One of the major thorns is the billions of dollars spent on keeping nearly 30,000 people in detention, the most costly being the offshore centres.

A $600 million-plus hospital built at one of these offshore centres would have built a new Goulburn hospital six times over.

Even with this state-of-the-art hospital, some patients have to be transported at great expense to Australian hospitals.

Recent newspaper reports claim some Australian doctors are asking for government transparency of these offshore facilities.

This may indicated we are not meeting our UN commitments on human rights.

The Government has just celebrated two years of no drownings at sea (so we are told) having turned back over 700 refugees during this period.

News reports indicated some of these boats have been scuttled and burnt: too bad about the poor Indonesian fishermen who rely on these dilapidated vessels for a living.

One may ask: are we the bully-boys of the Indian Ocean?

But the real thorn in the flesh is those members of Parliament, on both sides, who want a humane settlement of this very costly offshore non-solution introduced by a Labor government whose major motto was a ‘fair go’ for all people.

Nearly 20 years ago when these so-called illegal boat people started to arrive, there were approximately 14,000 in Indonesia all from the Middle East: the majority of some Christian background; many spoke good English.

Ninety eight percent of the people who arrived then were settled in Australia.

Today we have an estimated 10,000 in Indonesia (a minor number compared with the little nation of Jordan).

Some charities in Australia are helping these people, some have set up schools to teach the children English and other basic courses.

We had the Yellow Peril of the 1800s; the post war migration (they will take our jobs); the Reds under the bed of the 1950s and ‘60s (we now trade with some of those under the bed to our advantage): threats that never eventuated, due perhaps to the fact most Australians are prepared to have faith in a higher power and give everyone a fair go.

This offshore detention will continue to be a major thorn in the flesh for our leaders and a big financial drain on our tax system.

Over the last few months, myself and a few other Goulburn people have had to undergo specialist radiotherapy in Canberra.

This happens all the time for people in and around Goulburn.

This radiotherapy is only possible with the support of family and friends and the staff and volunteers at the Goulburn Base Hospital community transport service.

This service is well-established. It’s been running all year round for many years for people just like us, people unwell but trying to get better.

However, I’ve lived in Goulburn all my life and I had little idea what it did.

It’s a service based on the strong network of Goulburn volunteer drivers, with vehicle and administrative support from the hospital.

When family were unable to take me on the daily trips to Canberra, community transport did, and they were just like family.

My family and I would like to say a very big thank you to Goulburn community transport for your help and kindness over the last few months.

We hope the service prospers in helping more people get better.