Illustration: Matt GoldingCredit:
Our Premier appears to be imbued with a bit of Trumpism when it comes to mask wearing ("'No-brainer': doctors call for mask rule in public health orders", December 22). The Victorian figures demonstrated that recommending mask wearing results in only a community rate of around 33-40 per cent, but jumps to almost 100 per cent with compulsory mask wearing. With no economic negatives one must ask, why?
The huge Penrith Homemaker Centre was full of people on Monday and there was very little mask wearing in sight. Premier, your mask-wearing suggestion is just not working this time round. Tony Lewis, Mount Victoria
Random Tuesday 7.30am survey on North Steyne, Manly: not a single mask. Please make them mandatory. Don't be too stubborn to learn from others. Warwick Edman, Manly
I have had enough of our Premier and her posturing. Scandal after scandal but no accepting of responsibility. The Ruby Princess and now this outbreak on the northern beaches. Criticising other states for wanting to keep their people safe.
We don't need preaching, bleeding heart sympathies and sorry. We need a hard lockdown and mandatory masks for as long as it takes. I won't see my family for Christmas. Cromer is in the middle of the northern beaches. Such is life. Ted Hemmens, Cromer
Illustration: Matt GoldingCredit:
There are two questions around mask wearing that need answers. The first is what the medical advice the NSW government is receiving from its health experts, as opposed to what is stated in justifying measures the government takes. Despite calls for public release of full health advice since the start of this pandemic, Australian governments have been selective in what they disclose.
The second is who the fundamentalist libertarians in the NSW government are. These no doubt are the reason for the state government failing to make mask wearing mandatory and so avoiding a politically damaging stoush within its own ranks. Peter Geelan-Small, Glebe
What is it with our Premier? She will not put a ban on plastic bags: a non-action that is accelerating the destruction of the marine ecosystem. She will not make mask wearing mandatory: a non-action meaning a higher rate of COVID spread and probable higher rate of morbidity and mortality. Decimation and death on both fronts. Cornelius van der Weyden, Balmain East
Besides protecting the public, wouldn't it make good economic sense to mandate masks on public transport? In these times of massive deficits in the state government budget, increasing patronage on our trains and buses is another good reason to mandate masks. Larry Woldenberg, Forest Lodge
I hope that quiet carol singing through masks in churches will be allowed on Christmas Eve and Day, and before then that masks will have been mandated on public transport – but without threatening fines. The majority then will be likely to do the right thing. John Bunyan, Campbelltown
People in Victoria tell me that wearing masks is a bit of a pain but everyone complies because they work. They reduce aerosol transmission and also act as a visual reminder to keep your distance from other people. Mandating mask wearing is a simple step, Premier. Just do it. Anne Kirman, Kellyville
Stay home and wear a mask. We can only overcome when we collectively act as one. Clare Raffan, Campsie
If shops can open for 24 hours, why can't COVID clinics?
As NSW Health strives to contain the COVID-19 outbreak, we read repeatedly of people being turned away from testing sites as they approach closing time (''COVID testing sites overwhelmed in pre-Christmas rush'', December 22). With so much at stake there appears to be an urgent need for 24- hour access to testing. For health workers of every stripe, working shifts around the clock is the norm. If retail chains can offer 24-hour opening in the lead-up to Christmas, why not our COVID clinics? Peter Davies, Balmain
As I do every morning, I took my dog for a walk at Leichhardt's Callan Park. There is a COVID testing station there. I couldn't drive in the usual way as there were hundreds of cars blocking the roads, lining up waiting. There were hundreds more inside the park with drivers just sitting there waiting, then inching along. No immediate testing for them - more like waiting for eight or more hours. Seeing the faces of those people so far away in time and space from getting their test I'm sure that many turned around and drove home, some of them taking the virus with them. This has to be fixed, so ''immediately'' doesn't mean ''after eight hours''. Annie Bickford, Lilyfield
While I do not think providing false names and phone numbers is a good idea when checking in at venues, the Premier and her ministers ought to reflect on what should be expected when they provide leadership in the form of "if it isn't illegal then there is not a problem" (''24 hours to stem virus outbreak'', December 22). Luke Fennell, Mosman
We are on the abyss of a potentially massive outbreak and I cannot understand how large public gatherings can be allowed to proceed (''Safety must precede NYE fireworks'', December 22). Of most concern is the NYE fireworks. Clover Moore should immediately inform the Premier that the risks are too high. They need to show some decisive and responsible leadership and cancel this event immediately. Peter O’Brien, Shoalhaven Heads
The facts have suggested this year that if we ceased the narcissistic behaviours of preening at hairdressers, nonsensically exercising at gyms and hanging around uber-trendy cafes we’d stop the virus in its tracks. Peter Skinner, Beecroft
With the drastic lockdown on the peninsula, the sudden response at state borders and the events in Britain, I can't get The Day of the Triffids out of my mind. Anthony Healy, Willoughby East
Amen (''Quarantined Christmas a reminder of what we treasure'', December 22). Stefano Iacono, Rosebery
Farmers have duty of care to koalas
Farmers should not be paid to protect koala habitat ("New 'cash for koalas' scheme to save trees", December 22). This should be a given under their stewardship role in working the land. Farmers need to acknowledge that everything they have is not their own. Perhaps it's time we compensate koalas for the destruction of their habitat. Meg Pickup, Ballina
What a warped world we live in. First farmers destroy koala habitat then they get rewarded for preserving what they haven't wrecked. Talk about feeding the land clearing addiction. Rafael Chemke, Annandale
Is this the same as taxpayers paying the big polluters not to pollute? Praise be. Margaret Wilkie, Peregian Beach (QLD)
Let people choose
Yet another step in the direction of a "nanny state" ("Call to shut funds with poor returns", December 22). The reporting aspect of the recommendations is sound. Each member should be able to see how their fund is performing relative to others. However, legislating on what happens next is government making decisions on behalf of people. That is unacceptable.
First they make the public put wages into super – no exemptions. Now they want to tell them where they can and can't invest. And whose money is it? Individuals have to be responsible for their own investments.
While making the performance transparent is a valid government activity going further is simply in the interests of the profits of the banks and large industry funds, as usual. The safest, most reliable investment in this country remains property. Gary Bigelow, Teralba
Reuniting the States
Yes ("Was one dose of Trump enough?", December 22). Jack Robertson, Birchgrove
Ah, The Pavlovian argument. I'll just have one more bite to see if it really is that nasty. To those who "got" him in the first instance, this adds insult to injury, as another four years – no, another four minutes – of Donald Trump would heal nothing that is a problem in the US today, but send it into an irreversible trip down a black hole. Helen Lewin, Tumbi Umbi
The fact that 47 per cent of American voters cast their ballot for Trump, a man whose character, ignorance, actions and ineptitude show him to be unfit to hold the presidential office, does not inspire me to say that they have had enough.
The GOP needs major transformations to separate itself from Trumpism and demonstrate itself to hold country over power as a principle. Media and social platforms need to be more accountable to truth. But that's not enough. Most troubling is the large number of Americans who choose a diet of lies and conspiracies. Without combating this societal ill, another Trump – or worse – may be unavoidable. Marie Del Monte, Ashfield
One fix of Trump was one too many for most of us. WB Yeats' lines capture him: "An aged man is but a paltry thing, a tattered coat upon a stick". If Trump persists in his dangerous divisiveness his appalling legacy, so accurately summarised by Timothy Lynch, will make for a noxious end to whatever Trump might have dredged from his presidency.
Civil War antipathy persists in the southern states but has been masked by enforced legal compliance. Trump wantonly facilitated their smouldering resentments. They can only be ameliorated if Republicans co-operate with Democrats to continue the repair work so necessary in a society long riven by inequality and racism. Ron Sinclair, Bathurst
Sloppy foundations
A lack of requirement for supervising engineers in big infrastructure projects in NSW is both alarming and illuminating ("Engineers to escape licensing rules due to 'very dangerous' loophole"). It is no wonder that projects often cost close to double the original estimates and are delayed interminably, often with months of no apparent activity on sites.
Making and remaking "engineering" decisions on the run can be clearly slated home to poor or no engineering advice from the outset. The cost to the economy is egregious as the community struggles to function in the context of prolonged chaos. Lynne Joslyn, Bronte
Just not cricket
Banning the bouncer would no doubt fundamentally change the nature of cricket ("Chappell calls on umpires to save bunnies from bouncers", December 22). However changes have fundamentally altered other sports and for less serious reasons than safety.
Changes to rugby league rules have made it unrecognisable from what it used to be, and perhaps with reason. And in tennis changes to racquets, balls and surfaces have made it a far different game from what it was in the golden age. If the bouncer is dangerous – and it is – the fact that banning it would change the game is no reason for retaining it. Greg McCarry, Epping
Simple maths
Imagine what comprehensive public high schools could do if they had even half the funding of elite private schools ("'So nervous': How Baulkham Hills High aced HSC mathematics" , December 22). It's time to even up the playing field. Tom Orren, Wamberal Heights
Don't like cut of his jib
Simon Squires makes two errors in one smear (Letters, December 22). The Sydney to Hobart is not, and has never been, a "rich boys' race". Women have participated since 1946 and continue to do so in rapidly increasing numbers. And while a yacht's owner might need to have a few dollars to compete in the major offshore races, the other crew are usually of modest means. They earn their place on the boat by sailing skill and experience, not by the size of their bank balance. David Salter, Hunters Hill
The most miserable letter of the year? Richard Tainsh, Potts Point
A gift to us all
My Christmas wish is that the world will be a better place by people not littering and remembering to put their rubbish in the bin, and people trying to stop smoking cigarettes, and making sure they are looking after the environment. Merry Christmas everybody. Ned Blake, 7, Ashbury
Spread the word
Congratulations to UNSW Professor Raina MacIntyre for successfully relocating the word "tinderbox" from summer bushfires to COVID ("Why Sydney is facing a super-spreading disaster", December 21). John Swanton, Coogee
There is much talk on medical bulletins of "Greater Sydney". Where, I wonder, is "Lesser Sydney"? Susan McKee, Belrose
You can say that again
Nominating tired old cliches of the year (Letters, December 22). Some contenders: "thank you for taking my call"; "good to be with you" (politicians' favourite); and the very strident "shout out". My favourite cliche for this time of the year: Merry Christmas and a happy new year. Kath Maher, Lidcombe
My vote goes to "we're all in this together". Judith Campbell, Drummoyne
Yuletide him over
Can all those children leaving Christmas cake, beer and carrots for Santa and his reindeer please remember to leave some hand sanitiser as well. Ron Brown, Wallsend
New year's resolution
I am amazed by the unfounded optimism of many writers recently who are declaring that they are ecstatic to see the end of 2020. I have been reading it everywhere for weeks, if not months. What will magically happen on New Year's Day? 2021 is just a number; good luck with that. John Kouvelis, Neutral Bay
The digital view
Online comment from one of the stories that attracted the most reader feedback yesterday on smh.com.au:
‘No brainer’: Sydney must wear masks, say experts
From Saffron: ‘‘Please wear masks, Sydney. They may help you avoid the nightmare that Melbourne experienced. As has been said, if a person doesn’t like the idea of a mask, they surely won’t like a ventilator.’’
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