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.
Read the story: New dog access rules locked in
Clive Dixon, Caloundra: I attended the council meeting last year and fully support the views that Terry Landsberg put forward.
The council officers at this meeting produced no factual evidence showing that dogs were doing any damage to the rocky foreshores or that they were causing issues with nesting shorebirds, particularly in the Caloundra area. It was stated that the report was based on values not factual evidence.
My wife and I have been walking along those rocky foreshores for many years now and fully support Terry’s observations, as long time residents in the area. We have also never observed any nesting shorebirds in this area because weather events, tide movements and human intervention make it unsuitable for any shorebirds to nest on Caloundra’s rocky foreshores.
The council officers in the meeting stated that they would not venture onto the rocky foreshores because of workplace health and safety reasons and observations were done by using binoculars, which raises further questions about the validity of their report.
Ray Jaeger: I totally support restricting dog areas. In Wollongong, we have kilometres of dog beaches and six dog parks yet dog owners continue to breach council rules and legislation by taking dogs off-leash on no-dog beaches. These no-dog beaches are 100 metres from dog beaches and have protected and endangered Sooty Oystercatchers, which are chased by the dogs.
They swim their dogs in the public swimming pool. Yes, that’s right, in a public swimming pool. They don’t pick up the dog turds or, if they do, they put it in a plastic bag and throw them both away or tie them in a tree.
These law breakers are not the minority. So restrict dog owners as much as council can and issue fines heavily until the dog owners abide by legislation.
David Brzeski, Maroochydore: I’m disappointed to see the Sunshine Coast Council’s discrimination against dog owners yet again.
Trisha Jacobsen, Buderim: Maybe these closures could be for summer only. Totally against dogs being banned from the wild and rocky side over the other side from La Basa Park or Bassinger Beach but Currimundi is fine. Dogs too need wild spaces to share with their families. To be able run free, chase the gulls, dance in the waves but under voice control.
Diane, Pelican Waters: As a resident of Pelican Waters I find that there are too many dogs being allowed everywhere I go. Coffee shops, beaches, walkways – it’s an absolute nuisance. Many dog owners do not clean up after their dogs. We have a lovely manicured lawn at the front of our building and some very selfish dog owners let their dogs do their business on our lawn and then move on. One has to wonder whether residents without dogs have to endure the never-ending barking and dogs underfoot. No more access. Less would be great.
Gary White: As a property owner and potential landlord, I have decided to never rent my properties. My experience with tenants has always been poor and my friends have found the same. Not treating my house and land the way I do, and require they do, is one of the problems. They feel entitled by paying rent to abuse the house and cry ‘fair wear and tear’ as their excuse for outright vandalism. No care for my property that I have taken care of for 20 years. It required $20,000 in repairs after they spent 12-months occupying it. They burnt 15-tonnes of my wood and destroyed my $50,000 floor (timber) in the guise of keeping warm in a period of three months.
Renters should have to pay a $10,000 bond and be able to be evicted within a month of unpaid rent, otherwise they just don’t pay and burn the bond, then vandalise your home in spite. The only thing worse are the so-called property managers who knowingly put vandal tenants in your house then never do an inspection to minimise damage problems. There should be a list of bad tenants available to homeowners who are considering renting their property and a reconsideration of the ridiculous tenant entitlements.
Colin Kirk, Deception Bay: I am a grandfather of young adults/children and I worry for their futures. Governments, state and federal, have to stand up and come up with concrete ideas. I myself have emailed my federal MHR (Member of the House of Representatives) and told her that the government has to start implementing policies to reduce immigration until this country fixes these problems. They should start by doing just what Canada has done.
I also I contacted local and state politicians with the idea to buy and renovate existing buildings like TAFE colleges and some privately-owned buildings, which are not being used, and make them into housing for young and old alike. These governments need it now, not five years’ time, so I say everyone needs to stand up at election time and demand action.
- Read the story: Key details revealed for planned surfing venue
Doug, St Kilda, Victoria: Will it be big enough to have a few sharks swimming with the surfers? Our surf park down here in Melbourne is a little too small.
- Read the story: Aussies want electric cars to save cash, not the planet
Robyn Deane, Nambour: Eighteen months ago, we were in the fortunate position to afford to buy a new car. After weighing everything up, and running costs were a huge factor, we chose an electric vehicle. Recharging at home costs virtually nothing as we have solar panels and now battery backup thanks to the federal government’s rebate scheme. Sure, the initial outlay is significant, however EV prices are coming down as more models hit the market.
As a woman driver, I find the EV so easy to drive, charge and maintain with its first service not due for another eighteen months. The bonus for us is that we consider we are doing our little bit for the environment and the sustainability of the planet for future generations.
If they bring in a fair road user charge and provide more charging stations for those longer hauls, it will be a win-win for drivers and the environment. Finding a fair balance is a complex issue, which the boffins will have to address, however, as EV drivers, we would be happy to contribute to road infrastructure and more charging stations.
With the current global fuel crisis, it is understandable that the government is holding back for now on a road user charge, but one thing is clear, we need to become more self-sufficient with our transport options, not only personally, but commercially with electric trucks, buses and trains.
Australia needs to be self-sufficient and resilient by making more (EV’s) here and not be held hostage to importing oil. The future of our country, with our abundant renewable resources, is electric.
- Emergency music
Jacqueline Ward, Tasmania: I was walking along the Esplanade in Mooloolaba, on my way to rehearsal for our concert with Noosa Orchestra.
Ahead of me, a Year 6 girl with a mental disability was standing in the middle of the road. She wouldn’t respond to her carer. Cars were backing up behind her, but she kept walking along the road – unable, or unwilling, to move somewhere safe. Her carer was the focus of her anger in that moment, and nothing she said was getting through.
I crossed the road and walked ahead of them, positioning myself near a garden by a cafe. Then I started singing – one of the pieces from our program, Libiamo from Verdi’s La Traviata. Her attention shifted. Away from the cars. Away from the standoff. I kept singing.
“Do you like music?” I asked.
“I don’t care about your singing,” she shot back.
A man approached and tried to coax her off the road, but it only pulled her back into her frustration. So I sang again.
“What kind of music do you like? Have you ever heard opera?”
She was interrupted again and burst out, blaming her carer – saying she’d been told to do this. So I said, “If your carer told you to do this … maybe you should disobey and come off the road.”
Something shifted. Instantly. Her expression changed, and she stormed off the road –straight toward me. I asked if she wanted a hug. She came into my arms, sobbing.
“You’re safe,” I told her.
We sat down. I got her a drink. We talked – gently, simply. After a few minutes, her carer edged closer again. This time, the girl was calm. She even introduced me.
At one point, she looked up and read a sign nearby: “From little things, big things grow.”
“That’s a song too, you know,” I said – and started singing the tune by Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody. She listened. That’s when she said it – softly, almost surprised: “I like your voice.”
In that moment, I felt deeply moved – to be able to use music in such a vital, needed way. Not on a stage, not in performance, but right there, where it mattered. It felt like a small glimpse of God’s care for her in the middle of chaos, and the timing of it all – quietly guided – like I was exactly where I needed to be.
After she had calmed down and we were standing again with her carer, a police car drove past. She waved brightly and said, “Oh, there’s the police!” And we all waved as they went by. Soon after, her mum arrived, having left work as soon as she could.
“She sang to me!” the girl said.
“You are important,” I told her. “Keep yourself safe. You are loved.”
Music is more than an extra in life. Sometimes, it feels like life itself.
- Are we over-parenting?
Garry Reynolds, Peregian Springs: For many of us raised in the fifties and sixties, childhood was a wide‑open paddock and being told to be home by tea. We rode our bikes until the streetlights blinked on, argued with friends, made up games out of boredom, and learned – sometimes the hard way – how to sort ourselves out.
Today, a parent can glance at a phone and know exactly where their child is – and often does. But research suggests that when parents hover too closely – stepping in fast, smoothing every bump – children tend to show slightly higher anxiety and depression as they grow older.
Overparenting isn’t the same as being involved. It’s more like being on permanent alert. It shows up when adults mediate every playground fallout, rewrite the school project, or pressure the netball coach because little Mia didn’t get enough court time.
It’s well‑intentioned, of course. But an anxious child can lead to more parental control, and more control can feed anxiety, so the cycle can spin in both directions.
Kids need to learn self-regulation to build resilience and it’s learned through practice. They need to try, fail, wobble, recover and try again, with adults nearby but not always intervening.
The 1950s and 1960s come to mind not because they were perfect – they weren’t – but because free play gave us room to make choices, solve small problems and test our limits.
I’m not saying we need to send kids back to roaming the neighbourhood barefoot until dusk. It’s more about giving them age‑appropriate freedom to stretch their wings.
Maybe that’s the real lesson from our ‘be home by tea’ childhoods. Not the nostalgia, but the reminder that confidence grows in the space between support and independence.
Sometimes the best thing an adult can do is take one small step back, so a child can take one small step forward.
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.
