WHY can't a Newcastle Maritime Museum be part of the Newcastle Art Gallery proposal? After all, paintings only hang on walls, the floor area which would be substantial should have no trouble displaying maritime exhibits and memorabilia.
I would expect Newcastle maritime history to be more interesting, thus attracting more people than paintings or art exhibitions.
This would serve two purposes at no extra cost.
I don't know why this hasn't been suggested before. Surely the town planners can make all the arrangements before more money is wasted on unnecessary storage.
Carl Stevenson, Dora Creek
Planning demands patience to dodge problems
HILTON Grugeon is taking court action against Lake Macquarie and Newcastle councils because of what he considers excessive delays in the approval process. He should, however, remember that approving a development is councils absolving the developer of all responsibility for any future problems that may occur with traffic congestion, infrastructure supply or climate-related events like flooding or urban heating.
These problems are very difficult to access, especially given the cumulative impact of our accelerated development and the limited ability of councils to reject developments because of future climate extremes. I believe developers have become adept at manipulating council's approval process by providing the bare minimum of information and lodging late modifications.
Don Owers, Dudley
Who benefits in culture wars?
EVERY year we hear woke lefties want to take away 'our' Christmas, Australia Day and Anzac Day. None of that is true, but it's spun out every year anyway. In between, confected outrage is directed at some drag queen reading a book to kiddies, or a 'Welcome To Country' ceremony or a green environmental decision by a council - all presented as evidence of a woke/green/left attempt to change Australian way of life.
It's always conservative politicians and media behind these claims. Why? The LNP represent the interests of big business and the wealthy. But at election time, businesses cannot vote and there are not enough wealthy people to get the LNP across the line. How then, do they get enough people to vote for them, even if it's against their own interests? Invent a continuing culture war using false threats. It works.
To too many, it doesn't matter that the Coalition insults them as "leaners", would strip their cherished Medicare bare, allow employers to pay them less and do away with their superannuation. As long as the Coalition presents itself as the only saviour to a culture threat, they'll continue to vote against their own interests.
John Arnold, Anna Bay
Bravo for changing tax cuts
KUDOS and applause to Jim Chalmers and Anthony Albanese for having the courage to modify the Stage Three tax cuts from their original, iniquitous form.
Ordinary Australians are hurting from what has been dubbed a cost of living crisis. This title is misleading. It's a wealth distribution crisis. The gap between rich and poor is widening. Add to this the price gouging from avaricious corporations, energy suppliers and supermarkets and the cost of housing and the expiration of the low and middle tax offset and people can't afford to live.
The Albanese/Chalmers decision will go some way to relieve the stress.
I now look forward to the howls of confected outrage from intellectually stunted shock jocks and banshee-like screams of impotent rage from the Murdoch press and the top hatted toffs of the Liberal Party. Essentially, this is a good decision and I congratulate the ALP on their foresight and bravery.
John Lawton, Belmont
Flaws abound in fast rail dream
ADDING to Don Owers ("High-speed rail will prove an expensive failure", Letters, 22/1) on high-speed rail from Newcastle to Sydney, we just have to do some simple sums.
Just say a $20 billion conservative cost (land acquisition, infrastructure, electrical reticulation, train purchases, etc) that is to be recovered over say 40 years with no maintenance, total salaries, electricity, insurance, ticket sales, etc costs per annum included at this stage.
That's $500 million per annum to be recovered over let's say 8760 trips per annum (12 trips to and from per day, one every two hours going each way). Therefore, if there were 1000 passengers on average on every single trip each way to and from, then this would be $57 per passenger trip ... for a start. That's with no profit, no other costs at all added on, nor time to construct, delays, inflation, etc. I think we will put this federal government thought bubble to bed ... again.
All current modes of travel between the two cities would also have to be wound down to accommodate a fast train mode. I don't think developers/investors would be rushing to get in on this goldmine. Also there would/could be no specific housing developments along the corridor for stops or the fast train wouldn't be fast anymore.
Neil Allen, Newcastle
Harsh names are unnecessary
STEVE Barnett ("It's not fare to ride public transport for free", Letters, 25/1) is upset again, this time about fare evaders. And, as usual, out comes the offensive name calling. "Deadheads, useless bastards, pathetic excuses for human beings, and pond-scum losers".
So much for the carefully crafted "jolly butcher from the Bay" persona. I'm upset too. I'm sick of Mr Barnett passing judgement on people he's never met and calling them names. In past letters, he's also called various groups of people bludgers, lazy, crazy, losers and thugs. It's one thing to put up with Mr Barnett's almost daily opinions about something or other, but do we really have to be subjected to this sort of rubbish as well?
Michael Hinchey, New Lambton
Biden can't be the best choice
I JUST cannot believe that the American Democratic Party is unable to come up with a young, credible candidate for the upcoming election. Joe Biden has well and truly passed his 'use-by-date' and should be replaced. One day he will take one too many trips and fall to his death. Surely there has to be somebody, within the USA's 330 million population, to ensure that Donald Trump does not get another chance to ruin America and the world.
Stan Keifer, Arakoon
Companies shouldn't play politics
WOOLWORTHS' decision to not sell Australia Day merchandise didn't have any impact on me. I switched to the local supermarket and Aldi largely due to pricing increases by Woolworths over the last few years. As for Australia Day, the date can't change the day Captain Phillip landed. It is becoming increasingly uncomfortable to see companies waving some political flags. All they are doing is disturbing their customers who have a different view, more to the point we are becoming more concerned about their disinterested view of their customers.
Grahame Danaher, Coal Point
An easy fix to tax bracket creep
YOU do not need to be a bean counter or an economist to realise this whole issue of tax bracket creep in Australia can be easily fixed. Other countries annually index their tax rates, like the USA where their Internal Revenue Service annually adjusts tax provisions for inflation. If our government was responsible and actually wanted to give tax relief it would annually index tax brackets that would counterbalance inflation. So let us see if we have any responsible political party that will introduce legislation to annually index tax bracket rates and let us keep our own money in these hard times.
