I THINK we can agree that the bus crash near Singleton last weekend was a tragedy ('Side by side', Newcastle Herald 16/6). It is wonderful that the community is being very generous in helping the families of those who died, or were injured.
When I read that the NSW government has added $100,000 to the fund that Rotary is to distribute to the victims' families ('Leaders meet to plan the recovery', Herald 15/6), I wondered about the other people in NSW who die or are injured in less public circumstances including motor vehicle accidents; domestic violence; natural disasters and unexpected natural causes of death at any age. Do they and their families receive government assistance, as a reaction to their tragic circumstances?
Yes, it is difficult to be fair to everyone all the time, but can some thought be given to using taxpayers' money to provide equitable support to those in most need?
Wendy Webb, Warners Bay
Rate of rise is pretty severe
WELL the Port Stephens ratepayers got what they voted for: a 31 per cent rate rise ('Rate rise clears big hurdle', Herald 15/6). If not for the vigilance of Cr Giocamo Arnott I think the rise would have been 66 per cent. Congratulations, Port Stephens Council.
John Bonnyman, Fern Bay
High-speed trains a pipe dream
WHILE most would agree a direct very fast train (VFT) between Newcastle and Sydney would be a benefit, it may even help to slow the Sydney urban sprawl.
However, the possibility of this happening is at best fanciful. Leading up to elections various parties usually resurrect the idea along with pretty pictures and proposed new routes. The current proposed route I believe starts somewhere west of Hexham and terminates west of the Sydney metro area. Hardly a direct route.
After the election, it's promptly forgotten. It is amazing to me that grown adults still actually believe this is going to happen. Apart from anything else, the costs would be staggering and highly unlikely ever to be recovered, no matter if it was government (taxpayer funded) or private capital. An article in Saturday's Herald mentioned that a privately-funded operation would probably extract as much as possible from the operation in order to recover costs. No surprise there. What else would they be expected to do?
It ain't going to happen. A faster train with maybe a journey time of up to 1.5 hours would be acceptable and, with political will, would be doable at an acceptable cost. Europe is a prime example of where VFTs work; it is an amazing system servicing many millions in a relatively small area. The UK system, although not a VFT, is fast, reliable and user friendly. My wife and I, having travelled on it extensively, have not heard anyone say it was better before privatisation.
Raymond Stewart, Kotara
Marzhew punishment was mistake
THANKS Newcastle, you saved my tipping sheet. I picked the Broncos, but was surprised by the way that Newcastle played for 65 minutes. They bombed a chance of beating the high-flying Broncos when they started playing safety first football in the last 20 minutes and it didn't work.
The Broncos decided to play a bit of up-tempo football, moving the ball around and it opened up the Knights defence; everyone saw the result.
On reading Max McKinney's story ("Strike winger to miss clash with Roosters", Herald 14/6), I thought it must be April 1 when I saw that the Knight's winger Greg Marzhew had been dropped from the side for being late for the bus after last week's game. Are they kidding? This bloke is a match winner. There is no team in this competition that would drop him for a must-win game against a depleted Easts side. His replacement is not on the same page as him in my view.
Wake up, Knights, you could have done this a lot better by making him play with the NSW Cup team when the bye is on or get him to run the water for the Jersey Flegg team. They were quick to hand down this punishment to Marzhew, but I am still waiting to see any punishment for Ponga and Mann for their episode last year.
Allen Small, East Maitland
The power to prevent blackouts
THERE have been plenty of letters about climate change, coal, gas, renewables and nuclear power on this page from a number of contributors, most agreeing to disagree with some of the others. I was listening to a recent BBC report that in South Africa, where the demand for energy is now greater than the available supply and households have been provided with a schedule that informs them of the time and date they will have their regular blackout for a period between two to four hours.
South Africa utilises all of the above resources and it has an abundance of coal, much of which it exports to Germany. However, the problem has arisen because ageing power stations have not been properly maintained, resulting in insufficient energy supply. One hopes that our government doesn't fall into the same trap.
David Stuart, New Lambton
Old mines can be leading lights
AUSTRALIA'S disused and abandoned mines have enormous potential for nearby communities. These range from rehabilitated pits converted to recreational lakes to sources of critical minerals and renewable energy.
The Genex pumped-hydro project in northern Queensland, for example, will generate up to 900 jobs and store its water in two pits of the old Kidston goldmine. It has a storage/generation capacity of 250 megawatts for eight hours (2000 megawatt hours) and will reportedly ramp up in less than 30 seconds.
A second example of long-term storage is Broken Hill's underground Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) system being built for Transgrid. The air is stored in purpose-built caverns and, when needed, is released to spin a turbine. When completed it will be the world's biggest CAES facility and provide at least eight hours of storage.
Another exciting use of old mine sites is the recovery of critical and rare metals from tailings dumps. Critical metals are vital for clean energy and advanced technologies like smartphones, computers, solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles. Reusing and rehabilitating old mine sites could well be the next mining boom.
Ray Peck, Hawthorn
Colonial history must be faced
GAVIN Green ("Removing Dangar's name right thing to do", Letters, 15/5), I agree but I think we need to go more slowly. First and more importantly the facts of our colonial history need to be generally accepted.
Then the sites of the various battles and massacres can be commemorated with appropriate plaques. If we read Blood on the Wattle by Bruce Elder, there are a hell of a lot of names that may need to be changed.
Yes, there is much in our past that needs addressing but let's go slowly, step by step. Saying yes to the Voice is maybe a good start.
Sue Boele, Hamilton South
SHORT TAKES
THE many letters supporting or excusing the alleged war crimes of Ben Roberts-Smith in my opinion risk dishonouring the many soldiers who kept within their moral and legal limits during the heat of battles. I believe they are the ones who need to be recognised by the public.
Michael Gormly, Islington
VOTERS long to trust the MPs they elect to get on with the job of governing them ("Trust matters more than saving face", Editorial 14/6). Like many voters, I have had a gutful of the political point-scoring and political speak of both Federal and State parliaments. I am sick of distractions. When will the Opposition in both levels of government stop nit-picking and opposing the government's legislative agenda no matter what? When will the Opposition take a moral stand on any issue?
Geoff Black, Caves Beach
WE see too many allegations of misconduct play out in the press, which is justice strangled. We now see in the Brittany Higgins case that what we saw in the press was, at a minimum, choreographed to some extent for maximum impact. A tsunami of destroyed people are now left in the wake, a far bigger injustice in many cases.
Grahame Danaher, Coal Point
PRIME Minister Anthony Albanese wants Australia to become a renewable energy super power to increase productivity. How can you increase productivity with a product that is unproductive most of the time and relies on storage facilities that will need to last most of the time? Please tell me he is dreaming because this way of thinking will become a nightmare, not just for Mr Albanese, but for the rest of Australia.
Carl Stevenson, Dora Creek
GOOGLE "voice referendum question" and the answer is "a proposed law: to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples o fAustralia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. Do you approve of this proposed alteration?" The government website then sets out the proposed wording. Anyone who says they don't understand the referendum question is having a lend - it's not an explanation for voting "no", it's just an excuse.
Carl Boyd, Cooks Hill
ALBO promised transparency in government. Well, I reckon it's not hard to see through this lying mob. Congratulations on keeping one promise, Albo.
Steve Barnett, Fingal Bay
CORRECTION
A Newcastle Herald story published on Friday, June 16, incorrectly said a lawyer involved in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal hearing of Allan Robinson was acting for the City of Newcastle. The lawyer was acting for the NSW Office of Local Government. The Herald regrets the error.
