It is was very deeply disturbing and very informative at the same time.

 Our mental health professionals cannot be expected to handle the huge burden of mental illness alone.

A community based Mental Health Support Group is what is needed to help those with a mental illness and their carers and family who live with this illness.

This group will help deal with a reduction of the symptoms of mental illness and also promote a reduction in the causal psycho social trauma factors that can lead to mental  illness. This is simple cause and effect/cause and symptom thinking.

Support for those now living with the symptoms of mental Illness and support for future generations by reducing the causal factors that can lead to mental illness.

I congratulate Don McDonald OAM and his fantastic support network for their information and their courageous and truthful answers to some very difficult and frustrated questions from the public arena.

There is still much more work to be done in this area. I hope you agree.

Stuart Benjamin, Anna Bay

We are having serious problems with our NBN connections.

Over the last month we had no NBN connection for 19 days so far, and it is still not working.

This means no internet, no wifi and no telephone. No back to base alarm.

We have contacted Telstra technical service on numerous occasions. 

They have advised Telstra they will not fix it until we replace our modem for the third time.

However the problem is dampness in the telephone connection  box on our footpath. Both our neighbours had the same problem which was fixed by NBNIs.

Has anyone else in Port Stephens had the same problems with a faulty system? And how did you get the NBN technicians actually come to fix it?

Johanna Artwoeger, Fingal Bay

Those of us, men and women of any political persuasions, should have been impressed by the NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian on her inaugural speech to the National Press Club(NPC) on Wednesday May 3, 2017.

In a short and concise speech at the NPC, she laid down the first principles for good government, Federal and State relationships, and how governments and politicians should focus on serving the people.

Daughter of an immigrant family, who has made it to one of the nation's top jobs, has given us the best Australia has to offer.

Ernest To, Medowie

While residents appreciate any improvement in roadworks, the recent work being done at Shoal Bay shows how any interruption to the flow of traffic can cause major delays travelling to Fingal and Shoal Bay.

If emergency vehicles where put in this position the result could be fatal.  An alternate route to Shoal Bay and Fingal Bay needs to be expedited before a fatality occurs. We have many retirees and elderly people so spare a thought.

Gerry Mohan, Shoal Bay

 Turning off a steam electricity coal furnace at night is a major problem.

  This problem is solved by selling off peak electricity at 8 cents a unit instead of 47 cents a unit peak prices.   No one seams to have realised that a large solar battery filled nightly with 8 cents a unit off-peak power can be used during the day instead of 47 cent electricity.  Without the need for solar panels. This will extend the time before more power stations need to be built.  

 Jon Sherwin, Nelson Bay