Letters, November 20

Today when I read Dave Cox's letter I felt really sad. If he had read previous articles about Mithra Cox he would have seen that she is very concerned about all the things he mentions.

You can't expect every article that is written about someone to contain all their views every time.

If Mr Cox had bothered to have a look at the Illawarra Greens' vision document (www.illawarragreens.org.au/vision) he would see that the Greens is the one political party that is really concerned and prepared to work towards a thriving, sustainable community. Credit where credit is due.

Cherry Hardaker, Bulli

Sweet Jesus Mary and Joseph! The blind shall be healed. I was tempted to write in braille as clearly Dave Cox has not read the Illawarra Greens Vision for our area.

Anna Jahjah, Coledale

When the tea trees were vandalised at Brighton beach we were as shocked as anyone else. It was pleasing to see the big board being installed, but as we walk that path nearly daily, we have now noticed that a big old fig tree, 100 years old at least, is starting to look stressed and is probably dying.

It is the tree directly in line to the vandalised tea trees. The top branches are dead, and compared to other fig trees around there, there is hardly any foliage.

We mentioned this to a nearby council worker, who told us that the council knows about this. So we ask the question, "Is some maniac actually poisoning this old tree to get a better view of the harbour and ocean?"

We hope that this tree will recover for all of us to enjoy in years to come, and will provide shade for the general public of our city. Penalties for "tree vandal morons", should be increased by double at least, when caught.

John Pronk, Wollongong

Richard Burnett is his usual cup-half-full ("COP26 a flop", 17/11). He conveniently overlooks that the Glasgow Climate agreement is the first-ever climate deal to explicitly plan to reduce coal consumption.

Countries have also committed to strengthen their 2030 emissions targets by next year and double their funding for developing nations to adapt to climate change by 2025.

It was pleasing that more than 100 world leaders, including Scott Morrison, have promised to end and reverse deforestation by 2030. India set a target for the first time and the US and China, the world's two biggest emitters, agreed to boost climate co-operation over the forthcoming decade.

While COP26 is not perfect, it has kept hope alive. As Attenborough said when opening the conference, "If working apart we can destabilise our planet, then working together we are powerful enough to save it. Our eyes are on world leaders to make commitments at COP26 that will do this."

Ray Peck, Hawthorn

That wasn't ScoMo who said EV's will end the weekend, it was his twin brother.

Matty Ryan, Fairy Meadow

Send your letters to letters@illawarramercury.com.au