We walk each day on a shared path along a river in Maryville, Newcastle, and have been worried about the increasing speed of bike riders (“Complaints surge as electric ‘fat bikes’ rule roads”, March 16). It has made it near impossible to walk safely along the path with the advent of “fat bikes” loaded with up to three children, in the past year. They then leave the path and ride along the busy main roads on their way to school. My main concern is who pays the medical fees for a serious collision with a pedestrian. Fat bikes are electric motorbikes. Cars and motorbikes need insurance to cover injury costs. Fat bikes and even fast normal bikes need the same and fat bikes need a licence for the kids and our safety. Peter Lipscomb, Maryville
Three girls ride on one e-bike in Manly.Credit: Edwina Pickles
There seems to be an increasing number of non-pedal assist e-bikes, the speed controlled solely by a throttle. These electric-powered bikes, like e-skateboards and e-scooters (being trialled in some suburbs in Sydney) are deemed illegal by Transport for NSW and can be ridden only on private property.
There needs to be a concerted safety drive by government to make both parents and teenagers aware of which e-bikes are legal and the road rules. Schools can recommend but not enforce (outside of school grounds), council rangers don’t have the authority to enforce, and the police force we understand is under-staffed, and doesn’t appear to have the resources and/or time to enforce. E-bikes are a great form of transport for all ages – from the young to the not so young. Let us make riding e-bikes safe for everyone – riders, pedestrians, and drivers. Just recently in Manly three teenagers were badly injured riding an e-bike without helmets, and this isn’t a first. David Ingham, Manly
It is disturbing to learn of the dangers imposed by electric bikes on the footpaths in beachside suburbs. In our rural village, small unregistered motorbikes are causing problems every day. Unlicensed riders on unregistered bikes with no helmets, no shoes and sometimes with a pillion passenger are an accident waiting to happen. Maybe it is time to return to pedal power – cheaper and safer for all concerned. Robyn Lewis, Raglan
May I join the throng of those complaining about misuse of e-bikes. Many delivery couriers have no compunction about cycling on non-shared footpaths, often in busy pedestrian areas around restaurants. If police and rangers were empowered to confiscate machines of offenders for say 24 hours, the behaviour would probably change. Lewis Kaplan, Birchgrove
These bikes are motorbikes. They are the same size and weight as an old postie’s bike with better tyres. And they do the same speed. The scooter version is no less safe. A colleague uses one. He goes through the car park faster than I can drive and gets home in 18 minutes – less time than I would need to get to his suburb by car. Insist on licences and helmets for bike and scooter users. If they don’t have one, fine them. David Neilson, Araluen (NT)
Half-baked idea has a half-life
The party of “climate change is crap”, $100 roasts, “the science is inconclusive”, Whyalla wipeout, carbon capture and storage and at least half a dozen failed energy policies is now claiming to be leading the fight against global warming via its proposal to generate nuclear power (“‘Don’t knock the science’: CSIRO riposte”, March 16). Step one is to illogically stop the growth of renewable energy and extend the life of coal-fired power stations. Step two appears to be to discredit the findings of independent scientific research that contradicts their opinions on the practicalities of constructing nuclear power stations. Around the world conservative parties have accepted that climate change is real and that effective action needs to be taken; ours remain in denial. John Bailey, Canterbury
Peter Dutton with his finger on the nuclear buttonCredit: John Shakespeare
As the previous Coalition leader brought into parliament a lump of coal, I look forward to the day Peter Dutton brings into parliament a lump of radioactive waste. Henry Spirek, Muswellbrook
Assuming that nuclear energy, which is only possible decades ahead, will win votes at the next federal election for the Coalition is naive. If electability will be enhanced by addressing the pressing issue of cost of living by offering remedies with far more immediate effect, then nuclear is cancelled due to its very long lead times. Keeping the lights on and generating clean and affordable energy now and through the next decades as aged coal plants retire is a huge priority. We need to solve this and address climate change now and in every year ahead, not in two decades. Jim Allen, Panorama (SA)
Peter Dutton kowtows yet again to the Barnaby-led brigade of pro-nuclear, anti-2050 commitment crusaders. As long as the Coalition can be held together by a fraying thread, the rest of the country will be left to endure a fiery hell on earth without any hint of redemption from these blinkered federal back-pedallers. Sue Dyer, Downer
The Coalition wants a mature debate on nuclear power. Presumably in this, the Coalition will rebut all the evidence globally that shows big nuclear is non-viable economically without massive government subsidies. I look forward to hearing more detail about how the Coalition’s policy will work, long before the 2025 federal election. Ian Caddy, Cheltenham
Seventeen-year-old Will Shackel is naive in his claim that the problem of nuclear waste has been blown out of proportion (“Expensive, improbable nuclear is casting shade on wind, solar”, March 16). In America, after spending nearly $US7 billion searching for a national solution for the storage of the increasing amount of nuclear waste, spent fuel rods are still stored on site waiting for a means of permanent storage. In Canada, there are three million high-level radioactive bundles at temporary sites waiting for a central storage solution. In Britain, the latest estimate to clean up its nuclear sites is £263 billion, with the bulk of it being the maintenance of the dump at Sellafield which is so costly to maintain that it is now regarded as a fiscal risk by budgetary officials. The world has had nuclear power for 70 years yet still major countries with nuclear power lack a permanent solution for their waste. Peter Nash, Fairlight
Merging traffic
It’s hardly surprising that the NSW government rejected the demerger of Inner West Council (“Hopes for split rejected on cost”, March 16). Given the bipartisan support of the major parties for big government, the opposition of local Labor and Liberal councillors to even having a plebiscite of residents about how they were governed, and the O’Farrell government’s Independent Review Panel that foreshadowed forced amalgamations, claiming the problem with smaller local government areas is that councillors are too close to the community, the desired outcome of the major parties has been achieved.
There’s a very strong body of independent academic research which reports that larger local government actually costs residents more, with inflated numbers of middle and senior managers being the key drivers for increased costs. There are of course no economies of scale when you still have the same number of bins to empty, roads to maintain and community services to deliver. The cost of bigger councils for regional areas is even larger than for Sydney-based amalgamated councils. Certainly rates have risen above the trend for most residents of forcibly amalgamated local government areas, including residents of the former Marrickville LGA.
For residents of the former Ashfield, Leichhardt and Marrickville local government areas, Inner West Council is imposed, unwanted and unloved, simply a product of the major parties for whom democracy means what’s in their best interests. Colin Hesse, Marrickville
Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne wants to make the council “even more effective and progressive”. He could start by organising an efficient garbage collection service. Stephanie Edwards, Leichhardt
Garbage binsCredit: Louise Kennerley
Thank goodness sanity has prevailed. According to the analysis by consultants MorrisonLow, demerging the Inner West Council would increase rates by up to $470 p.a. and achieve what, exactly? It would be a return to the bad old days, with smaller petty fiefdoms, less co-ordination on things like Parramatta Road, and a less influential voice with government on things like the Rozelle Interchange. And seriously, who would ever want to resurrect the former Leichhardt Council?
Brendan Jones, Annandale
I live in the Canterbury-Bankstown Council area where some residents are also pushing for a demerger. Like the proposed Inner West Council demerger, it is doomed to fail. Most residents are unaware of the costs that are associated with demerging and although they find the current council below par, the former Canterbury Council was no better. The negatives of a demerger certainly outweigh the positives and the ego of some of the current administration. Peter Miniutti, Ashbury
Money in politics
As Australian politics is increasingly multi-partisan, the two major parties are in an impossible conflict of interest position in seeking to redefine how they and all other political contestants can or cannot access public and private funding (“Last hurrah for the big spenders? Inside Labor’s campaign reform balancing act”, March 15). To ensure reforms are genuinely in the public interest, we need the people to decide – we need a federal People’s Jury on Political Finance. Peter Moore, Newport
Restoring funding
It is pleasing to read that the government is restoring funding to UNRWA in Gaza (“Australia resumes UN aid funding”, March 16). It would have been even more pleasing had it not suspended it in the first place but followed the position of some European countries which decided to continue their funding until presented with credible evidence of Israel’s claim, backed by the US, that UNWRA members had participated in the Hamas attack of October 7. So far, neither government has presented such evidence. Nor have UNWRA investigators. Mary Lindsay, Duffy (ACT)
Apparently fleeing a genocide isn’t a good enough reason for Palestinian refugees to be allowed into Australia. People who were granted a visa and who left Gaza are now stranded high and dry in a third country because some bureaucrat thinks maybe they won’t want to go home when their visa expires. Were Israelis or Ukrainian refugees targeted in this manner? This decision is cruel and unjust and needs to be reversed immediately. Lynette Chamas, Burradoo
Horses for courses
Why does Sydney society need four racecourses when horse racing is declining in popularity and there is a major housing shortage (“Rosehill sale opponents risk killing a genuinely exciting idea for Sydney”, March 16)? With the profits from the sale of Rosehill Racecourse, the Australian Turf Club could invest in buying the land upon which Randwick Racecourse is located and pay its way, or the NSW government could sell off Randwick Racecourse for urgently needed housing. Brian McDonald, Willoughby
You need only look at Google Earth to question whether the racetrack and surrounding precinct is the best use of Sydney’s scarce land.Credit: Google Maps
The problem with the Australian Turf Club’s proposal to sell Rosehill Racecourse is not the “politics”, it is the substance. Members do not feel “blindsided”, we are astounded that it could reach this stage without due consideration having been given to a new location, something that is compounded when an option is airily floated with the habitat of an endangered species seemingly being regarded as a minor inconvenience.
Many members are open-minded on the proposed sale, we simply want those behind it, and those supporting it in the media, to demonstrate that they are capable of treating the matter with the seriousness it deserves. Surely that’s not a lot to ask. Scott Rhodes, Frenchs Forest
Signal lost
I find it unfathomable that in this day and age a Telstra spokesperson says it is “difficult to guarantee coverage to all areas through towers” and that “it’s a challenge that must be shared between ... governments and with providers such as the NBN, us and other mobile carriers” (“Phone upgrade advocate loses husband to farming tragedy”, March 16). How is it possible that this excuse is still plausible and accepted in the 21st century – where Australians are dying from the lack of coverage? Kathy Willis, Kew
New rhythm
I have been very patient since ABC TV axed The Drum. I have eagerly awaited the replacement program that will “determine the main channel audience across the evening”. So now we have repeats of Back Roads and Hard Quiz. Wow! Sue Martin, Clareville
Mac attack
Maybe the recent technical breakdown in McDonald’s stores will be explained as a software glitch (“McDonald’s suffers worldwide outage”, March 16). I want to know if the Hamburgler has an alibi. Lorraine Hickey, Green Point
Off the list
I’m sure the Liberals are actually going ahead with Scotty’s retirement party (CBD, March 15). He’s just not invited. Col Burns, Lugarno
Scott Morrison is leaving the buildingCredit: Jim Pavlidis
Doesn’t add up
The comment that maths doesn’t teach morality or the human condition reminds me of when I was teaching probability and a student took a lottery ticket from her bag and dramatically ripped it up (Letters, March 16). Margaret Grove, Concord
In 1970, I was the dullest possible maths student and it was compulsory. When Rome was awaiting one last miracle before they would declare Mary MacKillop Australia’s first saint, my maths teacher said, “What are they waiting for? I got Fleming through maths!” Justin Fleming, North Sydney
I have reached 92 without appreciating the profound beauty of Euclid’s proof of the infinity of primes. Is it too late? Barbara Barclay, Epping
Plain speaking
Nick Bryant has a point that too much pressure is placed on certain high-profile individuals to embody the “Australian ethos”, but I would have thought that telling off a Pommy copper could only enhance one’s Ned Kelly status (“Sam Kerr is the latest victim of Australia’s Ned Kelly syndrome”, March 16). Ross Duncan, Potts Point
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