Never have truer words been spoken. For a start, the communities in places like Cootamundra, Gundagai, Tumut and Tumbarumba, just to name a few. The hated forced council amalgamations are not only giving the locals uncertainty, they are also tearing the credibility of both the National and the Liberal parties apart.  

After the recent disastrous Wagga by-election with a swing of almost a 30 per cent against the Liberals, their leader Premier Gladys Berejiklian said in future she will “listen to the people.” Well, for a start she hasn’t started listening to date so what are the odds she will listen in the future?  

Remember the old saying that a leopard never changes it’s spots? If you can believe what you read then the LNP are heading for certain defeat at the forthcoming elections. 

If the Premier wants to commit political suicide then that’s her decision. But John Barilaro and the Nationals don’t have to follow her into political oblivion. Remember John that you were an avid supporter of Mike Baird’s ill-fated greyhound ban. By throwing your full support behind the undemocratic forced council mergers, you apparently haven’t learned from your previous blunder. And the electorate is well aware that it’s only fools who do not learn from there mistakes.

NSW Farmers cautiously welcome the NSW government’s announcement regarding new rules for deer hunting, and call on the government to continue to work with landholders to implement stronger measures that effectively manage increasing deer numbers.

The changes remove certain conditions which had prevented activities such as hunting at night or the use of spotlights, electronic devices, aircraft or motor vehicles. They also remove the ‘open season’ conditions which had governed when certain species could be hunted. Some of the areas worst affected by deer were already exempted from these rules, however this announcement represents a state-wide lift.

The new rules for deer hunting in NSW are a step in the right direction, but effective management cannot be achieved unless deer are given pest status. These changes remove onerous conditions and standardise requirements across the state, however unless deer are classified as a pest we are going to struggle to make any meaningful impact.

Deer are not native, they generate significant costs to landholders and pose serious biosecurity risks - in any other case this would warrant pest status. Allowing deer to be exempt from pest status under a special ‘game’ classification appears to favour the recreation of hunters over the livelihood of farmers. If a control campaign is to be successful, every private and public landholder needs to do their part.

On Saturday, November 24, the class of 1975 Sacred Heart School will be holding a reunion. 

A school tour is being organised on Saturday morning and dinner is planned for Saturday night at the Family Hotel. 

Class members from Sydney, Canberra and Cootamundra will be in attendance.

Prue Goward had on her desk this week an appeal for more rooms for the homeless. There is a need for much more public housing to accommodate our shamefully large numbers of homeless in our affluent society. 

The statistics do not show the numbers who are couch surfing or living in crowded circumstances under one roof. These people, the silent sufferers, have no voice and lack confidence to speak up if they get the chance. It is a social justice issue, and a weeping sore in our society. Many of us, myself included, have been saved by friends and family in the past.

The Catholic Bishops have just put out a report with alarming statistics spelling out the shocking problem nationwide.