Letters to the editor and short takes July 2 2020

The massive upheaval of the economy and depression-like rate of unemployment has made us all review our expectations of life and most of the things we have taken for granted since World War II: near full employment, constant wage rises and improvement in living standards and education. However, the pandemic has forced us and the government to realise that this is no longer guaranteed.

Coupled with the forced review of the economy is the fact that we are well into the effects of the baby boom of post-war population growth. The current royal commission into aged care's interim report has pointed out that the nation cannot continue in the abuse and neglect of this rapidly-growing segment of the population.

One group most affected by unemployment is the nation's care givers, largely women. This fact should give the government the labour force to reform the care industry. The royal commission has indicated that the aged care industry is being used by governments to relieve the public hospital system of many aged people with chronic health conditions without providing the care homes the resources and skilled staff required.

The low rate of pay has deterred many from entering the care professions in the past and staff shortages are common in care facilities. Trained nurses in care homes are often responsible for the medical care of numbers that would not be tolerated in a third world public hospital, so as a result are reluctant to work in aged care.

The government could provide the JobSeeker payment to the unemployed so they could train and work in aged care, paying their training fees if the course is completed. As this industry is going to be a large and permanent part of our society, the government must take this opportunity to offer a chance for a career in aged care rather than just a job when no other is available.

I live in an aged community and from the number of care providers that advertised in your supplement last week some people are making money out of aged care. I fear that these profits come often at the neglect of the aged and frail. This pandemic has given governments at all levels the chance to deal with a problem when there is a workforce available, but will we see the government walk away from the recommendations and allow the abuse and neglect of us old and frail continue?

I STRONGLY agree with Don Owers (Short Takes, 30/6) regarding the open space left when removing the heavy rail line to open up the harbour.

These developments may create more jobs, but we were told by the politicians of the time that if and when the heavy rail was removed, the area was to be left as open space. During an inquiry headed by Christian Democrats MP Fred Nile in 2014 he indicated that the committee was perplexed by the decision to start removing the rail "given that construction of the light rail is not expected to commence until late 2015 and there is no defined completion date".

The committee's decision/recommendation was to consider the retention of the heavy rail or at least delay its removal until the light rail could be put in place, potentially running down the entire heavy rail corridor.

Then transport minister Gladys Berejiklian (now our beloved Premier) and Roads Minister Duncan Gay refused to appear at the inquiry. To me this inquiry was a waste of time and taxpayer money, as the NSW government had already decided what was best for Newcastle without "engaging the community in an open and transparent manner " about its view. In my opinion it says a lot for our NSW government of the time and now.

THE main thrust of John Hewson's article is climate change ('Morrison clings to ignorance and prejudice', Opinion 26/7). We can agree that more could be done, especially as science and practical research and development proceeds, but in my opinion there is a strong bias in the article against coal-fired power stations.

The present strength and stability and quantity of the electricity supply in NSW depend very much on the coal-fired power stations in our region. To move to present type technology, such as wind and solar and batteries as a feasible replacement, is a long way in the future. Anyone who has been in a power station control room when a generator has tripped will soon see how well the NSW grid recovers in a few seconds as the other units in the NSW grid respond. It's similar when a fire causes a short on a transmission line; the grid recovers quickly.

Such stability and strength and capacity would be difficult in a wind-solar system. I also believe the image gives the impression of severe pollution, but drive past Eraring or Vales Point and there are minimal emissions. The picture is taken at sunset or sunrise, and the emissions from the cooling towers are not pollution but water vapour. Eraring and Vales Point do not have cooling towers. I doubt that you will encounter thick smoky pollution from the major stack (centre) in use, as our power stations filter the ash content.

THE Australian flag is again going to fly over Fort Scratchley. After four months of closure, the fort will reopen to the public this Saturday. Initially we will only be open weekends, with access available to grounds and most exhibition rooms. Regrettably due to social distancing requirements tunnel tours will not be available however the time gun will fire at 1pm. Visitors are invited to come along, bring a picnic and enjoy the surrounds with a good possibility of seeing whales. The fort volunteers look forward to welcoming the public back

THINGS are getting beyond absurd regarding colour changes, L'Oréal are now removing products that have lightening, whitening or dark spot removal displayed. Colgate also is looking at renaming their whitening products. Next we will probably see companies like Cadbury remove white and dark chocolate from their product lines, or Nugget boot polish, or white milk? Come on. I get it - people are blowing up about past indiscretions, slavery and racial mistreatment. Changing names on toothpaste, beer or lollies is not going to erase the past nor negate racism. Working together will.

PETER Moylan (Letters, 30/6), has overlooked one disadvantage with randomised ballot papers. I for one have watched the counting process at my local voting booth on several occasions. Randomised ballot papers would slow down the counting, increase the chance of errors and lead to more challenges resulting in many more recounts. I agree with Peter's thoughts on donkey voters but not if it delays the process.

FOR the dimwits in life I think there is a lot to be said for name and shame, or even just shame.

I believe Woolies and Coles are duty bound to submit checkout videos of all the nonces that bought more than X rolls of toilet paper and then we can pay all aspiring local artists to paint their images, bog rolls included, on a giant placard.

The size of their images should be proportional to the weight of bog rolls purchased. That would allow for triple ply, extra length and other features and basically end up with an equitable display of stupidity. Maybe there should be a plebiscite to decide what X should be.

IT was good to see some readers taking Scott Hillard to task about the ABC (Letters, 30/6). Following Mr Hillard's assertion (Letters, 23/6) that COVID-19 deaths pales in comparison to deaths caused by the flu. I take his comments with a grain of salt.

SAM Bates (Short Takes, 30/6) points out that there are usually 13 players on a cricket ground during play. This is not always the case.

When I used to go out to bat the opposition's openers would leave the field to put on their pads, leaving only 11 players. On occasion there would be only 10 if a fielder left to start up the heavy roller.

RAY Peck (Letters, 30/6) admits that the cost of Snowy 2.0 has blown out to $5 billion before it's even built and that didn't include transmission lines. Thanks, Mr Peck. That should kill any popular support for Malcolm Turnbull's white elephant. We could build two coal-fired power stations for that money.

But I would dispute his claim that wind and solar, including battery storage, was a cheaper option. The mistake was to compare the cost with gas and carbon capture. Carbon capture is expensive, suits only selective rock strata and is very energy inefficient.

We could generate all our power instead from coal power stations without any carbon capture more cheaply than wind and solar. Any extra CO2 would make no measurable difference to global levels and no discernible difference to climate.

A ROY Morgan poll last year found that only seven per cent of Australians distrusted the ABC. We often hear from a number of those seven per centers on this page, but a whopping 44 per cent distrust news from social media.

The reasons? "Australians told us that their trust of the ABC is driven by its lack of bias and impartiality, quality journalism and ethics. While their distrust of social media is driven by lack of journalistic standards, fake news, manipulated truth, privacy concerns, bias and hidden agenda."