The latest lie by Donald Trump and his cronies involving migrants eating pets should beg the question: why does this work for them?
All of us are migrants, recently or historically. What does it take to be a migrant, and would I want to leave and settle elsewhere? No, I wouldn't. Migration must be one of the toughest and loneliest decisions anyone makes, and people do this for a better life, which contributes to the accepting country, not just themselves.
I grew up in the fifties, what a boring time, with the remnants of the White Australia Policy determining the blandness, from food to languages spoken, to music, and dance. Ageing Western economies are stuffed without migration.
My ancestors, five brothers left Scotland for Australia leaving everything and the rest of the family behind for a great unknown. They thrived, as the majority of migrants do, despite the difficulties made even worse by toxic language and lies.
With current opportunistic politicians beating the anti-migrant drum, why would anyone want to come? These disgraceful attacks are only for their perceived political benefit. Blaming migrants for every problem brings no benefit for the population as a whole, and leaves many of us feeling deeply ashamed. There is no them and us.
Sarah Taylor, Merewether
Pager attacks 'terrorism'
Western media describes the pager explosions that callously killed and injured civilians in Lebanon as "ingenious and innovative". Using those metrics, so were the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers and Pentagon, but we never hear those atrocities reported that way. Both were sheer acts of terrorism towards civilian populations.
Would our media have reported the pager attack in the same terms if it was the Russians committing it on Ukrainian communities? Why do we accept such spin?
John Arnold, Anna Bay
CBD's precinct status clear
Phillip Kelly ("Harbour history undervalued", Letters, 20/9), I'm somewhat confused as to why you (or anyone else, for that matter) would dispute Newcastle's inner-city being declared an entertainment precinct.
Have you not noticed the dozens of licensed premises in the city, the majority of which are live music venues? Pertaining to this declaration, I question the relevance of the now defunct Newcastle Supercars events, which only ever took place four times, and only ever entertained spectators for one weekend each time. Meanwhile, Newcastle's live music venues continue to entertain the masses 52 weeks a year.
There may be constant attempts to gentrify the inner-city into a town, but even the plethora of new apartment blocks cannot change the fact that Newcastle is still a city, and, as such, is synonymous with restaurants, theatres, bars, pubs and clubs, ie. entertainment venues. Some of these venues have been present for decades, and in some cases, for more than 100 years.
Newcastle's live music scene in particular has made waves internationally since the '70s. So, in my opinion, trying to declare that Newcastle's inner-city is not an entertainment precinct also offers precious little regard for the city's lived history.
Adz Carter, Newcastle
Win was fair and square
Responding to "Nelmes slams 'dirtiest campaign I've witnessed in Newcastle's history" (Herald, 21/9).
As a member of the Our Newcastle campaign team, I can confidently state that I never witnessed any dirty tricks. Nelmes' claims of a "dirty campaign" by Ross Kerridge are unfounded.
John Beach, Kerridge's campaign manager, emphasised that the grassroots effort was funded by small donations and focused on policy, not personal attacks.
Every post was backed by credible sources, while I believe Labor relied on expensive, professionally-made ads. Beach also noted that Nelmes compared Kerridge to Donald Trump.
The election result reflects the public's evaluation of her leadership, not any smear tactics. I think Nelmes should reflect on the reasons for her defeat.
Leigh Wardle, Tighes Hill
SHORT TAKES
Stores conveniently duck scrutiny
What really irks me about scrutiny on Coles and Woolies is that it appears that no authority questions the prices charged in "convenience" stores, such as Quick-E marts, 7-11s and service station sites. Sometimes prices in these places are double and more, but we do not hear a whimper from people who pay these prices. And don't even start me on banks and their profits.
Tony Morley, Waratah
Fines miss true target
So Coles, Woolies and the big banks could, and I repeat could, be issued with huge fines for deceptive behaviour. In my opinion, all this will do is decrease the value of their shares and dividends, which means shareholders and superannuation funds will be affected. This is instead of hitting those who are responsible - the CEOs and other guilty parties - in the hip pocket so it really hurts and sends a message that such behaviour is not acceptable. Anything less than this is a waste of time.
Ian King, Warners Bay
Last line of defence
How should we pronounce the last letter in the alphabet? When I was at school during the 1940s it was "zed". Now I'm told that kids are being taught to say "zee". Why has this change been made?
Peter Newey, Waratah
Nurses deserve our support
I think the nurses should get the pay rise they are asking for, 15 per cent. Nurses should be supported, as we don't want them replaced by handmaidens. They deserve respect and a front page.
Maureen O'Sullivan Davidson, Swansea
Check the definition of 'excise'
The Liberal Party were quick to shut down the Nationals Leader's idea of lowering the excise on beer as an election promise. I knew they would because they were the party that kept a tax on a tax when the GST was introduced. John Howard famously said that excise was not a tax. Check any dictionary and the definition of excise is, without a doubt, a tax. Another Howard con.
Darryl Tuckwell, Eleebana
A date with democracy
Hunter councils take note. A local council in South Australia has back-flipped on its decision to move Australia Day celebrations away from January 26 following a community survey that showed 60.6 per cent of residents wanted the ceremonies held on that date. The SA council's example is one that all councils should follow before hoisting their ideologies or woke ideas upon their communities by a majority vote of councillors instead of surveying the wishes of their community. This is what democracy is all about?
John Cooper, Charlestown
Ambassador's spend questioned
We now learn that Australia's globetrotting First Nations People Ambassador Justin Mohamed's salary is about $300k pa. This is on top of revelations about him racking up about $350k in travel expenses last financial year. How has this helped Indigenous communities struggling with violence and crime?
