DEAR News Of The Area, TO the humans planning an Ocean Pool at Oxley Beach, we are the ones you don’t see when you snap your beach selfies. The blue groper who sleeps in the rocky crevices. The sea urchins wedged between basalt. The wobbegong and grey nurse sharks who call these gutters home. The […]
DEAR News Of The Area, HIGH-POWERED electric bikes (“fat bikes”) ridden by teenagers have become a major safety issue around Coffs. I have frequently seen teenagers engaging in risky riding, including: riding on the wrong side of the road, riding without a helmet, doing wheelies, riding while standing or kneeling on the bike seat, looking […]
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 […]
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, 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, AUSTRALIA until recently had 10 oil refineries, but now has only two. Therefore we rely almost entirely on imports of finished products, of which we have only a few weeks of supply stored on Australian soil. The late Senator Major General Jim Molan pointed out the severe consequences of our […]
DEAR News Of The Area, I WISH to pay a public tribute to this wonderful woman who served seven terms on our council and was a true giver to our community in many ways. During her council service she had to endure some tough times, but she remained bravely steadfast in her commitment. When the […]
DEAR News Of The Area, I FIND it hard to find sensible discussion about migration coming from the opposition. Instead they seek to politicise the issue and turn it into a fear campaign. Fear campaigns work because they do not require facts, merely a grievance, and appeal to our natural desire for simple solutions to […]
DEAR News Of The Area, SINCE my teens, following the 1973 Arab oil embargo, we have been acutely aware of the finite nature of fossil fuels. And although scientists have warned that burning fossil fuels contributes to climate change for over a century, these concerns have become urgent since the 1980s. So, in Australia we […]
DEAR News Of The Area, WAR breaks out in the Middle East and immediately fuel prices in Australia jump. Within two weeks they rise by more than 50c per litre. Why? A Government spokesman states that we have 30 days supply on hand, so for this fortnight we are purchasing fuel at the bowser that […]
