WHILE the interest rate rise ('$200 a month', Newcastle Herald 8/6) was always going to be happening, the exposure of many first home buyers to this and future rises, that will also be expected as the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) seeks to manage interest rates with the blunt instrument of interest rate rises, will cause some real financial strain some may not be able to endure.
The use of low deposits to get first home buyers into the market was always fraught with real dangers. If these first home buyers go under, then there is little that the following fire sale will do for them as the loan with charges can almost exceed the then market value of the home.
We have been on the wrong track and even Labor's plan of the "government investing up to 40 per cent" in the first home owners' purchase will not really address affordability. I further note that the plan's details are very skint and as such cannot be properly evaluated. Manipulating a financial market will always have a downside to it. Without a full and detailed approach to the whole of the financial market that we all need, we will continue to see housing affordability as a significant unresolved issue in this country.
Milton Caine, Birmingham Gardens
Sure enough to be insured
INSURANCE for lakeside homes is becoming unaffordable because of potential flooding from the lake due to sea rise predictions, but this is nothing new. My house at Dora Creek went through this when Lake Macquarie council used a sea rise prediction to list my property as at risk in a one in 100 year flood due to sea rise. My house insurance tripled the next time around. Although the property is sitting over three metres above high tide, insurance companies preferred to go with council prediction.
I suggest those in the same boat do as I have done: remove the risk of flooding from sea rise. I am covered for flooding from storms and storm run-off, but not from a rising ocean itself.
Considering house insurance is only for 12 months in advance, I am willing to risk that the ocean won't rise by three metres over the next year. Although my insurance has not dropped to previous pricing, it's still a lot less than was originally asked.
I have lived on the lake for close to 40 years and can honestly say that the lake is no higher now than 40 years ago. However, according to the alarmists, I should be underwater. So who do you believe?
Carl Stevenson, Dora Creek
Small parties had some big ideas
NOW the dust from the election has settled, many are asking what happened and why. It would seem that climate change was a major issue, amongst others.
As many would know, I support rail transport as a means to reduce greenhouse emissions. That is one reason I was interested in some of the lesser-known parties, whose websites I looked at before I voted. Of interest was that many, but not all, supported rail transport for moving freight.
The Citizens Australia party had a very ambitious plan for gauge standardisation and new rail links to reduce distances to the major cities around Australia. This was one of the few parties that was prepared to look at the big picture when it came to improving transport to our nearest neighbours in South East Asia. I don't know how Citizens Australia fared, but I would like to see other parties in the senate and the house of representatives have a good look at these proposals and why they were chosen.
If implemented, such proposals could put Australia in a more competitive position on the global market and we would be better prepared for the prospect of war. I'm not saying I support Citizens Australia, but their proposals have considerable merit. I hope those in government think about them.
Peter Sansom, Kahibah
Curriculum is built on the science
PETER Devey, ("Climate change not about faith", Letters, 8/6), attempts to ridicule Kathryn Bow's commentary about climate and the school curriculum and goes on to say people should seek information from "elsewhere". Well I have, in subject specific tertiary education. More severe rainfall events due to ocean warming, colder weather, "the best start to a ski season in 50 years" (that should tell you something) and northern hemisphere snow into spring is the Earth's response to global warming, whatever the cause. Severe cold weather results from melting polar caps and receding glaciers in Earth's attempt to achieve equilibrium, or homeostasis to use a biological term. Flooding of rivers flowing into a greater wall of water and excessive coastal erosion is a result of rising sea level. These are the facts, not an opinion or belief. Where do people learn of their surroundings if not in schools and universities? This information stems from scientific study by experiment, measurement and observation.
Marvyn Smith, Heddon Greta
Little hope from political crop
WHY do we continue to vote and believe in these politicians who only care for themselves? The amount that they receive as pay rises obliterates what hard working Aussies get as a pension. May I remind all concerned it's us workers that keep our great country afloat. Over the past few decades I believe quality of life has dropped for a lot of people. Road conditions, quality and food prices, and fuel have escalated with no solutions. Honestly, they do not care and each year gets worse. I myself am worried what my daughters' and my grandchildrens' lives will be; by the looks of it, a cardboard box.
I myself look at politicians as car salesmen and nothing more. Let me remind everyone they work for us, not the other way around, and parliament transparency is a must. No one is above the law in my eyes, and we are all equal no matter who you are and what you earn. I have absolutely no confidence in these monkeys.
Christopher Jackson, Beresfield
Voters hoping for a kinder nation
WHEN Donald Trump was banned from Twitter and dumped by voters, the world seemed a quieter and more peaceful place. When we Aussies finally removed the Morrison government, once again the world seemed quieter and more peaceful. The shouting stopped (except from Sky After Dark and other Murdoch troglodytes) and Australians dared to hope again.
We hoped for a fairer, more equal Australia, where an ICAC with teeth guaranteed the integrity in political and public life that ought to be a given. We hoped for a kinder, more caring society that guaranteed all Australians had equality of opportunity. Especially women, especially our First Nations brothers and sisters, especially people living with disabilities, especially people facing racism, sexism or discrimination on the basis of their gender or sexuality.
Especially, we hoped for a government that was serious about action on climate change. If our government does nothing more than these things it will have earned our thanks and started on the long journey of fulfilling the exultant hopes many of us have held since May. I'm hoping that the government listens carefully to the progressive voices now in Federal Parliament with a view to cleaning up our political processes and creating a kinder, gentler polity and a better future for all Australians.
Dave Brown, Wollombi
SHORT TAKES
DESPITE the gas industry's claims, it needs to be noted that 72.7 per cent of Australia's gas is exported overseas, with only 7.4 per cent used for domestic electricity. Australia does not have a problem with gas supply; instead, it has a problem with gas exports. With the surge in global price, we need to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. The best way to do this is to ramp up investments in renewable energy and accelerate the electrification of households to get off expensive gas. Not only is the shift from gas good for our wallets; it is great for the climate too.
Ching Ang, Magill
CONSIDERING it's of vital interest to all, I believe we need a daily display in our Newcastle Herald, showing statistics for energy generation and consumption in NSW with a breakdown from all sources. List oil, gas and coal or aggregate under fossil fuels; same for renewables. List a state total electricity usage in megawatt hours, and a minimum/maximum instantaneous demand in megawatts. Also provide the minimum and maximum instantaneous contributions from each of the generating sources. This regular information flow will educate the community into the dynamics, complexity and shortcomings of this essential service.
Allan Searant, Charlestown
MICHAEL Hinchey, (Short Takes, 4/6). My response to your lecture to Greg Hunt? In my opinion you are a total hypocrite. From the day Shorten blew the last election this page has printed hundreds of comments that could be described as "carping and mean spirited" directed at the then PM. Did you call on any of the regulars to "accept in good spirit the people's verdict"? No, in fact you added to the pile on. Keep 'em coming Greg, you are clearly making the lefties uncomfortable.
Dave McTaggart, Edgeworth
DAVID Stuart, you are well within your rights to dislike the Greens, (Short Takes, 7/6) but writing mistruths about them only damages your own credibility and boosts theirs. They are not asking to "stop ALL gas mining" as you assert, but asking for no NEW fossil mining as per the advice of the IPCC. Big difference.
Michael Gormly, Islington
WRONG again Lloyd Davies (Letters, 7/6). Your admission that you only watch your beloved ABC says it all and is typical of leftists who only believe one side of a story. The term "mean girls" had nothing to do with Sky News. It was the term used by Kimberley Kitching herself and it's a damn shame that the alleged bullying by her so-called colleagues may have cost her the chance to rejoice in Labor's win.
Greg Hunt, Newcastle West
LLOYD Davies, it's been a bit windy to go fishing lately, but I always get a bite casting a bait in Short Takes. I hope Tanya enjoys her demotion, a bit mean of Albo me thinks.
