Taking Nicholls for granted
Dear Editor and voters of Nicholls.
The seat of Nicholls and the region have been taken for granted by the Nationals and the Coalition, who believe themselves entitled to voter loyalty despite doing little for the region. While Labor has all but abandoned the voters at both the Federal and State levels.
National member Sam Birrell is nice enough and certainly loves showing up to community events, but what has he done for the region for the last four years?
More importantly, what does a vote for Birrell and the Nationals mean for Nicholls?
Nicholls is a multicultural community. It has grown and prospered that way for over 80 years, building family and communities and enriching the fabric of this great region. This vast region relies on skilled workers from overseas to work in our orchards, manufacturing industries, and play a crucial role in our medical sector.
With this in mind, we want voters to look at their neighbours and coworkers and see what multicultural people bring to Nicholls and what voting for the Nationals and the Coalition will cost the community, which means another four years of no fundamental and assertive action in terms of bringing higher professional education for the youths closer to their homes and families, more and better healthcare opportunities and create more and equal employment opportunities for all.
It is time to move away from the two-party system. It is time to shift our votes away from parties that take us for granted and ignore us by voting for a third party. Only by making Nicholls a marginal seat will we see true growth in the region.
So this election, let us show Labor and the Coalition that Nicholls matters and should no longer be taken for granted by voting against the two party system.
Kind regards, Dr Fayyaz Akhtar
President; Pakistani-Australian association of Goulburn Valley Inc.
Time for serious leadership
Dear Sir,
I cannot be alone in being quietly terrified at the state of Australia’s defences.
First, it was the foolhardy 99-year lease of the Port of Darwin to the Chinese. But who really thought it would stop there? We now have Chinese warships prowling our coastline at will and a Russian air base proposed for Papua, almost on our doorstep.
The Chinese and the Russians know that Australia is the weak link in its AUKUS security partnership with the UK and US, that they would like to see gone.
We are told that Australia has just 20 days of fuel supply and that our navy vessels must rely on NZ and US tankers to re-fuel, because two navy supply ships are out of action.
The recent Labor budget failed miserably to provide adequate defence spending.
Instead, it continues to make endless promises of a billion here and a billion there on welfare and pet social projects, resulting in an increasingly enfeebled and infantilised society. I doubt we could defend ourselves, even if we wanted to.
Prime Minister Albanese, and Ministers Wong and Marles are looking increasingly out of their depth in an increasingly unstable world. It is time for some serious leadership if we want to ensure Australia’s future security, freedom and prosperity.
Yours sincerely,
Edwina McFarland
Chesney Vale .
