THE fixation of the media with claims that record prices for house sales are great achievements forgets that fact that this is where affordable housing is thrown under the bus. Some simple facts: an actual house purchased in 1951 by a relative of mine was sold in 2009 at 61 times of the purchase price. When you compare the wages of the then purchasers in 1951 who were unskilled labourers, to the wages of the same band of qualifications in 2009 there has been a 27-time increase in wages. This demonstrates the pathway of the unaffordability of housing over those years.
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The link between wages and house prices in recent years has continued to create greater distance. In 1951 there was a requirement for a deposit of at least 25 per cent of the price and income needed to be stable, with a long savings history. This put a brake on house prices as the market could not be overheated due to too many buyers compared to the number of houses on the market. Today deposits are extremely small and savings history and income history are less important, placing more buyers into the market by comparison to the places on offer. We have also permitted virtually anyone from the world to enter the local market to compete, placing an ever increasing upward pressure on house prices. With low interest rates on housing loans this may be a small step for many new home buyers, yet interest rates will rise and then there will be real pain for the new owners.
There are decisions that governments can make to cool the rise in house prices but they are not being considered because the huge prices feed into the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) numbers and therefore make the economy seem to be excellent. In my economics course at Newcastle uni, I suggested that the health of the economy should be measured by the percentage increase for the less well off of the residual income after the supply of the essentials. This I still consider is a better measure. If we used this measure, we would find that the economy is extremely unhealthy.
Milton Caine, Birmingham Gardens
Safeguards missing on jab check
I TOOK my two daughters to the shops this morning at Charlestown Square. Thinking that you had to be double vaccinated to be able to get into any non-essential shops, it took me by surprise when quite a few shops weren't even checking. At one a customer asked if an employee wanted to see his certificate and the employee said only if you want to show me.
I asked an employee at another shop why they weren't asking to see people's vaccination certificates and they said they simply didn't have the staff. All these shops are multi-million dollar businesses and should have the staff on to do this. Several others did. Send the cops over to Charlestown Square, and they would make plenty of money handing out fines. Isn't it an offence for a business not to be checking this?
Anouk Coyte, Merewether
Great event must be supported
I NOTE with interest the large volume of correspondence, critical of the Supercars event. I must say, for the small amount of people impacted (this includes businesses), how could the council not continue to support a globally recognised sport held on our doorstep? The indirect and secondary exposure for Newcastle alone must be reaping benefits. Business in general inside the precinct and adjacent appear to boom during the race weekend, I've witnessed the crowds and interacted with business owners who have confirmed this. We need to be careful not to trip over on conservatism with respect to this great event.
Roger Bissett, Hamilton East
Common sense no binding clause
CITY of Newcastle chief executive Jeremy Bath thinks it is common sense that Supercars could not extend the race without Council's permission and cooperation, despite the contract saying otherwise. Since when did common sense apply to this race?
Why wouldn't Supercars want to extend when Newcastle ratepayers are paying for it? Our council entered into a contract, the details of which councillors were not allowed to see. They were spruiking this race without even knowing what they were paying for. Common sense? Clause - 8.4 states "For the avoidance of doubt, and at the request of V8SCA, the Service Provider (Council) shall not disclose this Deed to any third party, including, but not limited to, the Councillors of the Services Provider." What council would allow a contract to be signed on their behalf without wanting to know any detail and costs? A Vroom Vroom is not good enough.
If this event is really so good for Newcastle then why do both Supercars and the council want to treat the ratepayers like mushrooms? I'm sure that after this latest race we'll be told how successful it has been, how many billions of people have watched it, how it has showcased Newcastle to the world and all the rest. What we won't get is an independent cost benefit analysis. I believe it would be too embarrassing.
John Hudson, Newcastle East
Blame the warmth of the sun
DAN Kirkpatrick's claim, (Short Takes, 19/10), that the Earths temperature has been rising since the beginning of the industrial revolution is correct. However, it is hard to believe temperatures started rising just because James Watt invented the steam engine. During the 1700s, the Earth was suffering from a mini Ice Age. Londons weather records show that during this period the Thames River would freeze over every winter. And what caused this mini Ice Age? The sun. During that time, activity on the suns surface, solar flares and sunspots, were at their lowest level in 1000 years. Dare I mention that this mini Ice Age came to be known as the Maunder Minimum effect. For the last 100 years there have been many scientific studies about the Maunder effect of the sun. For those wanting to know more about Maunder, start with Wikipedia and also look at other websites.
Since the industrial revolution the suns activity has been increasing and currently it is at its highest level in 1000 years and probably having an effect on our temperatures. The sun has influenced our climate for millions of years and continues to do so.
Robert Monteath, Newcastle
Councils need to keep it simple
WITH local government elections coming up in December the knives are out amongst councillors of different political leanings. Newcastle council would have to be one of the most divisive you could imagine, with so many personality clashes and politically motivated disagreements when I think politics should have no place in local government.
In years gone by councillors by and large were well respected, community minded people who went into local government to serve their constituents first and foremost with only a small financial reward. These days one could be forgiven for thinking some use local government to serve their apprenticeship before trying to get elected to state or federal politics where the big money and lurks and perks are their reward. Back to basics local government is what we need - roads, rates and rubbish, not grandstanding as happens in so many cases in so many local councils throughout Australia.
Ian King, Warners Bay
SHORT TAKES
FINALLY a political line has been drawn in the sand around Supercars in Newcastle (Car race splits candidates, Newcastle Herald, 19/10) allowing all concerned and eligible voters to cast their votes accordingly in the upcoming Newcastle council election.
Mel Horadam, Newcastle
I'D like to congratulate the Herald for another outstanding and insightful Pope's View cartoon (Opinion 13/10). I believe it once again captured the immature nature of our LNP federal government leaders perfectly.
Fred Budden, Belmont
WHILST we welcome reductions in the reported cases of COVID, I encourage the media and health authorities to always automatically compare these results with the number of tests conducted for the corresponding period of time. This combination of results will provide all with a better appreciation if we really are making sustained inroads into hopefully preventing this deadly pandemic and its variants.
Tony Brown, Newcastle
SINCE Scott Morrison was elected as Prime Minister in my opinion he has not taken responsibility for any hard decisions that have been made since the election. All the tough work done during this pandemic has been done by the state premiers. Now he has left it to Barnaby Joyce to make a decision on climate policy. The Nationals say a million jobs will be lost under net zero by 2050, but personally I think the only job they are worried about losing is their own.
Darryl Tuckwell, Eleebana
TIME for Scott Morrison to man up, put the big boy pants on and cut the climate denying National Party loose. He can legislate on the floor of the Parliament zero emissions by 2050, with Labor and Green votes, and go to Glasgow and receive the Queen's blessing, or he can go to the Governor General and call an election. Happy with either.
Wendy Atkins, Cooks Hill
ODD that when conservative politicians front ICAC, it's decried as a kangaroo court or star chamber, but when Labor pollies are before it, it's delivering blind justice. Attacks on its impartiality and timing suit our threadbare PM, as he fights desperately to avoid a similar federal body, which would examine the same sort of pork-barreling that has (allegedly) ensnared the former premier.
John Beach, Cooks Hill
DARRYL Stevenson's letter is well written on questioning how Cairns council spends so much on infrastructure projects (Letters, 19/10) However, on a brief search on the web it is interesting to see how many of Cairns projects are partly funded by state or federal government. Does Newcastle receive the same degree of funding? And if not why not? I suggest not.
Steve Wines, Wickham
COMMUNITY NOTICEBOARD
THE Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Art Society Exhibition will run at Belmont City Centre on Macquarie Street from November 1 to November 11. The exhibition features original works by society members in oils, watercolour, acrylic, pencil pastel and mixed media paintings. For information call Karen on 0404 893 855.