ASYLUM SEEKING IS A HUMANITARTIAN ISSUE
The vast majority of Australians value support for all people fleeing violence and seeking shelter, no matter where they come from.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
As wars and crises rage in Myanmar, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Ethiopia and Ukraine we need to remind our candidates that we expect our next government to change the present inhumane policies in relation to refugees and asylum seekers.
Our government is not in a position to take other nations to task over human rights violations when they continue to implement costly and cruel refugee policies.
People seeking asylum need to be seen as a humanitarian issue first rather than as a burden or a security risk.
Will Mead, convener, Rural Australians for Refugees Griffith
REGULAR CHECK UPS CAN SAVE YOUR LIFE
I have been thinking for a long time about deaths that should not have happened.
Why do people not go to the doctor if they have say a heart flutter or other instances that could risk their lives?
I have seen cases where an early visit to the doctor could have saved their lives and they were only young. We are only human.
I for one if not had seen a doctor would not be here now.
Life is too precious to take risks. Glad I made a visit.
It's your life make the most of it.
Mick Buchanan, Griffith
OUR FARMERS COULD FEED THE WORLD
It is disappointing that the growing global food crisis has barely rated a mention during the federal election campaign.
Are we not aware that the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has warned of a looming catastrophe and 44 million people are on the verge of famine, with millions more facing hunger and malnutrition?
WFP director Dr Martin Frick has stated that "since the Second World War we haven't seen a humanitarian situation as severe as the current one".
With disruptions to the food supply chains due to the war in Ukraine, other nations must step up and fill the food void.
We can do that here in Australia, but first we need to support our farmers so they can increase production and put us in a position to supply the world with more food.
Once La Nina eases, there will not be the massive flows of water that we have experienced in recent times, and as a result we will need to improve our water management and make more available for growing food.
Over the past decade huge quantities have been allocated to environmental flows, but unfortunately there has also been a lot of waste, with man-made flooding and pouring too much precious water out into the sea in South Australia. This has occurred because of the political emphasis on precious 'green' votes, instead of supporting our staple food producers.
As a result our previous standing as a world leader in water management has been eroded, and despite having some of the best gravity fed irrigation systems in the world we are not feeding starving populations as much as we could be.
It is time to swing the pendulum back.
Whoever wins the federal election needs to take stock of the mistakes made in water policy over the past decade.
We have regional communities desperately wanting to work with agencies, governments and water policy decision-makers to achieve ecological outcomes, while at the same time maximising water availability for food and fibre production.
Let's return to growing our food so we can ease cost of living pressures, bolster the economic contribution of our regions to the nation and, importantly, help feed the world.
Shelley Scoullar, Speak Up 4 Water
GOT SOMETHING TO SAY?
Email your letter to the editor to letters@areanews.com.au, or post it to PO Box 1004, Griffith, NSW, 2680. All letters must be accompanied by a name (for publication) and address (not for publication). Or use this form below...