No NRL entertainment? Fans say, no thank you, Peter V'landys

Email letters@newcastleherald.com.au or send a text to 0427 154 176 (include name and suburb). Letters should be fewer than 200 words. Short Takes should be fewer than 50 words. Disclose political party roles or affiliations. Correspondence may be edited in any form.

Great work Peter V'landys. How about we send everyone, all NRL and all AFL supporters to the AFL Kylie show? No NRL pre, mid, post entertainment? No wonder? No idea? No hope? No thanks. From a previous NRL Grand Final Supporters Group and also a fan.

Simon Ruddy, Newcastle

Better than Lego

Okay, I'm on a mission for Mick, the barman at the Mayfield Hotel. Mick is into tea, proper tea, like my grandmother and great grandmother made, with real tea leaves prepared the way the Queen Mother would approve of (actually Mick reminds me of the Queen Mother, but I don't know if Her Majesty had the grace of Mick the barman). Newcastle has some salubrious establishments that stand up and are as good as anywhere in Australia. Is there a cafe, restaurant or venue that serves traditional tea? Please let me know because 'Lord Mick of Mayfield' is not amused when it comes to the standard of tea.

Maybe the Knights could join him for a cuppa after they win the premiership! I'm sure it would be better than Lego. Tally ho, chaps.

Steve Barnett, Fingal Bay

CCTV is not magic wand for behaviour

As a Hamilton resident who regularly walks my dog at night, ducks up to the IGA and meets friends on Beaumont Street at night and has done for a long time, I'm frustrated by the ongoing suggestion that more CCTV is the answer to antisocial behaviour.

Cameras record what happens; they don't automatically prevent it. At best, they may provide evidence afterwards - if people, vehicles or number plates can be identified, that is. Serious assaults are reprehensible, but Hamilton is not, and never will be, a quiet, incident-free suburb, but then again, what suburb is? Residents' safety concerns should be heard, but we should know in these modern times CCTV is not a magic wand.

Emma-Jane Scott, Hamilton

Not dead yet: bring out your $20 notes

For years we have been told that cash is on its way out. We have learnt how to tap cards, tap phones, and occasionally stand in front of machines that do not like us.

Now that card surcharges are disappearing, perhaps the humble $20 is waiting for its chance to return. If businesses can no longer charge us extra for using a card will the cost simply be built on to the cost of everything? If so, will the person paying cash be helping to pay for somebody's card transaction?

Perhaps it's time to forage into the back of the wallet to see if that $20 is still there?

It may be time for cash to make a comeback.

Helen Douglas, Stockton

AI gatekeepers

I had the best laugh this week when I read the advice on how to prepare to survive an AI catastrophe: keep cash in the house, if any of the banks still have it, and keep paper copies of all your important documents. I thought we were heading to a paperless future and stocking up on essentials like food, water, candles etc. Really?

AI is supposedly going to be the golden future, but a return to my grandparents' era is the advice if it goes pear-shaped. I didn't ask for AI, at no time is my consent given as it appears whenever I interact with the internet, I cannot opt out. All that is fed into AI has been harvested again without permission or payment for intellectual property. The bias is staggering. Along with social media platforms, it has come on to the market with no regulations or safety features.

No other product is available in this way. Who will be accountable for the harms caused? If AI is so important it should be provided by the government, not a bunch of young, white males, Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg types who are making themselves the richest people on the planet with all the rules going out the window.

In this drought-prone country who will get our precious water? AI data centres or people? That's probably why we need to start hoarding water. What a sick joke.

Sarah Taylor, Merewether

Buck stops with parents

Salvatore Cocco ("Lost sense of direction", Letters, 22/9), I don't care what anyone says, the big elephant in the room with young people committing adult crime is they have no discipline or respect.

In my opinion, the majority of these offenders have been brought up with no direction. What people are afraid to bring up is the role that parents play in children's attitudes when they are younger. If parents don't care, and I don't say that lightly, then what sort of direction is that giving children?

Why is it that, back in my day, if a teacher brought parents in for a discussion about the attitude of "little Johnnie" the parents would respect the teachers and take appropriate action to rectify at home. These days, no matter what "little Johnnie" is accused of, a percentage of these so-called parents will back up their child and ignore the problem altogether.

This, in my opinion, contributes to issues later in life. If parents feel that it is their privilege and right to have a baby, they need to realise that the responsibility remains that they set rules and regulations in regard to doing the right thing and respecting others.

The buck stops with the parents, not the child.

Tony Morley, Waratah

Hidden cost of hot chook

Sorry to douse the contribution ("Hot take on chook price", Letters, 25/9) with cold water, but the $8 Costco chicken requires an annual "membership" fee of $65 to obtain. In addition, unless the shopper lives near the outlet, the return travel fuel cost makes that an expensive roast. This makes prices of other food stores close to the shopper not so unattractive.

Marvyn Smith, Heddon Greta

Skills need to fit

Great suggestions, Steven Busch ("Misguided pill testing", Letters, 24/9), I worked overseas for 20 years. My residency was always employment-based; my visa was reviewed annually, and goals set for me included training locals. If my skill set didn't meet local requirements, my visa would have been cancelled. Oh, and employers were encouraged to recruit singles and we were often housed in barracks-type accommodation. I shouldn't need to add this but there are some readers who choose to believe all letters of this nature are anti-immigration. Wrong, I am anti-policymakers.

Dave McTaggart, Edgeworth

Energy policy

The government's approach to energy is not driven by ideology, as Dan Tehan claims, but by science and economics ("Net zero would get zero under Coalition's energy plans," Herald, 24/9). The Coalition's approach is the exact opposite. Will the 'climate wars' ever end, so we can just get on with saving the planet?

Ken Enderby, Concord

Price difference at pump 

The US petrol prices are quoted at $4.50 a gallon, converted to the Aussie dollar about $6. We are paying an equivalent price of $9 a gallon. If we operate in a free market, why do Aussies pay 50 per cent more for petrol? We have regulations galore on competition. Why do we have such price differences? We see the same lack of competition across electricity banking and groceries. The typical Aussie is serving the big end of town, it's about time that changed.

Grahame Danaher, Coal Point