citizens of Tamworth and district. Individuals may be personally connected to a political party but they do not have to toe the party line when debating issues affecting council decisions.
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Councils in financial difficulties or under administration are often those with political party divisions whereas those doing reasonably well are those where the councillors can make decisions for the good of the community and in keeping with sound financial management without having to also consider how "THE PARTY" would want them to vote.
There should be no place for party politics in local government. Even though I do not live in the Tamworth Regional Council area I have taken a keen interest in neighbouring council areas all my long life and have considered Tamworth an example for neighbouring councils to follow.
I do hope the good citizens of the Tamworth Regional Council area will see through this effort to bring party politics and vote for the person, not the party.
Don Murchie, Walcha
Reply to prof Newman 29/4
Professor Newman has highlighted the few environmental steps we have undertaken, and the great strides we need to take to protect the environment (op ed 29/4). The truth is that we need to stop treating Mother Nature as though it is an endless magical pudding that we can continuously plunder. Stringent environmental protection measures need to be undertaken so that our children and their children will be able to enjoy the wonders of nature that we currently experience. This includes pushing for strong and effective climate action from the government so that irreversible and catastrophic climate events can be averted. After all, "we do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children."
Emilie Nuck, Wagga Wagga
Parental rights
It was reported that the Catholic Bishop of Parramatta had stated that "emphatically rejects the notion of gender ideology" but then says "at times the teachers are the only people these children trust in helping them in these sensitive matters".
I wish to comment on the latter matter, does the Bishop really think that in public schools, children are going to get a balanced a view on gender fluidity.
Discussions about gender fluidity is a family matter, if students wish to obtain information outside the family, they will not get a balanced view if the neo Marxists in the Education system has anything to do with it.
The NSW Coalition Government allows such nonsense as unconscious bias, white privilege and institutional racism being propagated.
The NSW Minister for Education made a few noises after students at a Sydney public school had posters such as "Stop killer cops" and "White lives matter too much".
The Minister does not control the Education Department in NSW, it is run by the Departmental bureaucrats and the NSW Teachers Federation.
That is why school children in NSW are exposed to this neo Marxist nonsense.
John Rumble, Albion Park
Decentralisation
When the NSW Coalition Government appointed a Decentralisation taskforce in 2012 it meant business in working hard to improving the lives of the people of Regional and Rural NSW.
For the bulk of the Taskforce it was very well chaired by the former State Member for the Northern Tablelands Richard Torbay.
One of the the three clear objectives that was in the taskforce for a Decade of Decentralisation was "to attract investment and skills from metropolitan Sydney to Regional NSW", and as a guide that is the statewide objective, but we can go further and attract people from all major cites across Australia and I think that the excellent narrative that Kevin Anderson, the State Member for Tamworth rings true when he reminds as constantly that "build it and they will come", government services such as more nurses and doctors in our GP clinics and hospitals and critical broadband infrastructure to ensure small businesses are competitive are two policies that come to mind.
Turbocharging our major Rural cities and having them ready for boom economic periods is having skilled to unskilled jobs vacancies being filled and taking pressure off the population growth in our major urban areas is critical to a fairer and more prosperous Australia. I feel that Deputy Premier John Barilaro has worked hard in this regard to sell these policies.
Let's use the NSW Decentralisation Taskforce from 2012-2013 and the recommendations made from it as a guideline to our future success in Rural NSW.
Shane Moran, Tamworth