A healthy shift on the menu can cost a school canteen dearly

Most state schools are cash-strapped and their principals use the school's canteen as a valuable extra source of revenue.

They employ a part time manager, and rely on parent volunteers to serve behind the counter ("Fee hit hard to swallow", Newcastle Herald 1/7).

In one instance, a Lake Macquarie high school principal, who took himself seriously, objected to his school's canteen's offerings. He ordered that the canteen's offerings of pies, potato chips and lollies be replaced by 'healthy' options, such as fruit and carrot sticks.

Within a week, teachers on playground duty noticed that there were half the kids in the playground at lunchtime.

Most local kids had lunch passes for the odd occasion.

They had zapped themselves out of the school at lunchtime, as was their 'right,' ostensibly to return home.

The local takeaway did a roaring trade. The canteen's revenue plummeted and the canteen was in danger of closure.

The principal was forced to quickly restore the canteen's original offerings.

FRIENDS of Newcastle Ocean Baths Incorporated (FONOB) is appalled at comments directed to our group by a Newcastle council manager ("Heritage fears allayed over baths works, Newcastle Herald 20/6). They imply the council sees every challenge and every request for substantial evidence as an attack on the council and their staff.

This is not the case.

FONOB has worked tirelessly since late 2019 to ensure users' views relating to the restoration of the baths are carefully considered. To be accused of not wanting the restoration to proceed is incorrect.

The council appears to believe it has the sole right to speak to the media. The plans for Stage 2 were presented to the media before, or during, the community reference group (CRG) meeting where the plans were first presented.

Far from criticising the CRG, FONOB has enthusiastically participated and been thanked by the facilitator for their contribution and tolerance for other participants' strongly-held views. In fact, it was the council manager who wrote to thank me personally for "... comments and drive throughout the design" which he said "has contributed to CN providing the community with an outstanding facility for generations to come''. The comments in the Herald, expressed about our group and attributed to the council manager, are not in accord with this sentiment.

FONOB will continue to put forward views that we believe represent the best interests of swimmers who use the baths, ask questions of CN and at times challenge decisions.

NINE years of federal Liberal government saw disunity, infighting and egos: how to eat an onion, how to give a knighthood to a prince, how not to shirtfront a villian; how to not hold a hose, and avoid talking to the fire experts when they came to warn the government. Was it not a race?

Pass marriage equality, thank you. Build Snowy Hydro 2 (still not finished, despite our expertise in digging holes, God help us if we ever try and go nuclear - candles anyone?). Then there was sabre-rattling with China. To misquote Roosevelt, we spoke loudly and carried a limp rag. That achieved a lot - just ask the coal, barley, beef, wine, cotton, lobster and timber industries.

Then the adults came in. Quiet diplomacy means Pacific Nations now see us as a friend, helping offset Chinese influence. Most tariffs are down, Cheng Lei is home, Julian Assange is home to his family, and we have a line of communication with the Chinese government to reduce the risk of military misadventure. A few wins here.

Hopefully the name-calling bullies stay in opposition for a long time because that is what they do best: oppose. As a country we actually should move forward.

AT first Westinghouse's electrical appliances only operated while in a location able to receive direct current via huge cables. Then Nikola Tesla initiated alternating current to enable greater accessibility via longer distance through the use of wires, the system still used today.

This brilliant man invented the x-ray and many, many more things including the wireless telegraph and telephony. Many of his inventions can be found on display at the Nikola Tesla Museum in Belgrade.

His ingenious mind was keen to provide us with free energy, which most certainly would not have involved expensive, overseas made useless wind and solar farms utilising valuable land and then posing a disposal problem after their use by date. However, due to various setbacks and withdrawal of funding, his plans did not eventuate during his lifetime.

The massive tower, from which it would appear the free energy was to be initiated, together with all records pertaining to this invention, were destroyed. Fortunately, the remainder of his laboratory still remains today, providing many the option to view and ponder on his brilliance. There you have it folks, no free energy for you and I.

DR John Ward's opinion piece ("Bandaids and bickering", Opinion, 29/6), provides important background for us all. He describes the current situation in aged care and clearly explains how we have arrived at such a sorry situation. It's up to all of us to call for urgent reform to meet the needs of the next generation of older people.

OUR Newcastle Herald asks "Did you feel a small earthquake hit the Hunter Valley?", (Herald, 28/6). Nup, but I swear the Joey stand shook repeatedly on Saturday evening as our Knights beat a brave Eels side. Newcastle, Newcastle, Newcastle!

I WOULD like to congratulate the artist(s) and all others responsible at Fennell Bay Public School for the lovely Indigenous-style art on the fence on Bay Road outside the school. They have transformed what was an ugly fence into an art gallery.

I WOULD like to point out to Mr Davidson ("Taxpayers funding the demise of regional communities", Opinion, 28/6), that his article appeared on the same day that a full-page advertisement placed by The Australia Institute appeared on page nine calling for the cessation of fossil fuel subsidies. Mr Davidson's statement at the end of the article, that the "resources sector earns billions in export revenue and provides royalties that builds road, schools and hospitals across the nation", is rather negated by the fact that governments in 2023-24 provided $14.5 billion in subsidies to fossil fuels, according to The Australia Institute research.

I BELIEVE the only way forward for Biden vs Trump is for both 2024 candidates to take a cognitive test - we in the western world want to know what we are dealing with.