If the Scott Neylon letter writing saga was supposed to be dealt with by an in-house, confidential investigation, then this has failed miserably.
Why was the investigation not openly transparent? If there is nothing to hide, then why hide? Jeremy Bath is reportedly on an eye-watering remuneration package, roughly commensurate with the salary of prime ministers and presidents, for acting as CEO for a mid-sized, non-capital Australian city. For this he should be answerable to the public. Perhaps the view of the council is that the CEO is only responsible to the council corporation?
This shows total disdain for the people of Newcastle, whose outrageous rates fund an apparently private club.
The accusations levelled against Bath over the Scott Neylon letters are serious involving issues of honesty and integrity. I believe the secret in-house investigation smacks of cronyism. Is the corporation closing ranks and protecting their CEO to ensure that the general public does not learn the whole truth, whatever that may be?
It would seem that the council cannot be trusted to be open and transparent with the people they represent. This begs the question as to what other matters of public interest have or are being hidden from the public?
Why has the council closed ranks behind the CEO? This affair remains resolved to the satisfaction of nobody, other than the council.
Greg Howley, Lambton
Rec centre should be a priority
Eraring power station adjoins Myuna Bay's old sport and rec centre. The centre has been closed by the NSW government since 2019 due to the danger posed by Eraring's fly ash dam wall. In the event of an earthquake, there is an outside chance that the dam's wall could breach. This could send a slurry of fly ash to inundate the centre ("Bid for Myuna Bay answers before end", Herald, 3/12).
Origin, the owners of Eraring since 2013, supplies 25 per cent of NSW's base load power. From the air, Eraring's fly ash dam is huge. It covers 436 ha of valuable lakeside land. Toxic fly ash, if it is not dampened or immersed, becomes wind-borne during dry periods. When fly ash is blown around, it causes respiratory and health ailments for residents near and far. This occurred in 2019. As a result, Origin was fined a pathetic $15,000 by the EPA.
Since 2020, Origin's Eraring has been granted an EPA exemption. Eraring must manage its fly ash, but is exempted from rehabilitating the dam site when the power station closes in 2025. The site could not be sold to developers as it is. This means that the NSW government and the taxpayer will eventually need to foot the dam site's rehabilitation bill.
Lake mayor Kay Fraser wants some progress on a sport and rec replacement on the old Morisset Hospital site. However, not a sod has been turned. I know we are in hard times and the NSW government is cash-strapped. But the building of a replacement is long overdue. It should become a NSW government priority. Origin, which is set to make megabucks from its big battery at Eraring, should also contribute to the centre's replacement and the dam site rehabilitation.
Geoff Black, Caves Beach
Power up nuclear option
Bruce Graham needs to stop listening to Energy Minister Chris Bowen on the cost of going nuclear ("Nuclear energy not feasible", Letters, 4/12). At COP 29, more than 20 nations agreed to double or triple their nuclear power plants because they arrived at the same conclusion as many average Australians that wind and solar are no bases for sustainable power, and certainly not if a nation wants a manufacturing industry.
From Mr Graham's calculations, UAE's new nuclear power plant cost about $100 billion to build and commission. If you look at the cost of rewiring Australia to cope with wind and solar DC current, the CSIRO estimates a cost of $1 trillion plus; given the way we build stuff in the land of Oz it will more likely be $2 trillion, so how many nuclear power plants could we build for $1 trillion let alone $2 trillion? I figure 100 power plants that could power all of Australia, export it to New Zealand and Indonesia with enough left to power up PNG.
Andrew Hirst, Beresfield
Renewable energy in China
There is a lot of debate about the lack of action by the big polluters of the world to reduce their emissions.
I would guess that most people would not be aware that China leads the world in the installation of renewable energy sources, by a wide margin. Their target in 2020 was to install 1200 GW of renewables by 2030. They now expect to meet that target by 2025. Compare this with Australia with its current renewable capacity of around 45 GW.
Their main reason for pushing ahead with renewables is energy security, also known as energy independence. Combined with their rapid uptake of electric vehicles, it will remove the need to import coal, gas and oil. I'm not a fan of China for many reasons, but we need to recognise the trends in the world. A totally independent China can simply thumb their noses at issues that have a big impact in Australia such as fair trade, cyber attacks, and South China Sea domination.
Bruce Graham, Warners Bay
SHORT TAKES
Word to friend might have helped
I am intrigued that Jeremy Bath sees Scott Neylon as probably his best friend. I therefore understand that Scott has been keen to use his letter writing skills to present positive commentary on Jeremy throughout his career. But I would have thought that there would have been an opportunity at least 10 years ago for Jeremy to tell his best buddy to back off. "Yes Scott, it is very nice of you to be supportive, but I don't think it's working. If you do want to continue please get your name and suburb right."
Ron Brown, Islington
It would fail pub test
I add my voice to those asking for a full enquiry into the Scott Neylon letter-writing matter. There are too many unanswered questions that should be investigated thoroughly. An impartial observer would wonder how the current investigation could have arrived at its conclusion without reading the Herald's letters, both published and unpublished. I doubt it would pass the pub test.
Peter Hay, Islington
Bouquets, not brickbats
When will those who continually condemn the council accept that the mayor and councillors were elected by the people of Newcastle? It doesn't seem to matter what decisions, developments or plans are made, there will be condemnation. Newcastle is a Labor electorate. How about all representatives, state and federal, as well as our local newspaper, support the amazing work that's being done daily. Let's throw some bouquets instead of brickbats.
Wanda McInnes-Fog, Wallsend
Tradie shortage hurting
If you have tried to get a tradie to do a job lately you'd be aware of their desperate shortage in the building industry. To fix the problem, the Albanese government has excluded foreign trades from the new fast-track migrant visa scheme. Excluding urgently needed trades surely could not be to appease the unions who represent only 12.5 per cent of the national workforce. Silly me, I thought the elected Labor government was running the country.
