We can't name names, there are just too many in this wonderful community who offered support in any way they could and which we gratefully accepted.

We honestly don't know how we would have coped without this support over the past couple of weeks and no doubt will continue to be in need for quite some time to come.

Your kind words, thoughts prayers touched our hearts and will be remembered by us forever, as will our special young man who will never be forgotten.

We also appreciate the fact that everybody has respected our need for privacy, both at home on social media.

They say time is a healer. We certainly hope so, and with the ongoing support from our family, close friends and this community we hope to get through this most tragic of times.

Thank you all, Batemans Bay truly is a wonderful place to live.

Pat, Deanne, Hayley Nigel, Emily Griffin

Whilst it seems that most people are criticising PM Scott Morrison on his actions (or rather inaction) concerning the current nation-wide bush fires on social media, it has become apparent that the vast majority of rural and regional Australians are laying blame on the common "greenie".

The lack of information and the common misconceptions are far spread throughout my local area of the Eurobodalla on the South Coast and, as I suspect, in other regions across the state and country.

Comments and opinions that I hear on a daily basis in this fire season include "The f******g greenies should be ashamed of themselves" and "These climate change f*****rs carrying on when I'm about to lose my home", and these happen to be the more tame examples.

This mindset is greatly distressing to me, especially considering that the majority of it is based in simple ignorance.

To begin with, the "greenies" is a term being thrown around more and more as the fires encroach, and I just want to clarify it.

A greenie isn't just a member of the Greens party, but anyone even remotely affiliated with environmentalism. This is often the case when environmental radicalism is concerned, with the Greens being dragged into it.

It is very widely believed that the Greens are responsible for the restricted back-burning and other fire regulation related legislature, yet the Greens have never held state or federal power in Australia, and currently only hold 58 out of 1480 local council seats in NSW (just 3.9 per cent). Even the forestry department is under state authority.

What is most concerning, however, is the aforementioned strong opposition to climate change and climate change activists.

Climate change is based in empirical scientific proof. Many take the fact that it is technically a theory as proof that it isn't a reality, but this conclusion is drawn purely from the majority of Australians not understanding just how science works.

In the crudest explanation possible, scientists don't try to prove things, they try to disprove things. The more evidence they gather that fails to disprove a theory, the more and more likely this theory is to being true.

Climate change is without a doubt a factor that is playing into these raging fires, as it severely impacts typical weather systems, and increases the erratic nature of such weather systems (resulting in events like hurricanes and droughts). This is only one aspect of climate change, and does not begin to touch on the loss of wildlife and their habitats. As such, this is a hugely significant global issue that needs to be addressed by the likes of the federal government, regardless of the Liberal opposition to the movement.

Although the subject of climate change is a significant conversation that the Australian public needs to start having, and a serious look into future fire prevention and contingencies needs to take place.

Australia needs all three levels of government, local, state, and federal, to come together.

I have been lucky enough to experience the strong community relationships of my area in the wake of this crisis, with locals sharing whatever they can out of a sense of loyalty to our fellow Australians (friends, family, and strangers alike); an example I can only hope will be followed throughout the rest of the country.

This is the time for unity and solidarity, not ignorance and division.

Name and address supplied

There are solutions to make Australia virtually drought proof, bushfire proof, and flood proof.

Australia has always been a dry country, and always will be, but we can greatly reduce the effects of drought, which in turn, will reduce the effects of floods as well.

It's all about water catchment, drainage, and storage. We all know where the rain lands (falls), and where it ends up.

1. The idea is to 'channel' (excavate channels, and/or run pipes) water where we want it to go.

2. Build dams along every river and creek in Australia. (Experts will determine the distance between dams).

3. Build a dam in the corner of every paddock on every farm in Australia, the way we used to.

4. Install a 5,000 gallon (22,500 litre) water tank on every house in Australia and even larger ones on every commercial building in Australia, the way we used to.

5. Recycle our 'greywater' (from showers, vanities, kitchen sinks, laundry tubs) in to special storage tanks, to be re-used on lawns and gardens.

6. Any stormwater that does escape or overflow from any of the above-mentioned, should be channeled in to more dams and/or tanks. (More dams, damn it.)

Drought and flood problem solved.

For bushfires:

1. Arsonists to be given a mandatory 10 year jail sentence. (Remember, 85 per cent of bushfires are deliberately lit.)

2. Strip 'green activists' from all levels of government, local, state, and federal. Re-introduce hazard reduction clearing and burning in the winter months, and allow farm stock (animals) back in to forests and other public land to clear 'fuel' from the ground.

(The Greens should be held responsible for the extent of the current bushfires.)

3. Build (or rebuild) fire breaks and fire trails around every forest, public and private land.

4. Introduce new laws to stop people from building houses, sheds, and commercial buildings in the middle of forests, trees, and scrub.

(Most of the homes lost in bushfires were built right in the thick of eucalypt gum trees which is the equivalent to building on top of a petrol service station)

5. People who insist/persist on building amongst trees and scrub should be rejected from receiving fire insurance.

Rusty Marsh, Bathurst