In that time I have been given misleading and incorrect information, issued with extremely late and incorrect shire rates demands, then advised a new computer system was being installed.

In November I was told that a “software consultant” was reconciling all the pensioner discounts and that my refund would be put into my bank when this was completed.

However, woe betide any ratepayer who writes directly to the CEO strongly complaining over the time taken to return these funds.

You will receive from one of her minions an email threatening you with accusations of harassment and misogyny, draconian punishments such as the cancellation of the discount, plus (almost unbelievably) late penalty interest charges for non-payment of funds which the shire owes to me.

The latest development is what can only be described as an act of bureaucratic vindictiveness in which the shire has refused to answer regular requests for information.

Perhaps I should charge the shire interest on the funds they are withholding from me?

Of course, these organisations vehemently deny that they are doing any such thing, but they would say that wouldn’t they?

In conversations with others and reading mainstream media, I have realised that I am not the only one drawing parallels to the 1930s and the rise of a certain extremist mob in Germany which also had “National Social” in its title.

One would hope that this ugly face of extremism is confined to a tiny minority in our community and will evaporate when we get to less stressful times.

In the meantime, it is unfortunate that some previously well-regarded people appear to have sullied their reputations and standing.

The dilemma we face is that of all human history – ‘me’ or ‘us’.

History is filled with examples of societies that collapsed while others sustained themselves for thousands of years.

Those that collapsed put the individual before the community, and those that sustained themselves did the reverse.

Australia’s indigenous inhabitants are prime examples of societies that sustained themselves.

Their wisdom put care of the earth and deference to the community first, ahead of preference for the individual.

The key is an ethical issue that philosophers have written about for thousands of years – the ‘public good’, or the highest good for the greatest number.

Democracy is supposed to be based on the same principle.

It should be about ‘us’, with ‘me’ coming an important but close second.

If we insist on reversing that principle, we risk collapse as a nation and society.

The signs are already with us.

Self-interest in politics, economics, social interaction, wants versus needs, ‘my ideas’ versus ‘revealed wisdom’ – we have become dangerously and immaturely ‘precious’.

That’s about ‘ego’ versus ‘soul’ or, if you think ‘soul’ is too airy-fairy, think ‘common sense’.

It makes sense to be part of the whole – caring for you is good for me.

Numbers provide safety but individuals can be easily picked off and destroyed.

‘A three-fold cord is not easily broken’, the saying goes.

We need to be careful not to allow corrosive voices and movements among us to divide and destroy our community.

If you become aware of something that sounds divisive, please call it out.

But as the Safe and Scenic Toodyay Roads (SASTR) campaign has always maintained, there is a balance to be had between improving safety and excessive damage to the environment – it is not one or the other.

In that regard, recent discussions between our group and Main Roads WA suggest that new designs for this junction are possible without so much clearing and we look forward to seeing these confirmed officially.

That aside, Owen pays the conservationists including our group a compliment by saying they are holding up the work on Toodyay Road.

We wish that was true but any delays in this work by Main Roads WA are due almost certainly due to the unavailability of contractors and resources.

The courage of outspoken victims Grace Tame and Brittany Higgins prompted tens of thousands of supporters to rally at a Women’s March for Justice last March.

It took last month’s damning report by federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins for all that happens in the ‘Canberra bubble’ to be officially revealed.

It found that one in every three women working in Federal Parliament reported that they had been sexually harassed.

The term ‘Canberra bubble’ initially had two meanings – one given to it by the Prime Minister who regarded complaints as gossip that nobody really cared about.

The other view was that ‘what happens in Canberra stays in Canberra’.

Ms Jenkins dispelled that politically self-serving myth in one fell swoop with her damning Australian Human Rights Commission Report Set the Standard tabled in Federal Parliament last month.

The contents are shocking – a sad indictment of years of neglect and lack of strong parliamentary leadership.

The Prime Minister’s job is to do something about it, and I say bring on the election because it will be one of our most important for decades.

Toodyay’s electoral boundaries have changed, and local member Christian Porter – who stepped aside as Federal Attorney General last March after denying allegations of sexual misconduct – says he will not recontest the next Federal Election.

A redistribution of electoral boundaries has seen Toodyay move from Mr Porter’s former seat of Pearce into Durack, which has a sitting member that Toodyay voters know very little about.

The Prime Minister said recently that he wanted to see a kinder, gentler parliament.

Most of us, would like to see a kinder, gentler world.

Australians are limited in every other workplace by the amount of alcohol they can drink on the job (usually none) and they are expected to adopt and apply workplace organisational values (respect).

By definition, leadership starts at the top, and actions speak louder than words.

I look forward to better leadership from our next batch of elected federal representatives in 2022.

Toodyay Friends of the River applauds the efforts of private land holders and the Shire of Toodyay to control feral pigs.

Conventional traps and new hi-tech remote monitoring have proved effective at selected sites.

However, feral pigs are prolific breeders and the sheer weight of numbers will require persistent control efforts.

We encourage the Toodyay community to report any sightings or evidence of feral pigs along the Avon River to mypestguide@agric.wa.gov.au or ring 1800 084 881.

No response to the call to come on home,
A fruitless search followed for this lost drone,
The weeks rolled by and resigned was the owner,
On eBay he even advertised the controller,
Then one morning a call came through,
We found a drone and on it is a picture of you!
This to me almost seemed too unlikely to be real,
Only a metre had separated it from a tractor wheel,
Beyond the forest and in a paddock it was found,
The crop cushioning its meeting with the ground,
The grateful owner didn’t know what to say,
My response to him, “only in Toodyay”