How does this help a city to function? Is this going to make getting into and out of the city any easier? How is this going to help struggling businesses in the city? While I have expressed the view that aesthetics in a city are important, I have also expressed the view that access to and from the city is every bit as important, if not more. I understand that the reason businesses are struggling and in some cases leaving or closing down is due to the city being harder to access than it was before the railway closed. It still amazes me that one excuse for closing the railway is that it was ugly. The same critics never mentioned the edifices in Honeysuckle.

It never seemed to occur to them that the railway may have had an important role to play. The bus layover area also had an equally vital role. Had the buses and trains still being running into the city instead of that tram in Hunter Street, I believe the revitalisation might have been happening instead of the slow death we are seeing now.

JOHN Tierney's excellent opinion piece ('Don't give me a home among the gum trees', Opinion 21/12) lays bare our failure over the past 230 years to deal adequately with bushfires. We are told that trees are the lungs of the earth and that we should be planting more. At the same time, billions of them are being destroyed in uncontrollable forest fires.

Speaking to a retired schoolteacher last March, he told me that he had recently moved from Sydney to Newcastle and bought a house at Murray's Beach, near Swansea. I said it was a nice area, and he added that the house was surrounded by trees and his family was concerned about the possibility of a bushfire and not being allowed to clear any of the trees. As Dr Tierney asks in his article, when will we learn to better manage fire in our forests?

MOVE over, climate denialists, you have competition. The new kids on the block seem to be the drought denialists . How else do you explain how in the worst drought that anyone alive can ever remember, we retain some of the lushest , greenest lawns that would not look out of place on the cover of House and Garden?

Contrast this with the unlucky poor buggers at Murrurundi who have been on level six water restrictions for the better part of two years. When they are finally plumbed into Glenbawn, do you think their first priority will be to water their lawns? I imagine they will just be thankful they can flush their toilets or wash their clothes more often.

Some people really do need a reality check on water conservation .

SCOTT Morrison thinks that the bush firefighters do what they do because they like it, but I believe the reality is that they do it because people like him won't. He has in my opinion shown total disdain of the situation where houses are burning, firefighters being hurt, even firefighters dying.

He is the head of our nation. He should be leading, and if he is not capable or if he doesn't want to lead he should get out and let someone in that is a capable. Here he is, fiddling away while the towns burn, and I believe showing his contempt for the people involved. As their lives are destroyed, he has been having a beer, a swim and enjoying time with his family. It would be interesting if a fire was approaching his house. Would he have a beer, a swim and then think about helping, like he has done this time? Maybe would he say I'll watch and let the people who enjoy fighting fires do it. Either one would be correct.

Mr Morrison, get out there and help. Feed the troops, or show you care a little and don't go out there as a photo shoot making out you are one with the people of Australia. By heading overseas, in my book you have already shown that you are not.

I HOPE this helps in understanding when politicians "answer" questions using these words. By "complex", what they often mean is "we don't have an answer for that, it is a bit above our pay grade". If they use robust, they are indicating they will point and yell at each other to give the appearance we are doing something. Self-regulation indicates that it is not their responsibility, and if those involved can still rort the system and get away with it, good luck to them. Having a review is largely the same as complex - we will pass it on as we have no idea.

If they do not accept the premise of the question, it can be read as "you got me pal, I have no answer for that so will just deny the question exists".

If the government refers to the debt inherited from Labor, it's a good one.They have made such a big deal of this that they can not forego the surplus even though the state we are in does not allow for it. But when they claim how well Australia is doing, they never add that if Labor hadn't spent that money when required we would be in the same boat as the rest of the world.

THERE is no 'Canberra bubble'; it's the Parliamentary bubble you actually mean when you use this term. Canberra residents do not make decisions for the country; it is your politicians in federal Parliament.

The Parliament is a insulated, gated community of seemingly self-absorbed politicians that sit for approximately 70 days a year in Canberra. In 2018, they sat for only 260:09 hours, or 26 days, in Canberra. The so-called Canberra bubble only exists once you are in Parliament House.

I believe Scott Morrison uses the pejorative term in an attempt to distance himself from what he (and others) do or don't do in Parliament. Others use this term simply to endorse Morrison's abrogation of responsibility for his (and others) in/actions. It is a Trumpian term used to not answer questions and implies Canberra (aka Parliament) is out of touch. It has nothing to do with Canberra itself, but those who use it denigrate Parliament conflate the two. If Parliament was decentralised to Wagga Wagga, would it become the Wagga Wagga bubble? The journalists' code of ethics demand that reporters report and interpret honestly, striving for accuracy. So please, start using 'Parliamentary bubble'.

BRAD Hill (Short Takes 21/12) I would like to thank you for your compelling argument informing us all of the real reason that the NSW bushfires are still raging on. Up until now I (apparently naively) thought the extent of the fires was largely due to Gladys Berejiklian cutting millions from funding to emergency services, and Scott Morrison rejecting calls for more assistance to firefighters. But due to your extremely detailed 21-word statement, I am now convinced that all the fault must lay with the Greens. This has definitely made me see the light, because until now I wasn't aware that parties with only one seat could actually write laws.

REGARDING Greg Lowe (Letters, 21/12) first let me say that the Premier promised Newcastle the terminal before the election. After the election, her government withdrew the money. I believe they had other plans. They are going to spend up to destroy a small community and a beautiful beach near Botany called Yarra Bay. This is a disgrace. I urge all people to Google up save Yarra Bay cruise ship terminal, read up and sign the petition. I believe this destructive proposal should be stopped.

I CANNOT understand why the army has not been deployed to assist with the fire emergency this country is facing at the moment. The country is literally under fire, creating so much destruction and now the loss of life that it has been called a national emergency. Relying on volunteers and even bringing in people from other countries to fight these fires is a sad indictment on the government of this country when taxpayer-funded resources such as the army are not being used to protect peoples lives and livelihoods. It may also help army personnel with a sense of patriotism, since they only seem to be deployed to defend other countries' interests in foreign locations. In saying that, the volunteers putting their lives on the line in this emergency really are heroes and deserve every accolade.

SCOTT Morrison has misread the electorate if he thinks a non-work overseas trip with his family to celebrate that most Christian of all anniversaries, the birth of Christ, has caused widespread offence. True, the timing could have been better thought out. Compare his very own views when Christine Nixon went no further away than a restaurant during her community's crisis. But you just can't change Christmas Day, and it must have been difficult for the Morrisons to pinpoint the ideal window during which to set off on their dream Christmas holiday in Hawaii. However, I think many were offended by the fact that he - not generally known as a shrinking violet, when it comes to personal publicity - ostensibly tried to 'slip away unnoticed,' instead of being open and upfront about his vacation plans. It wasn't a good look, and it backfired.

HOW good it would it be being a crisis management consultant at the moment. Slowing down for Christmas? No way. Call the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. ScoMo needs you ASAP.