Our politicians seem more interested in point scoring than in facing the real issues of the human and financial costs to our once great country.

The drought in NSW is the worst in 100 years. The Feed For Farmers group has been supplying hay from Victoria and South Australia with financial support from caring individuals and charity groups; the result is the southern states are running out of hay.

It is costing $2000 to $3000 per load into NSW. There are farmers who don’t have enough water for stock, let alone having a shower. The necessities we in the coastal towns take for granted are non-existent in the bush; the mental strain for farmers and their families must be enormous.

What can be done, seeing the government says drought is not a natural disaster? As my mother-in-law would say, that is heifer dust. Our military forces are equipped to move hay from Western Australia to the eastern states. The government would be seen to be doing something. It may also improve our Prime Minister’s approval rating.

Editor’s note: In June, the Bay Post/Moruya Examiner joined forces with the charity Rural Aid and its Buy A Bale campaign to help southern NSW farmers facing challenging conditions. Visit www.buyabale.com.au to donate.

I have been embroiled with the NSW Trustee & Guardian, for 11 months and counting.

There has been delay and delay, ineptitude and lack of communication and transparency. I wrote to Bega MP Andrew Constance and received the advice my situation had been forwarded to Attorney General Mark Speakman, as I requested. I subsequently had advice that appropriate action had been taken with the Trustee & Guardian.

With an election pending, I urge thinking people to contact all candidates to obtain their pledge to look into the juggernaut of bureaucracy which is the NSW Trustee & Guardian so we can expect justice, fairness and timeliness in our affairs.

So far the Coalition’s proposed business tax cuts are high on the lists of reasons why voters did what they did on Saturday.

Let’s hope analysts, and voters, don’t blindly accept the political arguments for the business tax cuts as if they might be the best or only answers for the nation and that they do some sums on what the proposed tax cuts would really do towards stimulating the economy, creating jobs, improving business confidence for more investment etc.

Hopefully, the sums will include the secondary impacts of significantly reduced business tax revenue and lower social security payments due to higher employment levels.

Businesses can only improve their profitability by increasing turnover and/or reducing expenses. Increased turnover will achieve all the good effects anticipated and won’t necessitate reduced business taxation revenue. Small businesses enjoying even small percentage increases in turnover will see higher percentage increases in profit before tax. Changes that will lead to small increases in the disposable income of taxpayers and pensioners will see a higher business turnover.

Such “remedies” might include reduced personal taxation, preservation of penalty rates, indexing Medicare thresholds, indexing pensions and revising asset tests, being fair dinkum with child care and maternity leave payments, and so on the list goes with measures the political parties don’t see as common sense even if the electors do – as was evident perhaps on Saturday. As they say in the advert, “simple!”, eh?