Do you have an opinion to share? Submit a Letter to the Editor at Sunshine Coast News via news@sunshinecoastnews.com.au. You must include your name and suburb for accountability, credibility and transparency. Preference will be given to letters of 100 words or less. Some of the opinions below are comments from SCN’s Facebook and Instagram pages.
- Read the story: Key details revealed for planned surfing venue
Ben Tierney: Fourth time lucky? Hopefully this one can get up and running.
sellwellbyphil: Sunshine Coast tourism would only benefit from this investment decision.
jarrodf92: They will be busy as we have dry swell periods and a lot of surfers.
- Read the story: New Coles supermarket approved after court appeal
Patricia Edwards: This will bring people back to Palmwoods who have had to leave town for groceries and do all the other things while they were out. Now they can stay in Palmwoods and other businesses will benefit.
Carolyn Thompson: Final nail in the coffin for our beautiful town.
- Read the story: Family’s backyard caravan rental turns into $2.5m company
Andrew Pitcher: Very decent people running a great business. Hardworking and customer focused. Lovely to see them featured.
- Read the story: Revamped intersection to form gateway to new community
John Robinson, formerly Twin Waters: Looks like a gigantic stuff-up to me. Thank heaven I don’t live there any more. As usual a developer doing it on the cheap.
- Read the story: Coast venue closures spark new campaign
Carly Ellis: What a joke! Venues aren’t closing in a vacuum. When Ted’s party was in power they froze and cut federal grants to councils and shifted more costs onto them, blowing a hole in council budgets and forcing higher fees, harsher rules and less support for local events and nightlife. That’s exactly the environment our bars, cafes and music venues are suffocating in now. Higher compliance costs, less council flexibility, fewer funded events to bring people into town.
Ted always votes with his party, backing decisions in Canberra that push up rents, power bills, insurance and so on while delaying cheaper renewables. You can’t pretend to be a champion of local hospo when your own voting record supports making running a small venue more expensive.
- Read the story: Jane Stephens: a peek inside the manosphere
Gary Reynolds, Peregian Springs: In a bonfire of grievances and bruised egos, the so‑called “manosphere” has become a noisy echo chamber of angry men shouting online, trying to influence Australia’s young men while cashing in on their confusion. But far from all that racket, another cultural force hums quietly along in our communities. It doesn’t trend. It doesn’t shout. It doesn’t need to. It’s the Nannasphere – and it has been holding society together since long before hashtags and algorithms arrived.
While manosphere influencers like Andrew Tate lecture young men about why society is supposedly collapsing (spoiler: they blame women), the Nannasphere simply gets on with the job. While the manosphere pumps out three‑hour diatribes from overseas boltholes, the nannas in our CWAs are feeding half the district, organising raffles and running disaster relief before the authorities have even found their clipboards.
The Nannasphere is traditional, yes, but it’s also cheeky, modern and wonderfully grounded. Nannas have perfected the gentle verbal roast, confronting imported online fantasy with a dose of Australian reality. Where the manosphere escalates conflict, the Nannasphere defuses it with a firm, “Now, love…”. It’s strength without swagger, authority without arrogance.
The manosphere worships algorithm‑driven dominance. The Nannasphere values competence, collaboration and community.
And that’s the real choice facing our young men today: dominance or dignity; grievance or grace. We shouldn’t give up on helping them choose the path that strengthens themselves – and strengthens our country.
- Conversations shaping DV outcomes
Marla Edwards, CEO, Suncoast Community Legal Service (SCLS): Last month I had the privilege of joining MPs Deb Frecklington and Dan Purdie for a panel discussion addressing domestic and family violence on the Sunshine Coast. What stood out most from that conversation wasn’t just the scale of the issue, but how often it remains hidden in plain sight.
At SCLS, more than 25 per cent of the matters we assist with are connected to domestic and family violence – a reflection of how deeply this issue is embedded across our community. But these cases don’t always present that way. Many people come to us seeking help for something else – a neighbourhood issue, a parenting dispute, or financial stress – before it becomes clear that domestic and family violence is part of their story.
This is an important reminder: domestic and family violence rarely exists as a single, isolated issue. More often, it sits beneath a range of interconnected legal challenges, creating layers of complexity at a time when people are already under significant emotional, financial and psychological strain. It cuts across civil, criminal and family law matters, and increasingly intersects with housing stress and cost-of-living pressures – factors that can intensify already fragile situations for families.
In 2025 alone, more than 2500 people turned to SCLS for help. For many, that first conversation was the moment they truly understood their rights and the options available to them.
And that’s where timing matters.
Too often, people seek legal help only once a situation has escalated to crisis point. But when people are able to access advice earlier – when they understand their rights, their options and the steps available to them – it can shift the trajectory of their situation.
Encouragingly, we are seeing more people come forward earlier – often after engaging with community legal education or becoming more aware of the support available. That shift is critical – because it shows that when services are visible, accessible and trusted, people seek help earlier and outcomes improve.
But no single organisation can meet this need alone.
One of the most powerful takeaways from the recent panel discussion was the importance of collective effort. Community legal centres like SCLS play a vital early-intervention role – work that is only possible because of the extraordinary contribution of more than 100 volunteer lawyers who donate thousands of hours of pro bono support each year.
Early legal intervention doesn’t just support those looking for help and guidance. It also reduces pressure on courts, emergency services and the broader justice system by resolving issues before they become more complex and costly to address.
If we are serious about addressing domestic and family violence in our community, we must continue to invest not only in crisis response, but in early intervention, education and collaboration.
Because often, the most important step is not the final legal outcome – it is that first conversation, where someone understands, sometimes for the first time, that they have options.
And that conversation can change everything.
Do you have an opinion to share? Submit a Letter to the Editor at Sunshine Coast News via news@sunshinecoastnews.com.au. You must include your name and suburb for accountability, credibility and transparency. Preference will be given to letters of 100 words or less.
