Cricket NSW's actions don't pass pub test regarding Newcastle competition: letters

THE ACCC is right to appeal the decision of Justice Jagot with regard to the penalty clause imposed by the state government that greatly advantages the Ports of Botany and Shellharbour over the Port of Newcastle. I believe Justice Jagot has acted outside her remit. She was required to decide whether the penalty clause was anti-competitive conduct within the meaning of the relevant Act, however, she based her decision largely on her belief that the Port of Newcastle was not a viable proposition. The viability or otherwise of any business or corporation is immaterial to whether an opposition individual or company is acting anti-competitively. Have I missed something here? I was under the belief that competition was good for business.

IS COVID-19 just one of many more to come? Will it be seen as just another influenza? Will the responsibility of being vaccinated and staying in lockdown be up to the individual, not the government? Will the low percentage of deaths be seen as self-induced collateral damage for the unvaccinated? These questions must decide whether we shut down and destroy our economy or just get on and accept the damage. With a failing economy where no one is working, hospitals not staffed, shops closed, people going hungry, has to create a much larger death rate than COVID-19. Hopefully sooner rather than later, the ability to be vaccinated will not be an issue, thus all government responsibility will end. It will then be up to the individual to decide their fate, provided a person is vaccinated, why should they care if others are not, after all it was their decision. It must be agreed by all that this virus will be with us for a long time and more viruses will certainly arrive to shut down everything every time is not the answer. We must accept more personal responsibility, our country cannot continue to stop working .

RE the letter from George Paris, ("Enclosed spaces the problem", Letters, 28/7), I'm puzzled as to what government made the accusation that rallyists are super spreaders? Every pronouncement I have seen says there is a possibility that the event may have a super spreader, a completely different thing. If 100,000 people are tested for COVID in a day and 100 people test positive then the other 99,900 people haven't got it. So the chances of someone positive being at those rallies is low, but still possible. And, despite your claim that it will only spread indoors, with the penchant for the people at these rallies to be packed in tight, many not wearing masks, screaming and shouting it would almost certainly spread, if one infected person was there. As for reports you mentioned stating, correctly, that there had been no spread from these events, I have read reports from overseas where devastating outbreaks started at outdoor events. Did your research include interviews with experts, far more qualified than you, who don't take your view at all? Considering it only takes one person to start an outbreak as happened with this latest outbreak, do you think it's worth the risk?

EVERYONE has a right to voice their opinion. The freedom protesters clearly acted before they thought about what they were protesting about. Did they think about the possibility of coming into contact with someone in the crowd with the virus? Did they think they may not show the symptoms of the virus yet may still carry the virus home to those they care about? If everyone did as directed and followed the restrictions our freedom would be reinstated when it is safe to do so. Yes, have your say, but, use your common sense and do it safely.

TONY Morley ("Live music needs your support", Letters, 26/7) I would like to thank you for your much-needed call to arms to support live music. While I'll be the first to admit that live music isn't exactly an essential service like supermarkets, like you said, supermarkets don't seem to be as diligent as live music venues when it comes to COVID-19 regulations. Unlike live music venues, it seems that in shopping centres, sign ins and masks are mandatory in theory only, and social distancing seems non-existent. There are no sporting events that provide an essential service, but these congregations of up to tens of thousands of people are somehow exempt from the comparatively draconian conditions placed on live music venues that are only permitted to play host to people in the dozens. Both industries provide a great deal of joy for the masses, and both are big money spinners. It appears though, when considering the economy, the governments have grossly underestimated just how much money the music industry can generate.

JOHN Arnold ("Bigger issues than uniform", Letters, 27/7), tries to make public schools seem hard done by in comparison to non-government schools when it comes to taxpayer funding. According to government figures, on average, around three quarters of funding for Catholic schools and less than one half of funding for independent schools is from public sources. In contrast, almost 95 per cent of funding for schools in the government sector comes from the Australian government and state and territory governments. The government sector receives around 71 per cent of total combined public funding while accounting for only 65.7 per cent of students in 2021.

NSW residents, Newcastle residents. Apathetic, pathetic! QR code signing in is now mandatory? Our responsibility is to sign in and out. Businesses that display the QR code must have onus on them to check that each customer is signed in. This week I questioned two managers of prominent food outlets in Belmont as to why they didn't at least ask each customer. Managers reply, "I'm too busy running a business to bother with this stuff"! Don't they realise they might not have a business to run in a very short space of time, the way things are going?

IN response to Bryn Roberts, (Short Takes, 28/7). I'm all for creating more jobs for people, but there should be no question on whether people are using the QR codes to check into venues. It's a blanket rule - yes! Not only is this helpful for contact tracers in the event of an outbreak in the Hunter, but also on a personal level. It is good to know exactly where you have been and when, when you're trawling through the venues of concern released by NSW Health.

ONCE again the NRL shows how sad it is. Vaughan should never have played again. They have shown in the past to threaten other people's lives or livelihoods; that's OK desperate clubs will still buy you.

I HAVE read some great articles and letters in the Newcastle Herald relating to the ACCC's loss in the federal court on the provision of a Newcastle Port container terminal. However, I have not heard anything from state Labor politicians about what they will do about the court's decision (if there is anything that can be done) if they win government at the next election. Has Labor leader Chris Minns been asked?

IN response to Julie Robinson, (Short Takes, 29/7). I'd rather catch the Delta strain than be made to listen to the sickly sweet Delta Goodrem.

WHAT was the main reason the federal government spent a huge amount of money to stop UNESCO from labeling the Great Barrier Reef "in danger"?

CORRECT me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the Kevin Rudd to the rescue story another ABC fake news beat up?

THIS is how the US ended its 20-year occupation of Afghanistan. At Bagram "they shut down the electricity and slipped away ... without telling anyone". Decades ago TS Eliot wrote "this is the way the world ends/not with a bang, but with a whimper". Perhaps he foresaw the project for an ignominious American century.