He served his country and gave us his heart and courage. You will be sadly missed by millions, but never ever forgotten. You were a shining light in a world full of darkness. I had a beer for you today; everyone should raise a glass to his life and memory. Thank you for being who you were.

MICHAEL Jameson (Letters, 4/2) says there is "abundant evidence" that palliative care is ineffective. Tanya Battel (Letters, 4/2) says "evidence-based research" demonstrates that voluntary assisted dying does not detract from good palliative care, and that the slippery slope argument is a myth.

There is an extensive, publicly available evidence base for palliative care. The previously mentioned Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association (CHPCA) Survey Report (November 2018) suggests that voluntary assisted dying does detract from palliative care with medical assistance in dying (MAiD) seen as more accessible and an "easier" end-of-life option. It's undoubtedly cheaper too. For evidence of the slippery slope look no further than a recent study just published in The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy which shows a widening of the use of euthanasia in Belgium, partly because legal requirements intended to operate as safeguards in reality often don't.

AUSTRALIAN wind farm capacity factors range between 25 and 45 per cent, and solar farms from 20 to 25 percent. They vary constantly in output depending on the quality of the wind or sunlight, and the capacity factor tells you what percentage of their maximum design capacity you have produced over time, not the number of hours a day they operate. Wind turbines will generate continuously if wind strength is adequate, which is often when wind farms are widely distributed over the massive area covered by our national energy grid, and solar farms will generate over daylight hours.

Power stations also have capacity factors that decrease with age. Eraring's design capacity is 2880 megawatts, which it does not produce continuously, but if it could, it would be facing an annual coal fuel energy cost of around $0.75 billion when renewables are getting their energy for free. The downside of both wind and solar renewable plants is that the major costs are incurred during construction, although these have dropped to around $1.1 million per megawatt for solar. The upside is, once in operation, fuel is free, and operating and maintenance costs are low, which is why renewable wind and solar generation of electricity are significantly cheaper than fossil fuel alternatives, and why there are no investors in a new coal-fired plant. While Carl Stevenson worries about the space required for renewable generation, Australia has sufficient suitable land to accommodate plants that could generate many times our demand.

IT appears my explanation of the myths and benefits of solar renewable energy is still not fully understood with a reply saying renewable energy provided the grid with 28.6 per cent of its power last week, thus would only need to double in size to provide 100 per cent power.

My message was not to haggle over percentages, as I already agreed that 30 per cent of domestic power could be achieved with rooftop solar, being more than 100 per cent during the six hours of day and balancing out at 30 per cent over 24 hours.

My concern for domestic was the buyback system that charged 500 per cent more to buy back your own power which had been sent to the grid, which only gave a financial saving of 6 per cent not the 30 per cent expected that's often presented.

I realise most rooftop providers are mainly focused on their own situation, which is fine. My message was for the scale needed both in size and cost to provide 100 per cent renewable energy for everyone and everything, all the time, and whether it was even possible during a six-hour window of opportunity.

I AM part of a group that researches information to assist identification of Australian soldiers killed in the World War 1 Battle of Fromelles in France in July 1916,

The bodies of these unidentified soldiers were removed from mass graves in 2010 and buried in Pheasant Wood Cemetery with headstones engraved ``n Australian Soldier". The aim of the research group is to find suitable DNA donors to assist in positively identifying these unnamed soldiers.

One of the soldiers is known to be Charles Francis Warby and much of our research has led us to the Newcastle & Maitland areas where the Warby name appears to be well known. If any readers are related to, or know of relations of the Warby family, I would really appreciate any information you may be able to provide about the Warby family.

I can be contacted by email at sandraatnb@hotmail.com

SCOTT Morrison was employed by Tourism New Zealand and Tourism Australia. Both occasions he was sacked.

He sought preselection in the seat of Cook and lost in the first ballot. His opponent Michael Towke was then smeared with lies in the Sydney press. These lies reportedly emanated from two senior members in the Liberal Party. A second ballot was then called and Mr Morrison was preselected. Mr Towke then successfully sued the newspaper but his political career was ruined.

During last season's bushfires, Mr Morrison begrudgingly returned from an overseas holiday. He apologised, citing that his children were the cause because he promised them. What man blames his children?

When COVID appeared, Mr Morrison told the states to take their own measures while he sat on the sidelines, yet he was responsible for quarantine and border force. Remember Ruby Princess?

The federal government is also responsible for aged care. They fund and regulate it. Over 680 residents in federally funded aged care facilities in Victoria perished. Where were Scott Morrison, Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt and Federal Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck?

When Mr Morison was Treasurer under Malcolm Turnbull, he introduced an automated version of Robodebt resulting, they say, in over 2000 deaths by suicide.

What about the Sportsrorts saga, Murray Darling and trade with China? What about the massive debt Mr Morrison and his government had incurred way before COVID appeared? Why is he not held accountable?

IF the Labor party wants any chance of winning the next election in my opinion they need to install Joel Fitzgibbon as leader and Tanya Plibersek as deputy. Otherwise, they're no chance.

THERE should be no ban on choral singing in any area where there are no COVID cases ('COVID rules muzzle cathedral choir again', Newcastle Herald 5/2). If cases occur, there could be a temporary stop until they are resolved

TO fill one hour of news without Donald Trump and COVID-19, as predicted rugby league players have stepped up. Israel Folau, Sam Burgess and Payne Hass have all taken centre stage to fill the void. Even cute wombat and joey stories have emerged. You will truly know when journalists have run out of ideas when they do stories on Volvo drivers.

I FIND myself in total agreement with a recent comment about the cartoons in this paper. Far from being humorous they have been nothing but relentless lampooning of one side of politics only. Where's the balance?

HERE we are in Australia, an island thousands of kilometres away from the rest of the world. The COVID-19 virus mutates in the UK, South Africa and South America, yet we continue to place arriving citizens in hotels in small rooms and circulating air conditioning. These mutated viruses are now in our community. Perhaps we need an urgent general meeting of politicians and medical experts to appointment new people with greater grey matter potential?

I NEARLY choked on my muesli when I read in Wednesday's edition of the Herald that Newcastle drinkers are now more sophisticated ('Lockout 'lunacy'', Herald 3/2). Who is pushing this tripe? Where is the evidence that our former beer boofheads have turned into urban sophisticates? If (and I don't accept there has been) a change in behaviour has been noticed, I believe it is more likely attributable to the current lockout-laws than a permanent cultural change that makes violence less likely. The alcohol industry has access to the big movers and shakers in Macquarie Street. In my opinion City of Newcastle council should be looking after the interests of ratepayers by showing support for members of our police force, ambulance services and hospital emergency departments who have to attend to the outcomes created by the unruly behaviour of these boofheads.

I AM so proud of the way Australians and some of our governing bodies have dealt with the coronavirus. Thanks everyone.