DEAR News Of The Area,

WHEN the Toormina shopping centre was severely damaged by a devastating hail storm last October (it’s still not fully operational) our local Federal MP Pat Conaghan suggested this was not the result of climate change, it was nothing unusual.

He reiterated that his objective is to protect the community.

Is Mr Conaghan, his party and its leader still in denial about climate change after the record flood inundation from north of Gympie in Queensland through Brisbane and Southern Queensland, Northern NSW to Sydney and further south with over a dozen people dead and thousands of people’s homes, jobs and living shattered?

If the National Party is so serious about protecting regional and rural communities why is the approximately $5 billion including accrued interest still sitting in the Federal Government’s Emergency Response Fund since 2019 virtually untouched when it could be doing exactly what Mr Conaghan claims is his and his party’s priority, ‘protecting regional communities’.

In the meantime billions of dollars are handed out by his government in subsidies to foreign owned mining companies.

So, is the National party using our votes and our money not to protect rural and regional communities but rather the international mining community?

Isn’t it time we voted for someone not beholden to a far off party’s dogma but for someone who is committed to our local community?

Regards
Tony CLEGG,
Boambee.