Letters to the editor

While Labor did not quite win Gilmore, we went close, with a five per cent swing to Labor in the primary vote.

Gilmore now has a razor-thin margin of 0.8 per cent. It is the most marginal electorate in NSW and seventh most marginal in Australia.

Irrespective of political party, that new slim margin can only be good news for people in the Gilmore electorate as we move forward. 

Thank you to our many volunteers and supporters that have every day stood up for Medicare, for our hospitals, for the full Gonski needs based funding for our local schools, for significantly more Fibre-to-the-Premises NBN in Gilmore, jobs, and much more.

It is because of your support that we are in a solid position moving forward and for our next important task of holding the Member for Gilmore and her Liberal government to account. 

Just like our electorate of Gilmore was named after the progressive Dame Mary Gilmore, I have no doubt that with your help, Gilmore will be progressive again too. 

In a rare outbreak of common sense, Shoalhaven Councilors have agreed to further consider legal, environmental and community concerns about the proposed lopping of vegetation to a height of between 1 and 1.5 m along Collingwood Beach.  

Why does it take media exposure, 900 plus signatories on a petition, and the very public embarrassment of their own consultants telling them that their plan poses a risk to dune stability, and the area will become “more susceptible to extreme weather conditions that could result in adverse impacts to private and public assets as well as the ecological values of the reserve” for our Councilors to see sense?

If it goes ahead, the upfront cost of the Plan for Shoalhaven ratepayers will be $120,000 plus $5,00 for a demonstration site.  

But who actually benefits from this proposal? A small number of private property owners at Collingwood Beach. And who is going to pay for the costs of damage to private properties and public infra-structure that result from de-stabilising the dune? Shoalhaven ratepayers.

We all saw what happened at Collaroy Beach during the East Coast Low that hit the NSW coast in June.  

Is this what we want for Collingwood Beach? Approving the Collingwood Beach Dune Vegetation Plan, knowing that it will increase the risk of damage to properties and infrastructure from extreme weather events, is reckless and irresponsible.

With many of Collingwood Beach’s foreshore properties and the shared pathway already in the Immediate Zone of Reduced Foundation Capacity, the Plan is very likely to expose Shoalhaven Council and ratepayers to unacceptable legal and financial risks in the not too distant future

Is this what the majority of Shoalhaven ratepayers want their rates spent on?  

I’m writing to express my sincere thanks and gratitude to the community of NSW for their support of The Smith Family’s 2016 Winter Appeal.

We launched theaAppeal in May to raise $3.65 million by June 30 to support the education of disadvantaged children across Australia.

I would like to thank every individual who made a donation.

Your support will allow us to provide out-of-school learning and mentoring programs to more than 9,000 disadvantaged children across Australia this Term 3 and 4.