Thank you Gunnedah
I am writing as the chairman of the Sir Ivan - Dunedoo CWA Bushfire Appeal to express my thanks to the Gunnedah community for the amazing support that you have shown to our community.
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The delivery of truck loads of groceries, linen and various other supplies to us very early after the fire was gratefully received and we were able to distribute them quickly.
We have been supported with people volunteering to assist with fencing and the financial donations received from the ball held in your town as well as CWA branches and individuals has been humbling.
The appeal money has so far been spent largely on fencing materials but we have also provided chicken sheds, some chickens, fodder and assisted Blaze Aid by paying a portion of the electricity account they accumulated whilst staying and working at the showground.
The Blaze Aid volunteers managed to assist farmers to complete almost all the boundary fences affected by the fire whilst they were in our area.
Please accept our thanks to you all for assisting our community over the past eight months since the Sir Ivan fire tore through this district, we are immensely grateful.
Joy Beames
Sir Ivan - CWA Dunedoo Bushfire Appeal
Postal Plebiscite
In recent history, journalist Masha Gessen made an interesting statement:
"... fighting for gay marriage generally involves lying about what we are going to do with marriage when we get there - because we lie that the institution of marriage is not going to change and that is a lie.
“The institution of marriage is going to change, and it should change.
“And again, I don't think it should exist ...".
This was a moment of rare honesty from a gay activist.
We are taking part in a battle between the 'yes' case supported by 600 of Australia's largest corporations plus most of our media versus the 'no' case, driven by perceptive individuals and a few churches.
We are all disappointed when the promises of elected representatives are buried by the influence of corporative lobbyists in Canberra.
Voting 'No' indicates to our leaders that we value our children's future and that we are not fooled by powerful protagonists.
John Martin, Mullaley
Fluoridation of the Gunnedah water supply
It is encouraging to note that Gunnedah Council is once again considering the addition of fluoride to the shire's water supply. The introduction of this measure is many years overdue.
All the available research suggests that the addition of fluoride to a water system results in a significant improvement to the dental health of a community. It is added to the water supply at an extremely diluted level and it is tasteless and odourless.
It is crazy to suggest that we need another costly Gunnedah survey before a decision is made. We constantly discover that opinion polls are inaccurate and unreliable. Gunnedah residents have elected a council and if our councillors have lost touch with the community and are unable to make a decision they should retire.
The greatest beneficiaries in this issue will be children who are too young to vote and to be included in a survey. I am sure that would be delighted to support any change which results in fewer visits to the dentist. In the long term it will save them a great deal of money, because the treatment of tooth decay in their lifetime is likely to cost them more than any other single disease.
When common sense prevails and fluoride is added to our water supply we will all need to support an education campaign which encourages children to consume fewer sugary drinks and more water from the tap.
Brian Jeffrey, Gunnedah