CAN Peter Dutton be trusted with his divisive push for nuclear power?
Where will it be? How much will it cost taxpayers? How large will evacuation zones be?
Will nearby residents need iodine pills to combat radiation? Will waste be stored on site or transported through local streets?
Where will waste be stored for thousands of years and who pays for that?
Nuclear plants become war-time targets. How will they be protected and how much will that cost?
Nuclear power in Australia is full of unknowns. If you don't know, vote "no".
John Arnold, Anna Bay
Deterrents aren't all equal
JUST a thought, but I find it funny that the government rushes through new laws about a few hundred supposedly bad refugees; yet when the supermarkets are gouging billion-dollar profits; they threaten a 10 per cent fine? Well I have never been very good at maths, but a $900,000 incentive does not sound like a deterrent to me? Am I wrong?
Simon Ruddy, Newcastle
Two-state solution last hope
ISRAEL has been quarrelling with its neighbours a long time. The difference now is its weapons have killed thousands in months. Peter Dutton's remarks opposing a two-state solution are not helpful and I suspect he is eyeing votes from the Jewish community. Putting politics before humanitarianism is not good. Penny Wong has got it right. The only long-term solution is to recognise two states, difficult as that may be to achieve. Surely there's been enough bloodshed.
Neville Aubrey, Wallsend
Road upkeep is missing mark
I HAVE continually emailed City of Newcastle. The Newcastle suburb roads and line markings are not maintained. The roads are patchworked with potholes. The council may say there is a maintenance program, but I'd argue it sure is not working. Very seldom do we see maintenance being done. Where is our staff and money that is put aside for this? It's not a good look for tourism.
Julieanne Jenkins, Wallsend
Turton Road wrong spot for basketball stadium
I BELIEVE the proposed location of the Blackley and Wallarah ovals for the Hunter Basketball Stadium is so incredibly inappropriate that it is hard to believe it was ever initially suggested. Now, many politicians and bureaucrats are running with it, in my opinion simply for personal gain and satisfaction.
Maintaining established community-utilised green space within a residential suburb is crucial for healthy urban growth. This stadium needs to be built within the proposed sports sector behind McDonald Jones Stadium where the increase in traffic, sports-related parking, and noise would be contained. The ovals are close to this sports sector but they are not within it.
The daily impact on local residents, high school students, and local sports clubs cannot be understated. Residents will suffer from daily traffic and parking congestion as well as dealing with the serious increase to the flood risk. We hold hope that local leaders and higher-level decision makers will use reason and common sense while moving through this proposal.
Rachael Druitt, New Lambton
Many sport fields are under-used
LAMBTON Jaffas Juniors have said that they are turning away kids wanting to play soccer ('Community sport is experiencing a boom, but is there enough space for everyone to play?', Newcastle Herald 6/4). However in recent times, the club has been provided the fields requested.
If they wanted more fields this year to accommodate increasing registrations, then they could have requested them.
CN's Strategic Sports Plan shows many grounds are currently being underutilised. The reason for this is predominately that some clubs do not wish to share grounds they see as exclusively theirs.
The recent split between the New Lambton Football Club's senior and juniors' teams reported in the Herald is just one example of a club refusing to share their home ground (Novocastrian Park) in line with historical usage. The Juniors' public opposition to the proposed Indoor Sports Centre at Wallarah and Blackley ovals (fields they don't use), came just one week after CN advised that New Lambton's seniors team could continue to share Novocastrian Park with the Juniors.
Should the NSW government approve the proposed indoor sports centre opposite McDonald Jones Stadium, then a number of upgrades will occur to nearby grounds. That's why the sporting clubs that will actually be impacted by the proposed sports centre have not spoken out against the development and continue to work collaboratively with CN.
Alissa Jones, City of Newcastle executive director creative and community services
School budgets can't cop squeeze
I WAS dismayed to read this morning that the state government is planning to reduce funding for public schools ('Fears budget cuts will speed up public school exodus', Herald 10/4).
Although some of the reduction will be from having deputy principals taking classes, this will not address the current teacher shortage crisis. The factors that need to be addressed have been glossed over; 50 per cent of students selecting teaching double degrees are leaving before finishing, and of those who finish half leave the profession within five years.
What is driving these figures? I'd argue having a mean - not average - 55-hour working week without any paid overtime, a 13-year increment salary scale, the increasing stress that comes with the job, and the increasing expectations of what role a teacher plays in the child's education.
With the state's increasing natural disaster costs, the money needs to come from somewhere. Surely the answer is not under-funding government schools.
The Gonski Report almost 15 years ago has not had any of its recommendations fully implemented. Rhetoric will only go so far and we must support those who are educating our future generations. Speak with your state MP.
Michael Stevenson, Warners Bay
Age is an imperfect measure
WITH regard to the voting age, I would be happy to reveal my age to Grahame Danaher ("Reflecting on age barrier", Letters, 9/4) if I felt that fact to be relevant. This debate should confine itself to the facts rather than the age of those involved.
Mr Danaher writes "linking the age component to the Brexit decision is a stretch at best". The sort of internet search conducted by every 16-year-old as an everyday enquiry reveals, via statistical.com, that "in the Brexit referendum of 2016, 73 per cent of people aged between 18 and 24 voted to remain in the European Union, compared with just 40 per cent of people aged over 65."
The same 16-year-old may then search for brain atrophy and ageing and be informed by Columbia University Irving Medical Centre "in our 30s and 40s, the brain starts to shrink ... like wrinkles and grey hair ... the brain's appearance starts to change too".
There is always a proportion of ignorant, ill-educated and opinionated people in any age group. This fact should not prevent debate on reducing the voting age to 16, thereby giving future taxpayers a say in the direction their country is taking.
