So a longstanding non-profit business has been pressured to change their business model due to the complaints of one neighbour ("Why club had to stop the music", Newcastle Herald, 25/7). I'm dumbfounded.
Even though the Adamstown Bowling Club hadn't hosted outdoor gigs until last year, I put it to this person that such gigs would've always been a possibility. After all, outdoor gigs are becoming much more common, and live music has been synonymous with pubs and clubs for more than 100 years now. The club opened in 1935, so I say on the neighbour's head be it.
To make matters worse, rather than using the feedback line set up for complainants to contact the club's manager and booking agent, Matt Field, directly, this complainant allegedly went onto the grounds to voice their grievances (all while an acoustic solo artist was performing, no less) by verbally abusing a female staff member. It's beyond me how they could ever think that singling out a staff member and (in my opinion) essentially throwing a tantrum was a productive way to address this gripe.
Adz Carter, Newcastle
Suburb isn't the quietest
ADAMSTOWN bowlo is once again in the news for all the wrong reasons. Allegedly a resident abused a staff member who was carrying out a noise reading to try to ensure minimal impact on the neighbours. Rightly, the club's reaction was to temporarily stop outdoor music for staff safety. Really?
Where are the police up to in this matter, and what is the council doing? The club, as I see it, is trying to work with stakeholders to resolve the matter, and it is not as if the club is in a quiet area. There are soccer fields, Broadmeadow racecourse is adjacent to houses, and there are busy roads. What's the argument from the whining few? Maybe it's time for the woe-is-me brigade to look at alternative, quieter accommodation.
Tony Morley, Waratah
Marks alone don't make a teacher
WITH an average of one in three educators leaving the profession within their first five years, extra workloads and pupil behaviour in some regions is of great concern.
It's tempting that the Prime Minister should propose a scholarship of $40,000 at $10,000 a year to attract high achievers with an ATAR of 80+ into teaching, with an extra monetary inducement to teach in the bush. This has been re-offered.
High achievers don't necessarily signify successful teachers. Control ability is soon revealed to some smart-alec students, leading to the demise of that teacher. In my opinion, the recent conviction of a Grossmann High School teacher over his reaction after six students conspired to disrupt his lessons is not a unique problem or scenario ("Conviction for teacher", Herald 8/7).
One could consider that school tone emanates from the office, with socio-economic placements a factor. Firm but fair discipline, staff support, effective strategies and routines of student welfare reveal insightful school function with community backing.
Bob Allen, Hawks Nest
What's driving Voice sabotage
FEDERAL Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has provided a succinct explanation of why The Voice is needed (''No' push ignores undeniable consensus of legal opinion', Opinion 25/7). It begs the question: why are so many intent on scuttling the referendum? What are they afraid of, or is it racism, or wanting to keep Aboriginal people in their place?
It can't be confusion or doubt, because there is plenty of information available, and any intelligent, genuine, fair-minded person is able to distinguish the truth from the lies coming from the "no" camp.
The call for a referendum started almost 20 years ago. In 2007, Liberal PM John Howard said he would seek constitutional recognition for First Nations people if re-elected. In 2014, Liberal PM Tony Abbott proposed a referendum for May 27, 2017 - "a richly symbolic time to complete our constitution". What could be clearer than that?
In 2016, Liberal prime minister Malcolm Turnbull invited First Nations people to say what constitutional recognition should look like. After nation-wide consultation the elected delegates presented the Uluru Statement from the Heart, calling for constitutional recognition through a Voice to Parliament - to be heard on matters that directly affect them - and truth-telling about our colonial history. That is all.
It will have no impact on the white settler society, so why are so many white people determined to sabotage something that really has nothing to do with them (apart from requiring them to authorise constitutional change) but means so much to First Nations people? It will also send a clear message to the world that we respect and care for our First Nations people.
Or is this the real problem - many white Australians don't?
John Ure, Mount Hutton
Billionaire voice never went to a vote
If the Voice referendum passes, it will enshrine an Aboriginal lobby to government in the constitution. I feel this will be a good thing and hope it will be at least as effective as the billionaire's lobby to government that is already enshrined in our system.
Peter Ronne, Woodberry
Job option for correspondent
NOW that Scott Neylon will presumably end his correspondence with your editor, I'd like to put his name forward for a role that would appear to be vacant. City of Newcastle has an in-tray somewhere with genuine enquiries and legitimate questions from the community that, in my opinion, have never received a considered response. The CEO might even put in a good word for his friend Scott.
Mark Brooker, Lambton
Bravo for investigation
CONGRATULATIONS to Donna Page on your great work in journalism ("Who is Scott Neylon", Herald, 22/7).
Loretta Paolucci, Wallsend
Verification review warranted
MY goodness. What a read. Donna Page's exposure of CoN's CEO's "friend" ("Who is Scott Neylon", Herald, 22/7). A most illuminating and enjoyable read. I fully agree the Newcastle Herald needs to review its verification process thoroughly so no more "friends" share their fantasies.
Maria Pye, New Lambton
We're a weird mob after all
MANY years ago I read a book describing Australians as a 'weird mob'. It rings true today. The LNP is on the nose in nearly every state in the country and federally, yet many people across the country are believing all their misinformation and garbage about the dangers of the Voice to Parliament.
Darryl Tuckwell, Eleebana
The cost of cigarettes
A COLLEAGUE who smokes told me he was dying for a smoke. "Yes, you are," I said.
Steve Barnett, Fingal Bay
Framing the story beautifully
A TERRIFIC photo by Simone De Peak ("On the road to nowhere", Herald 22/7).
Niko Leka, Mayfield
It doesn't suit all suburbs
PETER Sullivan ("Bingo in suburb name game", Letters, 24/7), what about Warners Bayo?
