Before throwing yourself into that home renovation project I would encourage you to seek reliable information about the risks of disturbing asbestos products.

While we are about to farewell November, which is Asbestos Awareness Month, the dangers remain, with 1 in 3 Australian homes containing asbestos in some form.

Many people wrongly believe that only fibro homes contain asbestos.

If left undisturbed asbestos generally doesn’t pose a health risk but when disturbed during renovations and home maintenance, asbestos fibres can be released into the air and inhaled, causing life-threatening diseases.

Asbestos containing products may be found in and around any brick, weatherboard, fibro or clad homes built or renovated before 1987.

To find out more about asbestos containing products, visit www.asbestosawareness.com.au.

Prime Minister Turnbull sincerely declares that “Real men don’t hit women”. If Mr Turnbull is serious about addressing the scourge of violence against women and children in our communities, then he and his predominantly male government must also realise that “real men” don’t cut funding to front-line services.

In the May 2015 federal budget, crisis and homelessness accommodation, counselling hotlines, men’s behavioural-change programs, community legal centres, primary prevention initiatives and services for culturally diverse and indigenous communities were left disadvantaged.

Federal Minister for Social Services, Christian Porter, needs to ensure that the chronic under-funding of family violence response services is reversed in the next federal budget. Until peak body organisations such as Domestic Violence Victoria no longer have to mount a yearly fight to extend insecure, inadequate and short-term funding arrangements, in addition to struggling to meet a fraction of the needs of women attempting to flee domestic violence, the PM’s fine words will ring hollow. Women and children will continue to be brutalised and murdered, and little will change regardless of White Ribbon Day.

In relation to the recent article published in your newspaper, it is disappointing that instead of focusing on reducing the public housing waiting list, Martin Foley chooses to play political games on funding.

The truth is that there were no budget cuts to public housing under the former Coalition Government. In fact, there was actually additional funding provided.

The $470 million Martin Foley continually claims was “cut” by the Coalition was a one-off contribution to support the Nation Building Economic Stimulus Plan.

What Martin Foley is probably trying to forget is that an Auditor-General assessment of public housing found 10,000 properties were about to become uninhabitable due to the previous Labor government’s lack of investment in maintenance.

The last time Labor was in government the waiting list blew out to over 41,000 people.

In four years the Liberal-Nationals Coalition worked hard to turn that around, reducing the waiting list by around 7,000 people.

But that work has already been undone since Martin Foley became Minister, with 800 people added onto the waiting list in less than 12 months.

The Labor State Budget six months ago contained little to reduce the waiting list and Mr Foley must start taking responsibility now.