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Letter: Make them earn your vote
I understand why people are frustrated at the moment.
The cost of living is hurting. Housing is unaffordable for too many people, rents keep going up, our health system is under pressure and regional communities are still fighting to get their fair share.
People have concerns about immigration, infrastructure, services and whether governments are actually listening. Those concerns are real, and I don’t think we should dismiss people for having them.
But we also need to look beyond what politicians are saying and consider what they would actually do.
If you’re thinking about voting for someone, have a look at their policies. Do their solutions address the things you’re concerned about? Can they deliver what they’re promising? How will they pay for it?
If they’re already in Parliament, check their record. Look at how they’ve voted on the issues that matter to you and your family. What politicians have actually done can tell us a lot more than what they’re saying now.
I’m not just talking about Pauline Hanson and One Nation. The same scrutiny should apply to Labor, the Coalition, the Greens and independents. We should all be prepared to question the people we support.
We also need to think about where we’re getting our news and information.
Just because someone is on TV, radio or Facebook doesn’t necessarily mean what they’re saying is impartial reporting. It may be their opinion or interpretation of events. There’s nothing wrong with listening to opinions, but we should know the difference between opinion and straight reporting.
None of us is immune from hearing something that confirms what we already think. I know I’m certainly not.
We’re not all going to agree, and that’s okay.
Whatever matters to you and your family, look at the policies, check the record, question what you’re being told and decide for yourself.
Make them earn your vote.
Robyn Lang is the Secretary of the Tamworth Regional Residents and Ratepayers Association Inc.
(TRRRA). She is actively involved in community advocacy and local issues across the Tamworth region, with a focus on community participation, clearer access to information, and helping local voices be heard on issues affecting the region.
Letter: Media circus continues for Joyce
The media circus continues for Mr Joyce, bemoaning how badly he has been treated in one breath and acknowledging he has had many chances in the next.
It’s easy to lose sight amidst all the performative cowboy nonsense (it can be found under the comedy gold section) on the abc app, and it’s easy to lose sight of the facts.
Joyce admitted he knew the side effects of the medication but still chose to drink , and we all saw the end results.
If these are the decisions he is making about his own person, why on earth would we see fit to make important decisions on our behalf?
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Letter: Tossing the good and keeping the crap
Re: Begin Rant: Stopping misinformation at the source
The editor might not have been game to hark back “to when my dad was VC of NSW Farmers but I will back to when I was President.
I established a “conference agenda committee” whose role was to weed out any repetitive motions and any factually incorrect motions. I put a motion in on my concern for the impact of EPBC legislation on farmers that was tossed out.
So may be they don’t know how to cull efficiently, tossing out the good and keeping the crap.
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Letter: So frustrating to be silenced
I’m a farmer in the area. I’ve sold my land to an energy company and leased it back so I can keep farming. I’m not the only one.
My kids have got the cash now, they don’t need to wait for me to die, and I can happily farm the rest of my days without stress, without having to worry about succession planning, all without family fights or drama. This was the right choice for me and my family.
Like everyone else, I can’t talk about it, there’s a non-disclosure clause in the contract.
But I just wanted to say it would be nice if I could just farm out the rest of my days without being bullied and abused, or watching our town being torn to shreds by new arrivals – or in the case of John Anderson and friends, people who don’t even live here, but have the arrogance to take the name ‘Walcha’ and use it for their campaigning.
And it would be nice if delegates at NSW Farmers this week remember that a lot of us in the room are not silent because we agree with the anti-renewables nonsense being put forward in motions from our region.
It’s very frustrating to be silenced sometimes. Not because of the NDA in the contract, I understand that, but because so many who we have known for a long time are listening to blow-ins instead of trusting us.
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Letter: Credit Where It’s Due
Re: TAFE NSW Tamworth to get $950,000 clean energy training upgrade
It’s easy to criticise governments. Social media and the letters pages are full of it. But when a government makes a genuine investment in regional Australia, it deserves to be acknowledged.
That’s why the announcement of a $24.8 million investment by the Albanese and Minns Labor Governments to expand clean energy training across NSW is such welcome news, particularly for Tamworth.
Our city has long been an important regional education and training hub, and being selected as one of only six TAFE campuses to receive upgraded training facilities is a vote of confidence in both our community and our future.
The investment isn’t simply about new buildings. It’s about giving local people the opportunity to gain the skills needed for secure, well-paid jobs in industries that will power Australia’s future. It also includes funding to train TAFE teachers in emerging technologies such as solar energy, battery storage, hydrogen safety and electric vehicle servicing, ensuring students learn from educators with the latest industry expertise.
For regional communities, opportunities like these matter. They mean more young people can study closer to home, local businesses have access to skilled workers, and regional economies are better placed to grow.
Too often we hear that regional Australia is overlooked. This time, Tamworth is firmly on the map.
Whether you’re passionate about clean energy or simply believe in investing in education and skills, this is the sort of practical initiative that deserves support. It’s good policy, good for regional NSW, and a reminder that governments should receive credit when they make investments that genuinely benefit local communities.
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Letter: Cars in the Mall?
No! No! No! We’ve danced this dance before… Putting cars ahead of people through the Central Armidale Mall means we would lose something infinitely more valuable – our Town Square.
We have, perhaps, often not used this precious, democratic space as well or often as we could, but its existence still gives us so much – an important central space to gather in good times and bad.
To begin with, for example, removing the stage, used for so many events, as well as the space for our very special Christmas tree and markets simply to create yet another ordinary city block adds precisely what? We have many parking opportunities nearby and a very serviceable road network as it stands with maybe a couple of tweaks..
Time alters dynamics. When Centro/Central was built it pulled many shops towards it which was then compounded by online shopping. Many specialist shops in the CBD couldn’t compete, particularly as more and more absentee landlords who hold property like stocks and shares in their portfolios bought into town maximising rents beyond individual business abilities to pay. These trends are sadly world-wide. We now see many organisations in the spaces.
Different Councils had different policies. I’m pretty sure the original plans for the welcome renovation of Tatts Hotel showed the hotel with tables into a designated Mall area but the then Council knocked that back for a redesign. Today that seems to me it would have been a good idea. A policy encouraging more of an entertainment precinct would contribute to making more community use of the space as a meeting place. Weekend events with rostered food trucks and entertainment could be employed.
I’ve sat on various Council Tourism and Arts Committees and seen various consultant’s plans. We should be open to doable imaginative ideas but please don’t just play with re-inventing the wheel just because an expensive square wheel might be presented as a new idea.
Around the world there is more and more concentration on pedestrians and lifestyle.
I won’t discuss other ideas such as a new regional cultural facility (to incorporate what already exists?) or the rather cavalier “targeted demolition of detractory buildings” and the Bowling Club) as I’m so concerned for the future of the heart of our City, our Town Square.
It really matters!
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Letter: Regional people don’t oppose renewables
The popular narrative suggesting regional people oppose renewable energy projects doesn’t stack up when the data unarguably shows the opposite.
Poll after poll after poll, from Porter Novelli, 89 Degrees East, CSIRO and more, all find huge support for local clean energy projects with opposition much less (but amplified by some media coverage and social media algorithms that promote conflict). Recent polling in April showed overall local support for clean energy projects at 63% and opposition at 17%. In coal regions, Hunter showed support of 60% and opposition at 17%, Gladstone showed support of 65% and opposition of 17%, and the Latrobe Valley showed support of 60% and opposition at 18%. In Illawarra the support was 68% and the opposition 12%, Central West Orana support was at 60% and opposition at 20%; in western Victoria the support was 69% and opposition was 12%. Even in New England, support held strong at 55% with opposition less than half that figure at 24%. Professor Rebecca Colvin’s peer-reviewed paper, published in Science Direct, finds that in addition to social media and media promoting conflict, people are more likely to speak up against things than for them.
Farmers for Climate Action represents 8000 farmers across Australia. Our “Billions in the Bush” report found Australian farmers are on track to make a billion dollars in total from clean energy rent by 2030. Modern solar contracts pay up to $1500 per hectare per year while the farmer continues to graze sheep underneath. Modern wind farms typically pay $40,000 per wind turbine per year in rent to the farmer, while cattle and sheep continue to graze around it.
Hosting solar and wind projects is entirely voluntary and how a farmer chooses to farm on their land is their choice. If farmers do not stay united around that principle, farming will become very difficult.
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Letter: Neighbours who deserve better
Re: “Begin Rant: The New England can’t afford friends like these”
Dr Crosby calls for respectful, informed debate on the New England REZ. She then spends 1,500 words calling concerned communities “agitators,” telling them to “grow up,” and accusing their state MP of “sucking at his job in the most basic way.” The contradiction is breathtaking.
She insists Walcha “does not get to claim to speak for all of us” — then proceeds to do exactly that, declaring the REZ “manifestly” retains community support and that opposition amounts to stealing opportunity from the region. On what authority does Dr Crosby speak for the New England any more than the communities she is dismissing?
She concedes the cumulative impact study “has not been done yet,” then in the same breath tells communities to stop raising concerns about cumulative impact. For communities facing up to seven major projects, 200+ wind turbines, battery storage facilities, pumped hydro dams, and years of overlapping construction across a $24 billion development footprint — the absence of that study is not a reason for reassurance. It is the reason for alarm.
A publisher who uses their platform to personally attack elected representatives and belittle rural communities — while admitting the evidence base is incomplete — should not be surprised when readers question whose interests are being served.
The people of Walcha, Boorolong, Yarrowyck, Ebor, and Georges Junction are not agitators. They are neighbours who deserve better than being told to “grow up”.
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Letter: Put RWH to an election
Council’s further delay in making a decision on the future of Ray Walsh House (RWH) clearly demonstrates the importance of this decision and that our Councillors do not want to get it wrong.
With such big stakes at play should the Council ask the community for a mandate on the future of RWH?
Candidates at the next Local Government election could base their election campaign on how they would vote on the future of RWH.
The community will vote accordingly for the candidates they want to be on the next Council.
Do our Councillors know if the community want to pay off $100M PLUS debt for a new Council headquarters?
This is a huge amount and if you sell RWH this is the only option available.
Should Council opt for a mandate from the community on the future of RWH and let the people decide what happens to RWH at the next Council election?
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Letter: McLean Care lost sight of what matters
In my opinion McLean Care lost sight of what mattered most. Instead of focusing on strengthening and supporting the Inverell facility there seemed to be a greater focus on expansion and growth across Australia.
Growth can be a good thing but not when it comes at the expense of the people who built the organisation.
Now the consequences could be devastating – residents facing uncertainty about their future home, staff worried about losing their jobs and livelihoods and a community left wondering how things reached this point.
What disappoints me most is that leadership should be accountable during difficult times. When an organisation faces a crisis, people expect its leaders to stand by the staff, residents and families affected.
It feels like the damage has been left for others to deal with while those responsible have moved on.
Money and expansion should never come before the care of residents and the wellbeing of staff. That’s just my opinion, but I believe the people of Inverell deserved better.
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