Power of money threatens to undermine our democracy

While Pauline Hanson rightly attracts criticism on your letters pages (Letters, July 14), Clive Palmer too often escapes the same scrutiny, yet both are symptoms of a more troubling trend: the growing influence of extreme private wealth over Australian democracy. In Hanson’s corner stands Gina Rinehart, whose vast fortune gives her extraordinary capacity to shape political debate. In the other is Clive Palmer, who has repeatedly spent enormous sums pursuing political influence and promoting his own vision for Australia. What unites them is not ideology but the ability of immense wealth to amplify individual voices far beyond those of ordinary Australians. Meanwhile, Australia’s pressing challenges – homelessness, disadvantage, an overstretched health system and the long-term investment needed in education – receive comparatively less attention. Australia has long prided itself on a democratic tradition in which every citizen has an equal vote. We should be deeply concerned by the creeping Americanisation of our politics, by which billionaires increasingly wield disproportionate influence and the public interest risks being overshadowed by private power. Will voters see through it on polling day? Chris Rivers, Port Macquarie

Barnaby Joyce says he doesn’t believe in multiculturalism (“The varnish has come off; support slips for Hanson”, July 13), then tries to make his point via the Incan empire by reducing a civilisation to its most grotesque elements. Rolling heads and beating hearts make a flimsy argument. By that standard, Australian culture could be summed up as a drunk Barnaby sprawled on a footpath making a phone call – striking, but hardly representative. Culture isn’t defined by its extremes but by the everyday lives of its people. To argue otherwise says more about the observer than the culture. If Joyce wants to join this debate seriously, he could start by learning what cultural competence actually means instead of reaching for crude and misleading comparisons that reduce our multicultural country to Incan human sacrifices. Vivien Clark- Ferraino, Duckmaloi

It seems Pauline’s popularity is fading, but I must thank her for her Press Club performance because I’ve confirmed my opinions and views on some of her issues and hatreds. Multiculturalism is a wonderful thing in our nation. Hearing fellow citizens speaking in their native language doesn’t bother me. Our First Nations people are the real “fair dinkum” Aussies, and Welcome to Country speeches are totally appropriate. Immigration is vitally important for many reasons. There should not be exclusions based on race or religion, and we should accept refugees on humanitarian grounds. The workers, wage and salary earners are the backbone of our nation and wages should at least keep pace with inflation. Climate change is real, net zero is vital and advances in renewable energy should be accelerated. AUKUS is the wrong defence strategy and neither defence nor energy production should include anything nuclear. The ABC and SBS are not biased or left leaning, they just report both sides of issues. So call me “woke” or a “leftie”, Pauline, but don’t think, say or infer that I’m not a proud Australian who loves his country. Ken Butler, Mount Colah

It is encouraging to learn that GetUp is focusing its attention on a long-term strategy against populism and its dire repercussions (“GetUp’s gamble on fighting One Nation”, July 13). When Donald Trump won his first term, I was horrified but believed that wise heads in the White House would rein in some of the more outrageous ideas of the president. When he won his second term, he instantly got rid of those heads, and we are witnessing the results across the world. If Australia can be prevented from joining in this dangerous Hansonite way of thinking, it will be of great benefit to the country. Good luck, Mr Ferris. Mary Billing, Allambie Heights

Any politician is entitled to a fair hearing and fair criticism, but GetUp’s particularly dirty trick at the National Press Club overstepped the mark. It offended my sense of fairness and compelled me to do something I’ve never done – I sent an apologetic donation to One Nation. William S. Lloyd, Denistone

Make AI pay up

Funds created by tech firms have a bad record in the US (“Deadlock remains on billion-dollar tech tussle”, July 14) To get the H1-B visa extended to cover tech workers in the 1990s, tech firms undertook to fund a training scheme for US software engineers. The scheme ended up being used to fund low-skill work such as installing cables rather than computer science courses, as originally intended. A fund for creatives in Australia would inevitably suffer the same fate and should be resisted. The argument that sophisticated multibillion-dollar companies can’t manage payments to creators is ridiculous. Let us not get taken for a ride. Anthony Healy, Centennial Park

Surely with all their technological resources, AI companies know exactly whose work they are sampling. Paying the copyright owners their due should be easy to calculate and then make good on their debt for use of intellectual property of others. Glenn Johnson, Leura

Telstra trust fades

I received an apology this week from the $6 million woman at Telstra, simply signed “Vicki” (“Telstra outage: Your right to claim and the fine print that limits it”, July 14). She assured me that Telstra invests significantly in the resilience of its network, but I’ve seen reports saying that the event was caused by the failure of a neglected but relatively inexpensive component. She signed off by thanking me for the trust I place in Telstra. I’ve got news for you, Vicki. As a PMG/Telecom/ Telstra customer for more than 50 years, I don’t have any trust left. Geoff Marles, Avalon Beach

Telstra CEO Vicki Brady offers customers an apology, but nothing she promises will remove the fact that she’s working for the interests of one group of people by extracting the maximum profit from the majority. Handing over public assets to capitalism was the biggest rort ever perpetrated on the Australian public by our politicians. No amount of pleading by Vicki that she cares will convince me otherwise. Peter Hull, Katoomba

I am sick of big telcos saying “we’re sorry we let you down”. We hand over a lot of hard-earned cash and expect the service that we paid for. What makes it worse is that the outage was caused by a cheap, outdated server, while those in charge receive enormous pay packets. I hope customers get adequate compensation. Shame on you. Sarah Rolls, Orange

Thanks for the memories, Sam

My fond memories of Sam Neill cannot be better exemplified than when watching The Hunt for Red October in a George Street cinema. During a poignant moment, when Sam’s character was shot and killed, a woman at the front screamed, “Oh no, not Sam Neill!” This caused the audience to erupt in unrestrained laughter for some time, the opposite reaction to what the director would have been aiming for. Movie lovers who have heard the sad news of Sam’s passing will undoubtedly have expressed a similar sentiment. John Lewis, Thornleigh

Well-deserved tributes to Sam Neill have poured in from around the world (“Kiwi who charmed film fans mourned”, July 14). Those Herald readers who have not read his wonderful 2023 autobiography Did I Ever Tell You This? can pay their own tribute to the much-loved actor by reading it. One of the finest autobiographies I have read, it is, like Sam himself, warm, wise, whimsical, witty and, at times, laugh-out-loud funny. John Payne, Kelso

Scolyer’s light shines on

Could there have been a more moving event than the state memorial for Richard Scolyer (“Cancer researcher farewelled at Opera House”, July 14)? Yvonne Weldon’s heartfelt Welcome to Country, our outstanding Governor-General Sam Mostyn and her equally outstanding colleagues speaking so warmly about his achievements and their connection to him. Across the board the respect for him shone. Moments of pride came with the beautifully spoken words from his outstanding wife and his children, already citizens of whom we can be immensely proud. He may be gone but his light will shine on in this messy world. Vicky Marquis, North Sydney

The SMH lifted my spirits over breakfast. Affirming the good lives of Richard Scolyer (“The courage Richard Scolyer showed changed so many lives”, July 14) and Sam Neill contrasted with the more regular diet of division and duplicity, epitomised by Wilcox’s cartoon of the late US senator Lindsay Graham (Letters, July 14). Kim Crawford, Springwood

In a world governed by seemingly untamable alpha males we have lost two St Francis-like figures who showed an alternative fulfilment through courage, calmness and generosity. Their very presence offered reassurance that a good life is defined by relaxed good humour and intense curiosity, rather than the wild scramble for wealth and awards. Peter Farmer, Northbridge

Classroom conundrums

In Emily Kowal’s article, school principal Linda McLeod says students cannot achieve great things unless teachers give up evenings and weekends to teach them (“Kids at the most-improved school reach for the sky”, July 14). Teachers are classed as needing affordable housing to live in Sydney, not earning the big bucks. It seems that the less you earn, the more altruistic you are supposed to be. If that is what it takes for students to succeed, then something needs to be done. Rosslyn Jeffery, Castle Hill

For too long, teachers and parents have been persuaded that technology in schools is inherently beneficial (“Schools were seduced by screens. Now laptops are being put on the floor”, July 12). A timely return to textbooks, proficient note-taking and summarising would be a welcome and overdue development. Regarding my own children, I have noted a serious decline in spelling, sentence structure and composition since laptops were introduced. Some of our most prestigious and expensive private and public schools are returning to traditional pen-and-paper approaches, reflecting a broader international trend. Given their astronomical cost, laptops have yet to demonstrate any meaningful improvement in educational outcomes. It is time to question whether the promise of technology in the classroom has delivered on its claims. Ray Armstrong, Tweed Heads

Chimes change for worse

The Chimes, a landmark 1960s modernist building in Potts Point, has been approved for demolition. Today, it provides 80 studio and one-bedroom apartments, housing more than 100 local residents in one of Sydney’s most walkable and vibrant neighbourhoods. In its place, developers plan to build a much taller tower containing just 23 affordable apartments and 21 luxury residences. The affordable homes will be accessed via a separate side entrance, while the luxury apartments will enjoy their own grand lobby. The result? Fewer affordable homes, fewer residents and a larger building dominated by high-end apartments that are likely to become occasional city bolt-holes, rather than permanent homes. This isn’t progress. It’s the loss of an iconic piece of Sydney’s modernist heritage and the replacement of a thriving, genuinely affordable community with a development that reduces housing diversity, while claiming to address the housing crisis. Justin Miller, Potts Point

Growing role

Correspondent Graham Lum believes there is no hope of female ordination in the Catholic church in the foreseeable future (Letters, July 13). I think there is. The issue is not one of doctrine but culture. Over the past 50 years, the role of women in the Catholic church has grown enormously. Fifty years ago, they were not allowed in the sanctuary and had to wear veils in church. Now some are helping priests run parishes or Catholic organisations. The graph is going one way, and that is up. They witness the ordination of women in the Anglican church and will notice that the world has not come to an end. Gideon Goosen, Lapstone

Religion and terror

Religion should certainly remain part of our understanding of terrorism (“Agencies, envoys at odds over push to change terrorism definition”, July 14). Religion is one of the easiest, most sure-fire, us-v-them divisions used to increase support for political goals, extremist or otherwise. The agencies and envoys should also consider broadening the definition of terrorism to include war crimes when they indiscriminately target civilians, whether by state and non-state actors. Jeffrey Mellefont, Coogee

Bad Health decision

After many years of waiting, a new hospital is being built in Shellharbour, which has been a growth area for the past decade or more. Unfortunately the new facility will have no obstetric facilities, and patients will have to make the 25-kilometre journey to Wollongong. At the old Shellharbour hospital GPs used to deliver babies and did the baby health checks with specialist cover for obstetrics and paediatrics. Obstetric services were subsequently withdrawn and services moved exclusively to Wollongong Hospital. It beggars belief that the new $780 million hospital that serves such a large and growing population south of Wollongong will not offer obstetric care. Who made that decision in the Health Department, or are specialists unwilling to work outside Wollongong? Dermot Perry, Mount Keira

Essence of Paddo

Thanks to Diana Simmonds for sharing the affirmations she uses every day to remind herself that Paddington remains a vibrant, accessible, creative community despite gentrification (“Paddington bears up under change”, July 14). The maintenance of a heritage Reschs tap in a suburb dominated by Justin Hemmes is truly a win for the suburb’s largely invisible working class. Colin Stokes, Camperdown

Paddington has certainly come a long way since I lived there in a boarding house with my parents in the mid-1950s, while they saved for a home in the then-working class suburb of Bronte. As a 10-year-old, previously living in a quiet semi in Bondi, I was shocked by the poverty and squalor in Paddington, the overcrowding and the domestic violence I witnessed in a back lane. I am so glad that Paddington since the 1970s has emerged as such a vibrant, peaceful and interesting suburb. Visiting there now is a joy. Toni Lorentzen, Fennell Bay

Train dreams

When the Metro starts carrying passengers to Bankstown, will all those pink buses become white elephants? Doug Walker, Baulkham Hills

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