More reasons not to spray the Kalang roadsides next to residents drinking water.
Another year has passed, 2025 Unfortunately, Herbicide and pesticide studies are mostly done by the chemical companies that produce them.
For the first time independent Australian Universities are mapping where people with motor neuron disease live and some important correlations are being found.
A landmark joint study by Macquarie University and live Charles Sturt University has revealed that the overall annual incidence of motor neuron disease (MND) in western New South Wales (NSW) is 3.72 cases per 100,000 people—more than four times the global average. Presented at the National MND Conference on September 11th,2026, these are the Key Findings & Hotspots
• The Highest Clusters: The prevalence of the disease reaches up to seven times the expected rate in certain rural communities. Oberon recorded the highest prevalence at 23.90 cases per 100,000 people, followed closely by Walgett at 19.04 cases per 100,000. High prevalence was also documented in Forbes, Cowra, Orange, and the Mid-Western local government area
• Demographic Surprises: The data showed an unusual reversal of typical MND patterns. In these regions, women experienced higher incidence, prevalence, and mortality than men, primarily driven by a surprisingly high rate of bulbar-onset MND (where symptoms first manifest in the muscles used for speech and swallowing).
• Environmental Suspicion: Because the clusters frequently overlap with areas of intensive agriculture—and include unrelated in-laws living in the same towns who both contracted MND—researchers strongly suspect environmental or occupational factors rather than genetic causes. Anecdotal links to local golf courses, sports clubs, and specific workplaces are also slated for further investigation. These places rely heavily on glyphosate [roundup] for weed control.
Louise Cranny, Kalang
Respect and trans Australians
I was born white in a racist society, I was born male in a sexist society. I was born into an educated middle-class family, in a safe country. All these accidents of birth carry privilege. The privilege is mine whether I particularly seek it or not; it is in the undeserved deference, the relative freedom from official harassment, the assumption that, as a white middle-aged male, I know what I’m talking about when I open my mouth.
I have another source of privilege. I grew up cis het. That means I never doubted my maleness nor my attraction to women. There are some in our community for whom these issues are more problematic; they may be gay or lesbian or bisexual or otherwise self-defining. They may also be “none of the above”, or “sometimes” (life is complicated!). What they are not is a figure of fun, to be trotted out in caricature form in these letters pages for the amusement or political advantage of the more callous among us. Yet, for some reason known only to himself, Darcy Browning (July 30 2026) seems to be on a lifelong crusade to disparage anyone who challenges his version of normal. I had thought his expertise was limited to climatology and atmospheric physics with a subspecialty in Local Government administration but he now shares with us his recent discoveries in sexuality and gender.
It is no accident that the furore around trans issues has become more intense in the last ten years, coinciding with the conservatives’ loss of the argument over whether it’s okay to restrict the civil rights of gay people. Poofter bashing may no longer be acceptable but trans Australians are, apparently, still fair game for disparagement and disadvantage in society and in these pages. No paper is obliged to print any letter, in whole or in part, including this one, but when you do print a letter that, from a position of profound ignorance, ridicules members of our community for no good reason, you do us all a disservice.
Sean Tuohy, Brierfield
Australia- No longer the lucky country!
Iam an 80 year old grandmother, and have lived most of my
life in Australia, since arriving here as a migrant from Germany in 1956!
Whilst I will be forever grateful for the life this country has offered me, as well as the opportunities & life changing career path that I have achieved with a lot of struggle & sacrifice on my part! Nothing came easy! I’ve had enough ‘character building ‘ to last me a life time!
However, I wish to especially highlight the terrible neglect & inadequacies in our Health, hospital, nursing home, mental health& elder care & disability systems! Iam a product of this system, and somebody needs to listen, if we can ever remedy this inequality!
Whilst insufficient funding is forever an issue, what I have instead experienced in my long life is not related only to lack of funding, it is far more the lack of compassion, intolerance, bullying, medical negligence, bad training, corruption, lack of scrutiny, transparency & oversight!
The horrors and neglect, I have personally experienced in public hospitals, nursing homes, psychiatric hospitals, with the complicity of doctors, surgeons, nurses, physiotherapists, over many years, should never be condoned in a wealthy country such as Australia! Iam talking about my personal experiences over the past 50 years, up until and including recent times!
I personally was operated on by a surgeon who should have been deregistered years ago, to protect vulnerable, trusting patients such as myself, for medical malpractice & negligence, resulting in inability to walk, after a basic hip surgery, which needed to be corrected 3 times, with follow up operations, sadly with little improvement! Other medical life threatening issues were pneumonia, blood clot on lungs, over dosing on Endone sending me crazy & terrified-seeing nurses with dog’s heads,& terrified for my life! Being misdiagnosed with Diverticulitis, in a public hospital, after been left in the Emergency waiting room for 10 hours before seeing a doctor, although suffering unbelievable stomach pain! Leading me to suffer excruciating pain for another 10 days, finally driving myself to another public hospital at 3am, only to be left suffering in Emergency for another 12 hours to be finally diagnosed with burst Ovarian cyst!! Being forced into expensive respite in Nursing Homes because it took 3 1/2 years to be assessed by ACAT for a home care package to finally allow me to go home!
That is just a minute example of my personal suffering, which has lead to Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome ,which hasn’t improved after being delegated by our Health Minister to AI & Algorithms to be reassessed for a higher level home care package, & being knocked back!
My elderly mother fared no better, misdiagnosed all her life for depression,& treated with tons of pills, when in fact she suffered from bipolar, & finally succeeded in committing suicide at 74 from pills & hanging! She was suicidal all her life & attempted to kill herself every 5 or 6 years from the time I was 5 years old! Invariably she would be admitted to a mental hospital, where the doctors had all the power, forced electric shock treatments, permanently medicated, it was worse than ‘One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest”! They would line up for their medication like zombies! When I was in respite in Nursing homes, awaiting my home care package, I was surrounded by violent dementia patients who roamed the wards, day & night, unrestrained. I personally witnessed a very violent patient, Mary, who one night came into my room, and strangled the very frail lady in the bed next to me. She was declared dead in the morning, but nobody believed me that she was strangled! I was reprimanded by the Manager for telling lies! I was terrified to fall sleep after that & Mary continued to enter my room & threaten me! After I left this Nursing home to go to the hospital for my 4th hip surgery, my bank account continued to be debited for another $8000 in fees! It took me 3 months to be reimbursed by the bank, with the Nursing home being in total denial about the theft! This makes me wonder how many dementia patients are constantly defrauded without their knowledge!
My current situation is such that I have begged for help from every government department & relevant Minister, yet the response has been zero compassion!
No wonder there are so many Aussies lashing out in the community, with mental illness affecting young & old, undiagnosed & ignored by our ‘health system’!! This a broken system and mine is a cry for help!
Z.KOENIGSEDER
It Just Rolls On
For some years this old cow cocky has expressed reservations about on top of all the mod tech madness already engulfing the world, the introduction of AI (artificial intelligence). Well, the proof is in the pudding, already AI is sweeping the world at a massive rate, with the prediction from some that it could change the world and certainly the existing human race. Once we lose the ability to exercise and use own brain already being impacted by mod tech the end result must be obvious.
This gender thing, just determined in the high court that a biological man who feels he is a female now, can legally enter any female domain such as a toilet or change room without prosecution.
Also, one of many complaining about the public service and the huge burden placed on any operation a private business via red tape and complexity. But yes, just informed that Labour is increasing the Federal public service by nine each day, with Albo claiming it’s to bring the country forward.
The next on a long list, must be the cost of fuel brought on by Donald’s madness. Hope to be wrong, but feel we have some way to go, with no chance of a quick fix. My diesel Prado a very economical vehicle has a 180-litre tank and if empty at $2-70 a litre runs into $486.
Finally entering Bellingen from the east, I was impressed by the green beauty of the golf course but not impressed to the left by the lack of green on the Connell Park sporting field. After who knows how many millions spent on its upgrade, appears to be a failure, with a reported two weeks closure for yet another attempt to rectify the problem. Maybe could of contracted a farmer, rotary hoed it up, did the levelling thing, planted a suitable grass specie and rolled it down. Probably a better end result at a mere fraction of the cost.
Darcy Browning , Thora