I haven't had any need to catch a train myself or pick someone up/drop someone off for some time, so I recently rushed to the station to pick up family from overseas. As I arrived there on time for the train's arrival, I was surprised that the platform was empty. Oh dear, I got the arrival time wrong, I thought straight away, but went inside to check and was told that the train was running a bit late. Slowly, people started to arrive after the official arrival time. I talked to one of them who casually said that it was about right to arrive some 10 or 15 minutes late, because the train was just about always late anyway. It's pretty sad for our community which seems to have given up on the punctuality of our trains. People are now surprised when the train is actually on time.

It wasn't any better when I dropped my family off again. They were taken to Melbourne by bus which left at the time the train should have. Funnily enough, the train arrived just at the same time, i.e. the time it should have left. Don't know whether I should laugh or cry. Or maybe just be embarrassed.

Anton Maurus, Warrnambool

With the influx of our tourist dollars one must wonder if Warrnambool City Council is even attempting to address the myriad of issues that encompass the foreshore area? The most glaring of which is the poor access to Stingray Bay and the almost lethal car parking that adorns the side of the road. Will there be some action if a poor unfortunate child is struck and killed by a blameless motorist for the toll of standing too far away from mum? The approach to road safety displayed by WCC is breathtaking. Only a few short years ago lives were lost due to poor accessibility for emergency services when time was crucial. When will the council address the issue with something more informed and effective than lowering the speed limit, as I can see that being a fix that would be attached to this problem that would reduce the access even more and provide almost zero benefits. A car will still kill a child at 5kmh/ just as easy as 40 km/h. Maybe this issue needs the same attention as the harbour redevelopment and after countless studies, funds allocated and spent from the federal and state governments for no visible benefit, more ratepayers funds wasted on a ballot that was ignored anyway, and the creation of a focus group with zero power and only a media profile.

Scott Norris, Warrnambool

Bitter sweet to read about my father in WW1 (The War To End All Wars) in Wednesday’s The Standard. The article was taken from an excellent address, The Belgians Have Not Forgotten, by Doug Heazlewood in December.

Sweet because of course I am immensely proud of my father and like to remember him. He died in 1969. But bitter too as I think about the lasting anxiety, guilt and sadness endured by so many and inevitably absorbed by those close to them.

Thank you Kate Zwagerman for the article.

Meg Bird, Warrnambool

This week members of the public were allowed to send their comments to the Minister of Small Business and to Treasury regarding what they would like to see in the Budget. My comments were as follows:

It has been revealed this week that around $2.3 billion spent on detention matters was a combination of unauthorised spending and/or spending that was authorised by people not in a position to give permission for this. 

The $2.3 billion spent on detention would have gone a long way towards funding health, education, and other social needs in Australia, rather than taking money from the pensioners and people on Centrelink payments. 

Some of that huge amount of money could also have been used on language and education classes and better health care for refugees, some of whom have died due to not being given access to health facilities available in Australia; others (including children) have suffered psychological and neurological damage from stress, poor living conditions, and physical and sexual assaults. 

These people could have been settled here in Australia years ago, and would have ended up as valuable citizens of Australia. The policies of the Coalition government have cost Australia dearly in monetary and human terms. 

Australia compares badly with other countries, some of which are much less wealthy than our own country but which have taken in literally millions of refugees. For example: Lebanon is hosting 11 million refugees, even though the population of Lebanese people is only five million; David Cameron, the U.K. Prime Minister, and his ruling Party, legislated that U.K. foreign aid stay at its present levels, which are much higher than Australia’s. Mr. Cameron said the U.K. would “not balance the books at the expense of the poor”. 

I know that I am not alone in my belief that the detention centres on Nauru and Manus Islands should be closed, with the freeing up of funds to benefit both the general public and refugees. 

We could have World Peace if less money was spent on armaments and much more on looking after the poor of the world.

Now is the time to find safe homes for all the refugees on Nauru and Manus, some of whom are refugees because of the wars started or supported by the Coalition government in places like Iraq and Afghanistan. 

Gillian Blair, Panmure