I am concerned that Tamworth may miss out on what is needed. Tamworth need more than six rooms to accommodate patients and families in this city. I witnessed the excellent work done in Nioka palliative care ward. The problem is, it only has six beds and patients of terminal illness with extreme pain and/or loss of mobility currently cannot be assured of the care they need.

The money is on the table Kevin, and your job is to secure enough to provide enough funds to provide a dedicated palliative care ward with sufficient beds and more specialist staff to manage an increased population.

Indeed this opportunity to be granted funds for palliative care most likely will never return again and people of this region need this important health delivery now. The Minister of regional health together with our local member and minister, I urge to make essential care provided for those in need of specialist palliative care.

Albert Pullen, Tamworth

The current energy crisis has finally forced national and state governments to collaborate and address long-standing energy policy failures ("Renewables hold the key to avoiding bill shock" Northern Daily Leader, 8/6).

With the knowledge that regions like the ACT, who have the most renewable energy in their grids, are suffering the least from price shocks, while coal fired power stations fail, and gas prices remain volatile, we can surely all agree on a clear path forward.

A mix of renewable energy with battery storage is now the only viable solution to address our collective cost of living, energy security, and climate woes.

Amy Hiller, Kew

In familiar style, Barnaby Joyce uses a cold "warehouse in Armidale with a concrete floor and one small heater" to argue against concern about global warming ("Winter bites, rising power costs bite harder", 11/6).

While that's laughable, his contention that the current high energy prices are due to the 2050 net zero target are untrue. High gas prices are due to our market's link to international gas prices, except in WA.

In regard to electricity prices, the ACT, Tasmania and New Zealand have 100 per cent and 82 per cent renewables respectively, are not dependent on ageing coal fired power stations that break down, and are doing fine. It's time Mr Joyce stopped talking through his hat and spoke straight to his electorate.

Ray Peck, Hawthorn

Tasmania is now powered entirely by renewable energy and therefore has an abundance of clean, low cost, energy available.

Because of the present energy crisis Mr Chris Bowen, the Federal Government Climate Change And Energy Minister, has recently taken the initiative to have talks with his counterpart in Tasmania regarding further developing the linking of Tasmania with the mainland with underwater and underground high voltage cables etc, to enable delivery of renewable energy to the mainland.

Discussions between Mr Chris Bowen and his Tasmanian counterpart have been reported to be of a encouraging nature. Tasmania possibly to the rescue sounds great to me - less money for climate change causing fossil fuels and more finance available to renewable energy sources, is exactly what mainland Australia needs right now.

Brian Measday, Myrtle Bank, SA

Now the dust from the election has settled, many are asking what happened and why. It would seem that climate change was a major issue, amongst others. As many would know, I support rail transport as a means to reduce greenhouse emissions. That is one reason I was interested in some of the lesser-known parties, whose websites I looked at before I voted. Of interest was that many, but not all, supported rail transport for moving freight.

The Citizens Australia party had a very ambitious plan for gauge standardisation and new rail links to reduce distances to the major cities around Australia. This was one of the few parties that was prepared to look at the big picture when it came to improving transport to our nearest neighbours in South East Asia. I don't know how Citizens Australia fared, but I would like to see other parties in the senate and the house of representatives have a good look at these proposals and why they were chosen. If implemented, such proposals could put Australia in a more competitive position on the global market and we would be better prepared for the prospect of war. I'm not saying I support Citizens Australia, but their proposals have considerable merit. I hope those in government think about them. Peter Sansom, Kahibah

With the rising cost of living, let's have another look at how people can save.

To start with, the fruit and vegetable prices are not all affected, so instead of being afraid of the prices, simply make a few changes. Carrots are cheap, sweet potatoes and potatoes are still reasonably cheap. Pumpkin is exceptionally cheap at the moment. It is the leafy vegetables that aren't, but there are plenty of indoor grown lettuce varieties that are still much cheaper than iceberg which only a few weeks ago were as low as $2.50. Mandarins are still less than $4 a kilo. Avocados have never been cheaper. Eggs are still one of the best value buys and everybody has cheap basic bread which freezes quite well.

Today, most people have bigger expenses on tech like subscription streaming services. Many shows that people pay for are available for zero cost on SBS and ABC iview plus the main channels, although the internet isn't cheap, but TV is still free last time I checked. I recently negotiated a new deal on the internet which in turn paid for those extra services I want. I've heard that there are plenty of new phone services where bringing your own phone gets you a deal for $120 a year with basic calls and text. Shop around.

At home people can simply wear more to stay home, get those old woolly jumpers out. I'm an early riser so I put a jacket on and my own body heat is more than enough after a few minutes even if it's 4C outside. If using a heater, turn it off once the room is warm. Also it's amazing how you can save on fuel if you line up your trips to cover more than one task. Garry Robinson, Mannering Park

HOW smart were the present and previous state premiers when they all decided at about the same time to sell off the power stations and accompanying infrastructure. They reaped the benefit of all those millions of dollars and in doing so passed the responsibility now of providing cheap and reliable power over to the federal government, after the successful bidders for privatisation failed to deliver. The situation that we are in now, I believe, would not be as dire if the states had continued to be the sole providers of electricity, with the governments and general public adopting the attitude of "she'll be right mate".

History shows us that all is not right and we are all suffering financial hardship, (not only at the bowser, that's another story) but at the power box as well.

Stan Spink, East Maitland

Labor has had a decade in opposition, surely enough time to plan for a smooth transition in energy policy or as I suspect, they have been caught off guard not even having enough faith in themselves to ever win an election. A decade of degrading the Coalition and now we have Bambi in the spotlight! As for the treasurer, Chalmers trying to slither away from the promised better management under Labor because the Coalition left a mess! If unemployment below 4 per cent and a growing economy is a mess considering the pandemic, what is the target Chalmers has for employment and economic growth?

Steve Barnett, Fingal Bay