Listen to the oldies
I WONDER how many other readers are tired as I am, reading what should be done to protect our swimmers from shark attacks.
Did the Fremantle council go through the same objections when it built the shark-proof pool at South Beach in the 1930s?
My guess is no, just build it. Sharkey Nelson the famous fisherman who caught sharks off Rottnest in days gone by would turn in his grave if he knew what was going on today.
How many fishermen do you think had set lines and nets along our coast to catch sharks, to sell to fish and chip shops, restaurants and then serve it up as snapper? There were a lot of shark fishermen; it was legal then so what has changed?
We have gone backwards listening to a minority group. The shark lovers are destroying our scuba-diving, surfing and tourist industries.
Listen to the oldies use common sense, get on with it and go back to the good old days when there were little or no shark attacks.
Frank Granger
Melville Beach Rd, Applecross
The Ed says: Sharks are apex predators and vital to the oceans’ food chain: their numbers have been decimated over the past century and continue to decline from over-fishing. There have always been shark attacks in WA—we just seem to be much more sensitive to them today than we used to.

Advocacy begins at home
MELISSA PARKE’S advocacy for refugees and peace is admirable (Herald, September 27, 2014).
I have been a teacher of refugees for 20 years and like any sector of the community all they want is a harmonious life for their families.
However, her dismissal of the extensive international consultation on the Islamic State militancy is ignorant and abhorrent.
Barack Obama is a man of peace and he has demonstrated restraint in his call for an international response to military action against the horror of hatred that drives the Islamic militants.
As federal member for Fremantle, Melissa Parke has once again demonstrated her former position as a United Nations lawyer drives her political agenda at the expense of the needs of local people.
As a mother of teenage daughters, our family has been traumatised by the suicide of two young Fremantle teenagers in the past month, leaving hundreds of local families grieving.
It is becoming apparent the Australian refugees in our community are our young people. There is widespread alienation amongst our young people. When will Melissa Parke become an advocate for our young and the local community. Maybe she should consider returning to her former profession if that is where her passion lies.
Joy Collins
Curedale St, Beaconsfield

Where’s the vision?
THANK you Mr Abbott for not attending the climate summit in NY. Now, after scrapping the mining and carbon tax even the most gullible person knows both the federal and WA government are not prepared to take action against global warming.
The summit is a farce anyway, but some nations have shown some responsibility.
For example Germany has created 370,000 jobs in the renewable energy sector since 2001 (and lost less than 30,000 in the fossil fuels sector) generating 30 per cent of its total energy demand from renewable sources.
Despite having sun, wind and tide in abundance we seem to ignore these opportunities. Is this because the real powers ruling this country sit at BHP, Woodside etc, and they want to keep digging and drilling?
Protecting the environment and Aboriginal heritage? Not so important! With this policy Australia will continue to stay highly reliant on its mining, oil and gas. If commodities are down like iron ore today, we all suffer. Still our leaders have no Plan B. Where is the vision for this country making us less vulnerable, more sustainable and securing a broader spectrum of jobs?
Kristian Walter
Leaside Way, Spearwood

Sibling Hope
MY father Rex Hope was a US Navy motor machinist mate stationed onboard the diesel submarine USS Tuna SS203. The Tuna operated near the end of WWII out of Fremantle and at the end of the war returned to the US and was decommissioned.
After my father’s death a family member told me my father had been involved with a girl in Australia and he had left a child behind. If the story is true, there are not any official records of the birth with my father’s name attached.
If true, the child would have been born very late in 1945 or early in 1946. The child would now be about 68/69 years old, the mother would be in her late 80s if still alive.
If anyone has information on this, I would love to hear from them.
Richard R Hope
LT, USN, RET
210 E Ponderosa DR
Goldendale WA USA 98620
richope@gorge.net