Letters to the editor Thursday May 24 2018

Kooragang Island is the only viable site for a large container port in Newcastle, as the Hunter River is already dredged to admit large coal and wheat ships to the Island.

However, a container facility on Kooragang Island would further gridlock the Nelson Bay Road that crosses the Island. Also, container ports use minimal labour, so this development would do little to reduce Newcastle’s endemic unemployment.

Most of Sydney’s future growth and demand for goods has got to be in south-western Sydney, especially with the development of Badgerys Creek airport. Most containers landed at Newcastle would be moved by road in this direction. This would put even more big trucks on the M1, M2 and M7. There are already too many big trucks on these roads supplying Sydney from the factories and warehouses that have sprung up at the northern end of the M1 around Beresfield and Thornton. It would make far more sense to expand Port Botany and to improve motorways and to ease tolls around southwest Sydney and Port Botany.

YOU ARE not the only one surprised, Jerry Schwartz, ("Developer floats corridor car park", Herald, 19/5). Thinking connectivity and green space, many wanted Newcastle taken off global Sydney's intercity rail system. Sydney's 1979 Eastern Suburbs railway runs under the huge green expanse of The Domain, right under the noses of the Macquarie Street MPs. Fast, frequent intercity trains would so easily be bringing so many to so much, for real "revitalisation".

JIM Gardiner (Letters 19/5) holds a view that many extreme right-wing politicians, News Corp journalists and political commentators have: that the ABC should no longer be a public broadcaster.

What needs to be realised that the news division makes up a minor part of the ABC. The ABC reaches into the regional areas across the whole of Australia and provides many services to those communities which are not news. I doubt whether a private version of the ABC would do the same.

As far as the news and current affairs division is concerned, I have no problem with any investigation or interrogation of government policies. How this is regarded as left wing baffles me.

JOANNE McCarthy writes of the joy and relief of victims at the conviction of Archbishop Philip Wilson (“Justice at last after, 47 years”, Herald 23/5). Sam Rigney writes of the difficulty the prosecution faced in proving that Wilson believed what he was told back in 1976, and again in 2004 (“Belief vital to decision”, Herald 23/5).  However there is only passing reference to the small team of detectives who initiated the investigation, painstakingly recorded statements of victims and other witnesses, collected evidence, and assembled a brief amounting to 2500 pages that was described by Ian Lloyd QC, one of Australia’s most respected law officers, as among the best he has ever seen. They did that against a backdrop of community scepticism, leading to some virulent opposition. Yes, Magistrate Robert Stone made his decision based on the obvious honesty and credibility of victims and other witnesses, but let us not forget that this matter would not have even been before the court if not for the professionalism, tenacity and dedication of Jeff Little and his team.

MANY would regard the announcement of the proposed extensions to the university campus (“Uni shows off growth plan”, Herald 19/5) in Newcastle as good news for the city.

I think it only stands to reason this will bring more people into Newcastle.

But why was a well patronised commuter railway removed in order to make way for a university campus?

My concern is that if the university campus expands, how many extra people will be coming into the city?

Most bus services will terminate at Wickham, as will the trains.

Considering the campus faces the former Civic station, I think that many will question the idea of closing a railway which was very good at moving large numbers quickly and efficiently. 

I hope the light rail will be as good as the proponents are saying it will be, otherwise the congestion we are seeing will only become worse.

I am still very angry that where part of the university campus extension will be is on the rail corridor.

We were told that the rail corridor would be open space and we were told emphatically that no development would occur on the rail corridor. It seems to me we were emphatically lied to. 

PETER betrayed Jesus. He loved Jesus, but he denied him three times because he got caught up in crowd violence. However Peter made himself accountable; he wept because he was ashamed. Then he became the very rock on which the Church was based. Philip Wilson betrayed Peter Creigh.

THERE has been a lot in the news recently about the unsafe treatment of paramedics by their patients. Stories of paramedics being violently assaulted, threatened and injured are a constant feature of the news.

What hasn’t been discussed is the support, or lack thereof, that our paramedics receive from the management team that are there to protect them following such incidents.

It would be assumed that, given the day in, day out stress of being a paramedic, mandatory counselling, debriefing and support would be made available to all emergency service workers.

Unfortunately this is not the case.

These people look after us at our most vulnerable. Who looks after them at theirs?