To all prospective candidates, I would like to share my experience after the 2019 Griffith City Council by-election.

Running as an unsuccessful candidate, without the support of a political party or access to comprehensive advice regarding the NSW Electoral Commission laws and regulations, I failed to cross the 'T' and dot the 'I's' which delayed the submission of my paperwork and lead to a fine of almost the same value as my campaign costs.

If I recall correctly, my paperwork, which was complex and lengthy, was missing one line of data.

I'm sharing my experience to strongly encourage all potential candidates to spend a significant amount of time studying the laws and penalties around council elections and think carefully if they have the time necessary to meet the compliance. Penalties for honest and basic breaches can be significant.

Trying to contribute to our community may cost more than you would expect.

Forgive my scepticism, but as a multi-generational food producer in southern NSW I have to question the motive behind recent CSIRO warnings about reduced Murray-Darling Basin inflows.

Unfortunately, over recent decades we have seen science manipulated to suit political objectives, and while I acknowledge the risk of reduced inflows, I question whether specific periods in time have been used to suit the scientific and government agenda.

We all know that Australia is a country of extreme variables, so it is not surprising we are in a cycle of reduced rainfall.

When making the calculations to support its finding of reduced inflows in recent times, the CSIRO has compared the last two decades with data from 1910 to 2000. However, this conveniently includes the Millennium drought but excludes the Federation drought. As such, the final analysis will be skewed to suit the result that I suspect was trying to be achieved. As we all know, it is not difficult to get a pre-determined outcome, you just have to find the set of numbers that suits your goal.

Many scientists have long had food producers in their sights, as we saw from their incorrect claims that the Lower Lakes were traditionally a freshwater system and therefore needed to be constantly filled with freshwater from upstream dams. As we now know, they were traditionally estuarine - but governments have gone too far down the path of promoting the freshwater narrative to acknowledge the error and rectify it.

Each year the Lower Lakes evaporate 1.6 Sydney Harbours, which is a monumental waste. With a growing population can we really afford to cut off staple food producers closer to the water storages? The most recent drought and COVID pandemic have proven we are not sustainable in some staple foods.

Government departments need to stop cherry picking data to appease their political masters.

Instead, we need to start mature conversations about the best ways to manage our water. These discussions will benefit from accurate, non-biased scientific analysis that does not use a specific time in history to provide the answer the scientists or politicians are seeking.

Email your letter to the editor to letters@areanews.com.au or post it to PO Box 1004, Griffith, NSW 2680. All letters will need a number (for publication) and a contact phone number (not for publication). Or use the form below...