Dear Sue, If the headline in a recent Riverine Grazier, "More Hay Jobs To Go", doesn't set the alarm bells ringing for our community - nothing will. It is without any doubt whatsoever the worst news that Hay would have heard in a century. The psychological impact on Hay is just about the same as receiving the bad news from your doctor....."sadly, you have terminal cancer, at this stage I just cannot tell you how long it is before you will die from it.” The Public Service - and with it our future - is being dismantled in Hay by the O'Farrell LNP (Liberal National Party) Government, with the jobs being eliminated completely, or dispatched to the Regional Centres at the expense of a rural town like Hay. The further job cuts follow those already announced to be ‘eliminated’ from the Department of Lands. It seems that Hay, situated in a blue ribbon conservative seat in both State and Federal Parliaments, is viewed as dispensable in the overall scheme of things by the State Government - and Sussan Ley, our Federal Member is nodding her head in agreement. It is also obvious that The National Party Member for Murray Darling, John Williams is powerless to stop the destruction of public service jobs. If the new seat of Murray has Adrian Picolli installed as its member - Hay will be worse off as he is Deputy Leader of the National Party, and as a Minister in Cabinet - one of the architects of the policy to reduce Hay to a 'back block' and redundant community. Mr Williams - holds 78% of the electorate vote - BUT he has no say whatsoever in what is happening to Hay. In my opinion, neither John nor Sussan are that good to be given so much trust by the electorate. Marginal seats - it has been shown - get the most attention Mr Williams told the rally in Hay in December last year that he envisaged only ONE job would be lost to Hay through the creation of the LLS. I have that statement on tape. I have a copy of a letter he wrote to the Deputy Premier Andrew Stoner in June last year advising him that the "… economy of Hay is totally dependent on jo bs and in particular, people employed through Government Departments." What has happened since then...six more jobs have gone, on top of the loss of the four or five or so from the closure of the Lands Office. Replaced with NONE. We are an isolated community, we cannot rely on regional centres for our essential services. Taking families out of our town will result in even more reduction in services. Less teachers, less police, less everything...we are on our way to 'down sizing'. The State Government should be bringing people to Hay, not driving them out. When local business houses start feeling the down turn in their businesses, maybe then they will take seriously this huge threat to our immediate future, and put some pressure on the local Members of Parliament. Maybe the Hay National Party and the NFF can make representations to Mr Williams and tell him what the State Government is doing to Hay. How the National Party members can hand out "How to Vote" leaflets at any upcoming State election urging people to reelect a member - who is powerless to stop the destruction of our town- without being embarrassed is something the Party needs to consider What can we do as citizens --we can write to Mr Williams (228 Cressy Street, Deniliquin 2710) with the simple message: "We want YOU to make representations on my behalf, to STOP THE DESTRUCTION of the Public Sector jobs in Hay". The more letters he gets, the more notice he will take -( if any!!!) Last week I received a TAX PAYER funded election letter from Sussan Ley, MP, Member for Farrer. It set out all the great things the Federal LNP was going to do for Regionalisation. If the Fed LNP operates under the same guide lines as the State, we, as citizens of Hay, should be very afraid. I wrote on the letter I received - "Stop the Demolition of Hay - signed my name and put it in the TAX PAYER (Reply Paid) envelope that came with it --and sent it back to Ms Ley. It takes less than a minute. Everyone enrolled in Hay would have received a similar letter. I strongly urge you to do the same as I did. Whose job is next - will it be the ancillary staff at the schools? Teachers perhaps? A Bank employee? The RTA workers? A shop assistant? A Motel/Hotel/Club employee? This is above POLITICS - It is about our way of life, our town, our friends, our future. We have to draw a line in the sand, Make a stand now. Let those responsible know how we feel. To quote Martin Luther King "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter"... Yours faithfully Peter (Parra) Montgomery by email.
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