REGARDING fixing the housing problem, we hear all sorts of ideas about offering more tax incentives for housing with permanent rental, with leases of 24 months or more, and stripping airbnb of most of its tax concessions. A town with permanent residents 365 days a year will be economically better off than a town with half its property empty for more than half the year. In the Bay, once again we have failed businesses that didn't survive winter. A full population would soon fix this and create jobs locally. Residents would also not have to put up with their streets being turned into party central with all sorts of drunk low-life scum treating the joint like a toilet. The level of frustration airbnb party houses bring to small communities can't be over-stated, so tax accordingly I say.
Steve Barnett, Fingal Bay
Speed limits gone mad
I HAVE just read "Speed limit cuts needed to help fix national road toll crisis" (Newcastle Herald, 2/10), where some traffic safety body says the speed limit should be reduced to 30kmh in areas where motorists, pedestrians and cyclists mix. Fair dinkum, from where do some of these people dream up such ideas?
It would be more to the point if offending cyclists obeyed the road rules and stopped riding through stop signs and red lights and offending pedestrians looked where they were going instead of having their heads down looking at their phones. Can you imagine the frustration such a ridiculous speed limit would cause? As far as speeding drivers on the open roads goes, more visible police would be a great incentive to do the right thing and appropriate high fines and decent jail terms for drunk and drug-affected drivers would have a better effect on road safety than a 30kmh speed limit in built up areas.
Ian King, Warners Bay
Dealing with national unrest
IN Australia we appear to have a problem of differing law enforcement responses to civil unrest and domestic emergencies. Take, for example, state responses to the COVID pandemic from law enforcement, which were widely different in Victoria and Queensland to that of say NSW, and based largely on political direction.
Our current civil unrest, prompted by the conflict in the Middle East, is a prime example of uncoordinated responses. Perhaps it is time for our politicians and lawmakers to consider a national guard, similar to that in America, to deal with national civil unrest and emergencies that would at least have a singular command structure and some resemblance of consistency and accountability. What we have at the moment is not working.
John Cooper, Charlestown
Pointed view of CBD issues
PHILIP Kelly ("City 'entertainment' open to interpretation", Letters, 1/10), you are drawing a very long bow if you are inferring that hoons, vandals, the trashed foreshore etc. are the fault of the entertainment industry.
People that go out in NIMBY central are, for the most part, well-behaved and do the right thing. It's a minuscule proportion of people who cause late night issues and it's mostly the younger brigade who wander the streets in the early hours causing issues.
These delinquents, usually from parents who don't know or don't care where they are, need to be dealt with by the highest level of the law. In my day police were respected and, if you gave cheek, you got a clip across the ear. You can't do that anymore.
Don't point the finger at a particular group. The issue is much bigger than that. One more thing, Supercars ain't coming back.
Tony Morley, Waratah
Good call on help
LAST Saturday, about 2.30pm, I called the 000 service requesting an ambulance for my wife who suffers from some medical problems and was feeling very unwell.
After waiting for a while the ambulance arrived; a five-tonne vehicle for rescue services. It pulled up outside of our house, the crew got out and asked my address, then started to treat my wife. Due to the lack of ambulances, they were all on call. It was arranged that we attend the GP Access at Maitland Hospital at 4pm. I had to drive her there, no complaints. I think the crew and all involved in the decision should be praised. They were brilliant.
Ray Dean, Thornton
Clear line, and protests must pick right side
Australia is a free and democratic country and people are allowed to hold peaceful demonstrations. The line is crossed when certain people attending these protests hold flags and photos of known terrorists either dead or alive. I believe the government needs to remove the gloves, identify these culprits and remove them from society.
Darryl Tuckwell, Eleebana
Complex, but peace is the mission
THE situation in the Middle East is dire and complex and can make commenting or forming an opinion difficult ("Killing of Hezbollah leader 'necessary step'", Newcastle Herald, 30/9). Because so many political figures, countries and religions are involved, various outcomes are desired. The big players are the USA along with its allies and Israel as well as Middle East countries including Iran. Is it all to do with religion and prophesy or is it something quite different like power, world dominance or oil? In times like this we need to remember the words of another Middle Easterner: "Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God".
Julie Robinson, Cardiff
Special experience at supermarket
MARK Bird ("Move quick on 'bargains'", Letters, 26/9), me thinks you exaggerate when you claim to have seen "price reduced" stickers on "just about every product" when you were shopping at Coles. Either that, or you didn't go down every single aisle as I did when I happened to have been shopping there the same day, as your experience certainly differed to mine, and I pride myself on being a bargain shopper. As for the ice creams you brought for a few dollars less than their regular price, it sounds like this is a common case of an item being what is colloquially known as "on special".
Adz Carter, Newcastle
Voice vote should reverberate
I HAVE to agree with Michael Hinchey ("A poll is not a referendum", Letters, 30/9), that "denying the obvious and complaining about the inevitable" is an indulgence we can't afford. However isn't this precisely what some state Labor governments are doing by proposing to go ahead with treaties even though 60 per cent of people have voted against being divided by race. Perhaps what's going on here is that governments just don't like the fact that a majority of people disagree with them.
