YOUR SAY: Whether we vote yes or no, let's unite to end disadvantage

Both Helen Haines and the late Aunty Nancy Rooke share a valuable perspective of bringing people together despite differences of opinion.

Aunty Nancy often said that the Murray River was a point of geographical and political division for Anglo-Saxons, but for our First Nations people it represents the place when communities come together.

Referendums like the one in 1967 brought us closer together, affirming national values of equality and a fair go and Australians continue to believe strongly in those values.

We also share an equal commitment to the welfare of our First Nations people despite very different views as to the mechanism to bring about the changes that are desperately needed.

There seems an equal measure of myth making and truth telling in any political contest but we should not cave into the early propaganda that "yes" voters are pro-Indigenous and "no" voters are against them or that people who are thinking differently are better or worse human beings.

Bandwagons are clumsy vehicles and at any time of social change we can expect many people to be on the road, possibly in the middle and wondering which side to end up on.

We can be encouraged that people of equal professional, humanitarian and cultural standing hold opposite views on the Voice to Parliament while sharing identical motivations for the welfare of Australia's people.

Those who vote no or yes will be doing so with the best intentions; this is not a wild west movie, there are no goodies and baddies, no white hats and black hats.

Five weeks of conversation will build bridges across our community but five weeks of invective will leave the wreckage of a divided community having to navigate the serious challenges of housing, public health, the economy and environment.

I am hoping to see the red, gold and black Indigenous colours flying across our community as a sign that whether we are voting yes or no to the question of constitutional change, we are united in our resolve to address the obvious suffering and disadvantage of Australia's First Nations people.

The stunning beauty of the Victorian North East canola fields should be a tourist attraction. They rival Europe's sunflowers.

Rutherglen wineries surrounded by bright yellow canola is a sight to see.

The Border Mail contained comments by council staff defending the deficiencies of the new Thurgoona play space area. The staff defended the lack of toilet facilities by saying there was one 150 metres away.

If you don't mind climbing the steep embankment and walking across the wet oval interrupting the sport going on there, that is almost true. Otherwise, it is a 350 metre walk with all your other children, prams and scooters in tow.

The car park for the play space is positioned as a compromise to servicing the school, and council's own website indicates the play space is in Bogong Street.

This makes it hard for people new to the area to find the car park.

The signs council has placed in Thurgoona Drive are small and not professional, and therefore are easily missed.

If you do see them, good luck putting your kids back in the car as they will be on their way to the play area first.

Parking in Thurgoona Drive would be far easier for a parent of an exhausted child to get back to their vehicle, given it is a lot closer and not uphill.

I would like to comment on the sense of the call of "If you don't know, vote no".

Surely to goodness people would not use this inane catchcry for decisions about even things like going to the movies, a restaurant, a holiday. No, people do not.

Find out, make an informed decision, a decision that has value and respect.

Respect for Indigo councillor Roberta Horne for stating the facts relating to what councillors are responsible for when they are elected by the people for the people.

She correctly states that community involvement is the councillors' principal stated value and that they are there to inform, to listen, to acknowledge and provide feedback.

For Cr Sophie Price to accuse Cr Horne of reflecting is, in my opinion, indulging in conjecture.

MORE COMMENT

What a mess we have in Indigo Shire and what hasn't helped is the introduction of the new Local Government Act 2020 giving senior council staff too much power.

Many staff do not live in the shire but are going to leave a big legacy for the ratepayers, such as chasing public money (grants) for such things as cycle trails that have incurred massive budget blowouts and attract high maintenance costs. The cycle trails are not living up to all the hype, very seasonal business and they don't leave the big bucks in town. The next trail being planned at Rutherglen will cost $5 million with 20 kilometres on the Murray River flood plain, this has flooded twice this year already. Meanwhile we have poor unmade roads and footpaths. Sheer madness.

Council ignored the main wishes of the 300+ pre-budget survey submissions for this year's budget, same thing happened last year.

At the recent council meeting Councillor Horne spoke about the worst ever council performance re the 2023 Victorian community satisfaction survey results. Cr Horne questioned how it has come to this and if 50 per cent of our customers were unhappy we would not have a business and we'd certainly be looking for a new CEO. Unfortunately mayor Sophie Price took issue with this and was highly offended and asked Cr Horne to apologise to the CEO. It is obvious that the mayor can't work out who is responsible for this bad result, so who is accountable for it, the councillors or the CEO?

Maybe it's time we question the way that people are elected to local, state and federal governments. Is it time that first past the post like horse racing needs to come into play?

The VEC results for the 2020 Indigo Shire Council elections and the way that votes are distributed is a good example. We now have three councillors who have fewer first preference votes than John Harvey (565) who missed out on being a councillor on a recent countback. The three sitting councillors being Sue Gold (271), Diane Shepheard (539), Emmerick Teissl (520). Poor Frank McLoughlin with 503 votes didn't get a look in either. Indigo residents deserve better leadership and management.

Hats off to Cr Horne for questioning the way things are being 'ignored' whilst there appears to be no accountability for who is responsible for these ever-increasing poor results in so many areas.

I went to Tallangatta and back recently and it's still not a safe trip if you travel over 80kmh as we counted 89 potholes still.

Many potholes have been repaired but I preferred the lower speed for safety, much to the disgust of every four-wheel drive tailgating us. Hopefully, the road will be fully repaired soon.

To read more stories, download The Border Mail news app in the Apple Store or Google Play.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: