They are all terrified of getting offside with the Saudi regime because we are so reliant on its oil and its weapons orders, amounting to untold billions of dollars.

No outrage, no amount of bankrolling and protection of terrorists, no amount of “collateral damage” in Yemen will deflect leaders, including our own from their subservience to the fossil fuel interests at home and abroad.

Barry Stevens, Tura Beach

The Bega Valley Shire Residents & Ratepayers Association (BVSRRA) believes that all ratepayers should be prepared to step-up to the plate and provide financial support for the shire’s Visitor Information Centres (“Disappointment over deferred tourrism rate”, MNW, October 16).

The BVSRRA also believes that all ratepayers should support funding of tourism-related public infrastructure where that same infrastructure is available for use by the local community, including public boat ramps, fishing facilities, wharves, jetties, walkways, bike paths, footpaths, roads, viewing platforms, parks, gardens, public seating, public toilets, waste disposal, signage, galleries and camping grounds.

Having said that, the BVSRRA believes that private tourism organisations expecting ratepayers to fund part or all of their activities could do a great deal more to convince the community that it should do so.

For example, the chairman of Merimbula Tourism, Kevin Philistan, is reported to have said that the four Visitor Information Centres (VICs) “are running on a shoe string” and that “the economic model is very fragile” and that Merimbula Tourism relies “very much on its members”.

The BVSRRA would argue that if Merimbula Tourism and council are serious about convincing the community that is should support greater funding of the VICs, then it and the other organisations involved, including the Bermagui Chamber of Commerce, should be totally open and transparent about their financial position, including detailing how much its members actually contribute (per member and in aggregate terms); what other funding they may attract (including state and federal government grants) and where their funds actually go.

The recently defunct serial rent-seeker, Sapphire Coast Tourism (SCT), which received more than $3m in ratepayers’ funds over a decade was never obliged to publicly account for its use of those funds and while it was always crying poor and advancing arguments in favour of significantly higher levels of public funding, the contributions of its members remained a pittance in comparison. And certainly SCT did not broadcast its receipt of income from other public sources or the fact that it routinely carried-forward annual financial surpluses.

The BVSRRA believes that any organisation which enjoys public support, be it in-kind or direct financial support, should be openly disclosing details of its financial affairs and activities as a condition to receiving such support.

And finally, without suggesting that an increase in the level of public funding for the VICs is not justified, the BVSRRA is not aware of any commitment by BVSC to increase their funding, so it is at a loss to understand the basis of their alleged disappointment at council’s recent decision to defer any decision to apply for a special rate variation.

John Richardson, BVSR&RA

This government continues to prevaricate over a solution to the situation in Nauru where over 80 children and their families are living in cruel and unsafe conditions under a policy that seeks to deliberately harm children.

According to medical experts children are feeling helpless and hopeless and have developed resignation syndrome whereby they stop eating, drinking and speaking and just wait for death to take them.

Scott Morrison has suggested he is willing to accept New Zealand’s offer of taking refugees but only on condition that they are legally blocked from ever setting foot in Australia. The Opposition refuse to comply saying that the Immigration Minister already has power to refuse them entry to Australia.

Why are both parties concerned about this? Surely these refugees, having suffered a living hell on Nauru for over five years courtesy of Australian policy, would be only too happy to be sent to New Zealand where they would be free to enjoy a secure future. There is no danger of any of them thinking of ever coming to Australia, a country that treated them as criminals and left them to rot.

Olwen Morris, Tura Beach