WHEN will the state government get serious about road safety? I travel from Belmont to Stockton each day, and I’m constantly seeing near-misses due to driver arrogance and impatience. What is wrong with people?
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We all have to get somewhere. How about some courtesy and patience so we all arrive safely? I see total disregard for road rules, mobile phone use, speeding, dangerous lane changes and tailgating. I am sick of it.
The propaganda about fixed speed cameras makes me livid, as they do nothing for road safety. Get the Highway Patrol cars back out on the road. I am fed up risking my life on the road each day.
Chris Ilievski, Belmont
DRAIN THE SEWER OF POLITICS
JUST when does good government start? What a bunch of self-centred megalomaniacs we have. Our politicians should do us a favour and just do their jobs. Not being a big fan of Turnbull's flawed policies and ego, I am sick to death of the sniping, white-anting, backstabbing scumbags that really run our Parliament.
I thought Tony Abbott was a joke of a Prime Minister, and he has undermined his own party at every opportunity to aid in destroying his own government. The Coalition are in self-destruct mode, like rats on a sinking ship. Worried about being booted at the next election, they are prepared to sacrifice another leader to cling to power. Maybe they should just go out and get a better, higher-paying job.
After all, they won't be getting another $1,750,000 gift from Turnbull to keep his job. The rats are scrambling around, desperate to hold on to power. Wrong Button Dutton stated in April he wanted to replace Turnbull, and there have been backroom dealings going on for months. Playing up to popular politics and saying anything to get elected, it appears politicians will say and do whatever to hang on. We are all sick of it. They are all the same and Australians are paying a heavy price for it. Bring on a double-dissolution election and drain the sewer of the rats so we can't stop that noisy door banging as another one bites the dust.
Joh Undery, Kotara South
COOL IT ON THE CLIMATE
THE way that the climate control followers are going on you would think the the world is going to burn up in the next ten years. Your letters in Wednesday's paper (Letters, 22/8) were all about climate change. I believe we have more problems at the moment than climate control: the cost of living, jobs, power problems and a water shortage. These problems could become worse if the climate controllers have their way. No electricity, no manufacturing, no jobs. We would forever be relying on the sun shining and the wind blowing. At the moment, these climate alarmist are shoving it down our throat that they have the majority of the people on their side but I believe the run-of-the-mill people believe we can survive until there is a definite way of producing the amount of power we require to support the country. As a nation we have done enough in regards to climate change compared to other countries. Let's give it a break for a while and get on with living.
Allen Small, East Maitland
SIZING UP THE INHERITANCE
MY WIFE and I recently sold up our four-bedroom home and purchased a two-bedroom villa. She sussed it out to suit our future needs. My greatest fear was that we would be tripping over each other 24/7, but it hasn't happened once.
We now vacuum our carpeted areas in the record time of six minutes and 16 seconds. We’ve got a beaut garden out front and a pot plant garden in the rear courtyard. A bloke mows our much smaller front lawn regularly. Our visitors have left raving about the amount of room we have. Of course, we lost a bit of our aged pension.
For those out their who believe we should leave everything we have worked our bums off for to our kids: forget that. Downsize and get a few bob extra in the bank for holidays, updating furniture and even buying a new car. Villas come in a variety of sizes, so there’s something to suit everybody. There is one drawback, though. Wives and female partners will outlast men at possibly a ratio of 10 to one. Make sure that you both buy something that your better half likes a lot, as she will possibly have it for a long time.
Wal Remington, Mount Hutton
Second-rate facility
DOES anyone associated with the Newcastle Interchange have any ideas that make commonsense? They are building a new five-storey car park above the old Store building that only caters for residents and workers and it will have no spaces for short and long term parking for rail commuters which is just next door.
Where is the planning (or lack of it)? This whole process has been a shambles from the start. We get told that the new light rail line and its landscaping will be aesthetically pleasing. I can only call a 70 centimetre wide strip of woodchips with spaced, low cover, non-flowering plants as boring at best.
Yesterday, I asked a rail employee what is the the corrugated iron building that is going up on the immediate eastern side of Hannell St? I was told it was a workshop for the light rail. How ridiculous that any visitor to Newcastle gets to see an eyesore such as this as their first impression of the state’s second-largest city.
Surely it should have been built on the far western end of the old Store site so that it was out the back and away from view. It seems that this government is so far out of touch with future planning designs that would be considered appealing, instead, they build structures that would be second rate in many other cities around the world (the people of Singapore who live in a city with magnificent futuristic designed buildings must just laugh at us). The people of Newcastle are being served up a second rate facility by a third rate government.
Phillip Mallows, Stockton
MALCOLM COMES UP TRUMPS
I RECKON the wrong political party is trying to dump their leader.
Playing politics is much like a card game, where you don't sacrifice your trump card unless you can be sure you have good back-up. The Coalition’s trump card is Malcolm Turnbull being more popular than Bill Shorten by a large majority, and the only problem being an internal disagreement with certain policies.
I believe it’s far more practical to dump the policies and retain the trump card because the next leader may not be so lucky.
I would wait for the next survey on the popularity differences between the two contenders, because once the trump card is gone it makes the game that much harder.
While Labor plans to stick with a less popular leader, one wonders why the Liberals want to make a change