Now it is pledging millions in increased prize money to help expand the racing code in this state ('Greyhound Racing NSW announces record prizemoney increase', SMH 21/6).

The tremendous backlash against the government when Premier Baird and his police minister decided to ban the sport was overwhelming.

So strong was the backlash that it helped see the demise of the premier and a huge loss of support for the Nationals in seats they held in the country.

Dubbo subsequently fell to an Independent candidate after nearly 40 years of National Party domination.

Greyhound racing in this state is now conducted with an emphasis on animal welfare first, and ridding the sport of unscrupulous participants second.

I believe the government support demonstrates that it is succeeding with its agenda and acknowledges that the sport plays a huge role in raising much-needed state revenue and stimulating businesses, especially in regional areas where many tracks are located.

The Hunter, Central Coast and lower north coast have many tracks, trainers and associated businesses that will be bolstered by this injection of funds announced by Greyhound Racing NSW chief executive Tony Mestrov, who has been a breath of fresh air for the industry.

Finally, I would personally like to give a special thanks to PETA and all the animal activists.

Without their intervention, greyhound racing would not be the thriving industry that it is today.

THE absence of funding for transport infrastructure for Newcastle and the Hunter region in the state budget ('Bounce for basketball, but Hunter misses out on big spending', Newcastle Herald 19/6) came as no real surprise, although it was disappointing.

I was hoping we would have seen a move towards making the Glendale interchange, the freight bypass and extensions to the light rail a reality.

As most would be aware, good transport and in particular public transport is vital for a city to function.

However, over the last few years I believe that this government has done all it can to ruin public transport in the region.

I would have thought that the Glendale interchange would have been necessary for attracting more people from places like Glendale, Wallsend, Edgeworth or Barnsley to suburban rail services while the freight bypass would have separated freight trains from passenger trains thereby reducing congestion and making passenger services more reliable.

I understand a report appeared in this publication where Keolis Downer is alleged to have said they were very happy with the patronage of the trams ('Riding high: passenger data shows light rail off to flying start', Herald 12/3).

If this is true, then I would have thought that extensions to the light rail network would have been in order.

I seem to remember the premier or the transport minister saying they wanted more people on public transport, but a lot needs to be done if people are to be attracted back to using buses and trains.

Not only do timetables need attention, but the infrastructure needs to be provided as well.

So why were these vital projects left out of the budget?

More money would have been available had this government not wasted so much money pulling out the railway and putting the light rail in Hunter Street.

JUST to verify the disregard to ex-service veterans raised by Mike Sargent (Letters, 22/6).

50 years ago, I was home after a seven-month tour of duty on HMAS Vampire in the Australian Far East Naval Reserve.

That included escorting HMAS Sydney to Vietnam and working as a rescue and body recovery ship when HMAS Melbourne and the USS Frank E. Evans collided, on joint exercises off the Vietnam coast with a large and tragic loss of life.

On return there were no debriefing, medical or psychological tests, just us lot expected to carry on.

I was one of Australia's youngest returned naval Vietnam veterans. I was kicked out with a bad case of undiagnosed PTSD.

Mentally lost, two years later I was kicked out as a crazed rebellious alcoholic, many times placed in custody but never helped.

Instead, I was regarded as a trouble maker. No duty of care.

It took 20 years for the Department of Veterans' Affairs to issue me my war service badges and medals in the bloody mail.

In my opinion, that's 50 years of betrayal.

I was verified in a small compensation payment and a letter of apology from a serving navy commander, but still the Department of Veterans' Affairs denies any of my symptoms are a result of my military service.

I believe we, betrayed, deserve justice. I'm surviving on a war service pension now, just.

I WOULD like to address the issue of bullying in our schools. As most people know, bullying is not just physical but mental also. In my opinion bullying with words can in fact be more harmful.

Having said this, I have recently heard about several cases involving children being degraded in the classroom by teachers.

How can we then tackle bullying between our children when this is the sort of example being set?

It seems to me that we need to start at the top and these teachers need to be admonished for their behaviour and reminded that they are being paid to teach.

We have many wonderful children out there with sensitive personalities who can be deeply hurt by this sort of behaviour.

I often hear people say that these kids should toughen up, but I don't see that as being a fair solution.

Why should they change? They are the victims here.

Let's all look out for one another stop all kinds of bullying.

ANDREW Collins (Letters, 22/6) quotes the Journal of Atmospheric and Climate Sciences' in claims that global warming is not really happening.

As always with these claims, I believe a two-minute online search shows this journal to be a pay-for-play abuse of scientific standards which publishes authors with clear lines of funding that trace back to industry-funded denialism and even the Trump administration.

I am tired of doing such basic checking only to find the same result every time, that climate denialism is venal and dishonest.

I urge others to use the information tools at our fingertips.

A simple search is just the person or journal who publishes the pseudo-science plus the word 'rebuttal'.