Newcastle Herald letters to the editor: Monday January 31, 2022

It seems to me that there's hardly a sign, a phone booth or the side of a commercial or public building which has escaped having some person who should know better spray painting what's called their "tag" anywhere they see fit.

Then, once one miscreant has desecrated a spot like a dog making its mark by lifting its leg, every other graffiti artist from near and far seems to feel compelled to spray paint their tag on the same spot as well.

Some property owners have gone to the trouble of painting over their spoiled walls only to have them covered in new even larger squiggles and lines which mean nothing to the majority of Newcastle residents.

The NSW Police department treats this as malicious damage and encourages anyone whose property has been spray painted with graffiti to get in touch with them either directly on the phone or on its website.

But what about all the other places currently being festooned with these tags, even crude words and images?

Does anyone else share my concerns regarding this desecration in Newcastle? And has anyone had experiences of the same issue in other cities where they have successfully dealt with the graffiti scourge?

GRACE Tame has been criticised for her reaction to Scott Morrison. In 2020, when the fireman on the South Coast refused to shake hands with Mr Morrison we applauded him. We all knew his reasons.

Since we are not fully aware of the reasons behind Grace Tame's attitude, we can neither condone nor criticise this lady's actions as we do not know the extent of the trials (possibly opposition) she has endured this past year in pursuing this worthwhile campaign. That said, I applaud Grace Tame.

MARK McGowan in Western Australia is copping ridicule from federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg for the way he is handling the COVID pandemic. With 30,000 and more daily cases in NSW, the gold standard state, and many thousands in the other states, compared to the six or eight in WA, I'm not sure what Frydenberg and other LNP members are basing their criticism on.

I do declare that I am anxious to go to Perth for family reasons, but I am not prepared to blame Premier McGowan for making this difficult.

NSW planning authorities are considering a major extension of Whitehaven Coal's Narrabri underground coal mine, which will extend the mine's annual production of 11 million tonnes for a further 13 years. Planning department members have made the following candid admissions.

"Significant uncertainty surrounds how to apply the state's high-level climate targets to individual fossil fuel development projects of this nature".

"There is no clear methodology to assess the relative scale (or related consequences) of emissions in a consistent manner, nor are there any definitions of different levels of emissions".

"There are no performance criteria or limits provided (e.g maximum annual or total emissions) for any development types (e.g coal mines, power stations or industrial facilities), nor is there any clear timelines for ratcheting down (e.g a plan for a staged reduction in emissions)".

A project of this environmental significance deserves a proper scientific report, not the fact-free farce the NSW Planning members have been faced with. If approved, this extension will be responsible for the highest volume of direct and indirect emissions of any coal project determined by the IPC to date. It certainly ignores the International Energy Agency advice.

The IEA has been a long-term supporter of fossil fuels, but its May 2021 report contained the urgent warning "there can be no new coal, oil or gas projects, if the global energy sector is to reach net zero emissions by 2050 and help avoid catastrophic climate change".

SYDNEY City Council has removed its good-natured parking fee allowance for frontliners working at Prince Alfred Hospital without notification and these hard workers have been hit with parking fines. Another example of the head of the snake not notifying its tail what it's going to do. Shame on this council. Again, penny pinching from the unsuspecting to fill the coffers. These people should be granted free parking, no matter where they work and should receive it while ever they fill these positions.

WHAT a great article on the Red Hot Summer concert ('Music takes centre stage', Herald, 24/1).

I was there on Saturday, seated near an exit, and over the course of eight hours, I only saw two people ejected for bad behaviour. Just two out of a crowd of more than 9000. If I didn't know better, I'd think that the vast majority of people know how to act responsibly at any type of gathering where alcohol is served, and it was only ever a very small percentage of people who cause trouble while drinking.

Reminds me of when NSW came out of lockdown (and before the outbreak of the omicron variant) and I attended numerous Newcastle pubs for the first time since the removal of the lockout laws. What I witnessed was countless patrons drinking, dancing, and having fun without bothering anyone.

SCOTT Morrison doesn't hold a hose, Richard Colbeck doesn't hold a syringe

By going to the cricket on a freebie instead of attending a Senate select committee on COVID 19, Senator Colbeck, the Aged Care Services Minister, is putting himself in the same camp as Mr Morrison, who holidayed in Hawaii back in December 2019, while Australia burned.

While Mr Morrison may not "hold a hose", and Senator Colbeck may not hold a syringe, the electorate needs to see that their elected representatives, especially ministers, care about them and are making an effort. After all, these politicians are handsomely paid.

Tens of thousands of aged care residents face the threat of COVID every day. What will they make of Colbeck shirking his duty for a day out at the cricket?

IF a recent report is to be believed, it would seem that extensions to the light rail are under threat again due to a proposed development. I can't understand why the corridor for extensions to the light rail hasn't been set in stone. The only way the light rail will be viable and have the effect of bringing people back to the city is if it is extended into the suburbs. I would have thought even the developers would have understood that. So why are extensions under threat?

INTERESTING article regarding the Newcastle Art Gallery upgrade of $40 million ('Art prize', Herald, 28/1) and then seeing in the Maitland Mercury that one of the items on the new mayor's agenda is to reduce funding for its art gallery ... hard to imagine.

CONSERVATIVE voters who value the environment, and feel strongly that more action should be taken to counter climate change, will have much to think about before voting at the next federal election. The voters will be aware, of course, that a vote for the conservatives will also be a vote for Barnaby Joyce.

THEY didn't have ATARS in my day, however, it was good to see my old alma mater, Gosford High School feature in the Top 10 regional schools.

MICHELLE Grattan's opinion piece (Herald, 22/1) is certainly biased towards Labor saying "the PM's team is far from match fit". Has she had a look at the Labor team? Chalmers, Bowen, Keneally, Wong etc ... and Albo himself? All b-graders as far as running the country is concerned.

I DON'T know about anyone else, but I am sick and tired of these rude, arrogant and sometimes downright abusive people ringing me at all hours. I have tried to have them blocked, I have an unlisted number, yet, today the tally of calls is 28 and it is only 5.30pm. I know that I can expect another 10 or so. What can be done about this?

IAN Player (Short Takes, 25/1) is so unfair in blaming ScoMo for Kyrgios' loss and has obviously not been paying attention. ScoMo is not responsible for any adverse event anywhere at any time. He has been vaccinated against the Accepting Responsibility virus which has been eradicated in the community of Coalition ministers.

EMPTY supermarket shelves are a good thing. As we approach a Socialist Green Communist victory at the federal election it will be the new norm. Except at the moment we still have electricity and we don't have to sell a kidney yet to pay the bills. Methinks it's time to give up the grog to keep my kidneys in saleable condition. Cheers comrades.

I NOTICED that the Biden administration is sending troops and military equipment to secure the Ukraine border with Russia whilst leaving America's own southern border totally open to undocumented migrants who are flooding in.

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