THE revelation by the Newcastle Herald regarding the closure of the Calvary Mater's GP Access clinic due to the strangulation of funding by the Commonwealth Primary Health Network ("Access denied", Herald 28/10) is wrong. This Hunter-initiated program has helped tens of thousands in their hours of need, and relieved the chronically short-staffed and under-funded emergency departments of the Hunter. GP Access should be nurtured and continue to be adequately funded.
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Bruce Jensen, New Lambton
No surprises in unhealthy cuts
WHY is anyone surprised that the government is under-funding health services? It's in their DNA to under-fund public services and wait for private enterprise to fill the void. Hundreds of millions of dollars of our money has to be found somewhere to pay for the Kurri Kurri gas white elephant. I believe Scott Morrison thinks his gas plant is more important than your health.
John Arnold, Anna Bay
Wait times pushing the envelope
AUSTRALIA Post, you need to lift your game. I recently purchased two items online. One small item took 23 days to come from Sydney. The other, a much larger item, took 16 days to come from Manchester, UK, via British Royal Mail. Using parcel tracking, I could see that both items were in the hands of the postal service on the day of purchase. I could have walked to Sydney, picked up my parcel and walked back in less time.
Bill Snow, Stockton
We've missed jump for Glasgow
THE prime minister's net zero "plan" is not, as it's called, the "Australian Way". It's the Morrison way. Slogans, subterfuge and sloth; there are no new policies. No legislation, no new funding - at least on achieving net zero - but there will be billions spent on paying off the Nationals. Precisely how much and on what we don't yet know. We do know it has to be funded, and that means tax increases.
So much for "technology not taxes".
About half the reductions meant to get us to net zero are assumed to come from "further technological breakthroughs" and "global technology trends", and the other half from the existing technology investment roadmap. The modelling underpinning these heroic assumptions will, Mr Morrison says, be released "eventually". In other words, if at all, after he's safely home from Glasgow. As bad as this is, net zero by 2050 is just the admission price for the Glasgow summit, the substance of which will be about what happens between now and 2030. On that, Mr Morrison will be embarrassingly mute. To use a timely Melbourne Cup analogy, Australia is congratulating itself for finally getting out of the starting gate while the rest of the world is on the home straight. Meanwhile, the government is getting on with its real plan: double coal exports, open gas fields, prop up coal power stations, and rely on News Ltd to slide back into office.
Michael Hinchey, New Lambton
We can't dictate to developing
IN reply to Mati Morel (Letters, 27/10), I made two slight mentions of the word "coal" in my 300-word letter (Letters 22/10). Does that make me, as you claim, "an unashamed spruiker for the use of coal"? And why should supporters of coal use be "ashamed"?
Unburnt cow-dung in Asia and Africa isn't a problem. Dung beetles readily bury the dung, fertilizing the soil. Or should the poor people use artificial fertilizer made from using renewable energy (another miracle)? Nobody is telling Africans and Asians that they must use coal. They happily make that choice, all by themselves, as record coal export tonnages out of Newcastle demonstrate, though many climate-change activists demand they not be allowed to burn coal for energy. Let Africa and Asia, not Western climate activists, decide their future.
Peter Devey, Merewether
Answers are blowing in the wind
I BELIEVE Ian Kirkwood ("Powering tomorrow; Crunching the numbers on energy equation", Opinion, 23/10) shows a bias in favour of coal mining. Batteries are only intended to provide an infill role to overcome surges in demand, not to be baseload power. He omits to mention the significant growth of pumped hydro in places such as Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania.
Tasmania is building a second cable to the mainland, paid for by the federal government, to triple its capacity to provide energy as needed. Its catchphrase is battery of the nation. And what about wind? Yes, Virginia, wind does blow at night, and it's highly predictable. Our energy market planning body is predicting that wind power will be a major source of energy for our future grid. If Mr Kirkwood really believes his forecasts, he must be appalled by the Prime Minister's net zero by 2050 energy plan that predicts 69 per cent renewable energy by 2030.
Bruce Graham, Warners Bay
Population not on the agenda
SCANNING through the agenda for the COP26 talkfest in Glasgow I notice the absence of meaningful discussion on the elephant in the room which is catastrophic human overpopulation on planet earth -- maybe Greta was right for once. Blah blah.
Alan Hamilton, Hamilton East
Held to ransom on climate target
LEAVE aside, if one can, the frightening reality Australia's contribution to the COP26 conference outlining Australia's plan toward achieving net zero emissions by 2050 was significantly influenced by a majority vote among the 21 members of the federal National party. What else then does this say about the existence of good and transparent governance of our nation under the current rabble? Not much it would seem if the Australian contribution to COP26 can be taken as a yardstick.
Scott Morrison and his Cabinet colleagues evidently see no problem when a policy of such global significance as net zero by 2050 is determined essentially by satisfying a secret agenda of 21 members of the Nationals, an agenda which among other things has effectively disenfranchised 16.4 million other voting-age Australians from involvement in climate change issues. Glasgow's COP26 delegates will no doubt hear again the embarrassing Scott Morrison cargo-cult mantra that Australia's contribution toward net zero emissions by 2050 will be achieved via yet to be discovered technology.
Barry Swan, Balgownie
Data can only tell us so much
I BELIEVE the data produced regarding the analysis of the Newcastle 500 certainly must be questioned. If the only information given to Ernst and Young was supplied by City of Newcastle and Supercars, in my opinion it's like asking your mother-in-law for a reference on your wife.
Denise Lindus Trummel, Mayfield
SHORT TAKES
I AGREE with Graeme Kime (Letters 28/10) on the lack of support for non-digital proof of vaccination. Nursing homes had health workers providing COVID jabs. Now the occupants are left to struggle to get vaccination certificates as they don't have smartphones, MyGov or Medicare online accounts. Not much thought has been given to providing them with vaccination proof.
Helene Shepherd, Belmont North
WHILE it's unlikely that we will ever know the true cost to ratepayers of the Supercars races, or the cost of the new administration centre, it seems obvious to me that ratepayers have not been getting "value for money" from the present City of Newcastle council ('Supercars delivers on investment', Herald 25/10). Our rates keep going up for no good reason. We need to stop further rate increases and in my opinion to do so we need to vote out the lord mayor and the ALP councillors.
Ross Edmonds, Waratah
IF one is fully vaccinated for COVID, does it mean that they are less likely to catch or spread it? My understanding is that if vaccinated, one has a greater defense against succumbing to the virus. I do not understand why people can't mix. If unvaccinated, good luck if you catch it.
Bryn Roberts, New Lambton
WHO do you vote for Darryl? (Short Takes, 23/10) Let me guess. Could it be Labor? All the tough work during the pandemic has been done by the state premiers. Are you serious? Dan Andrews has the world record on lockdowns, and now has over 2000 cases a day. I won't even start on Palaszczuk. Like all Labor voters and parliamentarians all they do is whinge, with not one constructive idea between them.
Don Fraser, Belmont North
ANDREW Hirst (Short Takes, 25/10), it may be true that the Delta variant of COVID was first recorded in India, but the fact remains that the first case in Australia was recorded in NSW. NSW was Gladys Berejiklian's jurisdiction, so in my opinion it's safe to say the buck stopped with her on its spread here.
Adz Carter, Newcastle
I BELIEVE there is bipartisan concern in Canberra that a member of the public might spike the government's liquor supply with truth serum, likely causing a disaster at question time.
Peter Ronne, Woodberry
I COULDN'T agree more with Kerry Harrison (Letters 28/10) about the speeding cars in Whitebridge. Waran Road is just as bad, it's a 50km/h zone but regularly has cars doing closer to 100km/h. Maybe the police should sit there instead of doing laps around the beaches.
Matt Ophir, Charlestown
THE POLLS
SHOULD the government fund GP Access to continue at full capacity?
Yes 96%, No 4%
HAVE you used the GP Access services due to go under funding cuts?