Informative in that I learned how much our import costs are inflated by the inability of our major ports to efficiently handle the volume of shipping containers currently arriving daily, and alarming that our governments, state and federal, are failing to deal with the problem.

Both our existing ports and rail systems are 20th century systems ill equipped to cope with 21st century technology and there appears to be no plan to rectify the situation with the result that Australian consumers will continue to bear the rising costs.

A topic about which I already had some concerns is the systematic closure of our oil refineries with the relevant companies claiming to be hampered by rising costs.

I have had some correspondence with the previous government on this subject and was assured that we have such a diverse range of suppliers that we will never be short of petrol or diesel fuels.

It is not the origin of our fuel supplies that concerns me so much as the shipping. We may not be directly involved in a global conflict but still have our shipping disrupted.

This in turn will have a disastrous effect on our own defence capabilities.

Last but not least was the federal government’s apparent plan to scrap the renewable energy program. 

The public response to the use of solar energy has been quite remarkable and should be encouraged. My own switch to solar hot water has resulted in costs savings of $250 per year and leaves no carbon footprint.

More recently I attended a ceremony at the University of New England where the guest speaker, in his address, reminded us that to compete with overseas interests Australia will always have to be innovative, to continue to think outside the box. Are our elected representatives capable of doing this or are they restricted to their party line?

Geoff Parker

Glen Innes