Richard Tilzey, Central Tilba

We did it again. Just about 50-50, what went wrong ? With me it was that the Liberal National Coalition went under my skin claiming only they have all the wisdom in the world and therefore should be in charge of what they think is good for us. I and 50 per cent feel, excuse us, we make that decision ourselves, get it! Yes, I believed Mr. Turnbull could have been the leading man for our country, but he lost my believe in him in the end. Since he and his team had not noticed that 20 per cent of the initial 70 per cent popularity had deserted him makes me wonder whether they would have noticed a bomb going off under their bum. Should they be able to form Government, we will be watching them closely, loyalty is a luxury poor people can't afford. For the Liberals to govern, they can ill afford the gap to widen. In future I would like them to look after our environment better. I like our leaders approach each other with respect no matter what and consult each other. Show us by example that Australians are basically a team which prefer to live in harmony, during the last five to six years the parliament was looking like a war zone, enough is enough. Consulting with representatives of electorates was missing, all we got was posturing and arguing with the opposition over who is doing a better job. It may be strange to you here, in Germany they had twice a coalition between the two major parties in order to serve the public better and it gave them stability under those circumstances. A minority Government will create only bitterness since there is no clear mandate, it's like sweeping the other half under the carpet.

K.Kruger, Central Tilba

I was pleasantly surprised at the sense of cooperation I encountered from other party supporters in Narooma during the last week at pre poll when I was there for the Animal Justice Party.  Thank you to all of you for making my job easy. This election illustrates something we are finally waking up to – that Australians have outgrown the political system featuring two major parties working against each other, rather than for the best government of the country. What is important to Australians is not whether Liberal/National or Labor 'win' but that we are confident we have a great team of people working together, consulting independent experts and making the best decisions possible for the country. Liberals and Labor and others are close on many issues anyway. Australians no longer want to hear constant attempts at point-scoring.  And so it should be in our local Eurobodalla Shire Council.  A team of moderate, co-operative, emotionally mature representatives who can put aside their egos, truly consult and work collaboratively for the higher good.  

Coral Anderson, Batehaven

It has been a mixed election result so far, we all hanging on to see what will happen this week. I want to stress to everyone who voted for the Greens in any electorate (or for Xenophon it seems), that it is the same as voting for Labour! With a two party preferred system, even though the Liberals gained the primary vote in so many electorates, it is negated by the thousands of hopefuls who voted for the Greens, thinking it would benefit Australia. Guess what? It will only mean you have voted for a Labour government!  As I write, the Greens have only one seat in the lower house, but have helped Labour be a strong contender to form government. Think again next time, be brave and if you want to vote Labor, do so!

Judy Gordon, Dalmeny

I wish to express my concern regarding the transparency of many government departments, puppet political leadership and out of control bureaucratic departments. Together with the downgrading of local investigative journalism many important public issues are escaping under the radar. The financial transparency of the Eurobodalla Council is no exception! I addressed the council in October 2015 concerning some $30 millions as proceeds from assets sales and purchase of assets to the value $64.444 million dollars. No explanation was offered at that meeting from the mayor, GM or councillors .This issue is considered of great importance as upon questioning the council failed to acknowledge if these figures were subjected to an independent external or internal audit. The figures were amongst many others that were publicly displayed during the exhibition period to justify rate increases and that the council was “Fit for the Future”. My concerns were also expressed to the local member prior to Christmas. I hung up my “Santa sock” and “Easter Bunny pillow” in  expectation of a ministerial or mayoral minute. Pillow and sock remain empty! Following follow-up public addresses, the GM, Mayor Brown and audit committee members, Burnside and Schwartz, all remained silent. No satisfactory explanation regarding the validity of multimillion dollar figures asked nine months ago have been given. They vehemently deny having sold the council chambers for $30 million but have not denied the purchase of several retirement villages in case of being declared “Not Fit for the Future”. Suddenly figures have been “doctored “ and changed by millions. Is that notorious “Eurobodalla mega byte” gobbling up the missing millions? Disturbingly, if ESC figures are incorrect, IPART’s decision cannot be reversed. The Minister should request an immediate forensic investigation into Eurobodalla Council figures before any rate rise is approved.

Peter Bernard, Dalmeny