I read with some astonishment the attacks on the free food program Food Not Bombs in Awaba Park, next to Hamilton station. These attacks seem confused to me and without any real foundation given this free program is not near homes or most businesses.
I am a retired school principal and volunteer with this free food program. We provide free meals and groceries at the station every Monday and Wednesday. In my two years with Food Not Bombs, I have rarely seen anti-social behaviour spill onto the streets. We do not arrive until 5pm, when local businesses are shut, so I am not sure how we are having a negative impact on them.
It is easy to think a "one-stop shop" could sort the ugliness of hunger and homelessness in the Hunter and Newcastle, but complex problems are rarely fixed with one approach. Others no doubt do a wonderful job, but they may not always be sympathetic to gender diverse people, and Aboriginal people much prefer to be out in the open. The same can be true for our customers with mental health concerns, who can like the anonymity of their meal at Hamilton station.
A quick feed at Awaba Park before a train ride somewhere to beg a bed for the night can be a life-saver for our people, the people who society has forgotten. The council is to be congratulated for not bending to the baseless accusations and hard hearts. Further, if there are significant problems in other parts of Hamilton, by all means we should do all we can to fix those problems, but not by sticking the boot into the most vulnerable. There are other ways.
It appears that our Federal Government doesn't learn from past mistakes.
In the 1990s we purchased from the US two landing craft ships (eventually named HMAS Kanimbla and HMAS Manoora). These were absolute rust buckets and, from all accounts, were even lucky to make the voyages across the Pacific to Australia. The two ships spent a long period of time being made seaworthy at a cost said to be in the order of $400m.
Accepting secondhand nuclear vessels from the US without knowing the ages of each vessel together with a full refit on each vessel prior to handover would be a recipe for disaster, particularly given that nuclear reactors are involved.
Your correspondent Dorina Pojani argues the case for rent control as a means of getting "housing security for renters" ("'Forever renting': rethinking how Australia views housing", Opinion 12/6). Rent control as practiced across Europe, New York and California is hardly an endorsement for the practice.
The severity of rent levels in European countries is a pressing issue, with many households facing housing costs that exceed 45 per cent of their income. The poorest households are particularly affected, with costs reaching around 60 to 70 per cent of income. In California, rent levels are among the highest in the nation, with 43,000 homeless in Los Angeles.
In New York, nearly half of all rentals are rent-controlled but rents are still next to the highest in the US. Long fixed-term leases reduce property turnover, making it still harder for prospective tenants. Many of the rental restrictions that the author promoted are already in place here. For example, no-cause evictions are no longer allowed. Rent controls rarely work well for communities and would be better called rent abuse.
I read with interest the article in which we are led to believe the Hunter could be at the forefront of the AI boom ("Renewable zones give energy security", Newcastle Herald 3/6). Predictably the Climate Council stated all the electricity required to run these AI centres will come from renewables and batteries.
We hardly have enough electricity to prevent blackouts now and with Eraring, Vales Point and Bayswater to close by 2033, where are we going to get the 24/7 electricity to power our homes, let alone power hungry AI centres which also need copious amounts of water from an already stretched Hunter water supply?
Added to this expected boom of AI centres, we will have millions more people in the country. Our population is due to hit 30 million by 2023, which means we will need more electricity, water and houses. It is well and good to fantasise on our future, but please give us the reality to go with it. We need Einsteins, not Bowens.
Our minerals are controlled by a few wealthy Australians. Multinational companies enjoy huge tax benefits, adding to these products while their profits are flowing back to their overseas boardrooms. One Nation chief supporter and financier Gina Rinehart recently invested $1 billion in US company SpaceX. Where is the loyalty, raiding the country's minerals but not investing in our local market and manufacturing? Hanson and Joyce have been quiet.
They could sell the rights to the FIFA World Cup to Dairy Farmers, I reckon, with all the penalty and free kick milking that's going on. Either that or nominate some of them for an Oscar. Blatantly childish tactics.
Niko Leka ("What lessons lie in atrocities", Letters 16/6), I haven't noticed any "chilling of free speech" concerning the ubiquitous mantra "genocide in Gaza". But I do see it with those who threaten and intimidate some who give evidence to the anti-semitism royal commission.
Much has been made of the government's proposed changes to the capital gains tax discount and to negative gearing. Accusations were made of the government breaking a promise. However, the government has also been under pressure to make it easier for first home buyers who are being squeezed out of the market. While the abuse has come from the opposition and some in the business sector, some mainstream charities have welcomed the changes. Had the government not made these changes, they would have been accused of doing nothing for first home buyers. They were damned if they did and damned if they didn't.
If Pauline Hanson becomes prime minister, God help Australia.
