For them, the function of government is to manage opportunity rather than risk. Governing is not about controlling our lives, but rather, enhancing our potential for what the Americans refer to as "the pursuit of happiness". And as we have observed so often, in that country, this pursuit comes at considerable risk, gun violence being the most stark example.

Would our own libertarian governments choose to repeal our gun laws in favour of "personal responsibility"? Or indeed, so many other mandates protecting our society from that proportion of the population who would endanger us through their irresponsibility, like fire restrictions, drink driving laws, smoking bans, and so on?

Should we abandon mandates altogether and trust "personal responsibility" as the bedrock of social regulation? Statistically, in Australia, the celebrated figure of 90 per cent vaccination still means that there are more than two million people unvaccinated, many unmasked, in the community.

Simple, inexpensive health mandates, such as mask wearing and social distancing, are about "public responsibility". They're about individuals playing a part in the safety of not just themselves, but of others.

Unfortunately, libertarians tend to struggle with that concept, and right now, with this pandemic, we are in considerable danger as a result of their lack of leadership and their lack of responsibility. With his glib sunscreen analogy, comparing the wearing of masks to "slip-slop-slap", Scott Morrison demonstrated his disturbingly superficial notion of public health and safety.

IF in the past day you haven't learnt something new, you have been asleep for 24 hours. I regularly read letters from the usual suspects stating as to how current technology is unable to provide sufficient round the clock non-fossil fuel electricity to power domestic and industrial needs.

People who espouse such matters are living in today and disregarding tomorrow's technological advances.

At the time of electricity's first venture into domestic usage it would have been only those with the most vivid of imagination who would have conceived of the giant rockets taking man to the moon and beyond.

In our educationally and technically advanced world, we 'must' conceive what those in the 19th century could not.

Huge advances have been made in electric vehicles since the introduction of the hybrid electric Prius in 1997. It is therefore logical to presume that, within a relatively short period of time, technological advances will provide the means for the supply of 24/7 non-fossil fuel electricity for domestic and industrial use.

While I am writing about tomorrow, much has recently been reported about UFOs which are impossible to chase. The popular thesis regarding UFOs is that they come from far- away planets. I wonder if our future selves have the ability to time travel and that the UFOs are actually from Earth.

THE expansion of onshore/offshore gas is driven by the Asia/Pacific demand for gas, but restricted by federal limits to ensure the domestic supply is always available. To enable increased exports, the government focus has been on increasing eastern onshore gas extraction to support east coast demand, and have offered gas suppliers the carrot of added gas involvement in electrical generation.

The government has managed to sell the idea of "gas peaking" plants for baseload security and most electrical energy providers have included varying degrees of gas generation. The top nine Australian emission contributors in 2020 were our electrical energy providers AGL, Energy Aust, Stanwell, Origin, CS energy, Alinta and OzGen; followed by our oil and petroleum industries Chevron and Woodside.

Considering NGER Corporate emission data and the energy provider annual reports and comparing mostly gas against mostly coal (OzGen/Alinta) or the various mixes within the electrical energy generation, there was at best a 20 per cent reduction in emissions using gas. The defence that gas is a cleaner source of energy until something else better comes along, is true; being only half as bad as coal for thermal energy.

The gas industry will ultimately disappear from electrical generation as lower-emission renewables are clearly available. Gas emissions remain an issue in industry and domestic heating. The Woodside Annual report 2020 boasts, more than 2.2 megatonnes of C02 have been removed since 2008. Unfortunately, the NGER 2020 emissions data show their annual emissions are 9.2 megatonnes. So, who is kidding who?

TO answer Michael Hinchey, ("Plato and the big lie", Letters, 28/12), if I was trying to redeem Trump I wouldn't choose Plato. I might prefer Cicero, who said orators must be allowed to "distort history (lie) in order to give more point to their narrative". Hitler and Goebbels are arguably history's greatest liars, but, out of deference to Godwin's Law, I deliberately avoided mentioning them because the first person to mention the Nazis forfeits the argument.

Trump's lies are the continuation of a tradition dating back to the Ancient World. He is not the father of all lies, even amongst US Presidents. Bobby Kennedy once said of Lyndon Johnson "He just lies continually about everything. He lies even when he doesn't have to lie". Bill Clinton reportedly confessed "The (Lewinsky) lie saved me". Even George Washington lied about his role in the War of Independence.

THE state member for Newcastle is right in his condemnation of the Coalition government for diverting state-owned land in the city from potential use for social housing to their developer friends.

Many years ago, the state government had various programs to assist the provision of social housing such as creating Crown Land subdivisions that allowed low to middle-income families to secure the land by way of lease so that the homebuyer paid a rent for the land and only had to arrange the building of the home. This allowed many essential workers to get a home close to where they worked in the city. The land in question would be ideal to allocate to a social housing provider like Vinnies who have a great record of successfully building homes in our city, and also providing social assistance to ensue they overcome their problems.

But this money-hungry Coalition government wants to pack the city with high-income, potential Liberal voters at the expense of the workers that serve these rich people.

I was hoping that the new Premier would prove to be a different type of Christian to his Federal leader Mr Morrison but again I am disappointed as our community is sold to the highest bidder

IF Brad Hazzard wants to see stupidity he and Dominic Perrottet should gaze into a mirror. Compare Queensland's case numbers and fatalities to NSW's numbers. The figures are facts.

PSYCHOLOGISTS say that the best predictor of future behaviour is past behaviour. We all recall the photo of ScoMo lounging on his deckchair sipping tropical cocktails during our deadly bushfire crisis. No surprise to see Mr Morrison currently abrogating his responsibility as he takes a 'well-earned' sabbatical. Happy festivus ScoMo!

STEVE Barnett, you tak'n the mickey again, (Short Takes, 12/23)? Get real. Being on horseback ain't a drive. You'd need, say, a few head of cattle.

I LOVE this time of year. Cricket, cricket and more cricket. They say Manus Labuschangne is the best batter in the world. Well I disagree. He is boring. He alone ruined the first day of the Adelaide Test with his over-cautious, low-scoring display. Then on the second day of the Boxing Day Test, when he was called to the crease, he wasted so much time scratching his mark at the stumps. To be honest, I was pleased to see him go cheaply. Lift your game Manus, you're supposed to entertain, not put spectators to sleep.

THE knowledge of good and evil must be known by the devil we don't know, because religion looks to have been forgotten, and it wasn't shame that Adam knew when he saw himself with no clothes on, but the fear of being seen without them.

SIGH, Carl Stevenson again ignores long storage and the fact that the wind often blows at night in his selective critique of renewables (Short Takes 27/12). Next he'll be giving the baseload myth a revival.

I WENT to Woolworths Marketown yesterday and only four people were not wearing masks. Thank you everyone for wearing masks and for being considerate and thinking of others. Keep safe.

WITH the absence of Paul Lobb from our NBN News, is it possible that Natasha will also disappear? The old saying 'It's only Newcastle'. How dare they!

TO Carol Selmeci ... when asked the last time how my day was I replied in the positive. At this age I have nothing to do all day to do. Can't get it finished but really don't care. Take care of the rest of your time.