Beach culture rewards come with risks

How far are we prepared to go to protect our sense of convenience? Caitlin Fitzsimmons (“A cull simply wouldn’t help stop attacks”, June 14) advocates against the culling of sharks, pointing out that if one breed is targeted, other breeds will just move in. But there’s also the question of how far our society is prepared to go to interfere with the environment to suit our convenience. Many people have gone surfing all their lives, but if a change in our ecology means that it is no longer a safe pastime, are we entitled to take drastic action to protect our right to surf? It only takes one shark to attack a swimmer, so trying to eliminate the threat is pointless. People who go rock climbing accept that there’s an element of danger, so maybe people who want to swim in open water should do the same. Ian Adair, Hunters Hill

Drift nets, drum-lines and monitoring drones are expenses that coastal and seaside councils incur on patrolling our beaches. Perhaps they also need to return to the “high chairs” and the binoculars to assist in keeping watch? Strategically positioned elevated chairs, with rotating shifts to avoid dozing off, and the incentive of a reward for a verified shark sighting and successful beach evacuation: the flick of a tail and the breaching of a fin spotted first could be the difference between a day at the beach and a tragedy. John Kingsmill, Fairlight

Misogyny unacceptable

How easily Parnell Palme McGuinness dismisses the sexism directed at women from a party she clearly doesn’t like (“Misogyny coin buys much less now”, June 14). Yet others are somehow the martyred victims of the same thing. Whether misogyny is a potent weapon, its deployment is unacceptable in any context, and if you have to rely on that to win an argument, you’ve already lost it. That much ought to be obvious, and its use is disingenuous at best and dishonest at worst. Acknowledging its existence but blithely shrugging it off as passé is downright patronising. Adrian Connelly, Springwood

Whether intentional or not, by arguing that “misogyny” has lost its political clout, McGuinness presents as condoning, if not excusing, misogyny. By placing politics above ethical relationships and accepting attacks on females because of their gender (there is no other way of interpreting the use of the word “witch”), McGuinness does us all, male and female, a grave disservice. Warren Marks, Long Beach

Today we still have fewer female politicians than male ones, yet in schools it is the reverse. I’ve always been of the belief, whether you are male or female, politician or principal, if everyone likes you, then you are not doing your job properly. It’s also no coincidence that in our current political climate, misogyny seems to correlate highly with ignorance. Peter Miniutti, Ashbury

Bringing up baby

One thing you can bet on: Pauline Hanson wants to limit immigration numbers (“What having kids really costs”, June 14), but Australia’s current birth rate of 1.48 children born per woman is far short of the 2.1 needed to sustain our current population. Meanwhile, it’s projected by the ABS that older people in Australia will make up between 21 and 23 per cent of the total population by 2066. So, in view of our increasing need of construction workers pegged at 90,000 builders, carpenters, bricklayers and electricians (BuildSkills Australia estimate), where are they going to come from? The same question can be asked of the hospitality sector’s needs. Larry Woldenberg, Forest Lodge

Paltrow’s judgment

Gwyneth Paltrow worships only one god (“When the moral compass loses direction”, June 14). It is the god of greed. If she had any sense of decency or any compassion she would not have made a publicity video for the Israeli development. And she would understand the enormous, perhaps permanent, damage Donald Trump is doing to the USA and the world. Mark Paskal, Austinmer

Words and wisdom

While on teacher exchange in the UK (Oxfordshire and Cornwall), I was pleasantly surprised to realise the respect offered modern languages in British schools by students and parents, and the size of the modern languages department (eight to nine teachers) (“NSW schools are battling to keep teaching languages”, June 14). This was in sharp contrast to NSW public schools where language teachers generally numbered one or two and choice of languages was limited. In Britain, students and their parents saw the value of learning languages for travel, work and general communication. It is a shame that in NSW we do not all feel the same. Language study can open a whole new world for business and pleasure. Janice Creenaune, Austinmer

So many governments, so many ideas, and we still can’t get students to want to learn languages and schools to want to inspire and encourage students to learn languages. I love teaching, I love languages, and especially French. Despite my English accent, I am French with many years of experience. I have taught in a lot of public and private schools. Some schools really encourage it. I applied for the job at Newtown Performing Arts when the job was first advertised. I did not get a reply. I am struggling to even get casual positions. I’m still fit and young and keen, but I am 75 years old and nobody wants me. Peter Mayes, Petersham

Dismal economics

Since 2010 the number of US billionaires has trebled. They can of course now also claim the world’s first trillionaire (“Musk becomes first trillionaire as SpaceX soars after spectacular Wall Street offering”, June 14). In Australia, the billionaire increase has been more than 14-fold, from 13 in 2010 to 188 last year. Meanwhile, ACOSS found Australians living below the poverty line was 12.8 per cent in 2010 and 14.2 per cent in 2025, with 15.6 per cent of our children living in poverty. It seems that our systems are even more conducive to collecting excessive wealth, and maybe stripping the poor, than the so-called land of opportunity. This should be a source of shame. Lesley Walker, Northcote (Vic)

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