In short, the "upgrades" are only about connecting parts of the building to the new, massively oversized paid private Wilson carpark. That staff will be forced to pay to use.

Inside the hospital, staff have been severely cut back. Two months ago, I went to hospital with stroke-like symptoms, could barely stand, admitted via ED. Five people in line. I waited 2.5hrs, two people gave up waiting and left. One a sick elderly lady, looking close to death. One a young boy with a leg injury.

At 2.5hrs, the doctor looked at me for five seconds, said I've probably got a "lymph infection thing", and then sent me off. I was not prescribed anything.

This week I had a car accident. I was taken by ambulance, waited for a few hours and sat next to a man coughing and throwing up with just a paper sheet between us. I was given nothing for the pain from my car accident.

The nurses and cleaning staff were stretched extremely thin. There were probably only four staff on total. One doctor on only. After waiting for hours without help and a lot of pain, I self-discharged and caught the taxi home, where I could get pain relief at least.

We approach local government elections with some councillors and candidates, like clockwork, publicly touting for votes from the strident critics of council. This was clearly in evidence at a recent rally which sought to defer the appointment of a new general manager.

It isn't understood by all that councillors set council strategy, prioritise projects and set the budget. The general manager and council staff implement these decisions within the relevant legislation. Councillors, not council staff, steer the Good Ship Wingecarribee.

READ ALSO: Rally to defer general manager selection gathers large crowd

The councillors most critical of council are the same ones whose poor behaviour and general disruption within the council chambers has been subject to many complaints resulting in the recent council performance order from Shelley Hancock MP.

It amazes me that many community members are attracted to such posturing councillors and candidates. It's a well-practised election strategy to discredit one's opponents while offering nothing constructive oneself. The Federal and State LNP politicians are past masters of this.

Some of our councillors have recently reversed their Station Street position and now oppose the upgrade, presumably to capture the anti-council vote. What is the rationale of supporting the $80M+ alternative that is not supported by any traffic study as a solution to the Bowral traffic congestion experienced every day?

Just think what $80M could do to progress some really key issues facing the shire.

And this brings me to the our climate emergency. While on sick leave in 2020, councillors twice declined to adopt such a motion. Upon my return, I held discussions with various councillors and was pleased to see that when a similar motion next came to council, it was adopted 8-1.

Later I was successful in gaining support for the establishment of a climate change committee. These matters are now being progressed by other councillors and I thank them for that. Unfortunately it was necessary for me to step down from council for health reasons.

Council plays an important but secondary role in relation to climate change. Our two major political parties have failed to grasp the importance of climate change, and progress has been totally unsatisfactory.

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I ask that voters in the coming elections do not vote for those who play cheap politics and offer little but destructive criticism of others and the work of council. Please support candidates who constructively work on matters important to our community such as climate change and key projects to keep the Southern Highlands a great place to live and work.

Is it the oceans? Is it CO2? Is it a God of some brand? Maybe CO2 causes only hot and dry conditions and oceans cause cool and wet conditions. Let's spend a billion or three to find out!

And if CO2 was such a powerful demon and the controller of our climate - where is it? Turkey apparently as they are having storms. Perhaps the CO2 is in all the green stuff that is growing due to the rain.

Our Climate Advisory Committee will surely know the answers as we are apparently plunging headlong into their "Climate Emergency" - with heaters on in the middle of summer.

The reality is: oceans are primary drivers of our 'sensible' (felt) climate - be it hot and dry or cool and wet. If they vary - the climate varies. The CO2 demon as being the primary driver of climate is a concocted Green fallacy, as is any resulting "Climate Emergency" decree.

Now we have a Green-stacked "Environment Advisory Committee" and are forced to pay for an ever burgeoning bureaucracy - yet another Green person on council payroll.

So let's keep on sending our money to China to fund their aggressive interests by buying their fans and solar panels so that sub-sub increments of 0.34 per cent of the planets population (that includes NZ) can help reverse climate variations that have been in place before humans were even thought of.

Cr Larry and his committee are clearly more knowledgeable than I, so please correct me if I err.

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