There are many elderly rate payers that will be affected by this, which eventually leads to being rated out. I have seen it happen to others.

Is this fair exchange or daylight robbery?

We hear the same old "swansong" every time that rates must go up to do the things they have to do, such as roads and footpaths.

I always know when the new rates notices is on the way because the street sweeper suddenly appears. Oddly enough, it hasn't turned up in my street for many years.

Apart from that, what have they done? We have no footpath in our street. Roundabouts are badly needed at the intersections of St Ann Street and Kinghorne Street and St Ann and Berry Street before an accident occurs.

I'm sure it wouldn't cost $30,000 to put a small round patch of cement in the middle of the road, it doesn't have to be gold plated. Lets see Council put its money where its mouth is, fix the bad roads around town and really get something done.

In November 2019, an independent review into Aboriginal out-of-home-care in NSW made 125 recommendations for systematic changes within the NSW child protection framework.

The data reveals that DCJ is not ensuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people can exercise their right to self-determination, is relying on regulatory frameworks without taking individual, family, community and cultural needs into account, and has lost focus on the goal of child protection - to reunite families safely.

The review highlights the long-standing need for culturally safe case management services designed and delivered by First Nations peoples and their communities, such as those delivered by Waminda.

DCJ must be held accountable for their previous and on-going negligence when working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, and Government must act to prevent another Stolen Generation.

Waminda encourages DCJ to facilitate the delivery of early intervention and prevention services that lower the unacceptable rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in care across NSW.

This is the only way that DCJ can implement genuine and meaningful participation by, and consultation with, First Nation's peoples, as well as combat cultural bias in safety and risk assessments with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families.

Faye Worner, Waminda CEO

We are the authors of multiple peer-reviewed studies on ecology and bushfire science, and the clear and overwhelming evidence is that logging makes forest more flammable.

Four peer-reviewed, published scientific studies from four institutions in six years have made this finding, as have multiple scientific reviews.

After logging, increased sunlight dries out the forest floor, the wind speed on hot days increases because of the lack of a tree canopy and fans any bushfires, and potentially thousands of fast-growing saplings per hectare increases the fuel for a fire to burn.

Only one major piece of work, funded by the logging industry and co-authored by logging industry employees, argued differently.

It was immediately discredited in a peer-reviewed paper by two of Australia's most respected fire scientists, Bradstock and Price, who said the logging industries piece had misrepresented their data.

Climate change is making Australia more vulnerable to bushfire, and the evidence is that logging forests makes things worse.