July 18, 2026
Letter to the Editor:  Dissent is not a crime
Letter to the Editor

Letter to the Editor: Dissent is not a crime

DEAR News Of The Area, HISTORY shows us that authoritarian regimes – including Nazi Germany – treated symbolic dissent as a crime. Burning a flag, questioning a leader, or refusing to perform patriotic rituals could lead to imprisonment or worse. When modern governments talk about jailing people for symbolic protest, they are echoing the same […]

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Letter to the Editor: New leader, same old Liberals
Letter to the Editor

Letter to the Editor: New leader, same old Liberals

DEAR News Of The Area, NEW Liberal leader Angus Taylor promises that by returning to Liberal values he will restore our standard of living, protect our way of life and restore the Australian dream of home ownership. In trying to sell this snake oil, he turns a blind eye to the fact that successive Liberal/Nationals […]

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Letter to the Editor: Bring back the boat NOTA reader John misses seeing the hanging boat at the entrance to Urunga.
Letter to the Editor

Letter to the Editor: Bring back the boat

DEAR News Of The Area, JUST my opinion, but I miss seeing the hanging boat at each entry to Urunga. I believe the boat represented Urunga well – boating, fishing, relaxing and catching up with old friends. I am sure weary drivers and children were happy to finally see the hanging boat as a sign […]

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Letter to the Editor: No change of flag
Letter to the Editor

Letter to the Editor: No change of flag

DEAR News Of The Area, I REFER to Margaret England’s letter (6 February) about changing the date of Australia Day and the flag. Recent polling about such change found that almost 80 percent of those surveyed wanted to retain the status quo. I think with the flag it is not the actual components (Union Jack […]

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Letter to the Editor: A glaring contradiction
Letter to the Editor

Letter to the Editor: A glaring contradiction

DEAR News Of The Area, IN the years since the Global Financial Crisis, one contradiction has quietly persisted at the heart of modern economic culture – a contradiction so glaring that it should unsettle anyone who still believes our systems reward contribution and punish harm. We shame the unemployed. We mock them, dismiss them, and […]

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Letter to the Editor: cost of consultants a ‘concern’
Letter to the Editor

Letter to the Editor: cost of consultants a ‘concern’

DEAR News Of The Area, WE now hear our independent Mayor Nikki Williams, arguing that the development of a Draft Aquatic Strategy is well beyond the skill set of Coffs City Council’s planning department. Furthermore, the Mayor argues that it was cost effective to bring in that expertise rather than employ someone at Council permanently. […]

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Letter to the Editor: don’t mention the war
Letter to the Editor

Letter to the Editor: don’t mention the war

DEAR News Of The Area, THE extraordinary events of the last two months have revealed much about Australian society, status quo politics, and the suppression of our mainstream media. The shock and horror of Bondi, which will forever define Xmas 2025, has revealed an Australia still living in a global bubble where the realities of […]

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Letter to the Editor: response to Forestry statements
Letter to the Editor

Letter to the Editor: response to Forestry statements

DEAR News Of The Area, I WRITE to correct the public record about statements by Forestry Corporation (FCNSW) reported in NOTA on 9 January, 2026. I breed (in the wild) and seek to increase the populations of Endangered Greater Gliders (GGs) and other globally significant biota on my conservation reserves. In late 2023, FCNSW spent […]

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