Peter Moore, Camperdown

Common sense tells me the plan by Moyne Shire, DELWP and Parks Victoria to allow racehorse training on the eastern section of Port Fairy’s East Beach, is ill-considered. It undermines substantial efforts in recent years to counter aggressive dune erosion, dispersal of tip materials and to stabilise the ever-shrinking beach. But even if common sense does not prevail, the law will. Between August and April each year, this is a nesting area for Hooded Plovers and habitat for other vulnerable shorebirds that are protected by the Commonwealth Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. Any plan to disturb them will require Commonwealth approval. Even if local authorities have the stomach for the application process to the Commonwealth environment agency, they are unlikely gain approval for horse training outside the months of May to July. I doubt horse trainers will find this satisfactory. The only realistic option is to construct a purpose built sand track elsewhere. Let common sense prevail, or failing that, the law, and leave the beach for the general public and wildlife.

Jack Hargreaves, Killarney

I would not have believed it had I not smelled it myself.  What is the go with the horses down at the foreshore? Many people have been complaining about the awful smell of urine left behind after they have left. Being so close to the cafe surely this cant be right. I love horses but I am sure that the health and safety people would be interested in a letter from me letting them know what is going on so close to food preparation. How much longer is the commitment and are they building their own place to deal with the swimming of the horses? People cannot be expected to put up with that awful smell and many complain that they feel like vomiting when they have their morning walk and catch a wiff of that pungent aroma. Can someone please answer the question?

David MacPhail, Warrnambool

It was very sad to see our local state MP reduced to writing open letters to a disinterested government, begging for road funding for this area. It was a sad admission of her own inability to achieve an acceptable outcome for her electorate, mainly because of her party affiliation. Ironically, had South West Coast elected an independent to represent us, the government would be beating a path (maybe even building a road) to our door.

Gary Sayer, Warrnambool

I fully support Sue Cassidy when she commented on the need to address the dangers at the Fitzroy, Botanic roads and Princes Highway intersections. I have been raising the dangers of this and a number more along Botanic Road countless times even moving a Notice of Motion at the Ordinary Meeting in March this year. In the past the Dennington community asked council to address truck movements through the residential areas and had a petition of over 200 signatures. Having been rejected by five councillors in the past term and then four councillors in the new council, once again it came back to council. One of the three councillors who supported council addressing the dangers spoke in favour of the motion. He stated he was "pleading" for council to act on the residents’ concerns. "I am begging you all to once and for all to help the Dennington community before someone is killed,” he said.  He said he and myself would pay for the signage if that would encourage the four to vote to have the dangers removed. 4/3 was the result. It is such a pity so many people  now running for council have absolutely no idea what has been going on at meetings and why I have been advocating to have meetings live streamed. This is not just to hear what decisions have been made and the justification but to also see the facial expressions and body language of councillors towards fellow councillors. I have no doubt in the future a number of incidents which have occurred within council will become public and they will send a wave of disbelief and horror through our community. From the failed $300K boat ramp to the disabled beach access ramp which even a camel would have trouble navigating, to free parking to reinvigorate our businesses and from the debacle of the cobblestones on the roads, the list is almost endless. The one constant is three councillors’ concerns were ignored and ridiculed. For too long this council has been run by four councillors not seven and this desperately needs to change. The only agenda I have is to help make Warrnambool the most desirable, affordable city in Australia to live. It is up to all voters to reclaim our city so it can be everything that it can be. 

Peter Hulin, Warrnambool

One of the most important skills anyone can bring to political, business or community life is independence of thought. 

Loss of independent thinking leads to the phenomenon that social psychologists term 'group think'. Group or factional thinking is usually more concerned with looking after minority or vested interest groups which can be to the detriment of the community as a whole. 

Often factional thinking can be a 'slippery slope' that leads to opposing groups tending to lose focus on the merits of the issue at hand and becoming more obsessed with winning and ensuring the other side or group loses. This mindset often leads to suboptimal solutions with harmful consequences particularly for the longer term betterment of a community. 

Independence of thought is a key element in nurturing and fostering bigger picture, creative solution making within each of us individually. 

When we become constrained by 'group think', consciously or unconsciously we are at risk of having our creativity stymied. Given creative thought is far more important than is knowledge in its ability to find pathways to improvement and change within society, any loss of it especially in our leaders places us well behind where we potentially could be. 

“The health of society depends quite as much on the independence of the individuals composing it as on their close political cohesion.” –  Albert Einstein

Dr Michael McCluskey, Warrnambool

After delaying a decision for as long as possible, the Andrews Government will introduce legislation to legalise ride-sharing services by taxing an unreasonable $2 surcharge on every single passenger fare. The Premier Daniel Andrews has forgotten his own key election promise not to introduce new taxes and now wants to add this excessive $2 charge to each taxi and Uber trip. This is double the levy imposed on trips in New South Wales, making Victoria the most expensive state to take an Uber. The Andrews Government's “taxi tax” will especially hurt pensioners and regional Victorians who have limited public transport options. Anything that makes transport more expensive for Victorians is not a good outcome and we will need to see modelling around any proposed levy and licence buy-back schemes. The compensation of $100,000 for an operator’s first licence is insignificant next to the half a million dollars some of them have invested in the purchase. While Uber is well-supported in capital cities, there are different needs in regional areas that need to be considered. We need to protect the taxi services that provide a range of important services over and above those traditionally used in Melbourne, particularly addressing disability and insurance issues in more remote areas. It seems incredible that the Andrews Government would leak cabinet details of the ridesharing legislation, but more importantly, the government has side-stepped a parliamentary inquiry in charge of looking at the barriers to entry, consumer protection, competition access to people with disabilities, as well as remuneration and workplace rights for services and licence plate holders. Introducing a new “taxi tax” without allowing the investigative impact studies through a parliamentary inquiry smacks of a chaotic government that is desperate to look like it’s doing something but hasn’t thought of the consequences. 

​Simon Ramsay MP