More harm than help: missile plan should fill our region with shame

25 Aug 2024, 18:00 by Letters to the Editor · Newcastle Herald

Pat Conroy at RAAF Base Williamtown. Picture by Jonathan Carroll

MINISTER for Defence Industry Pat Conroy has the gall to describe the Albanese government's $850 million spend on a missile manufacturing facility at Newcastle Airport as "great" ("$850m to secure Hunter's future as Defence powerhouse", Opinion, 22/8). Great for whom, Mr Conroy? As a proud resident of this region, I am frankly ashamed that we will soon be exporting death and destruction to the world under the guise of economic progress and defence capability.

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Labor's "Future Made in Australia" vision appears to be transforming the Hunter from a region that once manufactured trains, boats, and other meaningful products, into a hub for weapons production. Is this really the best future we can envision for our community? Instead of exporting coal, Labor now wants us to export missiles - trading one harmful industry for another.

Why doesn't Labor have the vision to return us to industries that help rather than harm? The Hunter could be a leader in renewable energy manufacturing, advanced rail, and maritime technologies - industries that create jobs and contribute to global peace, rather than perpetuate conflict. We should be focusing on building a future that we can be proud of, not one that fills us with shame.

Bryce Ham, Whitebridge

Plan to build missiles puts region on map

THANK YOU Pat Conroy and the Albanese government for making Newcastle the epicentre of the next US war via a missile manufacturing plant in Williamtown ("$850m to secure Hunter's future as Defence powerhouse", Opinion, 22/8).

Mary Sharkey, Barnsley

Voters have themselves to blame

WHILST I tend to agree with comments by Denise Lindus Trummel ("Make some noise, Newcastle", Letters, 22/8), unfortunately whingeing and complaining will do little to attract the attention of our Sydney-centric politicians. This region has been wedded to Labor for so long, the state governments either ignore us as a lost cause, or take us for granted believing we will never change allegiances. The only complaint that matters is at the ballot box and that's extremely unlikely to change in the foreseeable future. The status quo will remain and the region will continue to receive crumbs from the political table. Local voters have only themselves to blame. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over but expecting a different result. Think about it.

Daryll Hadfield, Redhead

Genuine Green backing

MAC Maguire ("Bacon after Green vote?", Letters, 21/8), I think Steve Barnett, as a small business owner, is genuine in his new found support for the Greens. The major parties represent the interests of big business, and since the 2016 election when the Greens were the only party to be endorsed by the Council of Small Business of Australia, they have continued to offer policies that will bring owners financial relief - through protection from monopolies of big business, doubling GST threshold, removing employers from superannuation process, wages credits for new employees, special maternity leave and $600 million for mental health intervention because "small businesses are people". He makes good sense.

John Arnold, Anna Bay

Nothing wrong with park

NIPPED in the bud today, by Jen Robinson's excellent letter ("Wasting ratepayers'money", Letters, 21/8), about another vanity project by so-called "management" in the dying days of this council term. I refer to the totally unnecessary, very expensive "vanity project" (I prefer gimmick and white elephant) children's playground in Foreshore Park. We already had a perfectly good one (I used to take a child to play there).

Who was the genius who justified it? The area is largely a residential one and well served by what was already there. Why do these people think it's sound planning to shove every conceivable gimmick in the East End (the real one, not the Iris development in Hunter St Mall). There are many very large and underutilised suburban parks. Why not locate a playground there? Think Speers Point Park as an example.

Keith Parsons, Newcastle (Former NCC councillor and deputy lord mayor)

A baffling species

MANY people believe that beings in outer space are closely examining the activities of humans on planet Earth. The outer space beings, if they exist, surely must be completely baffled by what they see.

Why, they must wonder, do humans allow the burning of fossil fuels coal, natural gas and oil to produce energy, if only a minimum amount of research reveals that the burning of fossil fuels, because it causes massive amounts of greenhouse gases to enter the atmosphere, will certainly render planet Earth to be uninhabitable, resulting from fast rising temperatures at a time not far into the future.

The answer is of course that large corporations on planet Earth are making extremely attractive profits burning fossil fuels for the production of energy and it seems anything that increases bottom line profits is acceptable in this modern world.

Brian Measday, Kingswood

No age limit on sugar drinks

I'M curious as to why under 18 aged people are governed by law to not smoke or drink alcohol, yet they can choose freely to drink sugary and highly caffeinated drinks and eat all the garbage advertisements show them. As for vaping, if we were meant to smoke, God would've installed chimneys in us.

Bryn Roberts, New Lambton

Waiting common at post office

REGARDING "Claydon calls out post office wait times" (Newcastle Herald, 22/8). Sharon Claydon and Sonia Hornery should visit. I have seen customers outside waiting. Not only does it service Wallsend, Maryland, Fletcher and Minmi, but also Elermore Vale and Rankin Park since the closure of Elermore Vale post office.

Geoff Pickin, Wallsend

Taking the right to run

LOOKING forward to Labor's right to disconnect work laws; no calling staff after hours. Well, as the boss and in control of our lotto syndicate at work this suits me fine. When the numbers drop I've got about eight hours to take off to never-never land, never to be seen by staff again.

Steve Barnett, Fingal Bay

Liberals stuffed up

SORRY John Carr ("Electoral extension", Letters, 23/8), the issue here is the Liberals just stuffed it up and didn't nominate in time. This is no one else's fault. Simple.

Graeme Bennett, Warners Bay

Who's in firing line

IT is quite lucrative that the Kongsberg missile factory will be a shot in the arm for the Hunter, but one wonders who will be getting the shot up the derriere ("Missile factory a shot in arm", Herald, 23/8).

Peter Ronne, Woodberry

Libs in Carrington

BARRY Reed (Letters, 20/8), notes Liberal candidates in Carrington. To quote an old ALP friend, "back in the good old days there were only four Liberal voters in Carrington and we knew who they were and they knew we knew who they were".

Greg Essex, Newcastle East

SHARE YOUR OPINION

To offer a contribution to this section: please email letters@newcastleherald.com.au or send a text message to 0427 154 176 (include name and suburb). Letters should be fewer than 200 words. Short Takes should be fewer than 50 words. Correspondence may be edited in any form.

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