Thank you Zack Schofield ("Rising Tide wouldn't stop a cruise ship, so what's the go?", Opinion, 5/9), for making it clear that the planned Peoples' Blockade of the Port of Newcastle in November welcomes the passage of non-coal vessels.
I believe that makes it a very sad and perhaps ill-informed decision by Silversea cruises to cancel the planned visit to Newcastle over that weekend ('Port protest sinks ship visit', Newcastle Herald 4/9).
The purpose of the blockade is to highlight the need for an urgent coal industry-profit funded transition to new industries in the Hunter, with training and support for affected workers.
We've seen the hottest year globally on record (2023), the hottest August on record in Australia, and our hottest winter. Unseasonal weather events of different types almost weekly across Australia. Those all cause much much more disruption than the blockade.
The flotilla is peaceful, organised and highly mobile. That makes it easily manageable to allow grain, cruise and other vessels through the shipping channel whilst blocking coal ships.
The thousands of people who will be attending the family-friendly protest-ival from all over Australia and internationally will only add to the potential economic benefit that would have eventuated from the 700+ cruise ship passengers.
It would be a shame for them to miss such a colourful welcome at the gateway to our city.
Kerry Walker, Wickham
Better options than a blockade
TOM Hunt ("Harbour blockade's worth lies in people power", Letters, 6/9), in regards to climate protests you wonder what other options do concerned citizens have.
Are you serious? Have you genuinely not thought of other ways, such as methods that have stood the test of time.
Unfortunately your lack of thinking appears to be contagious amongst others such as those from Blockade Australia.
You are suggesting blockades are used for social licence, but IU believe it actually turns the general public against the blockaders. Do you not realise that from the other past letters to the editor on this subject? Are you not listening?
Are you saying you have never thought about getting the public onside through a massive media blitz, such as the one that the mining companies used to counter the proposed carbon tax?
How about the idea of using lobbyists to influence parliamentarians, that tried and tested method that you should know is used by multimillion-dollar professional organisations?
How about forming a political party of your own, getting elected to parliament and calling the shots?
Come on, Mr Hunt, do you really know of no other way of getting results? Surely if you try for a couple of seconds you can think of others. Or are you pointing out to the general public that these protesters and yourself have no idea how to get results?
Glen Wilson, Cardiff
Time for coal to pay its way
This year's 10-day port blockade event intends to block Newcastle harbour against coal for three days, bringing about 5000 out-of-area and interstate people to Newcastle, plus another 5000 from Newcastle and surrounds. The cruise ship that has cancelled its visit due to the action cites 1284 people for a single day, and Rising Tide specifically said they will not block non-coal ships.
I support the Rising Tide demand to make coal companies pay 75 per cent tax on export profits. It should be spent on re-training fossil fuel workers for upcoming clean energy, good paying union jobs.
More needs to be done to support the transition for those workers' communities, on whose backs the coal companies have made billions when they would return just a paltry percentage to the Hunter in community investment.
Who will pay for rehabilitation of those vast mining scars in the Hunter Valley, if the government doesn't require sufficient taxes from the voracious coal companies before they abandon the region and its workers?
I also take Zack's point made in his opinion piece ("Rising Tide wouldn't stop a cruise ship, so what's the go?", Opinion, 5/9). He points out that it is far easier for officials to punch down at a grass-roots community who are fighting for a fair and sustainable future (because the government hasn't!) than it is for them to confront the coal companies and demand recompense for the damage they've caused. That's especially true with the impending, inevitable transition.
Joanne Jaworowski, Cooks Hill
Debate heats up as swelter hits us early
As we head into a predicted very hot summer, the climate change debate heats up. As far as climate change is concerned, there are those who listen to the climate scientists and believe what they tell us. Then we have the non-believers who listen to politicians whose only agenda is to stay in power and deny it's real. They are systematically putting power before the planet.
Darryl Tuckwell, Eleebana
Snowy no example of efficiency
Kate Newton ("Cynicism's even faster than high-speed trains", Letters, 9/9), are you aware of the great progress made by the Snowy 2.0 project? My prediction is that it will take much longer than the original project due to the push forward at all cost to show substance from the politicians who have no idea about the engineering issues at stake. Snowy 2.0 is going to cost us the tax payers well into the future. If you want to select progress and promote it, another project should have been chosen.
Ian Reynolds, Forster
Dearth of info from contenders
I have seen very little information material from prospective local councillors prior to next Saturday local government elections. Aside from a few posters adorning electricity poles you would not know who is standing for election and on what policies. The little we hear or see is about what they have done rather than what they will do. Given the woke ideologies and ideas of some of our past councils, some prospective councillors probably want it that way.
John Cooper, Charlestown
Make your ballot an informed one
VOTERS in the upcoming election, take into account who would sell our council building and rent one. Look at our roads and line marking and our parks and gardens. Most cities have a mall area to be proud of, but in my opinion we do not. Newcastle feels secondhand, and I believe it's time for a change. Do not just vote - care who you vote for to help make Newcastle something to be proud of.
