I WOULD hold off popping the champagne if I were Mr Simonian ('Narrabri coal seam gas approval brings Hunter pipeline closer', Herald, 2/10).
Santos still has to meet the 134 conditions, and provide more rigorous modelling on groundwater, before any gas can be extracted from the Narrabri area.
Every step taken to proceed with this project will be met with passionate and dedicated opposition by shareholder activists, farmers, scientists, locals, environmentalists and all those who are concerned for the future.
This project does not make economic or environmental sense. Renewable energy is cheaper, and the climate costs are too high for this to be worth it. This fight is far from over.
Alice Milson, Tamworth
Seed harvest makes sense
GEOFF Williams ('Guilty over illegal native seed harvest, Herald, 3/10) was using common sense obtaining the seeds of local native plants to revegetate mine sites.
My late husband, Tom Farrell, was one of the first environmental scientists employed by a mining company. In 1975 Mt Isa Mines recruited him to revegetate their tailings dams.
Previous research by the University of Queensland had included planting tomatoes, which did not survive the concentrated mineral salts in the tailings.
Tom took a more practical approach, and we travelled around north-west Queensland collecting seeds (without damaging the trees or bushes).
Seeds were combined with mulch and sprayed onto piles of rock from the local quarries. The trial was a success.
Geoff is using the only viable means of rehabilitating the mine sites that cover so much of the Hunter Valley.
In most cases there should be no penalty for harvesting seeds that would otherwise go to waste. I would suggest that National Parks be included in the sourcing of such resources for the good of the Region.
Margaret Farrell, Adamstown Heights
Terminal tension
THE ACCC is not "currently" alleging that the NSW government acted illegally under the Competition Act in 2013 when it secretly agreed terms for developing a container terminal at the Port of Newcastle with Port Botany operator, NSW Ports ("Port case looming", September 30).
A government becomes exempt from the Competition Act when it makes a "decision" about an asset.
The ACCC claims the government "decided" in 2012 not to develop a container terminal at the Port of Newcastle.
The terms for developing a container terminal disprove this claim. The ACCC claims the government made a "decision" to lease the Port of Newcastle when Mayfield Development Corporation was negotiating with the government to develop a container terminal.
The government confirms in writing that a "decision" to lease the port had not been made while the government was negotiating with Mayfield.
The ACCC declines to acknowledge that the government was negotiating with Mayfield over terms for developing a container terminal at the Port of Newcastle before a decision was made to lease the port.
Mayfield and the ACCC are both alleging in the Federal Court that the terms for developing a container terminal are illegal under the Competition Act. If they are correct, the port was leased for the purpose of funding an illegal contractual commitment.
Unless the ACCC withdraws its claim the government "decided" not to develop a container terminal, it must withdraw its court action. Hearings start October 12.
Greg Cameron, Wamboin
Bank bosses should pay
SO Westpac has copped a $1.3 billion dollar fine for yet more unethical behaviour.
The way these big banks are going makes Ned Kelly look like a gentleman. Josh Frydenberg must be dreaming when he says he hopes this huge fine won't be passed onto the bank's customers - really?
You can bet your bottom dollar customers and shareholders will be the ones to suffer, when in my opinion those responsible for the bank's disgraceful actions should be charged with criminal offences, be sacked and made to pay a fair share of the fine out of their grossly inflated salaries and bonuses, not leave it to others.
It's about time these executives were brought into line and made an example of.
To add salt to the wound, this talk about easing the rules and guidelines for loans surely is a recipe for disaster, when rates are so low people are encouraged to borrow beyond their means, when rates go back up as they have to in time, there'll be so many people with mortgages they can't afford all because greedy lenders don't care.
I think the federal government should reconsider their proposal to let banks ease lending criteria.
Ian King, Warners Bay
Tax changes not fair
IT IS obvious that the Liberal government are determined to make the rich richer.
At no stage with the new thresholds do they raise the minimum no-tax threshold.
If they did it would benefit the most deserving. Instead they flatten the tax to benefit the rich.
The fairest solution would be to slide the existing scales.
David Reynolds, Charlestown
Renewables on the rise
SEPTEMBER saw some more of the Coalition's pre-election scaremongering proven false. The share of renewables on our National Energy Grid exceeded 50 per cent - something they said would be "reckless and economy wrecking" - for over three hours.
NEG renewables also averaged 30 per cent for the month for the first time. As a consequence coal reached a record monthly low of 64.1 per cent.
Worst affected was the government's post-Covid pick - gas - which has been declining since 2012, fell a further 18.7 per cent below 2019 Q3 levels to be just 4.9 per cent of generation, due to its high cost.
Renewables provided 73 per cent of South Australia's demand for the month, keeping the state's spot price around a low $14/MWH, about 20 per cent of the cost of gas-fired power.
This gap will ensure gas will never play a significant role in electricity generation, and is likely to prompt manufacturing to move from gas to electricity for heating.
How good is a gas-led recovery?
Richard Mallaby, Wangi Wangi
Ready for showtime
TURN on the lights. Bring out the smoke and mirrors.
Be prepared to be treated like a dummy. The Morrison government's budget is almost here. It's better than Hollywood.
John Butler, Windella
FAR from a knight in shining armour wielding a sledgehammer - all Souths needed to do was to pull a rabbit out of a hat (Lewis' View, Herald, 3/10).
Allan Gibson, Cherrybrook
BRAD Fittler and the NSW selectors have proven me right when I stated earlier that Mitchell Pearce and David Klemmer were not playing to their potential in 2020 by dropping them from the Blues squad. They both need to lift their efforts next season.
Greg Parrey, Ashtonfield
IT seems to me the Knights have a dual team, with one playing Roller Derby, while two to thirteen are waiting for Steven Bradbury.
Dave Wilson, Bar Beach
BRIAN Ladd (Letters, 2/10) because I'm not completely unreasonable, I can understand to a certain degree why you may be of the opinion that the Newcastle trial for extended operating hours for bars and restaurants doesn't have much in the way of community representation. But given the fact that, originally in Newcastle, the lockout laws were seemingly spearheaded by just one citizen acting almost entirely on their own, I would suggest that any member of the community in favour of these draconian "one size fits all" laws have gotten their way more often than not during the past 12 years.
Adz Carter, Newcastle
IT MAY be poetic justice that Donald Trump has been infected with COVID-19, given his attitude, and his inaction on a pandemic that has caused the needless deaths of tens of thousands of his countrymen. Trump has refused to take any blame for this, and now the virus has taken him; it may yet take his life. During the months of America's mounting infections and deaths, Trump has tried to deflect any blame by naming the virus "the China virus". Maybe it is time for Americans to call their mutated version of COVID-19 "the Trump virus."
Geoff Black Caves Beach
LOOKING at the presidential election race in the US made me think of those who are standing and what they are about. On one side we see Donald Trump who, it would seem, represents the Christian right-wing red-necks while on the left we have Joe Biden who represents the left-wing anti-Christian loonies. When I see this, I often think of what someone said when Donald Trump won the election - in a country of 300 million "is this the best we could come up with?"
Peter Sansom, Kahibah
PETER Dolan, no one is forcing abortion on you religious types - not even us hell-bound, heathen atheists. You have total freedom to make whatever choice you like. It's you god botherers that want to enforce a communist-style blanket control over the lives of all of us because of your primitive voodoo beliefs. Give us a break
John Arnold, Anna Bay
THE POLL
Do you think restrictions in regional NSW should be lifted before Sydney?
