A well placed senior local source stated that they have been losing $16,000 per week through their self serve check-outs as a result of theft. It appears store security is at a minimum and ineffective to say the least.

The use of food vouchers has increased greatly and the number of vouchers being presented for baby formula while the mothers are displaying fresh tattoos, phones and clothes and cigarettes is confirmation of why the welfare card with 80 per cent restrictions on expenditure is being trialled.

Combine this with vouchers from charities, would indicate possible abuse of the generosity of taxpayers and non government organisations.

Further reports are that the shoplifting is not restricted to the poor and needy as the stealing disease is alive and well in all areas.

These are described as hot button issues but when the dairy farmers can't get an increase in their milk price, it is because the supermarkets are losing so much through theft.

So over to the store managers to confirm or deny these allegations so that we can start a conversation as to why it`s happening.

People will face more time in jail for peaceful protest than for grievous bodily harm if the government's Right to Farm Bill becomes law.

The bill provides for three-year prison terms for protesters while the penalty for permanently or seriously disfiguring another person is a maximum of two years.

Is this really the sort of society the Coalition Government wants us to become?

Under this proposal people as diverse as Wallaby great David Pocock and the knitting nannas could go to jail for making their point peacefully and democratically.

The government claims these dangerous laws are needed to protect farmers from trespassers, but the law already has those safeguards.

The irony is that farmers may have the most to lose.

Farmers have led campaigns to save the Pilliga and the Bentley region from coal seam gas and the Hunter, Bylong Valley, Gloucester Valley and the Liverpool Plains from coal.

The right to peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our democracy and must not be thrown away for political expediency.

History tells us that when governments erode the civil liberties of any group, they erode them for us all. This bill must be amended or rejected.

The article in Wednesday's South Coast Register regarding Natural Cures is a completely false representation of Naturopathy.

Naturopathy and Herbal Medicine is a highly regulated area of natural medicine. As a practitioner of 40 years with a large clientele, who have been helped to lead happier and healthy lives, it is very offensive.

We do no harm to our clients and without side effects as often seen in pharmaceutical medicine.

We are constantly updating our education and the science behind our protocols is as thorough as any.

As with any profession you would only consult a registered practitioner.

I am writing to express my disappointment in the quality of your journalism. In an article dated October 9 "Are natural cures all they're cracked up to be? Here's the rub", the writer said that the death of a child in 2018 was due to a Naturopaths advice, which is in fact incorrect.

The lady was not a registered naturopath.