I refer to the diatribe attributed to NSW Senator Fiona Nash of the National Party (Independent 8/2/2012).
2012 has just started without any change to the National Party agenda to impact adversely upon urban regional communities.
The NSW Liberal Minister for Health is reported as sabotaging Federal funding to upgrade Armidale Hospital for her own unknown political purposes.
The three local NSW National Party MLCs have proven ineffective in achieving adequate road maintenance funding for state highways and regional trunk roads in New England.
Similarly, there is no accountability for expenditure at the Grafton R&MS office that is responsible for Federal funding of the upgrade of the Gay Way down the killer Bolivia Hill to Tenterfield.
The National Party has apparently done nothing to prevent the private sector owners of the too small Kingsford Smith Airport from reneging on their purchase agreement to maintain regional flights there.
Worse, the National Party has made no effort to re-locate jumbo flights into a newly constructed 2000ha international airport outside Inverell so that Sydney dwellers may have quiet enjoyment of their polluted atmosphere.
Then there is no mention of the adverse effects of a high US dollar exchange rate upon primary producers located in and around urban regional centres.
All this indicates that the National Party has lost contact with its political roots and so become totally irrelevant to voters in urban regional electorates.
Regional Australians are fed up with over 50 years of being ignored by political representatives of the National Party.
So, we will continue to vote for Independents who get things done for their communities by getting our fair share of government spending.
Jack Arnold,
Armidale
