A TREE fell on our house; not a big impressive tree, but too large for a pair of oldies to handle. So, what to do? The council directed us to the State Emergency Service (SES). As soon as they were contacted everything was taken into care. "How could they help?"
Sandy and Geoff, a husband-and-wife team who had worked with SES for over 30 years, arrived. They had been working in the area. After assessing the situation and deciding the elderly couple were safe (no holes, etc) a second team was called in to remove the offending tree. James, the youngster, was sent up the ladder with relevant machinery and the branches came down.
My reaction was, and is, one of delight at what is available to this community - free of charge and done with good humour. The care, the thoughtfulness, the thoroughness was obvious. What a service we take for granted. All four of this team, from Stroud incidentally, supported two elderly citizens and made us feel safe. Thanks to Sandy, Geoff, James and the bloke with the beard.
Leigh Allen, Hawks Nest
Party needs rest after hard Labor
MARK Porter (Short Takes, 3/6), has misinterpreted the reason why Labor is not always in government.
It is because Labor - a humane, altruistic government who are concerned about the welfare and happiness of people - like all philanthropists, need a rest. This is after introducing reforms like Medicare, eight-hour workdays, pensions, super, disability insurance and other humanitarian reforms. This is when we allow the other government to be in charge. They implement schemes like sports and car-park rorts, scorn for women, lies, greed and jobs for cronies. It is Labor that has to deal with the mess.
Also, Mr Porter's comment about Labor being a once-a-decade government is erroneous. A quick check will reveal Labor dominated the 1940s with John Curtin and Ben Chifley. They were also in power in the 1980s and 1990s, with the likes of Bob Hawke and Paul Keating leading.
Helen Douglas, Stockton
Put money where your mouth is
SO Twiggy Forrest is all fired up and blaming the Coalition government for the problems with our power supply (Energy crisis has 'Twiggy' all fired up', Newcastle Herald 6/6). If the Coalition had stayed the course and not gone so hard towards renewables we wouldn't have this problem. Dr Forrest, who made all of his billions in the mining sector, is now demonising it for renewables. If he wants to show that he is a real disciple of the renewable brigade, let's see him building factories around the country that can supply Australia with Australian-built solar panels and windmills, or will he wait for the government subsidies so he can make more money? Forrest and Cannon-Brookes didn't become billionaires to give it all away to the poor.
Allen Small, East Maitland
We can't go fully green just yet
SO, you climate warriors got your way. The Labor Party is in power and now you've received your first power bills and because of you alarmists you are now finding that our coal-fired power stations are no longer being maintained and indeed are closing in exchange for renewables.
Apparently It's OK for the billionaires to stand up and declare that there should be no more coal-fired power stations because they don't have to worry about the bills; they can pay them, but us pensioners can't. Wake up Australia. We need a combination of methods to make us greener which incidentally adds up to diddly squat when you consider we as a nation emit 1.5 per cent of the world's emissions.
Larry Allison, Corlette
Coal miners deserve gratitude
MOST days I read of those who are so hateful of anyone involved past or present in the coal industry. I have no immediate members of my family in that industry, so I think that gives me the right to defend them.
Without the underground miners specifically in but not limited to the UK, we would not have had the benefits of the industrial revolution. Consider all the wonderful innovations that have improved our lives, not to mention the wonders and simplicity of electricity and medicine. Maybe the coal-hating greens believe we should have skipped a few centuries of industrial revolution and waited for the computer age to arrive, but most if not all of the electronic age benefits enjoyed today have relied on coal power to develop.
Maybe they can tell us about the green factorymaking windmills and solar panels, relying 100 per cent on wind or solar power for production? There is no such factory.
Maybe we should invite the coal haters to tell us how they have chosen to resist and totally reject all the benefits of the past few hundred years brought about by coal power, and detail how they have enjoyed living in their grass huts without power derived from coal. No mass transport, no supermarket fridges, no plastic packaging, and no tractors for farmers.
For me, I am grateful to those who dug and still dig the coal, producing the electricity, making the steel and aluminium, along with the rubber, plastics, glass, ceramics and the computer boards etc, all of which improve the lifestyle of my family.
Thank you coal miners, there are a lot of us who really do appreciate what you have done for society in general. Don't listen to the coal haters or the sound of their wooden wheels on their barrows hauling manure.
John A Yates, Belmont
Climate change not about faith
RECENT letter writers seem to have some misconceptions about what is understood about climate change.
For example, Kathryn Bow, ("Power grid's woes stem from failure to plan", Letters, 3/6), said she "believed" in climate change based on the NSW teaching curriculum. So, she learnt about this complex technical subject in school, while learning her ABCs, 10 times table and finger-painting?
I believe what passes for climate education in our schools is little more than simplistic propaganda. People should seek their climate information from elsewhere.
Ian Roach, ("Pithy, but some quotes are mythic", Letters, 3/6), claims Tim Flannery has been misquoted about "our dams will never fill again" and melting polar ice. Well Mr Roach, many of us have seen the video of Tim Flannery exclaiming that "even the rain that falls isn't going to fill our dams and rivers". Explain that one to Lismore.
Flannery has also been quoted as claiming a dramatic melting of glaciers and icefields. The NSW ski-fields have opened early with the best start-of-season snow falls in 50 years. Many northern hemisphere sites have had good snow continuing into late spring. Unfortunately, the facts continue to contradict what is "believed" by many people including Kathryn Bow and Ian Roach.
Peter Devey, Merewether
SHORT TAKES
I DON'T know if gender had anything to do with the ridiculous betrayal of Liberal federal candidate Katrina Wark by the local Newcastle Liberal Party ('Libs at war', Newcastle Herald 4/6), but in my opinion it's yet another example of a woman being treated like dirt by the Liberal Party. It seems they are not fast learners.
Michael Jameson, New Lambton
HAVE you noticed the downsizing of household goods and takeaways? Why do hamburgers you used to hold in two hands now fit between your thumb and forefinger? Breakfast cereals are less in weight, but the insult also extends to diminishing chair and table heights. Soon they will look at home in a child's cubby. Wake up, manufacturers; this is fraud by stealth.
Col Maybury, Boolaroo
PRIME Minister Anthony Albanese promised a new consideration to those who were his major supporters; the pensioners who put him in power. Although no one would like to face what he inherited, he must keep his promise to those who are his mainstay and bring equality to those who need it the most. Food and veggies up 21 per cent, petrol up 21 per cent, power and energy up 19 per cent and there is no room to move for those on a fixed income. So Albo, show us the money.
Dennis Crampton, Swansea
EVERY day in your paper I read either letters or opinion pieces commenting on the use of solar panels to produce electricity for domestic and commercial use. How many of these commentators are aware of a company which claims to install said panels without upfront cost to the consumer, the cost to be paid from the monies retrieved from the creation of the power produced? Might not the federal and state governments consider such a policy for all Australians?
Dr Brian Roach, Whitebridge
DON Fraser, (Short Takes, 3/6), you're probably hoping that everyone just forgets all about when Labor were in power from 2007-2013, and before that, from 1983-1996, as well as the time that Tony Abbott won his second bid to become prime minister, only to not even last one term, and the time that Mr Abbott was replaced by Malcolm Turnbull, who didn't last a full term either.
Adz Carter, Newcastle
MICHAEL Hinchey, less than a third of Australians voted Labor. If that's magnificent, then I suppose it will be supercalifragilistic if Albo does anything he promised. I reckon that Santa's list pales into insignificance compared to the Albanator's.
Steve Barnett, Fingal Bay
ENSHRINING, in the Australian Constitution, an Indigenous "voice" will have no impact on improving the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. In my opinion, more legislation, woke gestures and providing more money won't help Indigenous peoples' lives.
John Cooper, Charlestown
THE golden rule is: don't live near a gun, and you won't get hit by one.
