Newcastle Herald Letters to the Editor: Saturday, August 18, 2023

The words of grassroots community pharmacy resonated with concern for the most vulnerable in our community when the consequences of 60-day dispensing would mean so many of our services would no longer be subsidised.

How can we help our elderly remain in their homes when deliveries can no longer be given for free and the real cost of packaging their medicines is $20 a week extra, which was previously subsidised by these scripts? How does a business cope with a 30 per cent cut to revenue when there is nothing it can do to replace that cash-flow? Why must the jobs of thousands of women pay for 60-day dispensing and why must the services to our elderly be defunded in the process? Who pays for 60-day dispensing? You. The community will pay.

And you may not even notice until you are elderly and in need. I am a dedicated career pharmacist and I fear for our future.

BEAUTY is in the eye of the beholder, Mark Mathot tells us ('Newcastle is Australia's 'Goldilocks' city', Letters, 17/8) that in his opinion Newcastle's profile has risen dramatically in recent years. Well we can certainly agree that buildings have significantly risen in recent years. Whether that is an improvement is up for conjecture.

When our heavy rail connection to Sydney was removed "to improve access to the harbour" our journey from Wickham to Newcastle increased from four minutes to at least fourteen. The police opined that 7000 people marched from Pacific Street to Civic Park to send a clear message to our politicians that we citizens preferred to have a train rather than a view of our harbour.

But it seems abundantly clear that our elected representatives weren't listening to the electorate; they had an entirely opposite agenda on their plate. And so those things that those 7000 protesters were making clear were of no importance.

After a SOR (Save Our Rail) meeting, the late Peter Barrack, former Trades Hall Secretary said to me: "It would be a brave politician who ignores the views of 600 people". There were several SOR meetings, several petitions signed by 11,000 people, endless trips to rallies in Sydney and meetings with those brave politicians. But it seems it was far more important to 'open up the harbour', destroy our rail connection to Sydney and please people such as Mark Mathot.

A REVIEW of the national freight and supply chain strategy ('Hunter inland rail link part of review', Newcastle Herald, 18/8) does not include a dedicated rail freight line linking Newcastle, Badgerys Creek, and Port Kembla. Such a line would enable all containers in NSW to be railed through the Port of Newcastle instead of being trucked through Port Botany. Substituting Newcastle trains for Botany trucks would pay for the new line. NSW Treasury conducted a scoping study for leasing the Port of Newcastle to the private sector. Completed in November 2013, it has never been released. The scoping study will have examined the competitive threat presented by Newcastle to Port Botany. Treasurer Daniel Mookhey can release this study, unless, after 10 years, it is still confidential.

RECENT stories have raised the concern about glacial ice melting and receding more than should be expected for normal seasonal change ('Melting away: Alaska's Mendenhall Glacier in backward march', Herald, 8/8) and ('Even frozen Antarctica 'is feeling the heat'', Herald, 10/8). But is this concern justified? The Mendenhall Glacier is near Juneau, Alaska, on the similar latitude to Copenhagen and Moscow, and a long way south of the Arctic Circle. Such latitudes are commonly too warm to maintain tidewater glaciers such as Mendenhall.

The Alaskan glaciers are most likely historical relics of the Little Ice Age and have mostly been receding through to present times. So, climate change may have little to do with the melting of the Mendenhall Glacier. The concern about Antarctica is even more unjustified. The average temperature of Antarctica is -57 degrees Celsius. That's very cold and well below the melting point of ice. Any unseasonably warm weather, like that experienced in Antarctica recently, is not going to melt the Antarctic ice sheet any time soon. Come back in a million years, maybe, and have another look then. Though I doubt even then it will show much melting.

READING about a ramshackle house at Awaba that has become such an eyesore the local council plans to make an order for the owner to demolish it ('Turning up heat on Heaton St eyesore', Herald, 8/8) made me think of a certain Henny Penny eyesore in our very own suburb of Merewether. How long has this been an eyesore and a topic of conversation amongst locals? How long before our council finally does something?

COME on Knights, this is your chance to shine. A sold-out crowd. Newcastle fans are counting on you and they deserve it. No pressure. You can do it.

IT was refreshing to read the uplifting letter by Mark Mathot ('Newcastle is Australia's 'Goldilocks' city", Letters, 17/8). So many contributors write into this page to lodge a complaint or have a whinge. I (like Mark) love living here in Newcastle. It is a great city to enjoy. There were so many Newcastle landmarks that were referred to by Mark. I can remember the filthy old Zaara Street power station. I'm pleased it is long gone. Mark and I like to look on the bright side of life. Well done.

SO Albo, it seems everything you touch turns to manure. You hugged the Matildas on Saturday - nyet good. I'm starting to think you channel your inner Viking: Albo the destroyer. Please stay away from successful people, including me.

CONGRATULATIONS to the Matildas. Great team effort to get that far. Nice goal Sam, but for women's sport, there is only one woman who has made me cry - and that's when I said "you go girl" when Cathy hit the afterburners.