Gnashing of teeth and wringing of hands will not produce a different result. I have always been a supporter of my representative in my electorate, for she does (in my opinion) a good job. But we, the voters, need to let go of the historical voting parameters and become more discerning.

Our message to the sitting power (be they left or right) must be "support the region or become the new opposition party at the next election".

Knowledge of seat safety produces complacency and lethargy towards the constituents, with much lip service given. Losing the heavy industries we had, over time produced a greater divergence of political loyalty, with more voters looking for results on the ground rather than seats in Parliament. Promises made now need to be kept, as emerging voters will swing away from the party fold.

Regardless of words written or spoken, only affirmative action at the polling booth (in all tiers: local, state, federal) will change the current "we do not have to do or give you anything" attitude.

People of the Hunter/Lake Macquarie (rural and cities), the area's future is in your hands. Vote well.

Fred McInerney asks why Australia is so short of trades people ("Nailing down tradie shortage", Letters, 26/3).

Over 30 years with the growth of foreign corporate takeovers, I noticed a reduction in apprentice numbers, to zero in some cases. Government funding: do you recall the Howard government reducing federal funding of public TAFE education and encouraging privatisation of apprenticeship training? Employment numbers: job statistics include any person over 15 who works one hour or more a week. Any wonder the official unemployment numbers appear to be so low. So there may be people out there who could train for construction work. Of course there is another possibility. The 90,000 people quoted by the building industry alleged to be required for housing construction would certainly put downward pressure on wages.

Migrants not apprentices: of course if the mass immigration we are experiencing was curtailed there would not be a need for this insane development. That brings me to the love affair with high density housing. Try sleeping in the high-density disaster that is London with incessant noise of sirens and non-stop car horns due to traffic congestion.

Described as an unlovable but hilarious conman, W.C. Fields was a US pioneer talkies screen actor in the 1930s-40s. Born in 1880, Fields was a teenager in the era of the "snake oil salesman". From a tough childhood and a background in vaudeville, his lived experiences led to his oft-quoted sayings, including those about suckers: there's one born every minute; never give one an even break; and, it's a moral obligation to take their money.

Today, millions of Americans are proving this as they buy into possibly the greatest snake oil salesman of his generation: Trump. Last century, Fields' quips sounded homely. In 2024, they're more a testament to mass gullibility.

Today there's a former US president and multiple bankrupt who claimed he knew more about accounting than a CPA, but has been found guilty of business fraud. He said he was so rich he didn't need any donations to run his election campaign, but is now pleading for them. Cash needed to replace what he's already siphoned off his Political Action Committee to cover his legal bills. He then declares he still needs more to free up cash to pay his near half a billion US dollar fraud penalties. Ignoring his attorney's original claim he had the cash, he says no one will put up a bond.

This completes a trifecta of mutually exclusive contradictions.

To quote Fields again: "If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bull."

But, it seems, Trump's punters continue to believe him, unquestioningly.

A case of the more things change, the more Fields' suckers stay the same?

I ALMOST choked on my coffee reading the Shepherds Hill news ("Coffee at a cottage with a priceless view: plan for historic park site", Herald 21/3). It has been more than a year since the restoration has been completed and nothing has happened. Once again, our lord mayor Cr Nelmes, smiling in another photo, extolling more good news, telling us the council will be seeking public input on how to use the site. I would have thought they would have already had a plan. Maybe we could consult Scott Neylon as he is very interested in all things Newcastle.

I WISH Adam Bandt, the Greens, and everyone else would stop using Germany as an example of converting to renewables. Germany is half the size of NSW and can obtain power from other countries when they need extra energy supply. What do we do? No answer, sorry, our power is off.

The mentality of climate activists continues to confound me. Australia contributes 1 per cent of CO2 emissions compared with China's 29 per cent. Activists have no hesitation protesting and disrupting people's lives here. The Chinese Foreign Minister has been travelling around the country recently, so where have the protesters been?

Donald Trump says that Kevin Rudd is "not the brightest bulb" ("PM defends Rudd over Trump blast", Herald, 21/3). Wasn't it Trump who suggested that ingesting bleach could be a good way to combat COVID-19? As for Trump labelling anyone else "nasty" and "hostile", where to even start?

Matt Ophir ("Hamas attack deserves response", Letters, 22/3), thinks that we should blame Hamas for starting the terrible mess which is genocide in Gaza. But Hamas didn't exist back when the British Empire decided to throw the cat among the pigeons. This mess started when one group of people decided they were entitled to dispossess another group of people, and the dispossessed have been battling ever since to regain what has been robbed from them. Where have we seen this before?