It is gratifying to know there are so many kind people who volunteer when things go wrong. 

Jim Humphries

Verona 

I would like to take the opportunity to respond to Maureen Searson’s letter to the editor in BDN, July 31.

It is tremendously important for individuals like Maureen to engage in this very important topic and I commend her for doing so.

What is equally important is for the discussion to be conducted in a sober fashion and for facts to be precisely conveyed and responsibly communicated. 

The rabid campaign against the Free Trade Agreement with China (ChAFTA) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was initiated by the Trade Union movement. 

 It was funded by plundering the union fees of their hard-working members – the same members who have so much to gain.  

Sadly, and disappointingly, the campaign was recklessly promoted and endorsed by the ALP candidate in Eden-Monaro.  

It is a case study in dishonest, xenophobic, scare-campaigning.  

The agreements will not change Australia’s industrial relations laws at all.

Maureen asked three specific and intelligent questions and I am happy to provide her and all readers with the answers.  

To do that precisely and responsibly will take more than a few words, so I have placed detailed responses to those questions on my website at www.peterhendy.com.au.

I would like to remind Maureen and all readers that the Free Trade Agreement with China will be particularly beneficial for the South Coast and right across Eden-Monaro. 

It will not only secure improved market access, but enhance Australia’s competitive position by giving our growers and producers an advantage over major competitors such as the United States, Canada and the European Union.

We can look forward to tariffs being immediately or progressively abolished for our region’s dairy industry; for our timber industry; our seafood exports; and our wool, beef, goat, and sheep meat sectors. 

The Free Trade Agreement with China will benefit the entire community through the creation of jobs, economic growth, and greater prosperity for all.

The opportunities for future export growth in this market are there for the taking but we must move quickly.  

It would be shameful if we missed those opportunities due to the misinformation peddled by vested interests and an opportunistic candidate.

Peter Hendy

Federal Member for Eden-Monaro

I feel that Norm Boyle is being disingenuous in his claim that his 100 horsepower learner aeroplanes will be "even quieter" than a 200 horsepower Cessna.

Anyone who has heard a 70 horsepower lightly-muffled motorbike roar down Main Street and compared it to a 200 horsepower family sedan will know that more horsepower does not mean more noise. 

It depends entirely on how much muffling is used, and in these low power learner aircraft weight is premium, and thus muffler systems will be minimal. 

And remember, small aircraft are practically always on full power except when landing.

He is being even more disingenuous when he says that "the highway will be noisier than our airplanes". 

Certainly huge trucks climbing hills are noisy, but that noise is rapidly reduced by trees, shrubs, hills and even grasses. 

The aircraft are different, there is absolutely no obstruction to the noise - it will carry for many kilometres in all directions. 

I am sure everyone in the Valley has heard aircraft and can realise just how noisy it will be if Boyle is allowed to have 20 aircraft in the air for eight hours a day. 

That figure is based on Boyle’s claim that his 360 students on three month courses will have 40 hours of airtime each.

No doubt there are guidelines for aircraft noise limits, but they are mostly set up for busy cities where the background noise is already invasive. 

In our lovely peaceful Valley these guidelines will be meaningless. 

Please let us all fight to preserve the liveability of our Valley.

Paul Scherek

Candelo

I am very supportive of your “Opinion” expressed in BDN, 14/8. 

I am very much hoping that justice is done and that Maurice Van Ryn receives the sentence he deserves and not some slap over the wrist because he purports to be a “model citizen” and can afford what I assume is the most expensive of legal representation. 

He has pleaded guilty to numerous child sex offences including rape and has gotten away with being a serial offender for far too many years.

You made a number of very powerful points in your “Opinion” that we as a community and society need to aware of. 

Sympathy for Van Ryn, if such exists, is misplaced. 

There are so many consequences for the victims of child sexual abuse and some of these slip under the radar. 

One that should be considered when the lawyers for Van Ryn speak about the conditions in prisons (that are too unpleasant for the likes of Van Ryn) is that many victims end up in prison. 

The legacy of child sexual abuse is known to cause of ongoing psychological problems and as a result of this, drug abuse, alcoholism and crime are common as consequences. 

Knowing this the Royal Commission into Child Sexual abuse has gone into the prison system to give victims the voice that they have long been denied. 

I wonder sadly whether Van Ryn has ever truly considered this and whether he has any genuine sympathy for those who end up in prison because at an earlier time in their lives they were betrayed by a predatory paedophile. 

Paul Cozens

Tathra 

I would like to thank the doctors, nurses and staff of the Bega Hospital for their care while I was a patient recently.  

Thanks also to the young man who took me to hospital the morning of our car accident, all those who sent cards, flowers and food and to Maxine for transporting Murray and myself when we didn't have a car.

Margaret Douch OAM

Bermagui

I noted with great pleasure the news that New Zealand is closing its last coal-fired power stations in 2018 (SMH, 5/8).

The chief reasons for closure are cheap renewable power and low electricity demand growth. 

Even with low coal prices, the company is set to save NZ$25million per year through the closures.

Unlike our PM, NZ's PM is unsurprised and pleased at this turn of events for economic and emissions reasons. 

Efforts to prevent the economically and environmentally reckless development of the Galilee Basin coal fields is described by PM Abbott as unpatriotic, inhumane (denial of coal for India) and sabotage.

If this government were true economic hard heads, they would remove all fossil fuel subsidies and let the market take coal out due its non-competitive and unhealthy consequences. 

The greatest economic and humanitarian threats we face in the coming decades stem from climate change due to fossil fuels. 

A far-sighted and responsible government must act to prepare Australia for the future instead of hating renewables and rorting parliamentary allowances.

Denby Angus

Pambula Beach

* Letters to the editor are most welcome. They should be no more than 300-400 words and should be emailed, typewritten, or in clearly legible handwriting. 

The Bega District News reserves the right to edit submissions for length and/or legal concerns. 

Letters must contain the writer’s name and home town for publication, and a daytime phone number for verification. 

Letters can be emailed or posted to the addresses on page four and will be published at the editor’s discretion.