I experienced first hand the impact the lockout laws had on Newcastle. We had a vibrant nightlife. We could choose what pub or club we wanted to go to, meet different friends at different places without fear of being locked out, and go to clubs that could support subcultures that didn't fit into the mainstream. We were always guaranteed a good night out because there were so many different types of people and there was so much diversity in choice. The Newcastle Solution destroyed that.

But hopefully things are about to change. I'm done with reading the tired old arguments that the nightlife in Newcastle is just fine from people who have never experienced the benefits of what a safe and diverse nightlife can bring. They say people in Newcastle have options to have fun after dark. People my age and international tourists think otherwise. They portray Newcastle after dark as a dangerous hotspot for violent crime and anti-social activity. There are issues, but continuing with this outdated generalisation harms our reputation. They criticise a DJ's creativity as soul destroying without even considering the joy that music brings so many people.

WHEN the lockout laws were brought in, violence dropped quickly and substantially. I live in The Junction and in 2006 I had to install security cameras, lights and alarms just to keep my premises safe.

I am now 12 years older, approaching 70 and do not want to go back to the period where my family were unable to venture out at night ('Lockout shake-up', Newcastle Herald 2/7). I have two daughters who were working in a Newcastle hospital then and still work at the same hospital. They saw the carnage that occurred each and every weekend and often through the week.

Listen to the police, medical professionals and the public and do the right thing. We are the ones who suffer, not the publicans who are only looking at their profits and the politicians who are chasing votes.

I DON'T think Manly had any reason to blow up with the last decision of the game on Sunday ('Hurts so good', Newcastle Herald 6/7). In the last 20 minutes they received about 85 per cent of possession through four or five penalties. Newcastle dug deep and defended well with only one reserve on the bench. The referee, in my honest opinion, gave Manly ample opportunity to win the game by even sending the last indiscretion to the bunker. I thought Des Hasler, the Manly coach, would have come out and said that his team had the opportunities in the second half but failed to capitalise, just as he said when beaten by Parramatta.

Just a mention for Tex Hoy; what a game. He came on for Edrick Lee after five minutes and then went to fullback when Ponga went off. I hope we have some bucks left over to retain him, but it could be the case of we've put too much cash into one player like many of the other clubs have done. They are now facing the consequences.

NEWS has broken that the University of Newcastle is shutting down its creative industries degree, taking no new enrolments from 2021 ('UoN cuts creative degree', Herald 4/7).

This is the department that was created in place of Fine Art, Natural History Illustration, Design, and others. Now the new department, which was meant to include these but never really did, has itself folded. I believe this leaves people wishing to develop their careers in the replaced areas with literally nowhere to go.

With art generating $111 billion in the Australian economy (versus airlines' less than $20 billion) and employing 10 times the people of the coal industry, it's hard to see how killing off the other degrees was looking forward in any sense.

PETER Gogarty ('White men: it is time to own it and act on it', Opinion 4/7): how dare you speak for all white men, "for all the other men out there, particularly white middle aged/aging men", when you state that they are the ones beating their partners, killing their partners and abusing their children.

Speak for yourself, Mr Gogarty, but you do not speak for my husband, my sons, my father, my brother and my nephews and so many good men I know who do not need your lecturing comments. Good men should not have to be generalised into the category of "all men" when those atrocities' are committed by a small few.

Wake up, Mr Gogarty. I believe you are grossly unfair to so many good men in your opinion piece. If you are "trying to speak up for those who sometimes struggle to do it for themselves", before you go lumping all you men together spare a thought for the male suicide rate or for the good men who lose custody of their children through separation and divorce.

IF the Morrison government agrees to the recommendation from the Australian Federal Police (AFP) that ABC journalist Dan Oakes face prosecution for revealing through The Afghani Files war crimes committed in our name; in my opinion Australia will become comparable to the despotic controlled regimes of Iran, Saudi Arabia and North Korea.

Do Australians really want a system which punishes so severely anyone who dares to question the justification of state-sanctioned killings? I sincerely hope not.

The AFP investigation into the identity of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) whistle-blower who provided Dan Oakes the helmet camera film sound recording of an SAS trooper allegedly murdering unarmed Afghani citizens has already set some very concerning precedents for mine. The warrant issued to the AFP to enter and search the Ultimo premises of the ABC allowed the AFP to "add to, copy or alter documents found on the premises." These are extremely draconian powers the UK or the US governments have never yet sought to use.

The decision to be taken by the Morrison government with regard to Dan Oakes will in my opinion indicate whether or not Australia is still a representative democracy or if, we have commenced down the slippery slope toward authoritarianism.

MINISTER Victor Dominello claims that Newcastle is "a far more sophisticated city than it was in 2008" ('Lockout shake-up', Newcastle Herald 2/7). That's a view that could be challenged. The liquor law lockout rules which I think are: drink at different venues until 1.30 am and at a single locked-down venue till 3am, seem reasonable to me. Think of the old rules where you could roam the streets and drink anywhere until 5am. Think of the damaged brain cells you save between 3am and 5am, and try getting a meal in inner Newcastle after 9pm or 10pm. Now that's "sophistication".

FOR Peter Gogarty ('White men: it's time to own it and act on it', Opinion 4/7) white men are the problem. They beat and abuse women, abuse children, ignore abuse and sexual harassment, heap scorn on the unemployed and ignore the homeless. Even those who do none of these things are still complicit by being complacent. Yet the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare says Indigenous people are much more likely to be hospitalised for family violence, while Indigenous children are more likely to have received child protection services. Mr Gogarty would have us take a leaf out of the handbook of the 1960s Black Panther leader Eldridge Cleaver. Does Mr Gogarty know that Eldridge Cleaver, in his 1968 book Soul on Ice, confessed to raping women?

"IT'S a unique building ..., a quite extraordinary development, and has really added to the ambience of the area". These words were describing a new prize-winning community sports building in Blacktown. Let us mourn that these same words would likewise have applied to the former Store building in Hunter Street if lack of vision and egregious petty greed, had not led to its unnecessary tragic demolition.

THE Knights seem to be kicking along quite well under their new coach. Adam O'Brien served his time under Craig Bellamy at the Melbourne Storm, where he has no doubt picked up many handy coaching tips. However, there is no need to totally emulate Mr Bellamy and his style. There are a few undesirable traits, such as mini-tantrums in the coaches' box, crusher tackles and other nasty tactics that I believe should be left with the Storm's team. Personally I would rather our coach be more like coaching gentlemen such as the late Ben Haslam and the late Jack Gibson; respected quiet achievers.

PETER Devey (Letters, 2/7) seems to acknowledge the adverse effect on climate of increasing the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. How then does he justify the building of more coal-fired power stations? His argument that "any extra CO2 would make no measurable difference to global levels" brings to mind a politically incorrect cartoon of a sadist cherub wielding a club over another with the caption "Another little biff won't do 'er any harm". If it's OK for Australia to increase emissions a little, then surely it's OK for every other nation to do the same. Where does that get us? We all share the same atmosphere.