If only the council spent .0001 per cent of the cost of trees (and now carpet) in the main street on watering the vibrant Little Gem trees in the granite pots to maintain them, some would still be there.

Instead the council could have added the million dollar upgrade to rip up the concrete median strip, then re-concrete, then plant trees, then the "cheap and nasty" carpet (quote Rodrigo Andrews Martin-Silve GP p9 13/01/21), on urgently needed infrastructure.

As Madeline Tunstall says, "What about spending money on country roads instead? ", and I say, "What about clearing out reeds in Mulwaree River intersection Park and Blackshaw Road?"

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Southern Tablelands set to get hot toward the end of the week

This is so badly overgrown there is no evidence of water at all south of the bridge.

It is much easier to put up a sign on Bungonia Road saying road subject to flooding.

Because the river was blocked, water could not escape and in August last year water came over the road totally outside the one in 20 year flood, causing severe erosion.

Back to the carpet.

The Mayor said, "I think it looks quite good", (p2 GP 13/01/21) - not "very good" or "terrific". I agree it looks okay for now, but not as good as it looked before with 48 granite pots creating a continuous vision of the main street, which is now a bit of this and a bit of that and then a bit of this again.

Time will tell when the carpet deteriorates and the trees succumb to being in the wrong location and the council decides to try something else.

Last week, the whole Dutch Cabinet resigned because it was revealed by a government investigation that 20,000 people had been wrongly accused of ripping of the welfare system.

Last year, the Morrison government admitted that it had wrongly accused over 400,000 people of ripping off our welfare system, and had to pay back over $1 billion as a result of the error of previous LNP governments.

That's $1,000,000,000 of money of ours, handed out to legitimate claimants, then taken back, then paid back again, but only because the mainstream media revealed that the demand for repayment, the so-called "robodebt", was illegal.

Not one minister, let alone a whole cabinet, resigned or took responsibility.

There couldn't be a clearer message from the Morrison government: don't expect political leadership in Australia to factor in morals or ethics, despite our PM parading his Christian beliefs whenever it's convenient.

It's "anything goes as long as we stay in power."

Not all that different from that now defunct "leader" across the Pacific.

As another challenging year begins, I want to acknowledge the customers and team members of Coles and Coles Express in the Goulburn Mulwaree region.

Their incredible generosity has raised nearly $15,000 for families facing childhood cancer.

Last year, there wasn't a family in the country who wasn't impacted by COVID-19 and none more so than those supported by Redkite - families who have a child with cancer.

In NSW alone, demand for our counselling and support services went up by a massive 52 per cent as they grappled with the daunting task of keeping their immunocompromised child safe during the pandemic, along with the daily struggle of paying for groceries, household bills and hospital trips.

Goulburn Mulwaree residents achieved so much for their neighbours by simply including a small act of kindness in their everyday activities.

Local customers showed they cared rounding up the till at their local Coles Express, or adding a $2 Christmas card to their grocery shop.

Their Christmas spirit helped Coles Express Big Merino raise nearly $5,000 making it the top fundraising site in the country.

For families who have a child with cancer, 2020 was a devastating year, but thanks to the incredibly generous support of Goulburn Mulwaree's big-hearted community and the passionate Coles and Coles Express team members, Redkite will be able to make sure they don't face their child's cancer alone.