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Letter: Your Coulda Woulda Shoulda stories
Dear Team,
A huge thank you! This story covers everything that is of utmost importance to Armidale/New England Region. That $400,000 you mention? Yes, I too wonder have queried where that money is coming from. Of course, I know it is coming out of the ARC’s pocket… aka the ratepayers.
I believe we need ACCC to have a look at this particular issue. We have had dodgy mayors in the past – needing, on two different occasions, Administrators to be appointed. Unfortunately, they didn’t clean up the mess; they only added to it… hence why I think ACCC is a better avenue than complaining to the Minister for Local Government.
Could you send your FOI responses to them – with missing questions? Is it time for ABC’s 4 Corners to be asked to look into it?
Just to be clear, ALL the subjects you tackled – $400,000, Hospital figures and roads all add up to malfeasance… particularly the Armidale one.
I would like to add Barney Street Armidale to the list of roads – this very busy road – ambulances, school buses and tradies use this road a lot – is in a despicable condition… so much so that locum doctors (FIFO), do not want to be housed in those pods which were designed for them – fronting Barney St, on the hospital grounds. The noise of the vehicles going past is too loud. They now spend off-duty time at places such as Moore Park Motor Inn, etc. However, whilst the locums can move to a quieter part of town, the residents along Barney Street cannot!
Do I really have to visit every house opposite the Hospital with a Petition before Council does up the road?
Again, many, many, thanks for all that you do.
Very sincerely,
Deni McKenzie
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Letter: More voices added to call for better rural health
I refer to the article by Kath Jacobs (081225) More voices added to call for better rural health.
Dr Joe McGirr Independent MP for Wagga Wagga must be commended for acting on this health situation that has afflicted regional & remote NSW communities for at least a decade.
Together with the review enquiring into de-amalgamating the Hunter New England Local Heath District initiated by Roy Butler, Independent MP for Barwon, there may be half a chance for improvement to health services in regional & remote NSW.
About one-third of NSW population lives comfortably outside that pollution filled, congested, over-crowded city and pay taxes the same as all NSW voters. Equity demands that those country voters get at least one-third of the Health budget. This is not happening in Health, or any other NSW portfolio. Why has it taken so long for local regional politicians tor recognise the problems in their electorates?
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Letter: Barnaby’s political manoeuvring has consigned the electorate to irrelevance
I refer to the article by R K Crosby Joyce confirms One Nation switch as staff depart & community patience hardens
I concur that Barnaby’s political manoeuvring has consigned the electorate to irrelevance, just as his inactivity over twelve (12) years has done little, if anything, to improve the lives of New England voters. Indeed, the needs of the voters were irrelevant compared to the behaviour of the elected representative.
Since his election, the main growth in the electorate has been the economic and social stagnation. Even the flow of federal funds for infrastructure improvement & maintenance has dried up; think the Tenterfield By Pass funded from the 2013 Gillard Labor Budget but slashed by Abbott (likely as payback) when he heard that Windsor had retired. Barnaby was reported as laughing, and has done nothing to replace that essential funding to make the Tenterfield CBD more than a fatal accident waiting to happen.
Meanwhile, the killer Bolivia Hill upgrade and the Scone CBD By Pass have been completed from the same tranche of federal funding and now benefit the voters. But wait; there was the Telecom communications tower located on a billionaire fan’s property that provides a rental income to trickle down into the isolated community.
When has it been any different?? Barnaby has always put his personal ambitions before the best interests of the voters who elected him. Cover-ups are a speciality, allegations of sexual harassment, playing away from home until caught by pregnancy, withholding health information that may impact election results. Essentially nothing positive has been done!!
How many thinking business persons would employ a stockman, clerk or labourer, who sat in the shed while others did the work and contributed nothing to the common wealth except boosting the income of every pub that they passed ….. for 12 years??
I am reminded that the defection of Torbay from Independent to National$ certainly proved the point that betraying New England voter trust for personal gain was unpopular, and likely fatal politically if ever tested at an election.
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Letter: our health system fails to meet men where they are
Dr Tanvir Kapoor’s comments (“More care for utes than health” 30/11) reflect a much broader systemic failure – not a lack of concern among rural men, but a health system that fails to meet them where they are.
It’s true that young men in the bush will service their utes religiously. They depend on them and understand the consequences of neglect. For health, we’ve never built the same sense of ownership, ease or immediacy. Rural men aren’t avoiding care because they don’t care, they’re avoiding long waits, long drives, and the fear of being judged in small communities.
If we want young men to show up earlier, we must remove friction, normalise help-seeking, and bring care into trusted local environments, the same way rural communities have built acceptance around mental health, farm safety, and road safety over the last decade.
Rural men aren’t disengaged from their health, they’re disengaged from a system that wasn’t designed around the realities of regional life. If you work 12-hour shifts, live 90 minutes from a clinic, and don’t have a GP you know or trust, the idea of “just going in” simply doesn’t reflect how care works outside the cities.
We need to shift from episodic, clinic-centric healthcare to continuity-based, community-embedded models, where care can reach people where they live and work.
The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) model shows this works, with consistent clinicians, outreach clinics, and place-based trust building. We need to extend these principles across regional Australia so early intervention becomes the norm rather than the exception.
Australia doesn’t have a rural men’s health problem – we have a rural access problem.
The data shows rural men tend to present late, often only to emergency departments, because earlier pathways simply aren’t visible, convenient or consistent.
The next wave of innovation needs to combine trusted clinicians who are seen regularly, not sporadically; local hubs in towns, farms and workplaces where care is easy and discreet;
and connected digital tools to close distance without losing continuity.
When we make care familiar, local and low-friction, men engage. When we don’t, they wait until the crisis hits. Redesigning access is not optional – it’s urgent.
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Letter: Barnaby, it’s time to go.
Article: Barnaby, it’s time to go
I refer to the above article by R K Crosby.
I support the finding ”Almost 60% said they do not want Joyce to change his mind and run again” which is hardly an endorsement of twelve (12) years of political inactivity on behalf of the voters.
During this period the New England electorate has stagnated economically and socially due mainly to the inactivity of the ”representative of the voters (?)”. In 2013 his predecessor Tony Windsor INDEPENDENT achieved feral funding for upgrading the killer Bolivia Hill and the Scone By-Pass, now two completed projects benefiting both locals and through travellers.
The then aspiring candidate was reported as ”laughing” when the then COALition Opposition Leader struck out the achieved funding for the Tenterfield CBD By-Pass, an accident waiting to happen at any one of the three pedestrian crossings of the New England Highway. Perhaps this was personal payback for Windsor supporting LABOR after the 2007 tied election?
Nothing achieved in twelve (12) years is hardly effective representation of ”the best interests of the voters”. Still, the installation of a Telstra mobile telephone communications tower on a property owned by a billionaire ”fan” does come with an annual rental income.
Perhaps the announcement of his retirement at the next feral election has more to do with the changes in the NOtional$ New England Electoral Council, with the (shock!! horror!!) election of a ”woman” to the important position of Chairperson of the Tamworth Branch. Is this an indication that the ladies of Tamworth are over the atrocious misogynist male behaviour of the ”boys know best” club??
REGIONAL INDEPENDENTS GET THINGS DONE FOR THEIR COMMUNITIES.
What do NOtional$ do??
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Letter: blame for council underfunding
Dear Editor,
Regarding the story Albo fund our Councils!
Well may the new Nationals Member for Parkes complain about the inadequate funding of NSW local government, but this conveniently overlooks the constitutional fact that local government is a function of the NSW state rather than the Federal Parliament, and the quiet compliance of his predecessor during the nine years of Coalition misgovernment.
Perhaps the former Mayor of Gunnedah will take on the Department of the Premier & Cabinet about the transfer of many state costs into the local government accounts to balance the NSW budget. Oh dear, that would be embarrassing so the Office of Local Government has been flicked off elsewhere by the Minns NSW Labor rather than fix the under-funding problem.
Letter: Railway renewal as political spending equity
I refer to the Siri Gamage article; Merits of Regional Rail Renewal vs a Rail Trail: Failures of Decision-Making in New England (14 November 2025).
I continue to be amazed by the antics of the elected Armidale Regional Council (ARC) Councillors spending up big on developing a ”bike path to nowhere to see nothing” at a future foreseeable on-going expense to long suffering ARC ratepayers. As a political sceptic one must ask, ”Who benefits from this proposed ratepayer expense?”
The only beneficiaries appear to be the interstate trucking industry isolating New England from the world to protect their government subsidised use of highways. Or, perhaps an aspiring ARC Councillor seeking to fulfil family expectations for a political career, and prepared to spend whatever is necessary to gain pre-selection from the New England Campaign Committee that benefits from ”political donations” from the trucking industry.
I am amazed by the fact that the Main North Line (MNL) between Armidale and Jennings Wallangarra was closed by the then Nationals MP who also allowed a highway upgrade to be placed immediately on top of the rail line at Sandy Creek. Voters obviously have short memories and little interest in benefiting from politics.
The best interests of New England voters are poorly represented at federal level, and no better by the newly elected NSW Nationals MP.
Why do both these alleged representatives of the voters completely ignore the petition of about 10,000 voters demanding the same government subsidised public transport access to the world as enjoyed in the Sydney Basin where billions are spent on railway upgrades and the Rozelle rolling carpark??
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Letter: Trains North’s current petition re rail
Before supporting the Trains North petition to the NSW Legislative Assembly about reopening the former railway north of Armidale, residents should consider the facts. The petition contains serious errors and omissions.
The track is in a derelict state. Much of it dates from the nineteenth century, with bridges and culverts collapsing and sections now covered by the New England Highway. There is no realistic prospect of trains ever returning to this route.
If people want heritage trains, these can already run on the well-maintained line between Armidale and Werris Creek, which regularly hosts such services. Freight has not reached Armidale for over twenty years, and the State Government has instead invested heavily in the Tamworth intermodal terminal.
A more worthwhile cause would be securing Armidale’s daily passenger service to Sydney. Although new regional train sets are arriving in NSW, there is no guarantee they will extend to Armidale. Retaining this vital connection should be the region’s priority.
The Federal Government’s inland rail will follow the western route via Moree, Goondiwindi and Toowoomba, more than 100 kilometres of which are already upgraded to mainline standard. It will never pass through Armidale. Queensland, meanwhile, has permanently closed the Stanthorpe–Wallangarra line after bushfires burned out bridges and culverts along the line.
It is time to focus on protecting viable rail services, not attempting to revive a line that ceased any practical use generations ago.
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Letter: Rail Line and REZ
Transport and energy are both highly important and the REZ and its associated transmission lines can assist with both.
Restoring the rail lines from Wallangarra to Armidale and the existing corridor from Armidale to Newcastle could allow the operation of conventional electric trains.
Electric trains require overhead power lines above the corridor.
Why can the rail corridor not be the same route as the transmission lines thus allowing the power for the trains and for all the electricity consumers along the rail corridor including the major cities of Newcastle, Maitland, Tamworth and Armidale.
The rail corridor could also support solar panels along the corridor on each side and within the tracks as per worldwide trends.
Could the infrastructure above the rail corridor support the catenary for the trains and the transmission lines?
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Letter: Rail trail a chance for community unity?
With the rail trail back in the spotlight… again, it’s time to seriously think about what is best for both Armidale city and the broader region. I also have to disclose; I have zero skin in the game. This opinion comes free of charge from an economist born and raised as a Kelly’s Plains farm kid, who just wants to see the best outcome for the Armidale region.
Since leaving Armidale 10 years ago to move to Germany, I’ve experienced rail trails all over Europe and also some amazing (and some not so amazing) trains. This just means I like both, and both are awesome. But does that mean a rail trail is the right thing for Armidale? Lets see if we can find some answers using some of the basic principles I learned at UNE.
One of the most important lessons I had from the amazing Jack Sinden was that the key to good decision making is twofold. The first is to remain in the realm of objective, and quantifiable fact, not emotion. The second is always frame decisions in the terms of opportunity cost, that is, what is the NEXT best alternative foregone.
It’s easy to get caught up in all the possible alternatives that can be done with respects to funding, usage of land, and the competing interests of the community. But the only thing that really matters when making decisions of this nature is our ability to compare the two choices on the table, the proposed project, and the next best alternative.
This then gets to what was no doubt part of the decision making all those years ago to close the line itself. While rail is cheaper per tonne per kilometre for transportation of goods and services, the next best alternative to keeping the railway line open was to close it, and to rely on trucking and bus services to fill the void. While trucking and busses are typically more expensive compared to rail to operate, they have the advantage of being able to stop at my door, or that of any business requiring transportation services. In 2024, Armidale’s population density was 3.8, Glen Innes Severn just 1.6 and Tenterfield at just 1. (Population estimates and components by LGA, 2023 to 2024, https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/regional-population/latest-release#data-downloads).
To this end, Armidale is on par with Iceland, which also has no train system, but rather relies on a well-integrated road network for the distribution of goods and services. So while the closure of the line and it’s rational can be debated by historians and arm-chair academics, the reality is that in this instant, trucking was the next best alternative. It has not only become an important replacement of the rail infrastructure foregone, but also become a vital part of economic employment across the New England region.
I get that this is also an incredibly emotive issue for many in the community. The rail trail poses a threat to the aspirations of others, like Trains North and New England Railway Inc (NERI). It would directly hinder their missions to see the Main Northern Line reopened beyond Armidale to Guyra, Ben Lomond, and even Glen Innes. For those who have been part of NERI since it’s inception in the 1990’s, the rail trail would mean many years of hard work forgone.
Another key economic concept to introduce here then is that of a Pareto improvement. A Pareto improvement is the ability to make at least one person better off, without making anyone worse off. In the context of the rail trail, it’s hard to see that this wouldn’t make it worse off for those who have already invested their time and effort into trying to reopen the line north of Armidale. But this is then where we must introduce the final piece of the puzzle. That is how to value the time and money already sunk into other ventures.
In the case of NERI, it’s been going since the 1990’s. Countless years of work have been spent both campaigning for funds and support, while simultaneously doing excellent work on restoring the three rail car sets. But the reality is that it’s no longer the 1990s… or the 2000s… or the 2010s even. The now sunk costs associated with the venture, while no doubt valuable to the people who paid them through their time and effort, does not factor into a decision that is being made now. The only thing that should be considered is the next best alternative to the rail trail.
To that end, it’s important for those who oppose the rail trail and want to use the rail corridor for something else, to come to the table with a cohesive plan as to what that actually is. For council and those debating the choices, you need to choose the NEXT best alternative, as it’s the only way to make a clear and persuasive argument against the rail trail development.
But for me, any of the alternatives being presented are going to be like de-ja-vu. While councillor Widders claims the rail trail debate is like flogging a dead horse, I see it quite the opposite. I see an Armidale, yet again, mired in debates that will ultimately lead to inaction, missed opportunities, and watching on as other regions go ahead; like Tamworth before us, and now Glen Innes ahead of us with their rail trail developments. If we are to have a reasoned debate on this, it’s important to ensure we frame the decisions in a fact based framework that uses the outlined economic principles for framing any further discussions.
I still see so many opportunities for the Armidale community to come together and support the rail trail venture. There is still a place for NERI, even once the rail trail is installed, which is linking Tamworth and Armidale with more regular tourist options, and even helping those who want to use the rail trail to access it. There is a way to achieve a Pareto improvement here, and it’s simply having a rail trail north, and tourist trains south, and Armidale as the centre of both.
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