The next time I hear you say that you’re working for “the people of NSW” I’ll know exactly which citizens you’re referring to. Kerrie Wehbe, Blacktown
In an odd way it was refreshing to hear an exhausted Premier admit her government has engaged in blatant pork-barrelling. I hope the Premier takes the anonymous minister’s advice to rest. Where would it all end if our politicians suddenly started saying “the wrong thing” by ‘fessing up to all their wrongdoings and complete lack of ethical standards? A slippery slope indeed. John Watts, Gloucester
A few weeks ago, I was served a parking infringement notice. I expressed genuine remorse, pleaded guilty and promised to be more careful in reading the parking instructions. It was to no avail. I was asked to pay the fine. I paid and moved on. But for our Premier, for her repeated misdeeds, no punishment is being meted out.
Of course, she has support in high places. If she is considered to be a model politician, I have no doubt I am a model citizen. Just like her, I am “being human” too. Muthukrishnan Srinivasan Riverview
It is unclear to me what has caused greater outrage: the extent of the misuse of taxpayers’ money or having the Premier speak the political truth. Surely she should be praised for plain truth speaking and other politicians should be encouraged to follow suit. Our parliamentary democracy would be all the better for it. Esther Scholem, Macquarie Park
There is no doubt the Premier needs a week off and I would recommend a week in Queensland. My big concern, however, is leaving the state in the hands of her deputy. The very thought of it leaves koalas quaking, platypus perspiring, big coal and gas firing up and brumbies breeding. Peter Hull, Hat Head
Affection for city’s gems can’t stop a wrecking ball
Politicians promoting a public debate by citing personal favourite architectural items have inadvertently underscored the absence of state planning’s process and protocols (”You’re half right, Dom. Now to my demolition job on you”, November 28-29). Expressing personal opinion regarding architectural likes and dislikes may be entertaining but it is lacking in consequence.
Elizabeth Farrelly is right; it doesn’t stop the wrecking ball from destroying our precious built culture. Hearing a politician who’s repeatedly overridden the state’s heritage listing is grating. Clearly, our heritage determinations lack legal muscle, not to mention ministerial respect. Planning relies upon objectivity and logic, as well as a fair degree of creative independence. Sydney’s highly politicised planning system has disproportionately focused on short-term agendas.
Expect repeats of Crown casinos, Star City casinos and Sirius buildings if we continue along the same well-worn pro-development tracks. State government has no such real city design team. The closest in form and spirit was disbanded and outsourced to private practice in the early 1990s. A rethink to address this vacuum in our premier city’s design is timely. Cleveland Rose, Dee Why
Matt Cahill loves his eponymous expressway at Circular Quay (Letters, November 28-29). It could be a corridor most of us love. A better use of the space above the rail line is a pedestrian-cycle path from Macquarie Street to the Harbour Bridge via the heritage-listed railway station roof, Harrington Street and the Observatory Hill helical road. Without the frightening noise of speeding traffic, the panorama from the path would become one of Australia’s major tourist attractions. Peter Egan, Artarmon
I recently discovered that Paris has removed half of its car parking spaces to replace them with trees in an effort to alleviate some of the heat caused by climate change and to make the streets more attractive. Taking so many cars from the city requires more people to use public transport, and reduces even more heat previously brought into the city by vehicle motors. The city has also closed some streets and made them into parks, which helps with the cooling effect and the attractiveness. Australia is much hotter, more often than Europe, so why has a European city thought of this idea and not a hot city in southern climes? Is it because we are determined to look just like the old Europe in this isolated outpost? Whatever the reason, it certainly is time to stop cutting all trees in this blighted city. Thelma Frost, Mudgee
Scupper Manly ferries, lose tourists
Before COVID-19, as a Sydney greeter, I regularly showed overseas and sometimes interstate tourists around our fabulous Sydney Harbour, frequently referring them to travel on the iconic double-pointed Manly ferries (“Compromise position’: Minister saves one Manly ferry, offers to sink another”, November 28-29). Surely, all of these ferries, and not just one, could be saved. I do not think the same numbers of tourists will go to Manly on the new Emerald-class ferries as the delight was travelling on the old ferries, not just the destination. Karen Eldridge, Leichhardt
The Berejiklian government wants to scupper the purpose-built Manly ferries to save a few dollars in running costs, thus destroying another Sydney icon. The record of sellouts by her government suggests that a deal with a private operator will be behind this bizarre decision. Better to scupper the Transport Minister and the rest of this soulless, unimaginative government before there is nothing left of the state they are supposed to be managing for us. Barry Laing, Castle Cove
The government plans to scupper several ferries off the coast. They claim this is an ethical way of disposing of these craft. The government then puts out the spin that the sinking of these craft will create “a diving reef and fish sanctuary”. To my mind, this is environmental vandalism. It is no different to taking your rubbish out through the heads and dumping it. I’m sure that if a private person did this, there would be a fine attached.
Lionel Dickman, Pymble
Shades of greenery
The ALP has overlooked a large part of the environmental lobby and may well return to power on the back of a strong stance on Adani, which will remain the elephant in the room come 2022 (“Labor must win back suburbs, says Bowen“, November 28-29). Not all green voters vote for the Greens. James Deli, Oatley
But, Chris Bowen, if they don’t like your policies, they won’t vote for you. Greg Partington, Quakers Hill
Punters pay for elites
Your story inadvertently points out the growing inequality in this country (“SCEGGS, St Ignatius buck trend to hike their fees”, November 28-29). Most people would consider fees of $40,000 a year to educate a child to be obscene. The fact that the average punter’s taxes go to fund these monstrosities is bordering on criminal. Craig Jory, Albury
Signs of reconciliation
Great to see a map of Indigenous language groups in NSW (”So you can say ‘bonjour’ – but how about hello in a local Indigenous language?”, Spectrum, November 28-29). I live on the border of Worimi and Biripi and grew up in Yorta Yorta country. It gets me that, in New Zealand, there are regular road signs indicating when moving from one community to another. The only one I’ve seen here is driving into Canberra. We often have Welcome to Country ceremonies. How about more road signs on major roads about which country you are visiting, to help with reconciliation? Other ancient civilisations we recognise date back no longer than 10,000 years. Our Indigenous people have a recorded history of 60,000 years. Think about it. Glenys Quirk, Forster
Erosion warnings ignored
What is unfortunate about the situation at Byron Bay and similar locations, such as Collaroy Beach in Sydney and Wamberal, is that the propensity of these beaches to erode dramatically under a variety of entirely natural coastal processes that have nothing to do with climate change has been known for decades (”Erosion at Byron Bay forces business rethink”, November 28-29). When casting around for a thesis project for my master’s in environmental studies at Macquarie Uni in about 1980, I reviewed a report by Public Works engineers from the Manly Water Research Lab, which clearly showed predictions of how the beach at Byron Bay would erode inland and, in fact, predicted that, about now, the rail line would fall into the sea. The failure of politicians, at state and local levels, and of town planners to heed these warnings plus, of course, the irresistible pull of waterfront land for developers, businesspeople and indeed us all eventually leads to the problem now where property and enterprises are at risk. But the key issue now is who should bail them out. The taxpayer? Peter Thornton, Killara
Byron Bay beach erosion is part of an ongoing cycle and is not necessarily to do with global warming. Sand masses at Wategos and off The Pass will start to move over summer and build Main Beach back up. The spanner in the works are predicted cyclones that can cause huge beach erosion. In the 1954 cyclone, the dunes were breached and waves ran up the main streets and across the oval. Before sand-mining in the 1950s and ’60s, old timers speak of three rows of dunes between the campground and the sea. Sand mining removed heavy metals from the sand and destabilised the dunes as well as removing littoral vegetation. A road along the beachfront was then put in, flattening the back dunes further. Jim Rogers, Byron Bay
Due diligence masquerade
A bunch of Texans almost succeed in scamming the state government out of $430 million for non-existent face masks (‘‘Texans arrested over alleged scam to sell NSW 50 million non-existent face masks’‘, November 28-29). Except for FBI intervention, they would have got away with it and then the whole thing would have been covered up. What happened to due diligence? What on earth is wrong with this government? Paul Duncan, Leura
Pact up and left
In relation to our ongoing trade spat with China, it would appear a thing called a free trade agreement is about as useful as a rugby league player’s contract with a club (“China’s tariff on wine imports proves tough to swallow back home“, November 28-29). Not worth the paper it’s written on. Bill Young, Killcare Heights
Great call
As your correspondent suggests, it must surely be possible in this era of technological marvels for our telephone service providers to identify and filter out overseas calls that seek to defraud (Letters, November 28).
The other burgeoning intrusion is bombardment by junk mail. Despite a polite sign on our letterbox requesting otherwise, almost daily wads of unwanted paper are either thrown into our driveway or stacked on top of the letterbox, from whence even a gentle breeze ensures the neighbourhood is trashed. Surely local councils must have the power to stop this double debit to our environment? Max Edwards, Kanahooka
Not a tie-die uniform
I would like to assure your correspondent that the pre-knotted tie the pilot was putting on is in fact one of the aspects of his/her looking after your lives (Letters, November 28). I was a flight crew member flying during the dark period when hijacking was a constant threat.
The company saw the risks that a hand-knotted one-piece tie presented in that it offered a grab point in the form of a ready-made noose that gave a miscreant an opportunity to disable the wearer. As a result, a two-piece tie with a hook-and-loop fastening at the back of the neck was produced which, if pulled hard, would part and allow the wearer to escape the clutches of the would-be assailant.
As well as a security issue, from a presentation perspective, the pre-knotting offered a standardised look to the crew uniform. Despite being among the world’s best-trained flight crew, not all were adept at the perfect Windsor knot. Norman King, Dural
Doughnut fear the virus
Victoria’s coat of arms should be replaced by a big fat doughnut.
Miraculous results. Well done Victoria. Mokhles Sidden, South Strathfield
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