Lawns need regular mowing with its attendant noise pollution, depletion of water resources, feeding with chemical fertilisers and treatment with toxic herbicides, fungicides and insecticides; all of which adversely affect Australia's fragile environment.

It also means spiking, edging, repairing and occasional rolling, on top of the initial cost and regular maintenance of a petrol-driven lawn mower.

Australian lawns occupy more space than any single food crop, and consume vastly more fertiliser per hectare than farmland. They account for 25 percent upwards of household water use.

Eco-architect and stormwater drainage expert Humberto Urriola, notes that bushland vegetation is supported by an active soil layer aerated by micro-organisms and deep-rooted plants.

This layer is largely absent from gardens dominated by shallow-rooted grass. These have relatively inert soil; in wet weather they tend to become waterlogged and shed surface water as run-off.

A Colorado University team has discovered that cut grass reacts to mowing by releasing into the atmosphere large quantities of acetaldehyde, acetone (that may account for the characteristic sweet smell of cut grass), butanone and methanol, all contributors to air pollution.

For these reasons, eco-aware horticulturists and gardeners are changing to low-maintenance indigenous grasses, wildflowers and lawn alternatives that feed and shelter wildlife and require little in the way of pesticides and supplementary water.

I BELIEVE in climate change, and that Liberal Coalition Prime Minister Scott Morrison talks with a forked tongue when he tells us to pray for rain and at the same time sells our underground and river waters to the highest foreign bidder allowing foreign thirsty coal mines and mega farms to suck up our water at the expense of our farmers.

In my opinion it is destroying our agriculture, forcing dairy cattle farms to sell off their land and their prized breeding stock to China who I think has been sitting and waiting to undermine our domestic markets. To me, government water policy seems to be about squeezing our rural towns and rivers dry, leaving towns with no defense against fires and driving people off the land.

I think Scott Morrison and most of our politicians are sitting in our parliaments selling Australia to the dogs. Foreign farms that soak up our water have made bad investments in an arid country, they should cut their losses and leave Australia.

I believe climate change will push us into the unknown, and we must prepare to protect our domestic markets. Bring on the renewables; become self-sufficient and resilient; develop our natural instincts for survival. People must work together for our needs, and we must have the independent Aboriginal voice heard loud and clear.

LIKE all of the silly old farts, I have seen in my lifetime far more severe bushfires without the support of firemen; as severe, if not more severe, hot continual days that we had to endure without air conditioning, and we did not blame global warming.

Today, we have news promoting the fires as a major event and we never talk about the real reason behind these fires. We have been forced to listen to so-called experts about the effect that hazard reduction burning has on the ozone layers and how it destroys habitat for our wildlife, yet when we get a dose of fire caused by negligence suddenly we have the global warming pill forced upon us. How about you young whippersnappers do some genuine research and realise that we all live in a severe, sunburned country that has a very low regard for loudmouths, and study how we all survived in the good old days?

The original owners continually burnt the bushland. I shudder to think how the younger Australians would survive if suddenly found themselves back in the good old days without the RFS, television, town water, and the comfort of being able to talk with authority about something they know nothing about: to face a bushfire.

IT seems everyone has water on their mind; when it will rain, or perhaps that should be if it rains. The majority of the ruling party presently in power have so far point blank refused to acknowledge that perhaps climate change is real and does exist, but have no answers to the problem that has the ability to bring this country to its knees.

The perception that there is a lack of water in my personal opinion is totally wrong, and as I have written before all we need is some forward-thinking politicians to give it go. The water, of course, is the sea and it is growing daily thanks to ice melts. May I be bold enough to suggest we funnel our resources into finding a cheaper way to desalinate the never-ending supply instead of spending it on a multitude of dams that may never be filled? To say I was overcome with shock when I heard that the current federal government is buying desalinated water from South Australia ... they can't be serious, surely?

In closing, on the current China issue perhaps it may be of benefit if all politicians take a look of history in relation to what occurred in the 1930s between Japan and China. It seems the reverse just may be occurring in our own backyard.

I AM pleased Pat Conroy (Letters, 13/11) takes an interest in readers' letters and read my concern regarding financial aid given to other countries, and I am thankful our aide to China has finally stopped.

But I think Mr Conroy misses, or dismissed, the question asked; being how much, to whom, and for how long?

I understand that Indonesia is also receiving hundreds of millions in aide; a country now leaving Australia behind in manufacturing export machinery, especially in the auto industry.

People will be surprised that Mitsubishi, now pulling out of Australia, has been manufacturing autos in Indonesia for quite a while. So, Mr Conroy, how about answering the question instead of cherry picking? It's also your tax being sent offshore, or do you have tax concessions?

As for quoting other large expenditures within our own country as a reference of balance, doesn't cover payment to countries now out manufacturing us, from whom we now purchase their products.

In my view, aide should be for basic humanitarian purposes which many countries need, not to create billion dollar enterprises.

I DON'T know why people are worried about what Israel Folau says. After all, he believes two penguins walked all the way from the North Pole to the desert in Turkey somewhere to jump on a boat for a cruise.

JOY Nicholls (Short Takes, 20/11), Israel Folau makes no claim about deciding who goes to heaven and who goes to hell. As I interpret him, people make their choices and, for some, the consequences might be hellish, according to God's word. You are the one playing God, saying Israel Folau has a good chance of going to hell if it exists. A case of the pot calling the kettle black.

I SUGGEST Josh Frydenberg leave the comfort of his office, grab a shovel or trowel to lay bricks (or anything else that causes wear and tear on your body) then see if he wants to work past retirement age. What a disgusting comment to say that aged people are a burden on the pension system and aged care.

I COULD not disagree with Lang Barrie more (Letters, 18/11). The graffiti is created by Supercars with their ugly concrete and steel barriers incarcerating the Newcastle East area. Who wants to look at our wonderful beaches through these eyesores? In my opinion Supercars are the ones defacing our beautiful location.

I READ in the Herald about our dam levels dropping ('Drying up', Herald 18/11). Why wait till next year? Bring in level 2 restrictions now to save water, very easy to lift them if we get rain.

WHAT a refreshing article on Newcastle Diggers Club ('Last drinks', Herald 20/11); not on its sad demise, but on the honourable way President Frank Carter explained their predicament. No blame games and making sure employees entitlements are paid up. Pity the large multinationals haven't got the same ethics.

IT wasn't that long ago that these Letters pages were inundated with supporters of Israel Folau. I haven't seen a single letter of support this week. Did something happen?

I USED to think the sausage was man's greatest invention until the internet. The web gets way more people to consume crap than the humble sausage has ever done.

WE are told that we are in the worst drought in recorded history and that our water storage is about to reach 60 per cent to equal the level 25 years ago ('Drying up', Herald 18/11). To me, this equates to the fact that we have been there before. Yes, we have. So why is the government only now able to come up with promises of more dams and reticulation to affected areas? Hollow promises don't achieve anything; positive action does. For the sake of all that is good, do it now. We have precious little time to recover before the next one.