How's this for a solution to the Glebe Road gates fiasco? Terminate trains at Adamstown Station, and use the not-undermined railway land between there and Wickham Station to build flats.
We could also build a road along the route for motorists to get into town to see the nuclear submarines, but only at 30kmh. By then, the Hannell Street/Stewart Avenue afternoon car park will be down to speed without the left-hand turn lane into King Street, and Orica will be using the otherwise empty Hunter Street shops to store its ammonium nitrate. That will really put Newcastle on the map, or remove it all together.
Carl Stevenson ("Labor has ceded working class", Letters, 9/6), you say Labor people from union backgrounds have no experience in the workforce. That tells me, and everyone else that knows what they are talking about, that you have no idea how unions work.
Shops, stewards and workplace delegates are important parts of the union who are elected from the workforce by members of the union who are part of the same workforce.
Elected officials, including branch secretaries, national presidents, and union organisers, are also filled through democratic elections held by union members.
These elected officials can, and do, then appoint non-elected roles, such as administrative personnel, researchers, or specialised legal staff. In reality, rank-and-file members and elected workplace delegates form the true backbone of Labor unions, not the appointed officials.
In showing that you do not know what you are talking about, I believe you destroy your argument that people of the unions do not know how to communicate with the workers - since they are actually from the workers. But then again, any worker would know this. Does this suggest you are not from the working class?
It has been asked, where or what are One Nation's policies? I would suggest they are the same as those who manage other governments' policies, coming from the bureaucrats that serve every government regardless of politics. They are the machinery that keeps everything working.
They use their qualified experience to act upon the governing party's wishes and, from what I can gather, One Nation wishes for a better Australia. Pauline Hanson has always put forward her views that have not changed for more than 20 years, and, by the response, the majority of people seem to stand behind her. She won't be bullied, as some prefer to do. I think she is a rock that stands for what she says and never retreats under pressure. Hanson has the qualification and character to be a fine prime minister. How about giving her a go?
In asking "how would Hanson work as PM?" (Opinion 8/6), Mark Kenny criticises Pauline having "never ... balanced a national budget, nor delivered a dam, or bridge, or hospital."
More important things omitted from Kenny's list of what Pauline has never done, unlike Labor/Liberal PMs, include inflicting trillion-dollar debt; the highest mortgage rates for decades; continuing rising living costs; and unaddressed critical defence deficiencies during this dangerous decade.
Pauline's experience relevant to the role of PM, which Kenny omits, includes: as a first-term senator, she forced a Senate banking inquiry that directly led to banking royal commission, returning billions to customers misappropriated by banks.
She persuaded the Coalition government to start her rural apprenticeship scheme that was so successful it was expanded by the Coalition at the next election, and further expanded by the Labor government.
At the last election, her policies included halving fuel-excise, subsequently stolen by Liberals' campaign and adopted by Labor during fuel-crisis, and eliminating tax-bracket creep, which was stolen in the Liberals' budget-reply speech. Without being Opposition Leader, Pauline Hanson achieves by composing good policies that Labor/Liberals steal. As well, for decades, she kicked off national debates on crucial issues that Labor/Liberal PMs wouldn't touch, including the adverse effects of mass migration.
Kenny concludes that "Australians drifting to One Nation may not know about such details, nor care". Australians may care about Pauline's experience above, when considering future PMs.
Karen Mitchell ("30 local minutes is not enough", Letters, 4/6): when did we ever get 30 minutes of local news? Local presenters, maybe. I believe the new format of 5.30pm to 6pm local, then a Sydney feed from 6pm to 7pm is fine. I will watch the 30 minutes local, then probably five to 10 minutes of Sydney news, then switch to ABC for the last 20 minutes of Antiques Roadshow, then reruns of Hard Quiz. Makes sense to me.
I would like to add my voice to the many others in condemning WIN Television for daring to cut NBN's weekend news bulletins and reducing the weekdays to half an hour from 5.30pm. Shame on you, WIN Television.
Maybe life would be better without news. What did people do before news was printed or broadcast? The old bush telegraph, I suppose. This is still used in the Bay, as long-term locals would know. If you want the local news, go to the pub. I'll drink to that.
Andy Ward ("He's not your councillor", Letters, 5/6): people write letters to the paper like they're delivering commandments from the mountain, when in reality it's a local opinion piece nobody will remember by Friday.
I have started to understand the "net zero" impact. Not so much about lower emissions; it's about emptying government coffers. Now they're after our money, "net zero" bank balances for everyone. I suppose that's fair.
Why wasn't Kalyn Ponga sent off, or minimum sin binned, for the shoulder charge against Melbourne, Mr V?
