With such a diverse group of candidates, one fact remains, and that is that there will most likely be one of two possible results nationally. That is, there will be a return of the Liberal/National Coalition government or a change to a Labor or Labor/Greens government.

If we look at the recent State Election in Victoria, and the seat of Mildura in particular, the result was a win for an independent.

The winner, Ali Cupper, has been a Labor supporter and candidate for election on previous occasions and perhaps realising she could not win the seat as a Labor candidate, offered herself as an "independent".

Because of a concerted push within the seat to make the Mildura electorate marginal and the call by some groups to put the Nationals last, even though the Nationals candidate had the highest number of first preference votes at the ballot, he was eventually defeated by the flow of preferences against him.

Constituents within Mallee can be assured that the independents and candidates for most of the minor parties will never be likely to be elected part of the government of the day, so if their preferences are distributed it could result in either a win for Anne Webster of the Nationals or Serge Petrovic of the Liberals and therefore retaining the seat for the Coalition. Or if the preferences flow as they could, against the National and Liberal candidates the seat will be lost and we will either have a Labor member of parliament or someone who will sit on the crossbench outside government.

Whichever is the case, it results in an effective gain of one seat by Labor.

I believe that a vote other than for the Coalition in Mallee could well be a vote for Labor. People should therefore make up their mind who they want to govern Australia for the next three years.

I will be voting for Anne Webster of the Nationals, whose very existence is to represent the people of Australia who live and work outside our major cities.

The Nationals are the only party who have this charter and will always work for and support what is best for rural and regional Australians.

Bill Ower, life member, National Party of Australia (Vic)

YOU are about to vote - maybe for the first time - in the Federal Election.

I'm often asked why I joined the National Party team. I always say that it is because the Nationals' only purpose is to stand up for rural and regional Australians, and to help our regions prosper and grow.

The other major parties are focused on the big cities, where the populations are, whereas the Nationals team has a track record of investing in regional communities and making sure that we get our fair share of funding. Because of the Nationals we have many achievements including the Wimmera-Mallee Pipeline, the Horsham College and Special School, the Nhill Early Years Centre and the new Wimmera Cancer Centre. We have record federal funding for our schools and hospitals.

All of our country councils receive federal Roads to Recovery funding to fix up our local roads, our farmers are given assistance with FMDs (farm management deposits) and we removed stamp duty on the transfer of the family farm . All policies developed and implemented by the Nationals

So before you vote, put some time into thinking about the person, the party, the team that you honestly believe will be your voice in Canberra to deliver for our large electorate of Mallee.

I will be supporting and voting for Anne Webster, who is hard working, experienced and smart, and earlier this year was awarded the Mildura Rural City Council Citizen of the Year.

Anne Webster and the Nationals have a strong plan for Mallee, and Anne would be a great voice representing our community in Canberra.

Hugh Delahunty, Horsham

THE Nhill RSL sub-branch would like to thank the Nhill community for raising more than $2500 for our Anzac appeal.

A huge thank you to the volunteers who sat at IGA and the bakery for us and in particular Siobhan Webb who organised the IGA this year.

It was amazing to see so many people at our dawn service. Even though it was foggy and cold, many younger community members were in attendance. Our president Henry Berry has stated to me that the dawn and 11am services were the best he has attended since he came onto the committee 18 years ago. We would like to say a big thank you to Peter Haslau for his very interesting talk and to all the community organisations who participated in this year's march and wreath laying ceremony. It keeps getting bigger every year.

A very special thank you to Pam Deckert and Rosie Clark for the effort they have gone to decorate our memorial and look forward to seeing the future ideas they come up with.

One final mention is Liam Deckert from the Horsham Air Force Cadets for his support this year - much appreciated.

Rhys Webb, secretary, Nhill RSL sub-branch

Letters on election issues must bear the name and full address of the writer(s). Responsibility for election comment in this issue is accepted by Wimmera Mail-Times editor Jessica Grimble.

Writers should disclose any alliance with political or community organisations and include their phone number for verification. Election candidates should declare themselves as such when submitting letters.