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The price of principle is often abuse. In my view the labelling of Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s actions as racist by independent MP Zali Steggall was a classic example of attacking someone with a different perspective (“ Steggall brands Dutton a ‘bully’ over Gaza racism row ”, 19/8). In calling for a temporary pause on immigration from Gaza, Dutton was clearly stating what he believed was the best policy in the national interest.
It is extremely imprudent for Australia to be taking people from a region controlled by a proscribed terrorist organisation that is steeped in anti-Semitism during these times. How are members of Australia’s Jewish community supposed to feel safe if the government continues upon such a reckless path? Steggall should stick to policy arguments and desist from personal attacks. Peter Curtis, Werribee South Celebrate migrants In my life I have had the opportunity to see the great benefit that migration has meant to my country.
The millions of migrants and refugees who have come here from many different countries, including some with which we have been at war, have built Australia. The roads, the schools, the hospitals and new businesses. They have moved us from being an agricultural backwater to a nation of significance.
While all that was happening, we discovered that we liked each other and we became an example to the world of how people from all manner of places, with different religious and political views, can live happily together. I know that because he is young, Peter Dutton didn’t have the opportunity to see that miracle take place, but I am bitterly disappointed that in his desire to become prime minister, he seems prepared to try to tear our wonderful society apart. Jeffrey Newman, Ivanhoe East Unnecessary fears Peter Dutton wants a ban on the granting of visas to people coming to Australia from Gaza as they may be “hidden Hamas” or Hamas sympathisers.
He claims the scrutiny of these people is not strict enough. The process currently involves screening first by Israel, then by Egypt and finally by Australia. Israel currently claims it knows who and where the members of Hamas are situated and uses this information to justify its targeted assaults on schools, hospitals, aid providers and refugee camps.
So if anyone was going to find “hidden Hamas” or Hamas sympathisers in visa applicants, Israel would, and the applicants would not progress to the next two steps. Australia is to be congratulated for its compassion towards people fleeing the Gaza war zone just as it has done in other wars. Jenny Callaghan, Hawthorn A long wait Your correspondent (“ Proceed carefully ”, Letters, 20/8) maintains that Australia should not recognise a Palestinian state until both Israel and Palestinians agree on borders and other issues.
Given that the Knesset recently voted overwhelmingly to never recognise a Palestinian state, this agreement would thus seem impossible. Australia does not have to wait for Israel to recognise a Palestinian state in order to do so itself, especially if that first premise will never happen. Graeme Gardner, Reservoir What have they done? I’m surprised by the comments of your correspondent (“ Silencing protest ”, Letters, 18/8).
They ask why those who support Israel’s war against Hamas don’t argue their position. Well, they’ve been doing that since the slaughter of innocents in the Israeli kibbutzim and at the Nova music festival on October 7. That so many in the pro-Palestinian camp do not see the horror of what Hamas and its fellow travellers did, or claim to justify their brutality as “resistance”, is in part the reason why there’s still a war in Gaza.
The hostages remain at the heart of this war. What have the anti-war protesters done to resolve the situation of the hostages? What have they done to ensure that Hamas will not perpetrate another atrocity as they have sworn to do? Rabbi Fred Morgan, Malvern East An opportunity The debate about gambling advertising is presenting Anthony Albanese with a “guns moment”. Against all the opprobrium levelled from the left at John Howard, the regulation of gun ownership stands out as a redeeming feature.
Despite vehement opposition from the gun lobby, he prevailed and has been lauded ever since. A similar opportunity confronts Albanese (“ Growing number of Labor MPs jockey for Murphy’s law ad ban ”, 17/8). Ban all gambling advertising and be remembered for facing up to a national cancer.
This is a time Albanese could redeem himself in the public gaze by showing he has “the ticker” to lead in a national emergency. It is a chance to break out of the suffocating mould of trying to please everyone. A compensating “bounty” could be paid to free-to-air media (not forgetting the ABC by the way).
The AFL must learn to live without pernicious financial support. And as for the gambling industry, it is beneath contempt. Alastair Pritchard, Templestowe Predictable surprise The chief executive of Suncorp tells us that home insurance rates have to rise by 9 per cent because of e-bike battery fires and “flexi” hoses bursting (“ Lithium fires and ‘flexi’ water pipes pushing insurance bills higher: Suncorp ”, 20/8).
Our house has recently been flooded internally by a flexi hose bursting in the bathroom. The result? We have not been able to live there for more than three months and have a bill for renovation of over $80,000 under insurance. The bathroom was renovated with new plumbing only five or six years ago.
What shocks us is that we were completely unaware that this type of event was possible or indeed seemingly inevitable. We have alerted many friends to the problem and like us none were aware of the risk. However, plumbers and others have since told us that this is a very common problem.
The first sign of trouble is when the wire mesh covering of the rubber hoses, that feed water to mixer taps, start to fray. This is when the hose needs to be replaced. It’s baffling to think that when this problem is so common, insurance companies are not alerting homeowners to have the hoses checked.
Steve Pickering, Beaumaris Tax differentials I am a tax agent. I have just completed a tax return for an elderly client who keeps their savings in term deposits. Their income this year was around $35,000 and they have a tax bill of just over $1000.
I also completed a tax return for an elderly couple who have their savings in a superannuation fund. Their income is $160,000 and they pay no tax. While a great advertisement for superannuation, I can’t help feeling our tax system is lacking in equity.
David Osmond, Rosebud Wearing thin The article relating to school uniforms (“ Do uniforms instil pride at school or create new issues? ” 16/8) missed two further points. Particularly in private education, uniforms represent one component of a school’s marketing arsenal, displaying tradition and prestige, an attractive but fairly shallow validation for the thousands parents spend on fees. Another rationale for uniforms is that they get students used to the white-collar professional attire of their future careers.
Trouble is, the frequently seen riot of mismatched maroons, reds, purples, yellows and gaudy stripes would be laughed out any office today. And who wears a tie any more? As the article points out, there don’t seem to be many aspects of school uniforms that have much positive connection to education at all. Marish Mackowiak, Ormond Different paths to pride I taught at a state school that had uniforms at the junior levels and casual clothing at senior levels.
For the 30 years I was there this worked a treat. Junior kids couldn’t wait to move to senior school and be done with the generic clothing and to be able to express themselves. We prided ourselves on being different, many students travelled great distances to come.
The senior students were treated like adults and predominantly responded accordingly. The loyalty and pride that some claim uniforms bring, can also come from the attitude of the administration, staff and parents. The school has changed now and has introduced blazers, and uniforms across the board.
In my view it has changed from celebrating the individual to embracing the vanilla. Frank Flynn, Cape Paterson Same old news I was reassured when hearing that the new ABC chairman Kim Williams would pay close attention to the quality and content of the ABC’s news bulletins. Noting the refreshed design and a return to a former signal tone, I hoped to see signs of improvement from what former prime minister Paul Keating referred to at least a decade ago as the dumbing down of the ABC.
However, as every Monday, the ABC’s radio and TV news bulletins again mentioned as “news” a program to be featured on Four Corners . Equally predictably, next Friday’s “news” breakfast and lunchtime bulletins will either interview David Speers, the host of Insiders on Sunday mornings or mention his program, as though it constitutes “news”. Does the ABC consider its listeners and viewers are dumb? Michael Kennedy, Pipers Creek Grief shared I was very impressed by Ruby Kraner-Tucci’s article in the Sunday Age (“ I thought I knew what grief was but now realise I had no idea ”, 18/8).
It is so well-written and heartfelt. One certainly doesn’t expect to lose a parent when so young yourself. I send my best wishes to Ruby.
I lost my father when I was in my 40s and still found it very hard to adjust. Katriona Fahey, Alphington Full of gratitude Those of us who have lost a loved one will no doubt devour all the commentary pieces on grief available – (“ Being there during grief ”, 18/8 and “ The light after loss ”, 17/8) – to see if the writers’ experiences match our own. Though we believe our own to be so much worse, the identification with someone else’s experience is gratifying.
But still, it seems, no one knows what to say. When my husband died suddenly some years ago I felt like a dog abandoned on the freeway. I sympathised with all those mumbled cliches of “sorry for your loss”, knowing that in the past I had done no better.
But a little while back I was in the Telstra shop and I had cause to tell the young woman serving me that my husband had died recently. (Did I really or was it just the compulsion to tell everybody kicking in? I still feel that everyone should know.) She looked at me with beautiful brown eyes and said “How awful! Tell me, what are your best memories of him?” After I left the shop I went back to thank her, for her compassion, her insight and her novel response.
Maybe she’d just learnt it at a staff workshop, who cares? I was so impressed and so full of gratitude. It was Jamie Anderson, a writer on Doctor Who , who first said “Grief is just love with no place to go.” When you understand this, the frustration, the desperation and the emptiness all make sense.
And if some person asks about your best memories and takes the time to listen, that’s a priceless bonus. Gabrielle Gardner, Montmorency Mean policy I live and work in the City of Melbourne and am a dedicated 10,000-stepper, so I cover dozens of kilometres of the council’s pavement every week. I don’t use them, but I vicariously enjoy the liberation that the e-scooters have afforded thousands of young people, workers and tourists.
It’s a regressive and mean policy to remove shared e-scooters from the streets. They are far from the greatest hazards or annoyances of city life. Rather, they are a soft target for a lord mayor seeking the votes of wowsers.
Tom Rigby, North Melbourne The untouchable vehicle With current debate raging regarding the use of e-scooters in the CBD, it is surprising that another form of transportation hasn’t come under more scrutiny. Users of this other vehicle are responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Victorians every year. They injure many pedestrians, cyclists and even other users of similar vehicles.
The operators of these vehicles run through red lights and fail to obey stop signs. These vehicles are left blocking footpaths and trashing nature strips and have thousands of hectares of space allocated for their use, that spend much of the day empty. These vehicles disturb the peace and pollute our city air and waterways, compromising the health of many of our fellow citizens.
Perhaps we could have a campaign to ban these vehicles too? Oh, of course not silly, because they’re cars and their place in our society goes unquestioned by the majority of us. Geoff Collis, Eltham Prepare to relax A mistake that Anne Marie Fleming made like so many travellers, is not researching her destination adequately before the trip (“ From FOMO to no-no, I’ve been to Bali too ”, 19/8). Bali and its surrounding islands can cater for everybody’s taste from those who like to stay in luxury resorts to those who like to stay in a local village in a shack isolated on a beach.
One of the most rewarding experiences is getting out of the resort and meeting the wonderful local people of Bali. Ray Czajko, Kensington Protected from humans Herring Island , a gem of nature in the Yarra River, a few kilometres upstream from the CBD, is currently open to the general public on weekends and public holidays, from January to April and at other times is accessible by kayak or canoe. The plan is to make it readily accessible for the entire year.
Why not leave it as it is, it is precious. Let the solitude remain, for the benefit of the native birds, animals and insects who thrive in this haven. Virginia Barnett, Mount Waverley Metro delays Perhaps an announcement over the loudspeaker: “The March 2025 Metro Tunnel will not be arriving as scheduled.
” Jerome Otton, South Melbourne Delays and cost increases have affected every major project in the world, caused by a combination of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. However, the most significant and costly delay for the Melbourne Metro project was the “pause” by the Liberal government between 2010 and 2014. Now, if elected, the Liberals are promising to “pause” the Suburban Rail Loop.
Paul Kennelly, Caulfield North Emissions Maybe Mr “no 2030 target” Dutton is unfazed by news that Australia’s window for hitting net zero emissions is closing rapidly (“ Australia’s window for hitting net zero emissions closing rapidly, warn experts ”, 20/8). The worry is no 2030 target and no net zero trajectory results in a low chance of a liveable planet. Jenny Smithers, Ashburton According to Peter Dutton, there is no sense in signing up to targets you don’t have any prospect of achieving.
I assume from this that his party will not contest the next election? Alan Inchley, Frankston Furthermore Is it any wonder Age correspondents lament the demise of the likes of “tech schools”. Is there anyone out there who can give me the phone number of a reliable and reasonably priced plumber? Jim Lamborn, Doncaster Memo to defecting cyclist Matthew Richardson : On ya bike. Paul Custance, Highett Next time you have to renew your passport you will be in for a shock.
It will cost you $398, even though you do it all yourself, with extra charges for the passport photos and mailing the forms in. This is unnecessary overcharging. Meredith James, Glenhuntly Finally Anyone else struck by the resemblance between Picasso’s Femme au Beret Mauve (“The rich can’t sell their art” 20/8) and Peppa Pig? Paul Perry, Fitzroy North T he Opinion newsletter is a weekly wrap of views that will challenge, champion and inform your own.
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