I WAS very disappointed with Bill Shorten's remarks (Wednesday, July 10) regarding sex work as a support service for NDIS recipients. He said it doesn't pass the pub test. But he didn't mention how extremely rare such requests are, or the nature of them.
If those pub patrons thought they were being asked to support "free roots for disabled people" maybe Mr Shorten is right and they'd reject that suggestion. But that isn't what we're really talking about, and I think many in the pub would support what is really being discussed.
I'm a disabled man with two life-threatening chronic illnesses who was sexually abused - raped - as a young child. I've never been able to overcome the trauma to have a sexual relationship. Now my chronic illnesses and disabilities make it difficult even to physically interact with a partner, and that's if I could meet one.
I've been fortunate enough to find a sex worker who understands trauma and disability, and to pay for that help myself. We don't have sex, and that isn't a service she provides. She has helped me learn to accept touch and feelings that I've never experienced before. I've been able to process fear and pain and loneliness with her and discover that my body is surprisingly still capable of sensuality and sexual feelings, and my lifelong depression is improving.
I wouldn't begrudge a disabled person proceeding to full sex in this context if they were capable of it. But many disabled people aren't physically capable of full sex. Some lack genital capability, or the capacity to orgasm, and many just want hugging, cuddling, kind conversation, and a feeling of connection that they don't experience otherwise.
Given that articles have suggested barely a handful of NDIS recipients have even asked about this possibility, it seems Mr Shorten might be moral grandstanding over an issue that will save a tiny amount of money in the context of the whole scheme, at the expense of potentially life-altering emotional and psychological change and growth in well-being for some of the most hurt, limited, and vulnerable in our community. That's very sad.
Name and suburb withheld
Backlash for Tenacious D was a bit hypocritical
HOW woke have we become when a comedic rock band from the USA are called out over an alleged slur against Donald Trump at a recent show?
Radio stations are banning them for life and people were calling for them to be deported.
All this, yet this particular radio host has done things I consider far worse in the name of ratings. Double-standard hypocrites.
Tony Morley, Waratah
Energy transition too slow
The energy transition from fossil fuels to renewable sources, mainly wind and solar, is a massive global undertaking. In Australia, progress has been disappointingly slow, hindered by our heavy reliance on fossil fuels and the federal Coalition. A new report shows globally it is a different story.
Richard Mallaby, Wangi Wangi
Climate change's not just warming
IAN King asks the question where is global warming happening ("Cold comfort in the suburbs", Letters, 17/7). The answer is everywhere. The cold he is experiencing is heat transfer due to the global warming of ocean and atmosphere, melting glaciers and polar ice caps. It should be no surprise. The world was warned of weather extremes due to global warming by greenhouse gas emissions at least 60 years ago. Unfortunately over that time global political leaders were busy keeping the "citizens of Rome" happy by promising them wealth and building sports colosseums.
Marvyn Smith, Heddon Greta
Glendale site is a slam dunk
A BASKETBALL stadium situated at Lambton is a lame duck. The Hunter deserves and requires a sporting precinct. The ideal area is Glendale. The following could be added to what's there: a basketball stadium, playing fields, walking and cycling trails, recreational areas etc. Accommodation is a must. Country towns have such centres, used by the citizens and teams of sporting groups throughout NSW. A precinct of excellence can be achieved. P.S. Up the New/Mac Falcons!
Gordon Geise, Glendale
Get on with East End development
IT has become obvious that there are many people who are not aware that there is already an approved concept for the next stage of the Iris Capital Hunter Street Mall development. This was approved and agreed to by the developer in 2018.
The problem is now they want more, and it is this amendment that the Joint Planning Committee has rejected due to increased height and lack of parking. The developer has asked for multiple storeys to be added to the existing towers, and surrounding streets would have to absorb a (minimum) 113 parking space shortfall.
This area is a residential precinct and many property owners do not have access to off street parking so the surrounding streets are already full of resident cars, especially in evenings and weekends when more people are home. For 42 years I have loved where I live and the on-street parking issue is just one of the things that I accept as part of inner city living. I am well qualified to say that it is neither fair nor reasonable to think that this area can absorb any more cars parked on the street.
If this was proposed in a suburb, there would be outrage. Iris Capital, please finish what you have started with the concept that has been approved and make our city whole again.
Bronwyn Rauch, Newcastle
Stick to plan, not nuclear
THE story ("Nuclear a 'job killer' for the region: Shoebridge", Herald 15/7) makes the important point that promoting nuclear as a way to attack renewables will cost jobs and investment in the Hunter. Additionally, it will undoubtedly send our energy bills higher because nuclear is so expensive.
France has just abandoned its Small Modular Reactor plans because they were too expensive. Questions about where to store tonnes of radioactive waste created every year, and how to store it for 100,000 years, and how much that would cost, have not been answered either.
The Hunter is only just beginning to grapple with the challenge of how to effectively manage the contamination associated with hundreds of millions of tonnes of legacy coal-ash waste at power station sites. The Russian invasion of Ukraine sent our bills up, so we need to push the cheapest form of energy into the grid to bring bills down now: renewables. The Hunter is already attracting significant investment in renewables which will create jobs. We're already at 40 per cent renewables.
We're on track. Let's stick to the plan.
