THE juxtaposition was perfect. The contrast could not have been more obvious.
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I refer to three articles in the Newcastle Herald where the discussion was about coal and the future, but whose future?
We had an opinion column by federal Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon ('Why zero net emissions will equal net gain', Opinion 22/2), who in my opinion is very concerned about his own future after nearly losing one of the safest ALP seats in Australia at the last election ('Fighting near-defeat with a leadership tilt', Herald 22/5/19).
Then, on page 41, we have his leader Anthony Albanese extolling the virtues of having "net-zero emissions by 2050" ('Labor adopts 2050 net-zero emissions', Herald 22/2). He can't tell us how, but it involves exporting coal for decades to come.
Then, wedged in between these two ALP heavyweights on page 32, we have school student Bryce Ham who is also worried about the future, but his worries are centred around the future of the planet and his own generation ('Striking for the climate is our only power', Opinion 22/2).
I was reminded of these articles while listening to ABC Radio's PM program the following Monday when it discussed Mr Albanese's plan for net emissions by 2050 while still exporting millions of tonnes of coal up to and past 2050. Mr Fitzgibbon was on the same track telling us that we should be grabbing all these coal "economic opportunities".
The ABC interviewed Professor Ross Garnaut, who they described as "a former ALP adviser on global warming". Professor Garnaut said Labor was "letting down" people involved in the coal industry. In fact, he went on to say "the workers are being betrayed" as the future of coal is nearing its end. Meanwhile, Mr Ham was also critical of Labor's stance on coal, including one comment that from another ALP heavyweight, Richard Marles that coal would "play a part in our economy for decades".
I know that Mr Albanese and Mr Fitzgibbon will be calling jobs, jobs, jobs, but if they had done their job we would be well on the way to a just transition from coal to renewables because that's where the jobs of the future will be.
There is no future in coal and therefore no jobs. Look how all the major companies are turning away from coal, and look at how others are divesting their shares and monetary interests. We should be supporting other projects now while the miners are employed, not when they are unemployed.
The question is, should we help Mr Fitzgibbon hold his seat; should we help Mr Albanese meet his impossible targets while still exporting coal; or should be help Mr Ham, and his generation, and this planet, by keeping as much coal in the ground as possible?
John Brown, Bolwarra Heights
LIGHT RAIL'S NOT ON TRACK
I RETURN to my more normal communication, i.e. a complaint.
We had booked dinner for 7.30pm in Honeysuckle on Sunday night, and being complying citizens (leaving the car in the garage and using public transport) we thought we would use rail and light rail which looked ideal for where we were going. No such luck.
We caught the Intercity train from Central to Newcastle Interchange at Adamstown at 6.53pm and arrived at The Interchange at 7.03pm to find the light rail platform empty. Surprise, surprise: who would have thought there would be a connection without waiting for 25 minutes!
I accept that the rail timetable has to be inflexible, but the light rail system has no such limitations unless Keolis Downer has other plans for a system that is supposed to connect the outer suburbs with the city centre.
Judging by what is in my opinion the lack of sustained use, I think they need to revise their plans (including integration of timetables).
Bill Livingstone, New Lambton
WE ARE AT YOUR SERVICE
I WAS interested to read Scott Hillard's entry (Letters, 2/3). I agree with Mr Hillard in that labour costs in Australia are very high. This makes manufactured goods uncompetitive in Australia.
We should leave manufacturing to the countries that do it best and at a competitive price. In Australia, about 10 per cent of our workforce is engaged in manufacturing. This tells us that we are no longer a manufacturing economy. We are a service economy.
Approximately 84 per cent of our GDP is gained in providing services. By services I mean health, education, policing, the finance sector, tourism, hospitality, entertainment, building construction and others. In education alone, international students injected $32 billion into our economy last year (and these are export dollars), and that is just student fees. Then there are their living expenses and recreational spending.
We are a country of service providers.
To decry the loss of manufacturing is 1960s thinking. Australia has moved on. Some people still think that we should make things, but this is no longer the case.
Having said all this, the January/February bushfires here and the COVID-19 virus will, no doubt, put a dent in our economy temporarily. However, we will survive.
Les Field, Wickham
COVERAGE PART OF PROBLEM
THE amount of media coverage regarding the coronavirus has now become a major problem in itself ('Toilet paper mania wipes shelves clean', Topics 5/3). All the scare tactics by both the government and the media has become a major problem as the virus.
When will all parties start telling the truth? The figures outside of China are small. Compare the figures worldwide when the flu killers over 1000 people per day and the current Takata air bag problem is as big a problem as the virus.
We now see millions of dollars taken from our local business because of bad government leadership and greedy media reporting. Stop all the rubbish and just tell the truth.
John Houston, Mayfield
GIVE PUBLIC HYGIENE A HAND
THANK you, Robin Wilson (Letters, 3/3), for asking local councils to provide soap in public toilets as a public health measure. I agree that water alone is not sufficient to clean hands properly, yet even in new facilities such as Warners Bay and Caves Beach, no soap is available. In other places both in Australia and overseas it is the norm.
Why not here as well?
Wendy Webb, Belmont
THE BULK STOPS WITH YOU
I HAVE just visited my doctor and there is a sign up saying they might have to stop bulk billing as the government has changed the rules. Prime Minister Morrison, do you really think you can bribe me with a $250 travel card, then change the rules to stop my doctor from bulk billing us pensioners? I think not.
John Matthews. Belmont North
SHARE YOUR OPINION
Email letters@newcastleherald.com.au or send a text message to 0427 154 176 (include name and suburb). Letters should be fewer than 200 words. Short Takes should be fewer than 50 words. Correspondence may be edited and reproduced in any form.
SHORT TAKES
GREAT news for the Williamtown people in the Red Zone ('We won', Newcastle Herald 28/2), but compensation does not make the problem go away. The contaminated land will still be there for a long time. Will it spread to Tomago sand beds, Fullerton Cove, or Medowie? Proactive is better than reactive.
Mick Miller, Salamander Bay
COMING to a country near you soon: the recession we didn't have to have. How good is our current PM now?
Jim Ryan, Merewether
PETER Dolan (Letters, 2/3) states, "Almost half of 20th century warming occurred in the first half of the century, before carbon-dioxide emissions became significant." Isn't this the same as saying, "More than half of the 20th century warming occurred in the second half of the century when carbon-dioxide emissions became significant"?
David Hale, Valentine
I MAY have missed it, but why hasn't anyone blamed the coronavirus on climate change ('Coronavirus cases continue to rise in NSW as doctor infected', Herald 4/3)? It gets blamed for everything else. Did climate change kill JFK as well?
Matt Ophir, Charlestown
PETER Dolan (Short Takes, 4/3) you are correct. Instead of writing 'interprets the entrails of sacrificial animals' I should have penned 'picks through volumes of ancient poetry to find excuses for prejudice'. And the not-for-profit entities you mention certainly should pay tax and not receive taxpayer subsidies for their educational institutions at the expense of the public system.
Peter Ronne, Woodberry
ALLAN Earl decries coal fired power stations and praises electric vehicle manufacturers, citing "investor appeal" (Letters, 4/3). Last year Tesla managed to lose $1 billion, despite total sales of $24 billion. Thanks to its coal fired power stations, AGL made a profit of $1.5 billion on just $13 billion of sales. I think that we all know which of these two prospects investors are likely to back.
Scott Hillard, New Lambton
FROM Prime Minister Scott Morrison's interview with the ABC on Tuesday night, it appears he doesn't think Australians deserve to know how decisions on the $100 million sports grants scheme were made ('Scandal surrounding sports rorts deepens', Herald 3/3) or who altered the document that Minister Angus Taylor used to criticise Sydney's lord mayor ('Police clear Angus Taylor over mayor note', Herald 6/2). He seems to be acting with the arrogance of someone who is accountable to no-one rather than as a person elected to serve the public. Very disappointing.
Susie Johnson, Adamstown
I'VE been reading a lot about shipping containers at the BHP site, but not hearing anything about where the containers are going and more importantly how they get there. I hope there will be no more volume of trains going past Adamstown with freight. It would be great to hear some positive feedback about the Fassifern bypass.