So the cost has blown out on the expansion of Newcastle Art Gallery ('Expansion bill expansion', Newcastle Herald, 3/1). Now almost double the original quote.
What a surprise, City of Newcastle (CON).
The move to council's rented offices in Newcastle West, Supercars, the skate park on South Newcastle beach; all underestimated. Now the council wants to claw back some of that by charging cafes and restaurants for chairs on footpaths.
What a job you are doing CEO Jeremy Bath and CON. Don't do anything foolish like invest ratepayers' money in maintaining roads and footpaths, or perhaps even maintaining our much loved map pool next to the newly renovated ocean baths.
Remind me when the next council elections are?
Denise Lindus Trummel, Newcastle
Dissatisfaction in the suburbs
I have lived in Wallsend for 30 years. I have seen a number of mayors and councillors come and go - some good, some bad, and, unfortunately, most of the current crop does not pass the pub test, in my opinion.
I noticed that Newcastle council is not going to celebrate Australia Day with any citizenship ceremonies. Why? It is not up to them to decide.
In all of the junk mail that they send out, where are they informing the residents about this decision? Instead of spending time on how to fix our roads and other community facilities, this bunch involves themselves in personal views, and not those of the people they pretend to serve.
Newcastle is a vibrant hub involving all of its residents and businesses. It is not the Steel City anymore, so wake up Newcastle, the council elections are in nine months.
If you want the same again, look around and see which suburbs benefited since this mob came to power.
David Barnes, Wallsend
ABC missed the vibe
The ABC's coverage of New Year's Eve was not what I expected after the resounding defeat of the Voice referendum in 2023. I expected the Peter Dutton Oppositional Medieval Singers with a gloating, reworded rendition of The Voice by John Farnham, supported by the Sky News Reporters' All Star Dancers performing an interpretative dance on the success of the "No" case. Now that would have reflected modern Australia. Certainly not the woke nonsense we actually saw.
John Arnold, Anna Bay
You can't please everyone
In response to Shane Tull's letter ("ABC's pre-fireworks a fizzer", Letters, 3/1), regarding the New Year's Eve ABC program. After more than 40 years in the entertainment industry, I have found it to be abundantly clear that you cannot please everyone. Certainly, some of the entertainment on the night was not to my taste, however, many tastes needed to be catered for.
There was certainly a vast variety on offer and congratulations must go to the ABC for presenting a program for this very special night. Something to ponder: the commercial networks/media who incessantly lambast the ABC offered basically nothing on this special night.
Mike Stevenson, Warners Bay
That date doesn't suit me
According to the story in the Herald ("Australia Day citizenship event axed", Herald 4/1), the decision by the Lake Macquarie City Council to stop holding a citizenship ceremony on Australia Day was to offer "new citizens, their families and the broader community flexibility to mark Australia Day in a way that suits them", and that the ceremony on Australia Day costs money, including overtime for staff. Some other local councils have cancelled the traditional Australia Day citizenship ceremonies on the premise that it may offend Indigenous people and have the gonads to say so.
LMCC is to hold a weekend of family fun on January 20 and 21. I wonder if they could change the date as I will be on holiday at that time.
LMCC seems to have no problems supporting the Voice and sending staff to conference talk fests, but baulks at paying a bit of overtime for a citizenship ceremony. Talk about confused priorities. Stick to rates, roads and rubbish, which need more attention than nation and community-dividing virtue-signalling.
John Cooper, Charlestown
SHORT TAKES
Let's see full brief of investigation
As our Prime Minister has said, we have a right to know about the Iraq papers. It follows that we, as the ratepayers of Newcastle, have a right to know about the Jeremy Bath investigation. It's time for the full brief and the full investigation report to be released. Until that happens we have absolutely no trust in the lord mayor or councillors. The truth is what is required and none of us will believe the council until we have full disclosure.
Paul Murphy, Newcastle
Leave nation's history alone
It appears that there is a back-room effort to dismantle our history. The current secret methods to dismantle our Australia Day, ignores the recent referendum that gave a pretty clear report on the views of Australians. In my opinion, the "no" vote declared that we don't want apartheid in this country. Leave our history, warts and all, alone.
George Paris, Rathmines
Ratepayers not asked
So Lake Macquarie City Council has decided to pander to the strange woke mob, without any consultation with the ratepayers ("Australia Day citizenship event axed", Newcastle Herald, 4/1). They are now going to have Australian citizenship ceremonies on January 25 instead of Australia Day January 26. Why would anyone want to be made an Australian on Australia Day? To me, January 26 is, and always will be, Australia Day.
Kevin Miller, Windale
Another weak decision
The axing by Lake Macquarie City Council of citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day is another sad indictment of the toxic woke element that infects our society. Lake Macquarie City Council now falls in line with the errant Newcastle City Council, which many like me regard as already a total train wreck, rather than a competent local government body. Weak-gutted council groups like these should be voted out.
Lindsay Young, Waratah
Tennis tactic draws blank
I've never seen anything so pathetic as showing a blank space instead of the Russian flag alongside Russian tennis players. What on earth do the tennis gurus expect to achieve? Let alone the relevance to the sport of tennis.
