DEAR News Of The Area, PORT Macquarie-Hastings Council has begun notifying property owners about its updated Draft Hastings River Flood Study, leaving many residents questioning what the new mapping could mean for their properties, insurance costs and future plans. I recently received a letter advising that my property has been identified as potentially affected during […]

DEAR News of the Area, I WRITE with disgust to highlight the absolute injustice of the recent Port Macquarie-Hastings Council decision to replace the Dunbogan Bushcare group. If Mayor Roberts and Councillors Hornshaw, Kirkman and Maltman can’t show their respect and appreciation for this dedicated bunch of volunteers, or even have the grace to acknowledge […]

DEAR News Of The Area, Port Macquarie MP Robert Dwyer has some explaining to do over his support for the Great Koala National Park (GKNP) and its consequences for our region’s hardwood timber industry. On 21 October, Mr Dwyer voted in favour of the legislation establishing the GKNP, despite knowing the serious consequences for local […]

I AGREE with Paul Sekfy (“War – a Blight on Humanity,” Page 10, NOTA). The Ukrainian government has verified the identities of more than 20,600 children unlawfully abducted, deported, or forcibly transferred by Russia since February 2022. Independent research and international organisations estimate the actual numbers are significantly higher (between 200,000-300,000). Some have been tracked […]

DEAR News Of The Area, THE local branch of the Lyne Together community movement recently held a very well-attended screening of the film Floodland at  Laurieton United Services Club. The film documents the human cost, trauma and community resilience associated with the catastrophic 2022 floods in northern NSW. It won the Sustainable Future Award at […]

DEAR News Of The Area, FOR the past several years, Port Macquarie-Hastings Council (PMHC) has been investigating the possibility of updating the Hastings-Camden Haven water production system to guarantee security of supply for the foreseeable future. The work under consideration included the installation on an upgraded Filtration Plant at Cowarra Dam to process a larger […]

DEAR News Of The Area, THE growing instances of inhumane violence and mass killings represented by that most sickening of all nouns, war, have led me to write. Most recently, the ongoing bombings in Kiev, Gaza, the Middle East, and the more recent brutal attack on the Washington Post journalist in the West Bank by […]

DEAR News Of The Area, I REFER to the letter, ‘Women do not want their rights reversed’, (NOTA, 9/10/2026, page 14) regarding women’s rights being attacked by One Nation. It is universally known that when a child, on being born, does not take breath, it is declared dead. I see all the activities in the […]

DEAR News Of The Area, WOMEN’S rights are being attacked by One Nation. The official policy platform explicitly states that the party will “seek every opportunity to roll back brutal and extreme abortion law”. The hard-fought battleground of the Women’s Electoral Lobby ahead of the 1972 election was fertility control and access to legal abortion. […]