I can find little to agree with in the author's summations.

Road transport is the second-highest contributor to CO2 emissions in Australia, with other emissions contributing to poor air quality.

More roads mean more heat trapped in densely populated areas, and a non-aesthetic environment.

As a now occasional cyclist, I have noticed there are more and more fellow cyclists over the last few years.

I don't want for me, or for my grandchildren, to be put in constant danger sharing roads with cars.

In the words of Gandhi, "be the change you want to see in the world".

A big part of that for me is rediscovering the 'local' in education, food production and consumption, holidays, etc.

We have the chance, at the ballot box, in the coming months, to choose a party that is working towards minimising car use, improving public transport, and making cycling "normalised" and safe.

I AM wondering why Newcastle council feels it is okay to be filling our landfill with rubbish from Sydney.

Every day, I see walking floors of rubbish arriving, sometimes up to 12 trucks a day now there is central waste going there with walking floors full of rubbish up to five trucks per day.

We as ratepayers need to know where our rubbish is going to go in a few years when Summerhill is full from Sydney's waste.

I know this is giving the council more money, but we need to think about the cost when we need to send our rubbish out of the area.

It will cost a lot more than the money grab they are doing short term now.

AFTER being turned back from the so-called mass vaccination hub at Belmont, we were again frustrated and bemused with the hypocrisy of this rollout.

We tried logging on before we drove there, without any luck to see if they could advise us as to what, if anything, we were doing wrong or hopefully get the jab, but alas we were told to go home and try again, after we were given a QR code to follow.

We went home and tried for several hours, each time it would allow us to book the first jab, but not the second, and even then the website would not permit you to have the appointment for the first jab unless the second jab could be confirmed.

Maybe the answer is to drive down to SW Sydney and get vaccinated there, as we in the Hunter are seriously concerned and want to get vaccinated.

The NSW Health Minister stated she can't understand why people aren't rushing out to get the jab, well it's because the system you have in place won't permit it.

Seriously, we in the Hunter know it's coming, and people are concerned and rightfully so. Come on, put together a simplified system for people of the region to get the jab and to swipe in to any venue.

ISN'T it amazing, these unsmart, so-called Australians protesting; protesting about something that is designed to save their and their loved ones from death?

It makes one wonder where has the Australian 'one for all' attitude gone. The government now has no option other than to declare a state of emergency and install martial law.

After watching this dangerous riot in Sydney, splashing paint over a policeman, who was only doing his job and the non-wearing of masks makes it essential that tight and enforceable laws are brought in for public safety.

If the majority of rioters are unhappy about the way that the government is handling this pandemic, I suggest they pack up and leave.

Sadly, this is not the free, caring and safe Australia that we grew up in and we now call on the government to fix this problem that they have created.

What has happened to us, when state governments turn on the federal, and states in need of urgent help?

God help us all if a foreign aggressor decides to have a go at us. Memories are very short, I only hope that these non-caring fools live long enough to be found wanting.

WHEN we see Uber drivers, construction workers and budding home-buyers from the Sydney hotspots not being allowed to visit regional NSW I will feel a little more comfortable.

That is not a "lockdown lite" or otherwise.

For weeks we have heard of the numbers of infectious in the community but I still haven't heard one word of how to stop that happening.

Either people don't realise they have the virus or they are deliberately shunning the rules?

So what is it?

And what do we need to do about it?

People wait with bated breath for the next stage of lockdown without having any idea of what should happen next and why.

Treat people like they are a part of this, that is the essence of being a politician, is it not?

Don't stand around like ScoMo with a syringe full of hot air.

CARL Boyd, ("Conflict should be last resort", Letters, 27/7), opines that we should not have sent our military into Afghanistan to act along with the US and quite a few other countries.

Carl, I have a little story for you.

Once upon a time there were two families living alongside each other.

One of the families became ill and asked its neighbours for help.

The neighbours refused to assist because they too may become ill.

Not long after the sick family had fully recovered the house of the family which had refused to help caught fire and that family asked their neighbour for help in putting out the fire.

Can you guess what the answer was?

If that story is a little deep for you, or you don't agree; may I recommend that you commence paying for your children and their children to have lessons in speaking Mandarin.

By the way, if you are one of those who believe that China is a peace-loving nation with no territorial targets, I would further recommend that you ask the Tibetans, Indians, Pakistanis Vietnamese and Uyghurs.

IF voluntary assisted dying" becomes law, how long will it be before voluntary assisted dying becomes compulsory assisted dying?

I CAN'T imagine how poor Delta would be feeling with her name being associated with a deadly virus. She's probably wishing she was a Libby or an Angie right now. Del would solve it, Del Goodrem. Keep singing.

WHEN are questions going to be asked of the Knights coach? What has he done to improve the performance of the team since he has taken over? The powers in charge showed Nathan Brown the door because of similar performances.

MICHAEL Hinchley, ("Time for some Gardner leave? ", Letters, 28/7), I, like most Knights fans, would love to see Connor Watson stay at the club, but at the end of the day NRL is a business. Mr Gardiner is a great businessman and he knows better than you and I what Connor is worth to the business. Sadly Mr Gardiner is not a heart transplant surgeon and it's a lack of ticker from some players that is costing the team.

I'VE watched the Knights since 1988 and been a season ticket holder since 1992 and travel to most away games but Adam O'Brien is not up to coaching an NRL team and I'm more than happy to have a conversation with anyone who thinks anything different, including Phil Gardner.

RICK Banyard, you make too much sense, for it to get up, ("Few winners in rail freight proposal", Opinion, 27/7). Long, curvy, complex, is the Australian railway. There's "serious talk" of, very belated, fast rail. Probably just idle chat. The last place you'd take off the Sydney rail system, Newcastle, is no more. Your case sounds like a transport system. Australia is allergic to them.

POSTPONEMENT of council elections has caught the burgeoning spin department off-guard, and the apparently inexhaustible chain of good news announcements, and publicity pics, often at taxpayer expense, seems to have suddenly dried up. Time for an emergency caucus meeting to reschedule?

INSTEAD of apologising for his inaccurate post about Kevin Rudd, Peter Devey (Short Takes, 23/7) employs the Straw Man, an old trick. When you want to refute someone and don't have the evidence or ability you invent something they didn't say, the Straw Man, and attack them for that. Peter, in correcting your claim about Rudd I didn't say anything about what Pfizer executives said. That's your invention. Some people will go to any length, or Straw Man, to avoid admitting they're wrong.

PETER Devey, I notice you questioned Colin Fordham's research into K.Rudd and Pfizer intervention. Well, not a lot of research is necessary to see how badly Morrison has stuffed it up.