HOW many government departments does it take to shovel sand onto Stockton beach? ("Shored up", Newcastle Herald 15/5)? Apparently more than I thought existed.
You have got to be kidding me.
It reeks to me of useless government departments being paid too much to just shuffle papers around and decide it's all too much, then pass the buck. Even the average punter can work it out: when beaches south of the breakwater are pummelled by big seas, any sand lost is replaced by tidal movement over a relatively short period. Any fool can work out that the breakwater acts as a barrier to stop the natural flow of sand.
I believe the port authority has a major part to play in rectifying the issue, but, just like the government departments, they turn a blind eye. Temporary solutions don't work. Politicians are happy to say the right words when it suits them, but they won't put their hand onto a shovel, they only put their hand out on pay day.
Tony Morley, Waratah
Nothing to admire in Nazism
ONE can hardly imagine there being anyone anywhere who would align themselves, or hold up as heroes, men like Pol Pot, prime minister of Cambodia who was responsible for the deaths of millions of Cambodians; Idi Amin, also known as the butcher of Uganda, who was responsible for the mass killing of about 300,000 people; or Joseph Stalin (1878 - 1953) who was responsible for the starvation of millions of poor farmers with many more millions of opponents being sent to labour camps. That is why it is hard to fathom the idolisation of Adolf Hitler by neo-Nazi groups.
In Australia, fans who once met in isolated country areas are becoming more brazen and outspoken in public. Now they are meeting openly like at the anti-immigration protests recently held in Melbourne ("Two arrested at neo-Nazi protest over immigration", Herald 13/5). Not only are sympathisers coming out of the woodwork, they are bringing their swastikas and Nazi salutes, a terrifying experience especially for Jewish people with relatives who were murdered in Nazi death camps.
With stories and footage of atrocities shown over and over again, there is no excuse for this outrageous, ignorant and idealistic reverence and adherence to a callous, brutal, murderous racist like Hitler, who annihilated six million Jews along with Romani, homosexuals and the disabled. The man was a delusional dictator whose only drive was for ultimate power, and, when faced with his downfall, took the coward's way out by taking his own life. Some hero.
Julie Robinson, Cardiff
Housing fix won't be overnight
BEING of an age when many hard-working, decent people in this area were forced by circumstances beyond their control to exist in tin-roofed humpies on the extremities of local towns, I can empathise with those living in cars or on the cold, hard streets of our CBDs. In 1947, Labor governments created the NSW Housing Commission, and gradually the housing shortage eased.
Reality says our current housing shortage must follow a similar progression for its resolution. The Albanese Labor government promised, among other things, to address Australia's housing shortages. A bill for that purpose remains stalled in the Senate due to the Greens voting with the LNP to oppose it. To obtain their support for the bill, the Greens are demanding the Albanese government guarantee an almost instantaneous resolution to housing shortages. It's another example of the Greens' naive "cargo-cultism" on show, one that beggars the belief of we other mere mortals.
Barry Swan OAM, Balgownie
Bias in the eye of the beholder
STEVE Barnett (Short Takes, 16/5), you accuse the ABC of bias. From my perspective, I expect you are talking about righ-wing bias, and I am here providing supporting evidence to your claim.
ABC is headed by Ita Buttrose - a former Liberal party donor and employee of that most radical right-wing media organisation - the Murdoch empire. The head of the ABC clearly supports the powerful big end of town over the rights of the weak and vulnerable commoner.
There are a number of right-wing radicals that have been on ABC programs showing righ-wing bias - Alan Jones and Pauline Hanson are just a couple of examples. University of Queensland's Timothy Graham reports that the ABC is getting more Twitter posts complaining of right-wing bias than left. Dr Graham is an expert on media misinformation.
Lisa Millar and Leigh Sales, and previously Hamish Macdonald, are all in particular being accused regularly of right-wing bias. But while I believe the ABC does have right-wing bias and needs to fix this, I do still enjoy some of its programmes.
I like Back Roads when it is on, and it has inspired me to do some regional trips and spend money in those small towns. More recently I have been watching the Back in Time series to provide that interesting information on snippets of what life used to be like back in the day.
Glen Wilson, Cardiff
Military parades aren't world apart
ELSA Cant wonders how I can equate the British coronation extravaganza with the pompous celebrations of North Korea's hereditary ruler, where, along with display weapons, there are hosts of smiling synchronised dancers and happily cavorting workers (Short Takes, 12/5). In the British version, most of the smartly-uniformed troops were carrying assault rifles and there would have been even more potentially nuclear-armed warplanes flying over the palace if not for the weather. A parade by any other name.
Peter Ronne, Woodberry
Dutton's budget reply was a fizzer
I KNOW that as Opposition Leader, Peter Dutton thinks he must be oppositional. I accept that Mr Dutton was trying to claw back a few hearts, minds and votes from middle Australia but in my opinion his budget reply speech after Labor's federal budget was a fizzer ("Middle class the working poor: Dutton", Herald 12/5).
To describe middle-income earners as the working poor is a stretch. Someone's disposable income had to go down if total expenditure is to fall. Mr Dutton's own party, with its tax cuts, ensured that it would not be the highest income earners. Labor ensured that it would not be the lower income brackets and welfare recipients. To criticise Labor's immigration intake, when his business constituents rely on cheap foreign labour and higher rents, is just plain hypocrisy. I was disappointed that neither Mr Dutton nor Treasurer Jim Chalmers mentioned the two elephants in the room: the need to reform the housing market by phasing out tax breaks for wealthy housing investors, and the over-reliance on monetary policy to bring down inflation. Interest rate rises are inherently unfair since they leave the indebted with less disposable income while not affecting the debt-free.
Geoff Black, Caves Beach
SHORT TAKES
IT still really surprises me how many able-bodied people consider themselves disabled when there is a disability shower room, parking spot or public toilet available ('Grandmother slams pools' lack of access', Newcastle Herald 16/5). I see this constantly. Another sense of entitlement for all the special privileged people. I have heard it asked why should disabled people get those privileges? Because we are disabled.
Denise Lindus Trummel, Newcastle
GRANT Agnew (Short Takes, 12/5): Collingwood had a small crowd of 75,000 turn up in freezing conditions to watch them beat the Swans. The Pies' average home crowd is 85,000; they get more to watch a training run than most NRL clubs get to the ground on game day. Thanks to the NRL ruining the game with the video ref and other rubbish, league has become virtually unwatchable. As for the Wests Tigers, get rid of them and bring back the Western Suburbs Magpies. Balmain is broke. In the meantime, good old Collingwood forever.
Steve Barnett, Fingal Bay
If the Department of Regional NSW is taking over City of Newcastle's responsibility for Stockton ('Shored up', Herald 15/5), does this mean that we are to become a regional area and not metropolitan? Does this also now make a difference to fuel card payments to eligible people? Which are we?
John Bradford, Beresfield
THE section of the vegan community that has abused this small business owner should hang their heads in shame ('Pino's quits vegan-only menu to survive', Herald 13/5). It's pretty hard to make a living when you are only catering for such a small percentage of the population.
Shane Tull, Redhead
HOW the wheel turns. Vaxzevria (AstraZeneca) is no longer available as an approved COVID-19 vaccine in Australia. On May 3, 2023, the TGA quietly announced it was removing the prescribing restrictions on ivermectin.
Peter Dolan, Lambton
PETER Devey ("Biden's record isn't reassuring", Letters, 15/5), I totally agree and I'm glad I'm not the only one who couldn't believe the nonsense being espoused in the editorial you mentioned. While being no great fan of Trump's personality, after watching his rousing performance on CNN recently, it's clear to me that if the US election comes down to Biden v Trump again, only one man has the energy and mental acuity to take on the Presidency again.
Greg Hunt, Newcastle West
GEOFF Black ('Safe as houses: why simple fix won't happen', Letters 15/5) was being a bit optimistic when he suggested that building material costs would moderate. Unfortunately, demand is too great and supply is diminishing. A huge swath of plantation timber was lost to bushfire in 2019, and old growth forests have been overlogged. We now import timber from Russia, or poached from developing nations. We import more than 60 per cent of the other building materials - bricks, tiles, cement, tools and whitegoods - that are increasing in price.
