The water question is a classic case of Liebig's Law, namely, carrying capacity is determined by the resource in least supply.

Water is clearly a limiting resource for Orange, even though the dams are currently full, thanks to La Nina.

Climate change brings uncertainty - we don't know whether the region will get wetter or drier.

We do know that extreme weather events are likely to be more frequent and more pronounced. Both floods and droughts will be worse.

Thus the Council needs to adopt the Precautionary Principle - "when an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause-and-effect relationships are not fully established scientifically".

Population growth may well be a threat to human health and environment in the future, so needs to be discouraged.

Bigger is not always better. There is such a thing as optimal size and Orange may well have passed that perfect point already, though, as towns go, it's pretty good.

Best not to ruin it with ever more growth.

The two part article recently published (Central Western Daily, June 2) is definitely a topic that needs addressing .

The early education industry is at crisis levels in terms of attracting and retaining educators.

We have had services in our town close down classrooms, adjust opening hours and temporarily close all together due to the shortage.

Families are unable to go to work and are thinking about resigning from their jobs.

I am not sure if the article addressed all of the issues around the teacher shortage though? I feel like you could have discussed the Labor government's pledge to make childcare cheaper in 2023, in a bid to get families back to work (and the economy back on track).

And how this will never be successful if we do not attract new educators to the profession and retain the current ones.

How will we look after the influx of children we will receive once the government puts this into place?

And the quoted cost of $640 a week for a full-time working family is the cost before subsidies, and 95 per cent of families are subsidised by Centrelink and will pay no more than $320 a week.

Now that the dust has settled on the election, an aspect I found interesting was the unending focus on the two leaders.

Although each of the leaders occasionally referred to having a "strong team", it was rarely - if ever - mentioned in the media.

We tend to forget that we don't elect our Prime Minister, but instead, we elect members of "the teams".

In my opinion, Labor had the stronger and more united team, and I certainly wouldn't expect their leader to have all the economic facts and figures at his fingertips, when journalists put "gotcha" questions to him.

As I recall, Anthony Albanese was recovering from COVID, and campaigning must be exhausting, even when you're fit and well.

Most people agree that the next three years will be very challenging for Australia, and certainly for our new government.

I am delighted to hear the news of new Climate and Energy Minister Chris Bowen meeting with Greg Mullins and other members of the Emergency Leaders for Climate Action group.

For too long, security experts have been warning Australia and Australian governments about the effects of climate change on natural disasters, and yet they have been ignored.

For Minister Bowen to meet with the experts suggested that the Labor government is serious about taking action on climate change and is willing to take advice from experts.

Finally, after a decade of climate wars, denial and inaction, there is now hope that our children and grandchildren will have a safe future and climate worth living for.