Follow the money
A fraud squad police friend once told me when you want to find out something you only have to follow the money. That will tell you the story.
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The Blantyre Farm planning issue should be of interest to all Hilltops newspaper editors and reporters. Possibly even to ICAC. Have you investigated what are the financial tie-ups between Blantyre Farm and those writers of vociferous letters to the editor, which all support Blantyre Farm’s recent planning application? The tie-up could be company share holdings, super fund investments, trust holdings or investments.
Should you find that there are money connections then you will have another interesting few articles to report to your readers.
George Smith
Harden
Shooting for rural health
Something extraordinary happened last week.
It took less than three days of pressure from the Shooters Fishers and Farmers Party to reverse the closure of Temora Hospital’s obstetrics theatre.
Murrumbidgee Local Health District’s (MLHD) other controversial closure of the pathology department at Griffith Hospital took much longer to reverse. My office is now being inundated with more complaints about Griffith Hospital and the MLHD.
I don’t believe Health Minister Brad Hazzard’s claims that the information about the Temora Hospital cutbacks was withheld from him. He has a history of blaming others for his own mistakes. If this really was the case, he wouldn’t be protecting MLHD’s CEO from being sacked.
You can’t just play with people’s lives by closing vital rural health services at a whim.
There’s one lesson for the Cootamundra electorate here: just like in Orange, when the Shooters Fishers and Farmers Party is in town, projects get the attention they deserve.
Cootamundra deserves better.
Robert Borsak
NSW Member of Legislative Council
For the children
National Child Protection Week runs from September 3 to 9. In this week, we take the time to reflect on child protection issues and promote the wellbeing of our young people.
I am asking for a world without child abuse and we can only achieve that though creating safe environments for our kids. Reports of child abuse are overwhelming and give witness to the lack of accountability for adults who abuse young people.
Sadly, some communities are looking the other way, ignoring the abuse of children because this is the easiest option. People don’t want to get involved in notifying assaults on our young people because of the fear of the consequences from the perpetrators.
Nothing is more important than protecting our vulnerable children from abuse and neglect. Child abuse goes beyond the tears and pain experienced in childhood. Victims endure a lifetime of psychological and emotional distress, they often become drug users to kill the pain of abuse, attempt suicide, self-mutilate and have major trust issues.
We, as a society, must ensure that we provide our children with a safe and supportive environment, so that they have the opportunity to reach their full potential.
Youth Off The Streets is dedicated to helping victims of child abuse through extensive programs as well as trained youth workers, case workers and psychologists.
We strive to offer a full curriculum of care that is provided on a case-by-case basis, ensuring our young people get the care they so desperately need.
We as a community need to listen to what is happening to our young people, speak up and get help when our children are in trouble.
Together we can protect some of Australia’s most vulnerable young people from experiencing this trauma.