Cootamundra Herald letters to the editor, October 19, 2016

I had six “Woolies” bags of rubbish and 10 chaff bags of recycling and a large box of newspaper recycling.

I was informed by the tip employee that recycling could not be handled as the designated green bins were full.

I was told to put it in the pit.

I understand ‘everyone’ wants the Wallendbeen tip closed and the sooner the pit is filled the better but I feel this is not good enough. Why do we recycle? Just to make money - or to greater reduce the amount of waste material that has to be found a permanent home, ie the pit at Wallendbeen or one elsewhere.

I also am told metal recycling is no longer accepted by the local garbage services as it is not worth enough money for them to take it.

Is this the reason we recycle now?

I thought I heard that metal prices are again on the increase.

Can’t we even take and store metal for a short while?

Do town dwellers who have a kerbside collection realise that this is the state of play in Cootamundra?

Only profitable items will be recycled ie. only some plastics, hopefully most paper and no metal.

The Australian federal government’s Healthy Welfare Card, trialled in Kununurra and Ceduna, transmits 80 percent of welfare payments by means of a cashless debit card, not spendable on alcohol or gambling.

In both centres ambulance call-outs to alcohol-related violence and spending on gambling have significantly fallen.

The mayor of Ceduna says communities troubled by results of alcohol and gambling excesses “would be silly not to trial the card”.

I believe my community certainly needs to do it. Yours, dear reader, probably does, too.

It might be a good move to all tell our federal MP to please set up a trial locally, and soon.

As you may be aware, the Wagga Rotary Club’s book fair was threatened by a vandal-lit fire which destroyed or damaged our seed stock and gear, shortly after the last fair.

So you will be pleased to hear that we are “rising from the ashes” and have found temporary premises.

Our next fair is set down for May 6 and 7, 2017. We need to attract donations of material to re-build our stock for the Fair.

Mike Baird and Troy Grant are barely keeping their heads above water, and now they've reversed the greyhound racing ban to save their own skins - and prevent a wipe-out in the Orange by-election.

We have a strong candidate in Philip Donato and the Liberals and Nationals are just running-scared at the traction he's getting in the community.

There is only one sitting week left before the Orange by-election, and the government will have to pull their finger out to get something through parliament in time.

Make no mistake, anything short of the following is just political window-dressing and won't support the greyhound racing industry:

1. A full reversal of the greyhound racing ban.

2. Allowing the industry the ability to self-govern.

3. Restoring fairness to the revenue and taxation under the intercode agreement that sends greyhound racing's profits to horse racing.