That part is the floor of the pool. When the upgrade was originally announced, the retention of the sandy pool bottom was listed as 'non-negotiable'. It seems, if the current rumours swirling about are to be believed, that it now is negotiable. I am a supporter of the upgrade in general. As much as I love our 100-year-old pool, there are aspects of it that are crying out for a change.

The pool floor is not one of those aspects. We do not want a slimy concrete base like Merewether's, we want sand. Many of the other regulars are, like me, walkers in the water. The sand is perfect for this.

I try to be positive, to assume the non-sand rumours come from conspiracy-theorists or those with a political agenda. What we need is for someone in-the-know to come out and tell us point blank that the sand is staying. I know that some of those people read The Herald, so please set our minds at rest, and stop all the rumour-mongering once and for all.

I HAVE a couple of questions regarding the use of the RAT kits. If, say 100, people take a RAT test in the home and, say, 65 of those people test positive, are they obligated to report the findings? If they do report in, are these figures included in the daily numbers? If none of them report in then there are those people in the community still spreading the virus. I don't know what can be done about this, but it puts the onus onto those who self test to be honest with the result, especially a positive test and not keep it a secret. Like most people, I am concerned about the virus and what it does, so if you do return a positive RAT then fess up for the benefit of everyone.

MERYL Swanson has every right to feel angry and so do I. Suffering from an autoimmune disease and emphysema, I dodged the COVID bullets for two years, only for Omicron to be delivered to my door on Christmas Day from a close relative, which spread to the rest of my family and of course me. How could I disagree with Professor Nick Talley's stern condemnation of the Premier and Morrison, as they have set us up for the kill! Where is their responsibility for the people of this state and the country? Is this the just reward for the lockdowns?

I came close to having to go to the hospital as it also caused my heart to go into arrhythmia after months of good control. Talking to my GP, there is a drug that I could have received to help my body fight this off easier, but as my positive result took five days to come back, it was too late.

Both governments are incompetent, uncaring fools, thinking this was going to help the economy, what a sick joke. The economy is going to be in dire straits, same for the health system. It's already begun. There will be a lot of votes lost for Dom and Dumber in the coming elections.

I CONCUR with Sue Peak of Kurri Kurri, (Short Takes, 4/1). "Let's phase out" these obscene Liberal governments for their handling of COVID-19. Here in NSW we have missed out on Dan Andrews, Annastacia Palaszczuk and let's not forget Newcastle's greatest ever export, Mark McGowan. How dare we in NSW miss out on the world record for lockdowns and record-breaking business closures. Sue is so right, we should be in uproar with NSW hospitals not being for New South Welshmen only, how dare we allow others to use our facilities. And as for border closures, NSW has let the entire nation down with its open border policy. Where is Mark McGowan when you need him? As for federal Liberals, well ... the total hide of these people to have Australia as fifth best in the world in vaccine rollouts; well ahead of the UK, USA, France is a total disgrace. Where is our own version of Joe Biden or Boris Johnson when you need one? I despair.

SCOTT Morrison has got it wrong again. By now he should know that COVID mutates rapidly. Hoping that the COVID epidemic will all fade away like a bad dream in the lead up to the federal election is not going to happen. Morrison didn't order enough RATs tests and booster shots, just like he didn't order enough Pfizer. As a result, his government has had to means-test the RATs kits.

Morrison should just admit that he misjudged the situation. Many voters would accept this. My sons have just returned from Singapore and the UK. The disciplined Singaporeans are resigned to frequent testing, isolation, mask wearing, avoiding crowds and social distancing, etc. There is a lot of policing and heavy fines for non-compliance. 'Freedom' demonstrations don't happen in the city-state. All this is Lee Quan Yew's legacy. As a result, Singapore has minimal cases and hospitalisations and the economy is still chugging along. Ah, but that is not the Australian way! OK. It has to be individual responsibility then, since in Australia infections are out of control and people are intolerant of further lockdowns.

In the UK, in support of individual responsibility, free RATs tests are available online to everyone. People test before and after attending public venues like the pub or a football match. Cases are on the rise, but contained since most people have had a booster jab. Hospitalisation is a last resort as hospitals are overwhelmed - years of funding cuts by successive conservative governments have run hospitals down.

Morrison's penny-pinching approach to COVID could cost him the federal election in 2022. Australians are not disciplined like the Singaporeans. They do not accept infection and death as readily as the Brits. They are running scared as Omicron cases rise exponentially.

WHY do us as Australians want to still be looked after by our parents, no matter what our age?

It is certainly not my PM's job to keep me safe, or my doctor for that matter. It is for me, myself to make sure I get whatever vaccinations I need, and monitor my health, including all aspects of my health, not expect others to do it for me, certainly not the politicians.

I don't need to have something mandated to do it, if it is for my own good. I will wear a mask, I don't need to be told, I am intelligent enough to do it without mandate. Those that do not wear a mask will not do so, even if it is mandated, they will just take their risks, they will not be told.

This is most definitely a problem that is existing world wide, in fact Australia is the most highly vaccinated and regulated country in the world, we should be thanking those who have been able to help guide us to this position, and of course ourselves for largely complying to the directives, both health and otherwise.

PLEASE, can anyone out there tell me how we can get a government who really gives a toss about us; the poor, stupid voters. Scott throws up smoke screens, one after the other; and poor old Albo just hasn't got a clue. All he can come up with is a stupid, fast train that we cannot afford and would take many years to make the track safe. Recently, whilst getting medication at the chemists I heard the chemist tell a poor little soul that he has no idea when and if he will get the so-called free test kits. He, like everyone else, has again been blindsided by political BS and we, the poor old dummies, waddle about in the dark waiting to become mushrooms.

REALLY frustrated after experiencing a 47km search for a PCR site. Three were listed as being open on the Services NSW app but they weren't! I called by at least two others on the way to check! As an RN I'd expect that as this is a pandemic essentials like this can't just close entirely. If all nurses, firefighters, ambulance etc closed up where would we be? Yes they are struggling, but at least they are open. I was a close contact and needed a PCR to de-isolate whereas my contact could just walk free. Strange times. What will happen if we are attacked on a long weekend?

TO Marvyn Smith, (short Takes, 2/1), you are correct. I am suitably reprimanded Marvyn. So the score is Smith 1 and King nil!

DOM, the work experience kid, who suddenly found himself in charge of the whole shebang, finds out the hard way that it's a healthy society that leads to a healthy economy - not the other way round.

AN interesting story from Ian Kirkwood, ("Indonesian coal cap to help Hunter", Herald, 5/1). Contrary to reports from some outlets, the Indonesian ban on coal exports was done to bolster their shortage of stockpiles, not for climate action. If they continue the ban, prices will rise and that will be good news for Hunter coal exporters. But at the end of Ian's story was news that many people may have missed. The Fengning pumped hydro plant in China, nearing completion, will have a generation capacity of 3.4 terawatt-hours a year. At the same time, the station will use 4.5 terawatt-hours a year to pump water up into the upper reservoir. That would be a net loss of 1.1 terawatt-hours of electricity every year. Wow! Is that a great example of how inefficient renewable energy is? Snowy 2.0 that will cost $10 billion will have a capacity of 0.35 terawatt-hours a year. How much power will be required to pump water into that?

CRAIG Helpdew, (Short Takes, 6/1), vaccinated undertakers are very accepting of the unvaccinated.