Similar reports came back to me from the entire electorate with Sydney Liberal Party members bussed and slipped into the yellow party shirts as far north in the electorate as Spring Ridge and Caroona for the handful of votes that are cast there. There were more local farmers from just Bundella Road Quirindi handing out for other candidates - than local Nationals helping out in the entire Liverpool Plains shire.

The National party primary vote has declined every election since 2007 - from 60 per cent first preference to just above 30 per cent in 15 years. Saturday wasn't the day the electorate moved, it has been significantly moving against the Nationals for the last 15 years. Saturday might not have been the end of the Nationals in Upper Hunter, but the day is coming, unless they change their ways and address the reasoning for the significant shift in their vote.

Peter Wills, Breeza resident, Quirindi Farmer

I refer to the NDL article - Tuesday 25/05/2021 titled Layzell and Anderson to work closely ahead of likely Liverpool Plains electorate change. Other articles lauded the Liverpool Plains as the saviour of The Nationals however statistics don't lie. The Nationals primary vote was average 40.88 per cent to other candidates 58.12 per cent in Upper Hunter - Liverpool Plains booths. Almost 60 per cent of the electors did not vote for the government candidate when they voted at the Liverpool Plains booths.

Overall across the Upper Hunter electorate that figure was around 68 per cent. Not long ago this was rusted heartland National party territory, but evidently those 60 per cent of electors didn't trust the Nats anymore. Their primary vote has been dropping ever since the 2007 election despite the influx of metropolitan Liberal visitors on the day, a Queensland lobbyist senator and his colleague Pauline Hanson, The Member for Tamworth spent a lot of time there too during the week/weekend from his own electorate to hang out at the Quirindi booth. What saved the Nationals was a combination of the field of 13 candidates, fear and the recommendation to "Just Vote 1" under our optional preferential voting system.

Some issues that impact the Government - Firstly there is no doubt that country people get the short end of the stick in terms of services and any efforts to grow or keep country regions sustainable. Some residents had grown tired of The Nationals over a range of issues - Shenhua Watermark Coal, Zombie Petroleum Exploration Licences (PEL's) and even the proposed Hunter Gas Pipeline that is intended to traverse prime farmland down to the proposed $600 million taxpayer funded gas fired Kurri Kurri Power station. The concerning issue for country regions is that they are dying at the hands of The Nationals via death by a thousand cuts. Privatisation has ripped out electricity utility workers, Aged and Disability Homecare, Health, Education and TAFE. Those jobs and services are important to struggling country communities ravaged by drought, fire, Covid, floods and mice or a combination of each and evidenced by the amount of empty shops you see in main streets of towns like Quirindi and little to nothing in other smaller communities.

Furthermore, country communities impacted by extractive industries should see their fair share of royalty revenue via Royalties for Region's but they don't, the Nationals let the Liberals continue to short-change country communities. If you look at Restart NSW privatisation funds and where they are being invested its easy to see that the priority is Sydney, Sydney and Sydney. Billions wasted on light rail, stadiums, museum relocations and mitigating overpopulation with a series of costly property resumptions and motorways. On these matters the voice of the party that claims to solely represent the regions is mute.

The Liverpool Plains region is likely to join the Tamworth electorate for the 2023 State election but no thanks to any advocacy from the current Member for Tamworth during the redistribution process. The remainder of Upper Hunter electorate will have more traditional Labor areas of the lower Hunter added but then after last Saturday's election what is traditional anymore? The 13 candidates, optional preferential voting and the "Just Vote 1" mantra won the day last Saturday, I play sport and understand that a win is a win, but The Nationals MP's shouldn't continue to take their membership or their remaining constituency for granted by letting their Liberal masters continue to dictate the cutting of country jobs or the delivery of vital country services in country NSW March 2023 is not that far away.

Mark Rodda, Tamworth

The federal government's plan to spend $600 million to build the new Kurri Kurri gas plant is simply a bad decision; bad for our economy, jobs and climate. Why else would the conservative International Energy Agency strongly urge wealthy countries like Australia to abandon plans for new coal power, gas and oil investments? The IEA is far from a feel-good tree-hugging environmental group. For this organisation to advise the world to shift away from fossil fuels, it is clear that the writing is up on the wall for the fossil fuel industry. Our federal government will do well to follow global market trends instead of pouring taxpayers money into future stranded assets.

Ching Ang, Kensington Gardens

Have your say, send a letter to the editor.

The International Energy Agency will be holding a gabfest in Glasgow in November of this year, concerning no more petrol cars in 15 years. Attendees will be moralising and pontificating about global warming with many flying in on private jet aircraft.

The Executive Director of this outfit is described as a Turkish economist and energy expert. Turkey has under construction or planned 93 coal fired power plants, whilst China who has a free pass on all of this climate alarmism until 2030, has 1171. The attendees at this conference will need their overcoats, as the temperature will be about 4 degrees C.

These international bodies such as the United Nations the World Health Organisation and this this one, instead of climbing aboard every climate emergency bandwagon, should be involving themselves in the real problem of this world such as civil wars, disease, slavery and starvation.

Certain Australian States and Territories have signed up to a commitment of net zero by 2050. These 'glory seekers' will not be in office by the time 2050 comes around, and are only trying to ingratiate themselves with the climate change zealots.

John Rumble, Albion Park

I note the letter by Ray Peck accusing me of being a do-nothing activist and having my head in the sand. (Let's work on climate change 17/7/2021 NDL)

I would counter that the true do-nothings are climate activists themselves, they do nothing about the greenhouse gas emissions of China, and they refuse to consider nuclear power for Australia, which would be cleaner than coal, and more reliable than wind and solar.

Since Ray Peck accuses others of hypocrisy, then I have to ask why are climate activists still using coal powered electricity and petrol-fuelled cars like everyone else? The real hypocrites are easy to see.

Daniel Peckham, Tamworth

The Wilderness Society has recently judged Australia to be the second worse country in the world for biodiversity loss. The country that had the poorest record being Indonesia. It is of immense concern that Australia was judged to have an even poorer record than Brazil. Is that possible?

The Wilderness Society reports that every two minutes in Australia an area of forest or bush land, the size of a football stadium, is bulldozed.

This is an utter disgrace of monumental proportions. Certainly jobs and the economy are of great importance, as our federal government constantly tells us, but if it means decimating the environment as the Wilderness Society report indicates, nothing can justify destruction of this magnitude.

A stable and healthy biodiversity is essential for the continued survival of the human race.

Are our political leaders aware just how dire the situation really is here in Australia?

Brian Measday, Myrtle Bank, South Australia

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