FEATURES Simple message that Feds should heed

COMMUNITIES in the Loddon have appalling internet connectivity and there’s certainly no big shopping complex with the technological gadgetry flashing slogans and messages for the fleeting second it takes to walk the 21st century arcades.

Yet, since its election coming up 12 months ago, the Federal Government has directed its efforts to communicate with the people of Australia to epicentres that may well be a way of life of metropolitan and big city residents but are far removed fcrom the reality that is life in rural areas.

Today’s Loddon Herald publishes a full page message from Country Press Australia, of which this newspaper is a member, calling on the Federal Government to not spend more money, just re-allocate some of its advertising spend to newspapers just like ours.

The current Federal Government has spent not one cent with the Loddon Herald - obviously decision makers in Canberra have little care that important messages don’t make it as far as country communities.

A parliamentary inquiry in the final days of the

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previous government actually recommended that 20 per cent of the advertising spend be with rural and regional newspapers. That inquiry was chaired by Mallee MP Anne Webster, our local member in Canberra.

Sadly, with the dissolution of that parliament, the recommendation lapsed. Neither side of the political fence has sought to advance the proposal in the life of the new parliament despite the former parliamentary committee drawing its membership from across the political spectrum and offering recognition that rural newspapers are a credible and important platform of communication.

The Loddon Herald, along with our industry colleagues across Australia, strongly urges the Federal Government to acknowledge and support rural newspapers with a fair share of its advertising spend. Afterall messages in local newspapers are better value than a flickering shopping centre screen seen for mere seconds.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ON AEMO PLANS FOR TRANSMISSION LINE HAVE HAD RESPONSES FROM READERS

Darren Edwards wrote: Very powerful messages. Thank you to those who wrote them. The energy market really needs to understand there are people beyond the poles and wires and these people have every right to actively ‘participate’ in decisions that impact them from the moment a project is conceived. Not ‘informed’ years later when decisions have been made and the only form of engagement is to defend that decision.

Carly Noble wrote: With five design locations offered ... and this being the last line plan left, where will it go then? Farmers cannot continue to block service production. FROM THE LODDON HERALD FACEBOOK PAGE