MORE proof that young people of today have lost their stamina: Groovin the Moo canned because of poor ticket sales.
The younger crew probably zonked out on Taylor Swift and Pink tickets.
In my day, seven days of music was never enough. Shame, shame.
Tony Morley, Waratah
Price squeeze in suburbs will cost us workers
THE new Productivity Commission released a report that showed that inner suburbs had lost some 30,000 residents in the 30-40 age group as a result of this group's inability to purchase a home in these suburbs. In the report, they classed these areas as having no grandchildren.
I live now in the Port Stephens area, joining ever growing numbers of fellow aged retirees enjoying the beautiful beaches and the wonderful environment. When I moved here in 1999 I purchased a building lot of some 750 square metres for just $8000 and built my home. Now, with the huge price increases, that land would be worth some $800,000. As a result of this, the availability of workers that were here then has suffered the same fate as those who have disappeared from those inner Sydney suburbs as record prices are paid for every home that comes on the market by baby boomers.
At a council organised community consultation meeting recently, it was pointed out that unless some social and affordable housing is provided in this beautiful area residents will have to sell up and move to areas where these homes are in order to get care. Worker are simply being priced out as home prices exceed $1 million and rent sits at $600 or more.
Unless governments act to reduce the cost of land that now exceeds 60 per cent of the cost of a home, I can't see any solution to this grave issue.
Frank Ward, Shoal Bay
Progress on Assange is overdue
FINALLY, an Australian parliament prepared to stand up for what is right: the vote carried in the House of Representatives last week on the motion put forward by Tasmanian Independent MP Andrew Wilkie to have Julian Assange released by the UK and allowed to return home. If passed by the Senate, it would have Australia being seen as very much more than just a lickspittle to America.
Julian Assange was only doing his job as a journalist when he quite rightly revealed to the world evidence of crimes allegedly commissioned by the United States of America's administrations. State-sanctioned crimes, many of which occurred secretly in countries that had assumed America was a friend until Julian Assange came along. He won the Walkley Award as a result.
The treatment to date of Julian Assange is the epitome of justice being delayed as justice being denied. True justice for Julian Assange is for him to be released immediately.
Barry Swan, Balgownie
Crunching numbers on rail speed
FOLLOWING on from Phillip O'Neill's opinion piece ("Build it, but will they come? High-speed rail's big question", Opinion, 12/2), the question that I haven't seen asked is, as a Newcastle-Sydney high speed rail (HSR) would eventually be part of a broader Brisbane-Sydney-Melbourne HSR and thus provide an alternative to air travel, how would Qantas react to losing market share in one of the most lucrative air routes in the world? I would imagine Qantas would scream "job cuts", the government would then cave in and that would be the end of this project (unless Qantas was brought into the project).
It is certainly an eye-opener when forming an opinion about HSR to research the current Newcastle to Sydney rail system. In the calculations below, I have chosen Cardiff station as the starting point, as this was the closest station to the Glendale Transport Interchange that was being promoted by Wallsend MP Sonia Hornery, until recent years.
Using actual rail distances (Rail Access Corporation) and timetable information (Transport NSW), the average speed for the 155km Cardiff to Central Station trip is 59.4 km/h on a 29-station service and 65.5 km/hr for an eight-station service. Surprisingly, the average speed for the 33.9km Hornsby to Sydney leg (65.5km/h) is not too different from the 121.1km Cardiff to Hornsby legs (60 km/h for 26 stations, or 69.2km/h for eight stations). Google maps tell me that I can drive from Cardiff station to Hornsby station 25 minutes faster than catching the train. It is a mystery why our local NSW state representatives haven't been canvassing for an upgrade to the existing Newcastle-Sydney rail service considering the fragile M1 motorway and very slow train service.
John Gruszynski, New Lambton Heights
Keep race out of sport selection
IN response to Janet Sutherland's response ("If All-Stars so offensive, give an alternative", Letters, 16/2), regarding the Indigenous round, I would like to see the return of non-racial games of football or any sport played by women or kids. My alternative is that all players are equal and should be treated as such. All games should be played on performance and not race. This Indigenous round is a money spinner. I do not think that the NRL decision to play an Indigenous round would pass the pub test on racism.
We recently had a referendum I believe was on racism and that failed. The NRL seems to put that aside in a move to secure racism. The NRL and all sports should be for all players to be treated equally and not have separate competitions for Indigenous or any other select groups.
Stay out of politics and just play an inclusive game. Nobody is special.
Greg Lowe, New Lambton
Plan won't house the homeless
THE Minns housing plan is not about building housing for the poor and homeless, but building apartments worth around a million dollars for the people who can afford them.
Agner Sorensen, Teralba
Labor loading 'unfathomable'
I REFER to the article "Can councillors hold off challengers?" (Herald, 16/2), "The lord mayor and all the other female candidates on the preselection ballot will receive a 20 per cent loading on top of their vote totals under Labor's affirmative action policy". I find it outrageous for an incumbent to get this loading. As a female, I find this unfathomable and appalling. With all the exposure in women's sport on a professional level, all they want is to be acknowledged as equal to their male counterparts.
Emily Coker, Newcastle
Reaction to Barnaby was puzzling
IT seems disingenuous that some have labelled Barnaby Joyce's accident as an example of lack of care for our fellow Australians. Why do we try to shift the spotlight and simply blame ourselves? Mr Joyce had a serious fall which should have emphasised how important it is not to mix alcohol with medication. Instead the accident was labelled as a put-down on Aussies. My experience tells me Aussies will help anyone in need. We should be proud of our record.
John Butler, Windella
Revved up because it's racing
REGARDING the end of Supercars, imagine the furore if another event like a concert or art show that brought 150,000 people and millions to Newcastle was cancelled.
