There was no thought but for themselves, as they did not want me to report it, so as I lay on the ground they took off. A witness came forward and provided me with her information and we remarked on how inconsiderate and self-centred it was to leave the scene of an incident involving an injury.

I believe the council need to enforce their laws for people that blatantly disregard the signs that indicate dogs must be on leads and you must have control of dogs on footpaths and in leash-free areas.

If only the person responsible waited around to see how I was and apologised, which in my opinion would have been the decent thing to do, but these selfish individuals are for themselves.

I believe people like this's only thought is for themselves and they give the law-abiding dog owners a bad name. Dog owners, please just be respectful, courteous to other footpath users and keep your dogs on leashes or under control.

LAKE Macquarie mayor Kay Fraser is at pains to point out that she is now listening to community concerns about the future use of the controversial Bath Street foreshore site in Toronto ('Foreshore project on hold', Herald 28/8).

In her closing remarks following the successful moving of a motion to defer work on the site, she reassured the packed gallery that they could be confident of proper consultation. But is all as it seems?

At one stage in the convoluted, fractious proceedings one important amendment was put: to rezone the Bath Street site as community land and develop the entire site as parkland. This was exactly what the community had been campaigning for. The gallery held its collective breath. When the motion was put, the one predictable vote in favour was Cr Wendy Harrison. When against was called, all other hands shot up as one. The mayor's hand went up, too.

It is hard to reconcile this swift killing of an amendment with words of encouragement about the intention to hear what the community wants. I believe local elections looming next year muddy the waters, but defer does not mean cease.

In my opinion it's good to see the mayor is now keen to consult the community, but only as long as she hears what that community is saying and acts accordingly.

WHILE visiting the Hunter Valley, Jodi McKay told listeners that coal is their lifeblood ('Coal to remain 'lifeblood', McKay swears', Herald 29/8). Many might argue that a deathbed would be a better metaphor, but she does have a point.

In many rural areas, employment based on agriculture and tourism has collapsed - largely due to climate conditions - leaving coal mining as the last bastion for the region. For a political party trying to win back seats, it is apparently a no-brainer; they cannot see a way to create alternative employment or replace the revenue coal produces.

Yet Germany, which at the height of its coal mining employed 607,000 miners, has begun the process of ending its coal industry and shutting down the energy plants that it feeds so it can meet its agreements under the Paris climate accord. It was able to do this with not a single miner being forced out of work. Alternative employment was available because, unlike Australia, Germany has maintained its manufacturing industry and has a declining population.

It's something the Labor party should consider, but it unfortunately seems to be stuck with the Big Australia mentality of Rudd and Howard.

ONLY mid-air injunctions stopped the Biloela family being deported ('PM won't intervene for Tamil family', Herald 3/9). As we literally face the end of the world within the next ten years (this is no joke), how good are Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton at keeping us safe? This is what their goons were doing: while we slept: they were trying, ineptly, to deport the family from Biloela to Sri Lanka.

They separated the mother from the family. Then later they forcibly dragged the mother, Priya, onto the plane. She was screaming, as were both of her girls.

So, morality dies first.

Did I say ineptly? Border Force forgot they had to give 72 hours notice. So a mid-air injunction foiled the plot, for the moment.

Shameful hardly describes it.

I HAVE followed the Newcastle Knights since their inception in 1988, and remember well the first season; we finished with the wooden spoon. Players the likes of Tony Butterfield, Sam Stewart, David Boyd, Tony Townsend and Paul Harragon (from the bench) were great contributors.

I attended many games that first season including the match against Brisbane, which we lost 24-12 and over 30,000 people attended. Never once did I leave the ground feeling that the players had not given their all.

To me, from the outside Nathan Brown seems a thoroughly decent person. He had a long career with St George and has 17 years of top grade coaching experience. He is hardly a novice, and has been embroiled in no scandals. He was prepared to back himself, as evidenced open-ended contract he negotiated.

The players, on the other hand, don't have to do anything else but train and play rugby league. They seem far removed from the first team of gladiators, most of whom I assumed would have worked as well.

The players today are among the top echelon of earners in the country. Along with their huge pay packets in my opinion come huge egos, a lack of dedication, and a lack of pride in themselves or the city they represent. Most don't come from the region and are here only to chase the dollar.

I believe that the board of directors are responsible for the situation that the Knights find themselves in, they are the ones that set the standards, procedures and the culture that should permeate throughout the organisation. In my view they have failed dismally.

Following this debacle and the overall environment in the NRL, I am undecided if I will continue to follow the game. Maybe I will concentrate on assisting my grandsons play soccer. At least I know they always give a genuine effort.

RESEARCH from Sweden and the USA now shows a clear link between climate deniers and the anti-feminist far right (New Republic, 29/8). It appears many men perceive climate activism and climate science as inherently feminine and a threat to their way of life. With conservative nationalist governments dominant at the moment, I fear the ties between climate sceptics, right-wing nationalism and misogyny are overlapping, feeding off one another and strengthening.

I KNOW how to make all the Knights fans and supporters happy: have a very large strawberry thick shake. It worked for Ponga.

THIS government will most certainly open up a huge can of worms ('Coalition rift over Porter's proposed laws on religious freedom', Herald 31/8), do they not realise that many thousands of Australians died to protect this Christian country? I cannot believe their concept to allow religious freedom without discrimination. So, if I start up a pagan religious sect that promotes human sacrifice, I cannot be discriminated against under these proposed rules? If religious sects wish to worship their beliefs in their own homes so be it, but please don't try and convert nor complicate our legal and political systems because of religious ideologies. Leave sleeping dogs lie.

IS it possible that the effort to enshrine in law a 'right' to vilify and inconvenience one's neighbours in the name of superstitions is really a distraction from the unfortunate erosion of the public's right to know what their government is up to?

EVERY contribution to last Tuesday's letters page was about the Knights woes. All these armchair philosophers had an opinion. Here we have 26 highly paid and very fit young men all fighting over one football. Surely there would be enough money in the NRL to buy each player a ball which would prevent a lot of the injuries to the players.

MARK Butler (Letters, 30/8), bravo. I believe the ALP should be the natural government of Australia, a supposedly inclusive and progressive nation in a changing world. We're not a pale replica of the old dart, and no-one should be left stranded in this country. Humanity, dignity and caring were to reign. See the living wage of 100 years ago.

Detective Peter Fox's book Walking Towards Thunder was written by a man with guts. Congratulations, Mr Fox, on writing a book about the sexual abuse of children within the Catholic Church and how it affected you personally. I wish you well, and once again congratulations on the launch of your book on the cost of revealing the truth.

WHAT John Pilger describes as the "psychological torture" of Julian Assange (RT.com, 29/8) is a deliberate assault on press freedom. The Australian government should be ashamed of its inaction and indifference.