Stop littering the countryside

To the people who throw their rubbish out the car window and leave on the side of the road and the people who dump unwanted household appliances in beautiful spots in the country, shame on you.

Did your mother not teach you how to clean up mess and use a bin? Did she forget to educate you on the ecological damage rubbish, especially plastic has on the environment?

Did you know if you litter you are responsible for choking countless animals and birds and permanently contaminating our air, food, water and soil.

One day your great grandchildren will ask you why all the animals are extinct and why the entire planet is a stinking toxic dead mess.

You can answer; “because of people like me, who never put rubbish in bins, never recycle and most importantly never had enough conscious awareness of our ecological footprint, as we are too apathetic, lazy and selfish. I’m sure your grandchildren will be proud of you.

Please stop littering our beautiful country, who are you people doing this. I know you like eating nutrient void fast food, soft drinks and alcohol, as I see your junk constantly when I go for walks and I’m always picking up after you filthy sods. Stop it Linden Kasori, Warragul

For years all the electorate has asked for, is that the 80-year-old hospital that has been under-resourced and is now undersized for the community, be replaced.

Sadly, Narracan is not marginal and therefore it receives very little interest. However, should that notional tag change, there is a chance that the much-needed new hospital could eventuate.

So how do we as constituents put pressure on candidates? One way is when pollsters ring up, recipients of the call could say that they are undecided and that it depends on who will deliver a new hospital.

Another is to contact each candidate and say that your vote will be determined by the guaranteed allocation of funds for the new hospital.

Candidates are trying to sell us a message. It is about time that we sent them a message. By putting doubt in the minds of them, Narracan may lose its safe seat label and the cloak of invisibility raised.

By making it marginal it could be a seat to watch on election night. It actually might decide who is in government and who knows, we might just get the new hospital.

Greg Tuck, Warragul Victoria if the Fire Services Bill, currently in limbo, were to be passed should the current Government be returned with a clear majority in both houses at the forthcoming election.

The Bill, in its current form, threatens to fragment fire service delivery throughout country Victoria because of the proposed excision of the larger provincial towns where career staff currently work with volunteers. They would become part of Fire Rescue Victoria with a defined area of responsibility and operate as a separate service from the surrounding CFA volunteer brigades.

Why create separate services when staff and volunteers work cohesively and effectively with each other at present. The ability of future district and regional managers to lead and gain the trust of volunteers is an essential attribute developed and assessed during their time working under the current arrangements.

I am a retired senior career staff member now serving as a volunteer and know that the united and effective relationships between volunteers and the great majority of the career staff in CFA will be threatened by the creation of jurisdictional boundaries and inter-service operational differences and difficulties that do not exist at present.

There is some logic to reassessing arrangements for outer-metropolitan Melbourne but I urge voters to make sure that a unified, strong and capable CFA continues to protect country Victoria. Ian Symons, Drouin