Conventional wisdom has it that society is only as strong as its weakest link.

In recent days we have witnessed the O'Farrell government cast aside that conventional wisdom and along with it the responsibility to the most vulnerable in our community.

During the first week of a new school year, hundreds of disabled children have been left stranded and unable to get to school due to the absolute bungling by the O'Farrell government and its failure to provide the specialised transport needed for these vulnerable children.

Another decision by the O'Farrell government to cut financial support for foster carers by $214 per fortnight has caused great stress and for many financial hardship and calls into question the election commitments made by Barry O'Farrell that his government would ease the cost-of-living burden for families.

The decisions demonstrate how the large majority the government enjoys in the parliament has made the government arrogant and out of touch with the community.

Hilary Clinton once said it takes a village to raise a child, advice the O'Farrell government would do well to take on board.

Cr Raymond Harty

Hills Council

Fences save lives

I beg to differ regarding the most effective means of preventing drowning.

An "isolation fence that separates the pool from the house" (January 17) is not the most effective means of preventing drowning.

This does nothing to prevent the drowning of a child already in the backyard and people choose to have their back doors and gates left open in the summer, meaning kids can easily slip away.

The most effective means of preventing drowning is to have a four-sided pool fence, not a simple gate between the back door and the pool.

NSW has extremely slack pool fencing laws. Pools installed before August 1990 do not require a proper pool fence.

We have no pool register and no compulsory pool inspections.

No wonder NSW has Australia's highest drowning death toll. Of the 314 drowning deaths in Australia between June 2010 and June 2011, 107 were in NSW. This figure doesn't take into consideration the number of near drownings, more than 20 per cent of which will leave the victim with permanent brain damage. This is a shameful state of affairs. The Hills Shire Council should take action to ensure that all pools in our area are fully fenced.

Jane Hart

Baulkham Hills