Last Saturday night we attended a local restaurant. I do not want to name and shame so I will not mention the name of the restaurant.

Accidents happen, mistakes are made. We are all human but we should learn from mistakes and minimise the risks for it happening again. While we were angry, anger won’t help but awareness will.

On arrival we told the waitress of the food allergy of a child in our party. We told them the child could not eat nuts.

We ordered serves of garlic and herb bread as written on the menu. As soon as the bread was eaten an allergic reaction began.

We inquired as to what herbs were on the bread thinking a new allergy may have a appeared. We really didn’t think that after informing the staff of the allergy that any form of nuts would have been served.

Unfortunately the garlic and herb bread was in fact garlic and pesto bread with cashews.  

Once given the information my husband said to the waitress in disbelief "we did tell you". The waitress said she didn’t think about the garlic bread and didn’t this the child would be eating it.  

No help was offered, nothing.

We immediately took her the the hospital where we spent the next five hours with a frightened child who  thankfully made a full recovery.

The rest of our party remained at the restaurant on our insistence and the entrees and wine were taken off the bill.  We have since had further contact with the restaurant and they expressed their sincere regret and have offered to refund our meal.

More importantly they are making several changes to their procedures and menu.

We thank them for their prompt actions in ensuring this won’t happen again.

Please, don't presume someone won’t eat something especially if it is served to share. Label your menu carefully. If a customer informs you of an allergy it could be life threatening so treat it as such. And don’t be afraid to offer medical assistance. Your customers put a great a deal of trust in you, please respect that. 

Post our federal election and recent global developments, the place and role of national sovereignty, cultural identity as well as an inclusive and robust economy needs to be addressed.

The failure of the elites – governing, intellectual, religious, fifth estate or economic – to recognise the primacy of all these major issues in the lives of the general populace will challenge our political status quo.

There is ample evidence of a growing concern that “our way of life” is changing without “our” input and this is polarising people into a concept of  “us and them”, the “haves and the have-nots”.

This has never been more evident than in the outcome of the recent UK Brexit referendum, the resurgence of the votes for One Nation in Australia and the general movement in Western Democracies away from ‘ruling” political elites.

There is an increasing lack of faith in, and trust of, those who presently rule and their failure to listen to and really act on the concerns of the populace.

There is a growing disaffection with the word games they use and a real desire for “plain speaking”, action on what the people want, not what the elites want.

The spread of “globalisation” has reached a point where people fear their way of life is under threat, their values and cultural identity undervalued and the future for their descendants uncertain and endangered.

National sovereignty, cultural identity and an inclusive and growing economy, where all Australians accept their responsibilities as well as their rights is what is needed.