DEAR News Of The Area, COUNCIL’S dogged pursuit of the redevelopment of the Jetty Foreshores illustrates the downside of voting above the line in elections. It allows individuals, who, standing alone, would attract minimal votes, to gain selection based on a flow of preferences from a strong representative within the group structure, often then leading […]
DEAR News Of The Area, IN TERMS of looking after its own, Coffs Harbour fails miserably as it becomes too expensive, with the very people who built it now struggling or being pushed out. The high cost-of-living worldwide takes much of the blame but it should not absolve local bad leadership or play into hands […]
DEAR News Of The Area, THE National Party seems to be scratching its head as to why people are leaving them for One Nation. Could it be that it’s because they say one thing and do another, so all trust in them is lost? I totally agree with Wayne Welsh’s letter of last week, so […]
DEAR News Of The Area, WHEN I fled a violent relationship with my two-year-old son, I didn’t have the luxury of waiting on a two-year childcare waitlist. I added my son to every waitlist in the area, only to wait four months for a single day of care per week. Even now, with my son […]
DEAR News Of The Area, FOR more than 30 years, ratepayers in the Coffs Harbour LGA have contributed to an environmental levy to support community-led environmental work. The proposed budget for the next three years of the “Delivery Program” published on Friday 16/4/26, appears to redirect funds away from community environmental programs and towards projects […]
DEAR News Of The Area, DO we need a migration debate or do we need a migration discussion? Debate implies conflict and discussion, a learning exercise. Given that more than a third of our population is either born overseas or from parents who were born overseas and in total more than 95 percent of Australians […]
DEAR News Of The Area, IN a letter published on 17 April, Lex Stewart opined on Australia’s fuel situation. Some of those statements should not go unquestioned, for example that we now refine only 20 percent of our production. The reasons for that are not explained in Mr Stewart’s letter, but here they are. Australia […]
DEAR News Of The Area, THE price of diesel fuel must be sounding alarm bells to heavy transport operators. How long will the price of diesel stay high, or more to the point how long will it take to return to the prices of a month ago – if ever? How pleasing it was to […]
DEAR News Of The Area, AS ANZAC Day approaches, and as wars rage unabated in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, it is important to contemplate the sacrifices made by previous generations and what legacies we have inherited. Almost everyone who participated in WWII is now dead, weakening the direct link to that dark […]
DEAR News Of The Area, IT’S worth noting that the US/Israel war on Iran is going to affect people differently. Setting aside the effects on the Iranian people, the main effect here in Australia is that the costs of energy and food are going to go up. For working and middle-class people this is going […]
