IN my opinion, some of these coal protesters, whom people risk their lives to get down (I was recently one of those rescuers), need to realise that what they achieve is to irritate the general population, and not delay the loading of ships.
That coal is already in the ground and they just added to the carbon emissions to the atmosphere by holding three diesel locomotives stationary, pumping out more emissions than they would have if they allowed these trains to continue on their delivery.
When will these groups realise that it isn't carbon emissions causing climate changes, it's our population? We are overpopulated and hence more fuel and food is needed to sustain the multitudes; 40 fish and 40 loaves doesn't cut it with the masses anymore.
To curb this problem, it doesn't need a rocket scientist to work it out; stop hanging around, and get a real job.
Graeme Kime, Cameron Park
Better targets than the loaders
FUNNY thing. I don't see protests to stop lithium being mined. It's a fossil fuel. Or lead mines or copper mines other fossils necessary for the economy.
Where are the protesters stopping ethanol cropping? Better than fossil fuels perhaps, but fossil fuels are essential to be able to harvest it. Instead of being selective, why not protest outside the Chinese embassy?
China is the world's biggest fossil fuels user. If that doesn't suit, consider the Russians, where real people are being slaughtered day after day by one of the world's biggest oil producers. Of course, don't forget that, without our fossil exports, we couldn't even pay for solar panels, wind turbines or electricity infrastructure.
Garry Robinson, Mannering Park
Raffertys doesn't fit the mould
ADZ Carter, many of your previous letters I agree with: for example, people who move into the city centre then complain about things associated with city living, bars, pubs and eateries. But I'd argue the proposed redevelopment at Raffertys Resort is completely different ("Profit is the name of the game", Letters, 14/6).
Not all development is good development. It depends on scale, location and suitability. Raffertys was developed as a unique, low key, family friendly resort. There are no footpaths, so the roads are also pedestrian walkways with kids riding bikes, scooters and more. I believe the access roads are unsuitable for the increase in traffic, and the intersection with the Pacific Highway is fairly dangerous.
I think the close to 200 other owners, some having owned their properties for decades, should have a say in what is or isn't appropriate, and perhaps you should stick to some of those other subjects.
Tony Maddison, Cams Wharf
Trans is a reality, not a choice
HAVING read a recent letter to this page, I think the use of the word "ideology" is very misleading and generally tries to create a fear of transgender people and convince readers to believe transgender is a choice when it is acquired at birth ("Dangers of gender ideology", Letters, 20/6).
The letter, to me, implies that young people can be indoctrinated by people who are not qualified in the subject, which I think is again misleading.
I believe no professional would advise children to have gender-reaffirming surgery, and I think the trend appears to be that puberty be delayed to give the young person as much time as possible before any intervention.
Other concerns expressed in the letter are, I believe, unfounded and do nothing more than to create obstacles and false claims involving transgender people. We have unisex toilets in many public places and on public transport. I've never heard of a transgender person using toilets as sexual predators.
In my opinion too many people too often use the word 'choice' when it comes to discussing anyone who is not heterosexual. I ask them, why would anyone ever choose such a difficult life?
Darryl Stevenson, Coal Point
Politics don't have to divide us
GREG Adamson (Short Takes, 19/6), have you got a permanently divided household? Because most politics (and many non-political differences) can divide a household if that is how a household wishes to debate any given topic. In the respect of differences of opinion in politics, this is not new. In fact, it is business as usual to have different opinions on these types of things.
The Voice is like any other political debate where opinions differ. You can choose to be divisive, or you can have a mature, respectful debate that is not divisive. The call in the past couple of years is to tidy up political debate, and many people say this happened in the last state election between Minns and Perrottet.
There are many political topics that will influence the average Australian household much more than a proposed Voice to Parliament, and hence, if what you say is true, I'd wager it is not a reflection of the different opinions in the Voice, but perhaps more a reflection on the ability to have a non-divisive discussion. Again: you can choose to contribute to cleaning up political debate so that it is not divisive. That is your choice, and the ball is in your court.
Glen Wilson, Cardiff
A deflating truth on interest rates
THE Reserve Bank board appears to believe that low unemployment will fuel inflation, leading to a need to raise interest rates yet again.
From other sources, though, we learn that wages are having an almost negligible effect on inflation and that the big driver of inflation at present is corporate profits.
Raising the interest rate might well raise unemployment and make it harder for people to find a home, but it is unlikely to curb inflation. Indeed, it would probably increase corporate profits, further fuelling inflation.
In other news, it seems that a high proportion of house buyers don't need a loan.
The downsizers, the foreign property speculators and so on aren't affected by interest rates if they're not borrowing. Higher interest rates only affect less wealthy potential buyers, people without enough economic clout to have much effect on inflation.
In the present situation, inflation can't be solved with the Reserve Bank's only blunt instrument. It needs to be tackled instead by raising taxes. Most likely, though, our government won't have the guts to do that.
Peter Moylan, Glendale
Double standards
AFTER a politician was caught on tape talking about pork barrelling, no media published the audio due to consent issues. Brittany Higgins accused Bruce Lehrmann of sexual assault, and some outlets published her leaked text messages without her consent. Why should the consent of a politician be so highly regarded when private messages of a woman who stood up for herself are considered fair game? So much for those who abuse their power being held accountable.
Adz Carter, Newcastle
SHORT TAKES
I WISH Wests Tigers could play NSW, the Tigers need a win.
Steve Barnett, Fingal Bay
MEMO to Adam O'Brien and Peter Parr: I don't care if he can't tackle or score tries, but the Newcastle Knights really need to buy a goal kicker.
Geoff Pickin, Wallsend
I WOKE at 4.25am Wednesday to hear Jim Maxwell call the dismissal of Usman Khwaja. From then on I listened intently until the end of the game. Not once did any commentator say how many runs Usman scored. Have the commentators lost the art of providing relevant details? Another problem is the background noise created by the extremely loud Birmingham crowd. It was almost impossible to hear the commentators. Perhaps it's time for filtering devices to omit unwelcome noise. Then there is the way games are now reported in print. The art of producing a table showing who scored what, how they were dismissed and other relevant details seems to have gone by the wayside. Let's go back to the tried and tested method of recording cricket games.
Stan Kiefer, Arakoon
IN the debate over energy supply and price, interests are being favoured by the government that are decreasing supply but filling government coffers. Policies to privatise energy and demonise coal mining are now leading to power shortages and rapidly escalating prices. The "pie in the sky" approach can't provide productivity increases essential to even maintain living standards. Our current policies of buying solar panels and windmills from China while selling record levels of coal is a clear contradiction of policies on climate change. Clearly the elephant in the room.
Grahame Danaher, Coal Point
I FIND it hilarious that John Arnold ("We don't want flawed US system", Letters, 21/6), uses terms like "brainwashed" and "cultists" to describe Trump followers when, in my opinion, it's blatantly obvious from his contributions here that he belongs to a coterie that has been brainwashed by the climate cult. The hypocrisy is astounding.
Greg Hunt, Newcastle West
ULURU bore its name for tens of thousands of years before the invaders named it after someone who had never seen it and proceeded to treat it as a toilet. K'gari was so named when the invaders mass murdered its original inhabitants. Lest we forget.
Peter Ronne, Woodberry
IN response to John Ure, ("Referendum is in line with past", Letters, 21/6). I read your succinct contributions to the Voice debate with great interest. I wish that politicians on all sides of Parliament were so easy to understand and had the same wise command of the situation. Thank you.
