We as a great city are looking at a once in a lifetime opportunity to put this city on the international map. I have always been an advocate for a designated cruise ship terminal in Newcastle, as opposed to the current arrangement of cruise ships coming alongside industrial/commercial facilities and being bussed everywhere.

The use of this land for an international cruise ship terminal ticks all the boxes of the Outcomes Report; public space, accessibility, interchangeability, tourism and recreation and employment to name a few. When not being visited by cruise ships and their passengers, this space can be designed to be transformed into restaurants, conference rooms or other use, for example such as the Sydney International Cruise ship terminal where there are world class restaurants, not to mention spectacular harbour views. Newcastle can be no difference. This is a real and present opportunity that we as a great city must seize in projecting ourselves as a world-class domestic, and international destination.

THE NSW government has wheeled out the Treasurer Dominic Perrottet to campaign in the Upper Hunter by-election, in which he stated that their coal must not be demonised ('Treasurer joins coal push in Upper Hunter', Herald 9/4). He also stated that Joel Fitzgibbon was powerless, within the Labor Party.

The Treasurer must think that the voters of Upper Hunter have short memories after the hapless Matt Kean has been ridiculing and demonising coal together with his close friend Turnbull. After the byelection Mr Kean will be back blathering about renewables. In the NSW State Cabinet if there was a serious divide between coal and renewables , I believe the Treasurer's above views on coal would be in the minority and powerless because Mr Kean is a member of the dominant left wing faction of the Liberal Party as is the Premier; the Treasurer is not.

The Premier has not publicly pulled Mr Kean into line regarding his demonising of coal, so he has her support.

DR Anthony Cook's Opinion piece ('Why I'm not sure I want a bar of committee', Opinion 8/4) raises a lot of issues. He was included in the Newcastle Small Bars Trial Committee, apparently as an afterthought, and is now unsure whether he should continue his membership. I hope that he does continue because he represents a fair slice of community opinion (79 per cent, according to a recent Newcastle Herald poll)

Everyone wants to see Newcastle as a vibrant, thriving city. That does not necessarily mean keeping bars and pubs open until 3am. There are plenty of other ways of ensuring our city thrives.

If I have a choice between advice from doctors and police or those with a vested interest, I would much prefer to listen to those on the front line who are left to deal with alcohol-fueled violence and anti-social behaviour. Apparently we still have a rate of anti-social behaviour three times higher than most of the rest of the state.

So please, Dr Cook, continue as a voice of reason.

THE Tamil family locked up on Christmas Island is rarely far from my thoughts. So I hope Pope`s View (Opinion 6/4), has reached the consciousness of all in the Australian parliament. What has that family done to deserve such harsh treatment beyond wanting a better life for itself? They have been treated like criminals and robbed of hope.

So will Karen Andrews, the new Minister for Home Affairs, find enough compassion to return them to their erstwhile loving community in Biloela and offer some future and hope to Australia`s other political prisoners? Yes, Mr Morrison, what if they were your daughters?

YOUR article on tree pruning by Ausgrid ('Pruning 'leaves' a lot to be desired', Herald 6/4) resonated with my situation where Ausgrid repeatedly enters my rural property that is completely off the grid and has been for 20 years. We do not have power lines or power poles and we do not have trees that encroach neighbouring properties poles and power lines.

This year they once again entered our property and, on seeing no poles or power lines, decided to swing their tree lopping machine over the fence to trim neighbours' trees and left the branches on our property.

Worse still, there are no turning bays on our 1.2-kilometre driveway so once again the drive onto my lawn and trash it by being bogged then leave us to repair it.

We have had enough.

PETER Rees (Letters 9/4) is perhaps misunderstanding my position on providing for confidence and supply to the current government. That is significantly different to supporting the government on all matters, something I have never done. I remain an Independent Member of the NSW Parliament and will continue to vote on the merits of each bill, regardless of whether it's proposed by the government, Labor opposition or crossbench. Independent MPs will always put the needs and views of their community first, something not always available to party members.

What I have said publicly on a number of occasions is that I will continue to support Gladys Berejiklian in her current role, unless she is proven to be involved in serious maladministration or corruption. People are entitled to their personal opinion of the Premier but by any legal definition that threshold has not been met or exceeded.

Mr Rees' position is also simplistic and somewhat naive. I'd remind Mr Rees that Labor only has 36 seats in the Parliament, against the Government's 48. If the Government were to lose two seats to Labor - such as Upper Hunter (Michael Johnsen) and Drummoyne (John Sidoti) - the only alternative government would be made up of 38 Labor MPs, three Greens, three Shooters and the three Independents.

We remain in the middle of a global pandemic and we need stable government. I believe the current Premier has done a good job in that regard and she remains a far better option than an alternative government made up of three different parties and three independents.

MICHAEL Hinchey gave it to the Knights regarding their sponsorship deal with mining on Monday. The Knights get one game which is sponsored by the mining sector, Hinchey's climate change disciples get billions of dollars donated to them via state and federal government to sponsor their solar panels, batteries and windmills which is donated by taxpayers. So stick to your climate challenges and leave the football club alone.

I CAN accept John Hollingsworth's case (Letters, 7/4) that it is difficult to improve on perfection. However surely the point is that any organisation spending months in preparation and planning only to fall flat on their face deserves some reflection. On top of that to then insinuate that things are purring along perfectly well tells me that such an organization thinks we are chumps. If we believe that they may well be correct. Either way, we are far short of perfection.

I TOTALLY agree Bruce Cook, the Knights are boring. Just put a grand on the Knights at $3 to miss the finals. I know it's only round five, but I'm already thinking how I will spend my winnings. Losses to the Tigers and Dragons in consecutive weeks on home soil spells a long season for the Knights.

BEFORE the Wests Tigers merger I was a staunch supporter of the Western Suburbs Magpies. I was there when Tommy Raudonikis made his debut with the Maggies and I remember walking away thinking "we have got a good one here". Whenever Tommy played he gave his all; he never left anything behind. And even when he went to the Newtown Jets, you just wished him well. It was a sad day yesterday and I will never forget how Tommy gave his heart and soul to the Maggies and the Jets. Rest in peace.

MANY letters regarding climate change keep saying you can't deny the science as an end to discussion. What science? There are many fields of science; those who use only proven science, called real science, and those who use theories called theoretical science. Climate science is theoretical science because no one can predict the future. Most scientists work for grants. Governments provide grants for research with proof. The private sector provides grants to arrive at theories that can be accepted "usually to the benefit of the provider", however both sides agree there is a need for each other, but don't always agree with findings produced. It's not an end to discussion; it could just be the beginning.

DO you plan to take advantage this year of the trans-Tasman travel bubble announced by New Zealand?