One Nation on the nose, but Labor is no sure bet

Sean Kelly says that there is acceptance that Labor is very likely to win the next election and points out Anthony Albanese’s belief that if policies are right, the politics will look after itself (“Is Hanson’s rise Albanese’s fall? Not so fast”, August 31). Kelly then notes that the Western Australia GST deal is bad policy. He could also have noted that, by accepting only three of the late Labor stalwart Peta Murphy’s 31 recommended gambling reforms, the PM has similarly gone against the wishes of the majority of voters. If Albanese continues to make decisions that are seemingly at odds with the electorate, by the time the next federal election is due the Labor government’s incumbency could well be at risk. Peter Nash, Fairlight

I suggest to Sean Kelly that there is no policy, immigration or otherwise, likely to stop the rise of One Nation. One Nation does not have policies that are coherent or consistent. Despite this, it is attracting votes from the disappointed and the disaffected. The fall of One Nation will be swift when the buyers realise they have been deceived and exploited. Mark Porter, New Lambton

Bravo, Sean Kelly, for trying to get us focused on the right question – is Labor governing properly? Imagine media coverage that focused on policy rather than political brawling and “gotcha” moments. Could we look at some facts? RBA data show us that our living standards are in decline and will not recover any time soon. Per capita real disposable income has slumped post-COVID and since Labor’s election. Income for most is going backwards, just as the tax take has been increasing. Labor’s tax cuts made no meaningful difference and were effectively cancelled out within months of their announcement. So, too, were any increases in the minimum wage. These are all key, objective measures of our circumstances, yet they receive little attention, let alone proper interrogation of government. More needs to be done, including by the media, to ensure a properly informed electorate. Rob Ritchie, Mosman

Does anyone care?

Your correspondent Nola Tucker so rightly points out the ticking time bomb of glaciers melting and all the associated devastation relating to climate awareness (Letters, August 31). Even more alarming is the One Nation leader and her photo op on winning a seat in WA. There she is, hammering a giant prop nail into a coffin marked “net zero” (“Secret Harbour shellacking a warning for Labor, Coalition”, August 31). At times like these, one feels quite helpless. With years of scientific research sounding the climate-change wake-up call, one would think that at least a majority of WA voters is aware of the consequences of turning a blind eye to knowledge and learning. Greg Vale, Kiama

Climate change is obvious to all thinking people, and the need to end the use of fossil fuels is undeniable for the sake of future generations. Pauline Hanson and her zealots proudly mock the need for net zero and boast of an intention to derail the transition to renewables. Their dangerous ignorance shows them to be fools. John Cotterill, Kingsford

Graham Lum is correct that we would be better prepared to deal with global warming if we had listened more closely to former US vice president Al Gore 20 years ago (Letters, August 31). I’ll go back even further. While a university student in 1970, I attended the first Earth Day events that tried to raise global consciousness regarding environmental issues and future threats. Our pleas were largely ignored; the questions and possible solutions that were discussed 56 years ago are basically the same ones facing the world today, except the risk of environmental disaster has become even more acute. It beggars belief that some politicians and parts of the media still cling to dangerous denials of reality. Steve Ellis, Hackett (ACT)

Fuelling global furnace

Even before Woodside announced that it was backtracking on its clean energy commitments, it was clear that the company was never serious about renewable energy (“Oil giant’s retreat on clean energy shows limits of investor pressure”, August 31). The fact is, its sole clean energy project of any significance is the 50 megawatt solar farm it’s building – to power its Pluto LNG facility in WA. But using solar power to increase the production of gas is like using organic fertiliser to increase the production of heroin. Only when I see the company abandoning new fossil fuel projects such as Browse will I start believing its clean energy initiatives are anything more than window dressing. Ken Enderby, Concord

Yes, it was “disappointing” that Woodside scrapped its $5 billion commitment to “cleaner energy projects” by 2030. Governments have also been disappointing. In the face of Trump-era climate change denial, many governments have caved to their fossil fuel donors. Federal and state governments, despite achieving remarkable results with renewables in some sectors, have green-lit coal, gas and possibly oil projects that make any meaningful emissions cuts a distant dream. Voters might also be disappointed when, having stuck ourselves in the quagmire of the fossil fuel age, we discover energy prices continue to rise and our environments keep deteriorating. That’s because governments around the globe have also done the disappointing thing. Fiona Colin, Malvern East (Vic)

Eyes wide open

Thank you, Audette Exel, for so powerfully drawing our attention to the point that so much of the media is missing – the link between the disasters in Nepal and climate change (“After decades working with Nepal, I see the root of its disaster ignored”, August 31). How can we expect any action on the unfolding disaster of climate change if we continue collectively to shut our eyes to the obvious? The global poor are paying the price for our self-indulgence and reckless blindness and indifference. We can blame our leaders (political and corporate) for their inaction, but in the end they do what we allow them to do. Diccon Loxton, Woollahra

Audette Exel’s article outlines a frightening, unexpected outcome of the Nepal catastrophe. She reports that unaccompanied orphan children will be targeted by unscrupulous sex traders as she has personal experience in the horrendous abductions of young children. There must be immediate action by all nations, especially China, to ensure the safety of these now homeless youngsters. Denis Suttling, Newport Beach

Horror and consequences

Your article about the devastating trauma suffered by a young woman sexually assaulted by a group of underage boys and men should disturb every member of our community (“‘Like wild dogs’: Horrific gang rape charges shock Sydney”, August 31). What particularly struck me was the reference to the fact that, in 2001, the law was changed so that aggravated sexual assault, including gang rape, could attract a sentence of up to life imprisonment. I believe it is time to return to that principle – and, just as importantly, to make sure that young perpetrators fully understand the consequences of such a horrific crime. These offenders were probably emboldened by male bravado and the belief that they would somehow escape any serious consequences. We make considerable effort telling young people that sexual violence is unacceptable, but clearly words aren’t enough. If the law provides for a life sentence for the most serious cases, then the public needs to know that – and potential offenders need to know it too. The consequences should be communicated with the same clarity and force with which we condemn the crime itself. This is not about revenge, it is about justice, deterrence and making absolutely clear that there are crimes for which society will impose the most severe penalties available. Nathan Feld, Glen Iris (Vic)

In the case of gang rape by teenagers, perhaps it is time for them to be named and shamed after conviction. It might go part way to deterring such behaviour if they knew it would haunt them in the same way as it haunts their victim. Carole Hayes, Newtown

No comparison

Once again, George Brandis distorts information and possible perceptions for the purposes of political point scoring (“How Ben Roberts-Smith could help Hanson bring down a future Liberal leader”, August 30). Roberts-Smith may be a totem of the right, and there is no doubt he acted with extraordinary bravery, but if the subsequent evidence relating to allegations of war crimes is found to be true, the first good deed does not justify those that followed. Julian Assange was never a totem for the left. The charges levelled against him were at best spurious. Whether people considered them warranted, or even if they liked or disliked him as a person, the main objections from a wide sector of people across the world were based on the clear absence of due process of law and justice. Trying to equate the two situations is insulting. Tony Doyle, Fairy Meadow

It is often difficult to agree with George Brandis, or to concede that Andrew Hastie has much to offer the country. However, Brandis’ assessment of Hastie’s conduct throughout the Roberts-Smith defamation case and in the lead-up to the criminal trial demonstrates that he has a conscience and a genuine willingness to perform his duty over self-interest. He has displayed true courage and should be commended. That will not stop Pauline Hanson and her supporters from trying to bring Hastie down, but we should stand with him. Paul Fergus, Croydon

Unconventional warfare

Richard Marles and Anthony Albanese are deluding themselves (“Marles on warpath in US for AI security”, August 31). Marles concedes he’s in a “race” he doesn’t understand, and Albanese is on his soap box about data centres’ use of water and energy. But the “war” that should be fought is against the tech companies’ theft of ideas and data (“harvesting” is the thieves’ euphemism) and their monitoring of every search, every keystroke, to watch what we do and deduce why we might be doing it, so they can constantly supply us with what we want to hear and see, amplifying our sins and providing fertile ground for the growth of racism, sexism and violence. I don’t see humility, charity, respect and understanding sprouting online. We should be protesting against this Orwellian monitoring and controlling of our thoughts, not welcoming it with open arms and blank minds. As for consent, teenage bans, and opting in or out: they’re like Band-Aids at a beheading. Andrew Scott, Pymble

Savings lives and dimes

Thank you, Dr Elly Goodsall, for so succinctly explaining the differences in approach between typical male and female GPs (“I’m just one more female GP quitting”, August 29). Unfortunately, in our health model, the government thinks it gets “more bang for the buck” by financially rewarding the more male model of care. For many years, I raced around early before regular surgery, visiting my frail and elderly patients. I often wondered why I did it as it was poorly remunerated and I didn’t feel I was changing much in the way of management. Then I went on holidays. On return, the majority of these elderly were in hospital – taking up valuable hospital beds and, yes, enabling “bed block”. It was then that I realised the regular checks I performed enabled me to pick up early warning signs of any change in patient condition and, also, if someone had a concern they could await my next visit, which they knew was coming, rather than calling an ambulance. Medicare remuneration does not adequately reflect this level of care. These patients were all pensioners and bulk-billed. Caring needs to be recognised as a valuable aspect of a good GP’s role, not just fast diagnosis, prescribing and making referrals. Dr Katriona Herborn, Blackheath

As a GP and a Boomer recipient of free education, it is not the remuneration aspect that would see me leaving medicine, but rather the major dilemma highlighted by Dr Graeme Stewart (Letters, August 30), namely the lack of access to affordable specialist care for less well-off patients. Hospital outpatient clinics are either no longer existent in certain areas or come with waiting times so long as to render them useless. Specialists who will bulk-bill are a dying breed. I even had a specialist to whom I refer many full-fee-paying patients decline my request to bulk-bill just one of my patients. With gap fees now many hundreds of dollars, we indeed have developed a two-tiered system of medicine. Louise Dolan, Birchgrove

Right judgment

Shark attack survivor Leah Stewart’s recount of her fight with a four-metre great white shark at Coogee includes an amazing description of a conscious choice: which arm should she sacrifice? “I’m right-handed, so I thought ‘let’s do a left hook’,” she said (“Coogee shark attack survivor tells of desperate fight for life”, August 31). This is a quintessential Aussie story for the ages: one of extraordinary determination and bravery, both from Ms Stewart and her rescuers. But I couldn’t help but admire the most complex of the human organs, the brain, primed to think so clearly in the most terrifying of circumstances. Incredible. Cathryn Callaghan, Croydon

In for the sink

In answer to Debi Enker’s question (“Is Kitchen Cabinet past it’s use-by date?” August 28). An emphatic: definitely not! It’s a reputable and entertaining program presented by a talented and accomplished journalist that allows politicians to show their human side. Well done, Annabel. Susan Chan, St Ives

Sniffling season

We waken to a dismal Spring because our morning Herald is without Cathy. She was always the first port of call on opening the paper. Her cartoons brightened our mornings and always gave us food for thought. John Crowe, Cherrybrook

Agent of destruction

Renaming Donald Trump (Letters, August 31)? How about Agent Orange? It references that evil chemical with which America deforested Vietnam and which caused untold misery and death, and genetic and environmental catastrophes, which persist to this day. To back up my suggestion, remember Vietnam has named the war as “the American War”. John Burman, Port Macquarie

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