EMPLOYMENT at Liddell power station will conclude for about 300 people on Friday, and federal energy minister Chris Bowen comes to congratulate them ('Power praise', Newcastle Herald 26/4). While they will be redeployed, is Mr Bowen able to explain where they are going to get work in their near vicinity when other power stations like Bayswater follow suit, or not his problem?
I don't know which planet he is on but he and his boss Albanese promised that going green would create some 600,000 thousand jobs. Let's see them look after those bearing the brunt of Liddell's closure, or will they be put in the too-hard basket?
Allen Small, East Maitland
Fond farewell before a new era
VERY soon the lights will go off at Liddell power station ('From Liddell things, big things grow', Herald 22/4). After 50 years of providing 2000 megawatts every hour of every day, you will be replaced with wind and solar energy that will be productive on average eight hours a day. A 300-megawatt battery will be available that by my calculations will provide less than 20 megawatts per hour for the other 16 hours, weather permitting. Whether 20 megawatts can replace 2000 megawatts is yet to be seen. So, farewell to Liddell power station, you have served us well.
Here's a hypothetical I fear could become reality: it is now over two years since Liddell and Eraring power stations closed. The weatherman has predicted cloudy overcast weather for the rest of the week with little to no wind expected, and I am about to search for my petrol-powered generator on my pushbike because the Tesla battery expired two days ago.
The boss contacted me to say don't turn up for work until the weather improves. The shopping centre has shut down; luckily I have a veggie garden, a good supply of long-life milk and cans of bully beef. I am getting used to cold showers and going to bed early to keep warm. I am beginning to understand how my ancestors once managed before they discovered steam. I long for yesterday, but I have saved the world.
Carl Stevenson, Dora Creek
How power can hit water supply
HUNTER Water has commissioned a survey to gauge public opinion on important decisions that will impact on the cost of water. The most important is the need to maintain water security, which was initiated by the NSW government's Lower Hunter Water Security Plan (LHASA).
This had the ambitious aim of ensuring enough water for homes, business and industry and according to their statement "sets the region up for economic prosperity, growth, livability and quality of life". I believe that like many government initiatives it fails to acknowledge that their obsession with growth is the cause of water concerns and that increasing supply will certainly result in higher water bills at a time when household budgets are already stressed.
The water security plan will rely mainly on a desalination plant at Belmont with a capacity of 30 million litres a day that will cost around $200 million. The plan does give tacit recognition that we will face future droughts that will overtax conventional supplies like water storage and even underground supplies but fails to acknowledge that the cost of the water produced is dependent on electricity prices as well as availability, and the cost is already too high for water-dependent businesses and agriculture.
More alarming is the vulnerability of desalination plants which like the one at Belmont are exposed to extreme weather events that have damaged both the Sydney and Melbourne plants. It is almost certain that these weather events will get worse, and in my opinion for a city to be dependent on such a plant would be inviting disaster.
Don Owers, Dudley
Scapegoats abound at the top
THE first rule of management is find someone to blame. The federal government and most of the media have blamed Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe for the rate rises. Very handy for them, as I believe they are the real causes.
The recent review panel report supported the current monetary policy, recommending separate boards for monetary policy and governance. More public servants and committees. Another management rule: if you are unsure of what to do, form a committee. I wonder who they will blame when power prices skyrocket, and blackouts become the norm just like the 1950s. Will it be the Greens, perhaps?
John Hollingsworth, Hamilton
A burning desire to set it right
ASSUMING I could be one of the people Greg Hunt is talking about (Short Takes, 22/4), I plead guilty for feeling guilty (Mr Hunt calls it "drowning in white guilt") about what has happened to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people since white settlement in their country.
I burn with shame when I see pictures of men shackled by their necks or in leg chains. I burn with shame when I hear about all the murders and poisonings. I burn with shame over the measuring of brain volume to ascertain inferior intelligence. I burn with shame at all the children who were taken from their families, including breast-feeding babies. I burn with shame at all the white men who hunted out Aboriginal camps in order to rape women and girls. I burn with shame when these same men did not see another human being but a body part for their own sexual pleasure. I burn with shame at the widespread slavery.
I burn with shame at the sexual abuse and beatings on missions often run by religious groups. I burn with shame at children as young as 12 years being thrown into prison. I burn with shame at all the deaths in custody. I burn with shame when talented sportspeople on the one hand are applauded and on the other subjected to racial vilification.
I burn with shame at all the myths and lies spread on social media and right wing talk back radio. And no Mr Hunt, I am not trying to make myself feel better or earn brownie points, I am voting "yes" because it will empower people who for too long have been kept disempowered.
Julie Robinson, Cardiff
Grounding Jet hampered him
THE response from Arthur Papas on Archie Goodwin is in my opinion a laugh ("Jets play safe with Archie", Herald 25/4). Going back 12 months Goodwin was the talk of the competition. But no, the coach said he needed to build up his strength. What a joke.
Some other young players aged very similar were given a go by other coaches and these players started games every week, in the end being added to the Australian side. Where did Archie end up? Left out of the side with a couple of small knocks. Okay, he ended being chosen in the under-20s side after his A-League exploits, but he wasn't even in the original squad. Week after week people were asking "where are the young blokes?". You don't sit on the bench if you're not fit, simple as that.
Here was a kid raring to get on the park, but again nowhere to be seen. As a side note, the lively player that sent the Jets to defeat was another young player that Papas said was not good enough and let go.
Robert Baxter, Toronto
SHORT TAKES
THIS message goes out to all of the boys and girls from local schools who took part in the Anzac service at Beresfield. You deserve an enormous "thank you" for the job you did. It was awesome.
John Bradford, Beresfield
THE Anzac Day march in Newcastle ('The spirit 'strong as ever'', Newcastle Herald 26/4) was a lovely experience. Lots of people, lots of participants and heaps of bands. Thank you everyone. Lest we forget.
Bill Slicer, Tighes Hill
JOHN Cooper, (Short Takes, 22/4), seeks "definitive" as to whether someone is Indigenous, or not. I am reminded of a dear friend's comment - "We register our dogs with the council; not our humans!" But if Mr Cooper is after a more comic answer, he should seek the song Only a ginger can call a ginger 'ginger'. There is no dignity to be found in "othering" people. I identify as a person living with a disability; this is not to extort a disability pension from the government. A starting point would be don't "other" groups. Is the referendum in the right direction? Yes, but it's only a start.
Andrew Spannenberg, Mayfield
CANCEL culture, watch out! Cancelling Barry Humphries' comedy may cause Dame Edna to incite Sir Les Patterson to introduce a bill to cancel cancel culture itself ('Comedy festival's move 'a disgrace'', Herald 25/4). Don't you just love stupidity?
Harold Kronholm, Cessnock
MINISTER for Defence Richard Marles stated on national television Wednesday morning that the federal government is planning an upgrade to national defence by spending $4.18 billion on "long-range missiles" which he stated are good for "a couple of hundred kilometres". Where are we planning on sending them to, Tasmania? What an absolute waste of taxpayer money.
Kim Schofield, Singleton
WHY are JobSeeker payments highlighted in the media more than the workers' income? Employees' wages must increase to fund the dole recipients' benefits, surely.
Bryn Roberts, New Lambton
IT may surprise many Australians that Australia is second in the world to Indonesia as the largest coal exporters. It is therefore clear that Australia is a major cause of global human induced climate change. It is obvious to me that it is now only a matter of time when multiple countries across the globe will object and react strongly and appropriately to their needs regarding Australia earning large coal export dollars, which is at their unfortunate expense.
Brian Measday, Myrtle Bank
WHEN accusing people who have a different view of "childish outbursts", I reckon Greg Hunt, (Short Takes, 22/4) should look in the mirror.
