By the condition of our local roads, I would say little to nothing in Wannon.

In his reply to my recent letter, Mr Tehan said he was frustrated in not having any control over where this $2 billion is spent, or not spent. It appears that all this money Mr Tehan has secured has been passed to the state government to be allocated at their discretion.

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This is public money and has been accounted for, so where are the records and receipts for this expenditure? Has $2 billion been spent on roads anywhere? Is it being held in trust, or has it been absorbed into consolidated revenue?

If this money had been spent here in the south-west then we would have some of the best roads in the state - not the mess we have.

Mr Tehan said in his reply that he wanted the federal government to reinstate the $40 million his government allocated before the last election. This seems pointless to me as he has no control over where it will be spent, or on what roads, if any.

I fear the $40 million will go the way of the $2 billion - never to be seen again. Mr Tehan should be asking a lot of hard questions in Parliament. $2 billion is a lot of money - our roads should be paved in gold.

Lyndon King, Warrnambool

Conditioned as I am to tune out when major party politicians speak, or more accurately deflect and parrot the party line, my expectations were duly met when our local federal member was served up to Sarah Ferguson on 7.30 earlier this month.

Confirming his party's staggering inability to learn lessons from recent elections, Dan Tehan said nothing of substance. I sat up and listened, however, when he was asked how he would vote in the impending Liberal party room debate on the Voice.

Citing his "principle that all Australians should be equal in our Constitution", he effectively repeated the tired and lazy argument that if the Constitution is altered to provide for a Voice to Parliament from one cultural group, it should be altered to reflect one for all. That there should be a Voice providing advice from Italian descendants, from Sudanese, Vietnamese, New Zealand and yes, English. As an immigrant nation, the logic is absurd.

Nevermind that no other group in our society is as marginalised as our First Nations people. Virtually all Closing the Gap health, education and socio-economic indicators have shamefully gone backwards over the past decade of Tehan's Coalition government, and in fact during Labor's years before that.

This referendum matters. We should look inwards at our own principles and tune out from the party speak of our local member, who proved he is the servile representative of an increasingly irrelevant political entity rather than the people of Wannon.

Michael Hoffman, Voices of Wannon, Warrnambool

Dan Tehan seems to be positioning himself as a winner whatever the result of the Voice referendum. (The Standard April 12). A yes vote will almost certainly end the leadership of Peter Dutton as it should, with new leadership then required. His highly opportunistic and divisive call to vote no will destroy what remaining credibility he has.

A no vote will have Mr Tehan and the declining number of his Coalition colleagues having a brief gloat and telling the rest of us we told you so.

For Indigenous Australians and the country at large, nothing will have changed for the better with this missed opportunity, and that should concern all of us.

Tony Delaney, Warrnambool

On Sunday March 26, we were outside Parliament House in Adelaide. A special sitting of Parliament passed the Voice - South Australia being the first state to do so.

It was wonderful, very happy, very emotional; we were thrilled to be there.

Dorothy Grauer, Warrnambool

Why do we need to move the art gallery? Does the council have another use for the current site?

Moving it and also solving another problem: move the art gallery to Flagstaff Hill and it might just make the loss-making icon a little less of a loss-making venue and that will leave the Hill a Hill to be enjoyed.

Yes, fish and chips on the Hill are a great tradition. Marriage proposals, late night kiss and cuddles - yes leave the Hill and its memories and its future alone!

Kevin Boyce, Panmure

On January 29, a Sunday, an anonymous letter in a prepaid envelope appeared in my mailbox. It was a coward's act.

I was threatened that council would be informed of the overgrown shiny leaf coming from my property.

I was told that legal action would be taken against me if I did not comply with their order to cut it back in 28 days. Also that the shire would have a formal complaint made by the writer.

I had already been in contact with the shire just prior to Christmas and works were under way to have the issue dealt with.

However, as a sufferer of chronic anxiety and depression, the threat of legal action by an unknown person in this town raised my level of anxiety so high I am now being monitored for PTSD.

I phoned the police twice and was told basically there was nothing they could do. That it could have been better handled by approaching me and speaking with me about their concerns.

Obviously their intention was not for the growth to be cut back, it was clearly sent as a threat.

Laws have to change to protect people such as myself who suffer from CAD or other mental health disorders.

My ever-deteriorating health conditions leave me exhausted. So I rely on the shire to contact me when it's time for cutting back any overgrowth.

So I will continue to rely on the Moyne Shire, and not on what cowards want.

Jo Archibold, Koroit

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