Who farted in the pool? Was it Jan or Shirley? No one will ever know if you don't tell us.

That, readers, is the Coffs Coast Advocate's novel way of getting readers to provide it with newsworthy events. The Advocate gets top marks today for that one.

Luke Hartsuyker, MP for Cowper, told to check his facts

Seems Luke Hartsuyker has been tilting at windmills again. A correspondent to the Coffs Coast Advocate has taken the Member for Cowper to task for mouthing off about the carbon tax.

Time to clean-up act

I suggest Mr Hartsuyker check his facts before he says "no other country anywhere in the world is doing this (putting a price on carbon)".

In his radio debate with Matt Thistlethwaite he came out with the same old Coalition scare campaign slogan which is far from the truth. At least 26 other countries have successfully put a price on carbon and, so far, their economies have not come crashing down. The Coalition's policy seems to be to ignore the fact that emissions from the big polluters have to be dealt with. Whether one agrees with the climate change philosophy or not, isn't it time we cleaned up our act? Australia has the opportunity and the ability to become a world leader in clean air solutions if only we can get past political hype.

Christine Tiley

Source: Coffs Coast Advocate, 2/5/12

NSW North Coast MPs, the letter below was written for you

The letters section of today's Coffs Coast Advocate has a letter about funding the Pacific Highway in the north of the state, especially to the north of Port Macquarie.
It's quite obvious the letter writer wants to bring matters associated with the highway to the attention of MPs, especially National Party MPs.
In a sensible move the writer chose to send the letter to the editor of the Advocate who duly published it.
The other option the writer had was to send it directly to the National Party MPs on the NSW north coast, but that was a no-brainer; the recipients probably wouldn't be able to read it, understand it or be prepared to do anything about it, so they'd inevitably file it with much of the other correspondence they receive from their constituents in a section labelled "Too Hard".
Here's the letter:

Highway folly

It would appear North Coast members of parliament (state and federal) are afflicted by the mantra "It's someone else's fault".

The Pacific Hwy is not the national highway. Back in the '70s when the federal government took over the national highway it ran the circumference of Australia except for the New England due to the influence of the then leader of the Country (Nationals) Party, Ian Sinclair.

That folly has not been redressed but successive federal governments have accepted the need to fix the highway and entered into agreements with the state government.

Electorates to the north of Port Macquarie have always been the poor cousins and only received any semblance of largess to avoid embarrassment by the actions of our state neighbour to the north.

The NSW leader of the Nationals is quick to berate Canberra for perceived waste of funds on schemes for home insulation, NBN and the BER but utters not a peep about the extravagance of routing the Sapphire-to-Woolgoolga section through coastal swamp when a better route was available through the Nationals' heartland of the Orara Valley.

I have little time for Mr Oakeshott but it is hard to dismiss the observation that our Nationals members are found wanting with their views and attitudes to highway funding.

Independents in Canberra have shown how disproportionate funding achievements are possible when their support is needed; maybe it's time the Nationals exerted pressure on the Liberals instead of being Nodding Heads.

As a parting shot, I believe it is unconscionable to have our city drawn and quartered - east to west by the highway and north to south by the railway. Trucks are no less dangerous through Coffs Harbour than they are through Urunga. We haven't had our accident yet.

Peter Farquhar

Source: CCA, 7/3/12

Daily Departures: Who will tell us when our friends are having their funeral?

Today's print edition's of The Coffs Coast Advocate and The Tweed Daily News are collector items. After today, both papers will become mere shells of themselves despite bells, whistles and hoopla coming from various APN sources about new, improved online news for readers interested in local news in the Coffs and Tweed local areas. This reader hopes APN keeps its promises and The Daily Examiner and The Northern Star  improve their coverage of the Coffs and Tweed areas.

A correspondent to the Tweed Daily News (you've just gotta luv such dear souls) points out the impact the demise of his Tweed daily will have on "oldies".

Tweed 'infrastructure' lost

Thank you for allowing me to express my views at the local level for the past 12 years.

Along with many others who have spoken to me about your restricted publication we will all miss your Daily News.

Your much read local news and local history is now lost to the Tweed as we grow.

Very few of us "oldies" will follow you on the computer that many do not have or want.

On a very personal note, a number of my friends have asked: "Who will tell us when our friends are having their funeral?"

Part of Tweed's infrastructure has died and we will be lost.

Maybe your Saturday edition needs a section called: "Seen in hospital last week".

Thank you again.

Laurie Ganter

Coal seam gas mining catastrophe

The Coffs Coast Advocate made its final appearance today as a 'daily' ... sad news indeed. Read The Advocate's Belinda Scott tribute to the paper's last edition here.

The letters section of final edition carries a timely reminder of the catastrophic impact of coal seam gas mining - see below.

Coal seam catastrophe

Wake up, Australia. Gas coal seam mining will ruin the land, foul the underground water, foul surface water, degrade the soil and the atmosphere and generally bring about ruin to the families that own property that is subject to a mining lease.

I have recently viewed a documentary on this type of mining and the after effects on the countryside in the heartland of USA, mass destruction of the environment both above ground and below ground, plus the health and well being of land owners, all for the sake of the almighty dollar.

Thousands upon thousands of wells across America from Texas through to New York state.

Toxic chemicals into watercourses, private water wells, soils from one end of the country to the other and all this in a space of 10 years, unrepairable, with the mining companies never admitting liability and as a result little or no compensation for the injured parties.

Government agencies entrusted to monitor the industry in the early days, had no idea what was being used in the fracking process, so that when problems started to surface, government did not have a clue what they were dealing with.

Listening to our NSW and Queensland premiers, doesn't this sound all too familiar? They are so strapped for cash that they are prepared to sell the future of clean, clear water, viable food production, health and well-being of landowners for a miserable short-term dollar return.

Repeal the legislation and nip this in the bud before it becomes a major environmental disaster.

My simple logic tells me that it is going to be impossible to repair a fracture in the rock strata that allows toxic water and chemicals to reach an underground water reservoir, possibly 2000-4000 feet underground, through a six-inch pipe.

Are the miners going to send in trained mice armed with super glue to repair the fracture?

Once the damage is done it will be too late.

What is more important? Water, food, health, land or dollars?

I hope that the people of NSW and Queensland swamp their local politicians with questions regarding this stupidity that they appear to endorse.

M I Randall

Coffs councillor continues to cane Cowper MP, Luke Hartsuyker

In a letter to the editor of The Coffs Coast Advocate, Coffs Harbour City councillor, Mark Graham, continues on his mission to protect the environment and asks the federal local MP to account for his support for an antimony mine in the local area.

Mining catastrophe

It is immensely concerning that the member for Cowper, Mr Luke Hartsuyker, has publicly stated that the 60 jobs that will potentially be created through the establishment of an antimony mine at Wild Cattle Creek by Anchor Resources and its owner, China Shandong Jinshunda, will be a good thing for our regional economy.

This is because the tourism industry down the Clarence River (rafting, fishing and swimming), the southern-most cane growing lands in Australia and the nationally renowned and highly valuable prawn fishery at the mouth of the Clarence River will all be heavily impacted should this mine proceed.

These major industries underpin the economy of our region.

Furthermore, our three-year-old regional water supply, in which Coffs Harbour and Clarence Valley Councils have invested approximately $200 million, faces a great risk because of the toxic antimony, arsenic and mercury known to exist within the ore body that China Shandong Jinshunda seeks to mine.

On March 31, 2009, approximately 900mm of rainfall fell on the mine site.

There is nothing that can be done to capture all run-off in such extreme rainfall events.

It is inevitable that the Clarence River will be polluted should this mine proceed.

At a meeting yesterday at Coffs Harbour City Council chambers, the managing director of Anchor Resources, Mr Ian Price, stated that the lifespan of the mine will be measured in years, not decades.

Please explain your reasoning for supporting this mine on economic grounds, Mr Hartsuyker?

Councillor Mark Graham

Source: Letters, The Coffs Coast Advocate, 24/9/11

Coffs Coast Advocate needs a compass

Wednesday's Coffs Coast Advocate carried a report about an incident where a motorist fled the scene of a crash near Grafton.

According to the Advocate the incident was at Clarenza, west of Grafton.

Wrong, wrong wrong!

Clarenza is east of Grafton.

Looks like a compass is sorely needed at the Advocate.

Here's a suggestion: the Advocate could run a "Wanted" ad in its classifieds section. One of its readers must have a spare compass that could be given to the paper in exchange for a free subscription.

Read the Advocate's piece, written by Matt Deans, here.

Credit: Map from Google maps