Save articles for later
Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.
Credit: Illustration: Jim Pavlidis
To submit a letter to The Age, email [email protected]. Please include your home address and telephone number below your letter. No attachments. See here for our rules and tips on getting your letter published.
THE VOICE
It is pleasing that Peter Dutton and the Coalition are so concerned about division and not wanting it to be part of our Australian way of life (“Undecided migrants targeted over Voice”, 4/10). I look forward to a raft of Coalition policies at the next election addressing divisions based on wealth, power, class and education. I expect this will include higher taxes on the wealthy; re-prioritising support+ from private schools to poor and public schools; regulation of business, industry and politics to require truth in advertising; an end to subsidies for profitable industries; and the penalisation of mis- and dis-information on social media. Finally, a vision of what Australia could be.
Philip Grano, Newport
Behind the image
Vote Yes, for Gwoya Tjungurrayi on the $2 coin. I won’t mention his widely known nickname as it is generally considered offensive today, but I will say the image is based on a photo taken in 1935 of a free, independent, living and proud Walpiri-Anmatyerre man from near Alice Springs. He was to survive in Alice Springs by selling an occasional boomerang. But his image was used on an Australian stamp in 1950 and later on the $2 coin.
He also was a survivor of the police posse that went out to investigate the murder of a white man. Aboriginal people were rounded up and shot regardless of whether they were involved. The coroner reported that the 30-odd deaths were “justified”. The local people said perhaps 200 were killed. If only the Indigenous people had had a Voice to parliament to disallow random mass murder and have the law applied equally to them.
David Baylis, Drouin East
Powerful lobby
While the Yes supporters claim the Voice is just an advisory body, it is much more than that as an exclusive lobby group funded by taxpayers which will have imbedded and irrevocable power to lobby governments. Beware the Trojan Voice.
Rob Rogers, Warrandyte
Pride in recognition
Studying in Newcastle (Britain) in 1976 I saw the effect of giving people a voice. It arrived in the form of a revolutionary TV show, When the Boat Comes In, featuring Geordie actors, voices and stories from the one of the northern regions that gave birth to the industrial revolution but in return only ever received its filth, and, belatedly and begrudgingly, spare change. A new-found pride and consciousness at a time when the 1936 Jarrow March against poverty was still remembered by old-timers provided a resilience that was tested, but not broken, by the Thatcher regime. It is difficult, then, to underestimate the impact of having, or not having, a voice.
John Carmichael, Hawthorn
Price ignores trauma
Parnell Palme McGuinness’ article suggesting that Jacinta Nampijinpa Price could be an Australian PM is one out of the fantasy books (Sunday Age, 1/10). As McGuinness demonstrates, there are massive inconsistencies in Price’s speeches over the years. What Price ignored in suggesting that colonisation has been ″good for Indigenous Australians″ is that part of the reason for the disadvantage is the impact of colonisation: the removal of children from their families, massacres of Aboriginal communities and the loss of connection to land and language. Yes, some may have running water but that doesn’t make up for the trauma experienced over generations.
Marg D’Arcy, Rye
Modesty blasé
Have the prime minister and his team engaged ChatGPT to generate their speaking notes? Over one day I heard, in succession, that the Uluru Statement is a “modest” request, the referendum question is a “modest” proposition, and the proposed tax increases on high superannuation balances are a “modest” change. The other thing that each of these issues has in common is that none of the implied changes is modest.
Garry Ringwood, Kew
THE FORUM
Caught at the extremes
If we ever needed a clear message that our climate is out of control, the last few days in East Gippsland has provided it (“Alerts pour in as fires give way to floods”, 5/10). What would have played as the opening scene of a science fiction movie 40 years ago now leads our daily news bulletins. Our overheated atmosphere doesn’t seem to know what it should be doing. For good measure, the continent’s dominant weather drivers, the El Niño and Indian Ocean Dipole, seem to be in lockstep. This has us trapped in a rotation of much too hot and dry or much too wet. Without very much of the weather being just right, Goldilocks might be going without her lie-down for a while yet.
John Mosig, Kew
Tipping point
It was depressing to read that “Australians are tipping more generously and more often”, (“Melburnians our biggest tippers”, 5/10). This is yet another poisonous import from the US. Why would anyone want tipping culture to take hold in Australia?
Having travelled to the US years ago one of the best things about returning to Australia was the relief of not having to calculate a tip for every service. A more insidious aspect is how the tipping culture commercialises every interaction. In the US great service is never just that. It is always tainted by the expectation of a tip. It is also way too master-servant for me as an Australian and humiliating for all involved.
If this continues, tipping will at some point become compulsory as it effectively is in the US. Tipping is un-Australian. In Australia it is traditionally an obligation for employers to pay workers a living wage. Pay should not be at the discretion of customers as it often is in the US. Tipping culture represents inconvenience, a degradation of social relations and impoverishment. It benefits no one except employers averse to paying staff properly. It should be fought tooth and nail.
Ian Frazer, Brunswick West
Highway hell
The idea of making a new and expanded city to the north of Melbourne (“Councils seek to take high road this time”, 5/10) is absurd given the state of the main gateway in and out of Melbourne via the Hume Highway, which has been in a state of disrepair for 40 years. As a frequent user of the highway, I have emailed VicRoads to ask about an upgrade, but they are waiting on federal and state funding. Anthony Albanese pitched a new intermodal freight terminal at Beveridge before the last election but if the Hume Highway and the feeder roads aren’t upgraded to a standard matching Sydney’s Hume, the expanded city and new freight terminal are doomed to fail.
Perhaps Premier Jacinta Allan might want to re-prioritise the spending of billions on the Suburban Rail Loop and instead invest in improving the major roads in these poorly serviced dormitory suburbs and building new rail infrastructure where it’s needed.
Wayne Smith, Myrtleford
Rail hubris
HS2 is a planned fast rail line in the UK to run from London to Birmingham and Manchester, at speeds of up to 360 km/h, announced in 2013 and substantially planned to be completed between 2029 and 2033. The total expected cost is £71 billion ($135 billion), which Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt described as “utterly unacceptable”. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has now announced the northern section to Manchester will be scrapped.
There is a lesson here for Premier Jacinta Allan and Transport Minister Danny Pearson. While the Suburban Rail Loop is not as grandiose, comments from Natasha Bradshaw from the Grattan Institute (Comment, 1/10) should be taken seriously. Two projects that have been neglected by the Victorian government are the standardisation of rural freight rail lines and provision of more accessible tram stops.
In order to attract freight to rail, all lines need to be converted to standard gauge. The positive effect on the environment will be fewer trucks on the road, less pollution from greenhouse gasses and safer conditions for rural roads that are no longer destroyed by trucks. For accessible tram stops, this is an equity matter that should already have been completed. Please mothball the SRL.
Rod Watson, East Brighton
Rental assist
Brilliant proposal from the crossbench to electrify rental houses (“$50m plan to electrify rental homes”, 5/10). A tax break to encourage landlords to switch to electric appliances is just the ticket. Not only will this reduce emissions and cut household costs, but it will also make rental properties safer for tenants. The detrimental health impacts of gas in the home are well understood. No-one should be forced to expose their children to asthma inducing gases just to heat their home or cook a meal. It’s high time Australia went all-in on electrifying everything.
Amy Hiller, Kew
Limit the source
While it is positive news to see that there are jobs in recycling (“Plibersek hails boom in recycling jobs”, 4/10), this fades into insignificance when we read how much waste is still ending up in landfill. Plastic is obviously the biggest problem, but even large amounts of paper, glass and metals that can be profitably recycled, are dumped. It would be a shame to rely on producing more and more waste materials to provide more jobs. The government should regulate and legislate for manufacturers to deal with their own waste. If pharmaceutical companies, for example, were required to accept the millions of blister packs they produce, they would quickly develop alternative, clean, maybe even re-usable, methods of packaging.
Kerry Echberg, Princes Hill
Question of qualification
Your correspondent suggests the members of the new government were chosen purely on merit (“Merit based appointments”, 5/10). Many would doubt this.
Jacinta Allan owes her position to being a member of the largest faction within caucus, over her ability to successfully manage large projects like the Big Build or the Commonwealth Games. Tim Pallas owes his appointment for the same reason.
Many ministers of both genders don’t have any skills or qualifications relative to the portfolios they manage. For example, the minister responsible for climate change, energy and the SEC has no qualifications in engineering or meteorology. In fact it is increasingly difficult to establish the skills and qualifications of MPs. Once, these were included in the Parliament’s website profile of MPs, but now this information is no longer provided. In the absence of this, it is impossible to evaluate merit.
Martin Newington, Aspendale
Health hazard
I couldn’t agree more with your contributor (“Please turn it down”, 4/10) regarding the excessive noise level from the MCG PA system. I have also experienced similar discomfort at the Perth Arena. It is very likely that a health hazard exists and perhaps the EPA needs to conduct a field study. What is the AFL’s intention with this painful practice? It makes me wonder how alive and well Orwell’s dystopia is: never let the patrons have a private conversation, always disrupt the ambience to distract from free thought.
Andrew Barnes, Ringwood
Sound advice
How come the everlasting music that now plays behind speakers in documentary films of all descriptions is even allowed? Six per cent of the population has a hearing impairment but even some who thought they did not, find themselves switching off.
Shirley Duffield, Warrnambool
Treasured experience
A living treasure is lost to us, with the passing of restaurateur Kevin Donovan (“Founder of landmark eatery dies”, 5/10). Life didn’t lead me all that often down to what Kevin and wife Gail created in the form of the most perfect dining experience I’ve ever known, at Donovan’s, perched on the St Kilda foreshore. However, it did on one night several years ago, with the company of my beloved it delivered absolutely the most perfect seared scallops in a pea puree and then a stroll along the pier to watch the penguins come in. It was the most perfect date and the happiest memory of a lifetime.
Bernadette George, Mildura
Milking farmers
Concerns have been expressed in recent weeks about the increasing price of milk at our supermarkets. You ain’t seen nothin’ yet. The price of milk and other staples will continue to increase due to anti-agricultural policies of the Albanese government. In the case of dairy, we had a heavy reliance on dairy farmers across southern NSW and northern Victoria for our supplies. But there are now fewer dairy farmers in this region and the number is continuing to decline.
When Water Minister Tanya Plibersek’s water buybacks are introduced it will become increasingly unviable for dairy farmers, as well as those who grow other food essentials. As we grow less food the price increases, as does our reliance on imports which may not be grown in the clean, green environment by Aussie farmers who are recognised as among the most efficient in the world.
Jodie Hay, Cohuna
Painful effects
I agree with Bruce Wolpe’s sentiments (Comment, 5/10) that Donald Trump does not have a political agenda, but what he does have is a movement that is unfortunately making America “hate again”.
Eric Palm, Gympie, Qld
Sitcom politics
Donald Trump is the living exponent of a sitcom. Like most American sitcoms they are not very funny, indeed they are farcical. This one may well end up with a president ruling from a prison cell. Americans need to realise you can’t change the channel for four years.
John Rome, Mt Lawley, WA
AND ANOTHER THING
Credit: Illustration: Matt Golding
Qantas
It’s not that I’m afraid to die, I just don’t want Qantas arranging my funeral.
Paul Custance, Highett
US politics
When America finds out how to run American politics, perhaps then it can it get back to its usual goal of trying to run the world.
Tony Haydon, Springvale
I take issue with your correspondent (And another thing, 5/10). Trump has had so much practice in dummy spitting that I doubt it would be an appropriate permanent gag.
Ian Grandy, Nunawading
Peter Dutton
Peter Dutton’s comment about Clare O’Neil is straight out of Donald Trump’s song book. Trump used “nasty” when confronted by a strong woman. Dutton uses “angry”.
Ray Jones, Box Hill North
We know Peter Dutton is fond of slogans but “Vote No if you don’t know” is another level. This is a viewpoint of entitled complacency which avoids asking or looking or learning in case people find something that might challenge their comfortable status quo.
Vanessa Gavens, West Brunswick
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s alternative solution to the Voice is a number of regional and local voices. So if this ever comes to pass, future Coalition governments will be hearing voices.
Matthew Hamilton, Kew
Furthermore
What has happened to a honeymoon period for Jacinta Allan? Why is John Pesutto treated as though he is one seat from being premier?
George Reed, Wheelers Hill
What next Tim Pallas? A tax on empty bedrooms?
Tony O’Brien, South Melbourne
I am bemused by the present day references to “fields” in the Kalkallo area (The Age, 5/10). This seems to be part of a trend to make “paddocks” redundant.
Marcia Roche, Mill Park
Patrick Elligett sends an exclusive newsletter to subscribers each week. Sign up to receive his Note from the Editor.
Most Viewed in National
From our partners
Source: Read Full Article
