OPTUS businesses are wanting compensation for one lost day's income, yet us East End businesses have been fighting tooth and nail, to even be heard, and knowing we will never get nine weeks' compensation for Supercars.
I am a business owner in the East End who has been working tirelessly with small businesses and residents since the beginning of February, in regards to the utter decimation that Supercars brought for nine weeks of the year.
We have always known that we cannot get compensation for loss of income, access to our businesses and homes, purely because a private interstate company takes over our rights and access for nine weeks... yet we are labelled "East End whingers".
This is mindblowing. I urge everyone to put yourselves in our shoes for nine weeks. We still have to pay our business lease and buy stock, yet we get limited to no foot traffic. Optus businesses are seeking compensation for this week's outage, but compare nine weeks to one day of lost income.
Emily Coker, Newcastle
Interested in rate rise justification
READING Peter Martin's article ('Why this should be our last final interest rate rise', Newcastle Herald, 9/11) was interesting. I ask: How can RBA CEO Ms Bullock and the Board justify the latest interest rate increase when the remainder of the free world have theirs on hold with inflation easing?
We witnessed the first increase when the Morrison government was in power as a warning to anyone considering voting Labor that more rate rises would continue, as we have now witnessed.
The 13 interest rate rises have in my opinion been a political ploy and statement by the RBA's appointed, non-elected conservatives and continued whilst the big four banks continue cash grabs towards larger profits for their shareholders.
The Hawke/Keating government shamefully sold Commonwealth Bank shares for just $5 each, with ABC finance editor Alan Kohler once claiming were a bad investment. The shares are now worth around $105. Interest rate increases are one of the reasons for inflation. We need another peoples' bank owned by the federal government for competition and to keep the big four honest and accountable.
Brian Watson-Will, Corlette
Councils can look at other income
Maitland City Council's Kelly Arnott recently remarked on the council's financial position and the need to seek grant funding for many projects in the area. Maitland council staff have made many submissions for funding over the years and from all accounts have been very successful.
Maitland City Council have in the past and still continuing a vast expanding residential development that will see in the near future all of the available land for residential gone.
I believe councils need to seriously look at their policy on building heights to make it more viable for developers to build medium density housing in central Maitland and encourage developers to build medium density housing around vacant land near railway stations. Maitland is the second smallest local government in the area, behind Newcastle.
I hope the council is not putting forward a case to again seek a rate increase over and above the NSW government approved increase.
The council also has land holdings that can be sold off to generate funding and bring in revenue.
I believe the council is holding over $100 million of developer contributions for community works and roads that is to provide for community needs.
Ray Fairweather, former Maitland councillor, Tenambit
Bus subsidy would go a long way
PRIVATISED, for-profit bus services don't work for most people ("The route to a better Hunter bus service", Herald, 9/11). At present, who can blame Keolis Downer, the private contractor for wanting to cut and combine unprofitable routes? It must make a surplus to survive.
Until the state government accepts that it must subsidise fares and routes and provide a service, the routes will remain little-used and be cut or combined.
But many pensioners and poor people who have no cars rely on buses to do their shopping and get to work. Buses and public transport generally must be a loss-maker, subsidised by the taxpayer.
If the government subsidised bus travel in Newcastle, the bus service would become cheaper, faster and more convenient. We would get more cars off the road. This would mean fewer and less severe traffic jams, crashes, and road-rage incidents, and we could all breathe easier. These external benefits to Novocastrians of a government-provided bus service, if properly costed, would far exceed the taxpayer subsidies necessary to provide this service.
Geoff Black, Caves Beach
We're not all feeling same financial pain
ANOTHER bank announced a 26 per cent profit rise to $7 billion, and the CEO says he understands people's hardship while being paid over $4 million. This is so wrong.
Bruce Cook, Adamstown
Rate of increase is alarming
INTEREST rates are at their highest since 2011. Surely they are running out of toes this government.
Mick Porter, Raymond Terrace
Nuclear theory is close to home
PEOPLE of the Hunter beware! I believe the LNP plan to bring us nuclear power, and their three favourite sites are Lake Macquarie, Newcastle and Port Stephens. The main reason would be access to massive amounts of water, and possibly dumping uranium waste in old mine sites.
Mick Miller, Salamander Bay
Friendly chat has grim overtones
PRIME Minister Albanese has been called an "old friend" and a "very handsome boy" by Chinese representatives at their recent meetings. Their meetings on international affairs also covered panda bears and Tasmanian devils, accompanied by songs like Waltzing Matilda. The Chinese have always been adept at making their visitors feel at home and usually base their talks at the level of interest and sophistication of their guests. They appear to have got it right again.
John Cooper, Charlestown
Stop blaming 'no' voters for racism
JOHN Ure ("Don't give campaigns all the credit", Letters, 6/11), my Indigenous tradie mate is not white and he voted 'no'. I've done things in my life that I am ashamed of, but being born a white Australian and voting 'no' are not among them. I find myself feeling sorry for you and your ilk who find it easier to denigrate the majority of your fellow citizens than to accept the reasons we vote 'no'. The 'yes' case started with 70 per cent support, with a little introspection you will realise it's not us, it's you.
Dave McTaggart, Edgeworth
Help solve an underwater mystery
I RECENTLY photographed what I initially thought was a green rock. On touching the creature I received a slight electrical tingle, it opened its stomach and excreted a reddish black ink. Intrigued, I approached it once again, excreted a reddish brown ink and wriggled its way into the deep recesses of the lake. Readers of the Herald may shed light on the mysterious creature from the lake.
Grahame Danaher, Coal Point
