John Beever, Tura Beach

Elected just before they discovered a gaping hole in council's budget, much to everybody's delight ex-Mayor Kristy McBain has promised to change the climate! Oh wait ... rather than dial-up any old climate she should firstly find out the sort of climate her people want. The war against the climate has been immensely expensive, destructive, lacks any justification and is running pretty thin. Witness that the more renewables in the mix, the more all this free electricity costs. Climate-action has been directly responsible for exporting more Australian jobs than ever before. Our manufacturing base has been decimated - we can't even build a solar panel or a car anymore and we import almost everything else. In the face of increasing costs, declining margins and greentape, Bega Valley dairy farmers have sent planeloads of their herds to China. Instead of developing and exporting products, we export our farms and other assets such as genetics and knowledge.

It's reported that some 20 per cent of Australian dairy farmers are hanging-up their gumboots. For decades closures have exceeded start-ups and Farmers for Climate Action ignores that Bega Cheese is laying off staff. On the wrong side of the debate, it beggars belief they want to kill off their industry and farmers should be suspicious of the falsehood of marketing that recent bushfires were due to climate change when in fact bureaucratic failures were to blame.

Dr Bill Johnston, Port Macquarie (ex-Bemboka)

An advertisement in the classifieds section of the Bega District News (24/4/2020) notified readers that fox and wild dog baiting was to take place from 27/4/2020 to 30/6/2020 in the following nearby state forests: Bruce's Creek, Cathcart, East Boyd, Glenbog, Gnupa, Nadgee, Nullica, Tantawangalo, Timbillica, Yambulla and Yurramie State Forests, using 1080 poison.

The baiting plan implemented in this instance by State Forests is part of a state-wide wild dog elimination scheme authorized by the federal government which although it acknowledges the dingo is not a wild dog, does not offer it real protection from being eliminated as a feral animal.

The dingo plays a vital role in preserving what is left of the natural eco-system after catastrophic bushfires. Wiping them out permanently under the disguise of bushfire recovery is a campaign that cannot be justified according to the experts.

Ecologists believe that dingoes are of benefit to the environment in areas post-fire because when you have larger, more stable populations of dingoes you are likely to end up with fewer invasive species animals such as foxes and cats. This benefit continues as the area recovers. Yosef Lazarow, in his book Dawn of a Dingo Day says, "Efficient control at the top will keep the system in harmony, provided each established link remains intact. If a vital link, a top order predator, is removed, the system will topple".

There are so few dingoes in the South East that this iconic animal, already suffering from the destruction of its natural habitat, may become extinct as a result of a killing plan which makes no distinction between wild dogs, domestic dogs and dingoes.

Susan Cruttenden, Dalmeny