While Mr Bourke is indeed correct in his assertion that Gareth Ward and Shelley Hancock are sitting members of the NSW state government – that doesn’t mean that they should back away from standing up for our community. 

It is the job of all members of parliament, regardless of which side of the chamber they sit on, to fight for outcomes and to lobby government. There are close to 100 lower house MPs across NSW, all vying for their share of limited funds and resources for their own electorates. We need our representatives to scream the roof down on our behalf to make sure we get our fair share. Would Mr Bourke rather that our representatives remain silent and for our region to miss out?

Mr Ward and Mrs Hancock ought to be commended for being prepared to publically lobby their own government –  it demonstrates a level of political courage and conviction too rarely displayed by their colleagues on both sides of the house. It is extraordinary that our two representatives are being criticised for actually doing the job they were elected to do! Indeed, I wager that Mr Bourke would have been critical had our two representatives not raised these issues in the public domain. If this petition and lobbying from Mr Ward and Mrs Hancock results in positive outcomes for the community – I say all power to them!

J. Horton,

Kangaroo Valley.