Having recently spent many hours at Northeast Health Wangaratta ICU, I was surprised to learn that staff on placement during their training, often a long way from family support and needing to spend money to enable their further training, are not remunerated for their enormous level of dedication.
Had they taken on any apprenticeship in a different field they would have been paid.
Had they decided not to do anything productive at all upon leaving school they would have been supported by our generous Centrelink system.
Dr Helen Haines our local federal member is making efforts in parliament to redress this disgraceful situation and ensure 'A fair day's pay' for nurses, and I welcome that.
Let's support her endeavors however we can.
The 'Fair Work Commission' surely needs to be involved, because this is clearly far from fair.
Peter Martin, Wangaratta
Peaceful protesters deserve more respect
Whether it was two or three generations of the Edwards family who attended a march for Australia (Wangaratta Chronicle letters, Friday, 5 September) it doesn't matter.
The blast from Georgina Rea (Wangaratta Chronicle letters, Wednesday, 10 September) for expressing their democratic right was uncalled for.
Dot Fox, Wangaratta
Climate risk assessment should set alarm bells ringing
The Emergency Leaders for Climate Action say this week's National Climate Risk Assessment gives a confronting but not surprising picture of the escalating risks climate change poses to Australians.
The National Adaptation Plan intends to lay the groundwork for preparing our communities, business and emergency services for these risks.
The National Climate Risk Assessment predicts dangerous fire weather days will happen more often, with longer fire seasons and the potential for megafires in southern and eastern parts of the nation - at least until mid-century, when forested areas may start to change into grasslands.
The world is approaching the point of no return on climate action.
Only meaningful cuts to climate pollution this decade can address the worst climate risks outlined in this national report.
At three degrees of warming, sea-levels would rise by one-metre, leading to 18-times more coastal flooding and up to three million Australians in coastal communities facing a high or very high risk of flooding, erosion, and inundation by 2090.
This risk assessment demonstrates how urgently we need to slash climate pollution.
A strong target, as close to net zero as possible, by 2035 is critical to help protect Australians and our economy from worsening climate disasters in the future.
Australian communities also need urgent investment to adapt and prepare for supercharged weather events coming at them over and over again.
The assessment shows our emergency responders will face a greater physical and mental health burden from responding to more frequent and potentially simultaneous disasters.
Our emergency workers, our volunteers and our communities need to be protected from the worst of the escalating dangers.
We know that every dollar spent on climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction saves between $2 and $11 in avoided recovery costs.
This can’t just be another report that ministers read over a coffee and then try to forget about.
The details are too confronting.
Australians expect a strong national plan to act on this climate emergency, not a timid climate target.
Greg Mullins, former Commissioner of Fire & Rescue NSW