YOUR SAY: Can we afford to ignore the hospital funding that's offered?

Every time you raise this, you send a message to government there is no local consensus and given the competing demands on them, governments will prioritise their budgets accordingly. Add to this you are trying to align two governments in remote capital cities with no understanding of local circumstances and a tendency to assess cross border issues only looking at their own state's data and population numbers on their own side of the border. You may think your representations can alter this, but the system of assessment is well entrenched.

There are many examples of how government have procrastinated large infrastructure investment along the river. The Echuca/Moama bridge, opened last year, was first proposed in the 1970s. The Yarrawonga/Mulwala bridge is on a similar trajectory and who can forget the delays caused by the internal /external freeway debate?

Certainly a greenfields site would be the the best outcome but a large investment has already been offered at a time our health system is already in crisis.

Don't think for one minute that government won't delay that expenditure while they perceive there is no community commitment. Can we afford and do we have the time to ignore what's already on the table?

IN OTHER NEWS:

Michael Ferfoglia, you sir state you are not racist (February 15), I beg to differ, the last paragraph of your letter states "just because they were here first".

You are aware of the colonisation history of Australia, of just how much damage was done by white colonisers to First Nations people, and how much damage is ongoing even today. As far as the dry zones go I do believe they were requested by First Nations elders as a way to curb the damage being done by alcohol. The NT government did not consult these same people when it arbitrarily decided to lift the bans.

I have to question why you're so against First Nations being able to be heard, for the first time, on a national level.

You who live in a rather large suburban area really need to go out bush and talk to First Nations people, to see how even in some of the most difficult circumstances you could imagine, they try to live with dignity and how the hidden majority work hard to improve things for their families.

For too long white Australians have thrown money at the "Aboriginal" problem, for no other reason but our own guilt. It is time we as a nation finally listen to these proud people. So I say vote yes.

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