Graffiti on the surf club and fences, burnt-out parkland, abandoned and burnt-out cars, broken glass and dumped garbage.

If the residents of the area have no respect or pride in the area perhaps we could do a people swap with those unfortunate refugees on Manus Island. I’m sure they would more than appreciate living at Bellambi.

David Jenkins, Figtree

Public transport farce

With the removal of the paper ticketing system for those of us who do not use the public transport system often, it has just become much more cumbersome and annoying to use public transport.

First of all, the Opal cards are not sold at the stations like paper tickets used to be. What a brilliant idea!

Secondly, the ‘‘starting minimum’’ you can load on the Opal card is $40 with a credit and debit card only. 

But don’t worry, the Opal card lasts nine years, even though you only needed it once.

The brochure even claims ‘‘you only pay for the travel you use’’ ...well duuh, didn’t we do that anyway? We used to only pay $2.80 to go from Wollongong to Corrimal to begin with. Now, if you only ever wanted to do that once you will be paying $40.

Oh and if your card drops below the minimum required for a ‘‘trip’’ they very kindly top up your card even if you might not have the funds.Public transport is meant to be accessible for everyone, even those who do not use it often, you should not have to jump through five hoops just to catch a train, bus or ferry when your car breaks down. What happened to pay as you go?

Michael Jones, Bellambi

Petition input welcome

Mr Willis, general manager of Shellharbour City Council, states that the number of signatures contained in the Stop The Hub petition should be treated with some caution as ‘‘for example, some 600 signatures come from people outside the city’’.

It is pleasing to note that SCC has taken the time to study the addresses on the petition.

Mr Willis, during his vast experience in council operations in New Zealand, England and also in the Blue Mountains areas, must surely realise that many people from outside a particular local government area do take the opportunity to invest in properties which are not located within the area of their current residence.

We in Shellharbour City are most fortunate in that anywhere up to 600 people have great confidence in purchasing properties within our LGA and as such, surely they, as ratepayers, are entitled to sign a petition if they so wish, especially as any item of contention will affect them financially.

Paul Hockey, Shellharbour

Inquiry into scandal

On Sunday evening, Liz Hayes interviewed James Ashby on 60 Minutes. I listened intently, expecting Liz to ask the obvious question. Judge Stephen Rares found that an attempt was made to bring down the Speaker and, in turn, the Labor government.

 When the case was rejected by Judge Rares, Ashby successfully appealed his case, then, on June 17, he dropped it. Why? The Ashby case would have been the greatest political scandal in Australia’s history. 

The next Labor government has a duty to announce a royal commission into this affair.

Don Kelly, Kanahooka