Ah, the delicious irony. NSW Transport Minister Jo Haylen was forced to resign after media revealed she misused taxpayer-funded cars on a number of occasions (“Transport Minister Jo Haylen quits over chauffeur scandal”, February 4). Her resignation speech was primarily about the importance of public transport and her success in improving it in NSW. It’s unfortunate Ms Haylen didn’t catch a train when she used her chauffeur-driven car to take her to lunch in the Blue Mountains. The minister would have experienced the reality of public transport on the Blue Mountains line. Luxurious, clean and modern carriages that run regularly and on time are but an unfulfilled dream for us. Gerardine Grace, Leura
Jo Haylen resigns from her position of transport minister yesterday.Credit: Nick Moir
Isn’t it poetic justice that Transport Minister Jo Haylen is transported into the departure lounge by her own choices of transport? Ramani Venkatramani, Rhodes
No political party wants to sack one of its MPs, a minister especially, because it suggests internal divisions. However, in Jo Haylen’s case she had to go to ensure NSW Labor’s reputation and credibility remained intact. Her attempts to argue that her private trips were within accepted guidelines suggests a self-centred arrogance. Those guidelines are unacceptable and need changing. As a minister in a political party that frequently spruiks its concern for society’s neediest, her unrepentant squander of taxpayers’ money made her unfit for public office. Ron Sinclair, Windradyne
A public servant should never spend money entrusted to them by the public, unless they are doing something that directly serves the public. It really is that simple. Jo Haylen was a multiple offender and had to go. Chris McGregor, Cabarita
While the trips by my local member Jo Haylen didn’t pass the pub test, it was the rules and guidelines of the NSW parliament that were at fault. Premier Minns should immediately make public all the current perks and outline how he is going to tighten up the rules to eliminate unreasonable benefits. Bruce Welch, Marrickville
We currently have an absurd situation whereby a minister, in this case Jo Haylen, can legitimately use a government car and driver for private purposes yet face public censure for doing so. The amount involved is not the point: the issue is a weakness in the regulation that needs to be addressed. That could be done by allowing ministers to use cars and drivers for private purposes up to a set monetary value each year. Peter Hughes, Macquarie Fields
Was the transport minister thrown under the bus? Dermot Browne, Marrickville
Baseless criticism
Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler’s criticism of Labor’s response to antisemitism is predictable, and wrong (“Labor has failed the Jewish community when leadership was needed most”, February 4). The Albanese government has repeatedly called out antisemitic attacks, appointed a special envoy, Jillian Segal, and recently imposed counter-terrorism sanctions on a neo-nazi network, Terrorgram. Like most, I abhor the attacks, however, it is a sad indication of the times that it becomes perilous to call out the obvious reasons for such appalling behaviour – the deaths of more than 45,000 Palestinians at the hands of the Israeli military. While we need to call out and respond to antisemitism in our country, we should also be able to call out all atrocities. That doesn’t make someone antisemitic. It is also sad but again predictable that Peter Dutton politicises the misery created by the conflict for his own gain. If Leibler had at least acknowledged the death and destruction in Gaza, it would lend more credence to his article. Craig Jory, Albury
Thousands of displaced Palestinians walk towards their homes in northern Gaza.Credit: Bloomberg
Jeremy Leibler’s demand that criticism of Zionism and of Israel be outlawed and suppressed is part of a determined push by Israeli government spokespeople and local supporters to criminalise support for the Palestinian people and any objection to Israeli military actions in Gaza or the West Bank. He falsely claims that supporting “the right of Jewish people to live in their ancestral homeland” is at “the heart of global Jewry”. There is a huge number of Jewish people worldwide and a minority of Israelis who don’t agree. Peter Murphy, Surry Hills
Jeremy Leibler has a legitimate point. Setting aside his political partisanship, (Dutton’s “moral clarity”?) he is right that recent events are a manifestation of ghastly, underlying animosity towards Jews in Australia. All bigotry should have been challenged more forcefully by past governments of both persuasions and at all levels. We shouldn’t forget that Josh Frydenberg’s campaign posters were defaced with swastikas at the last federal election. All candidates in the coming election must be forthright about zero tolerance of hate speech. That said, the recent Auschwitz commemoration reminds us of the circumstances in which the state of Israel came into being. The world invested its hopes in the fledgling democracy for a better future for Jews everywhere. The Netanyahu government has failed to live up to those hopes, writ large in its obliteration of Gaza and its military occupation of Palestinian lands. If it doesn’t change, it will continue to incur the opprobrium of most of the rest of the world – where antisemitism still lingers. There is a connection. Margaret Johnston, Paddington
Jeremy Leibler presents a perplexing argument for why antisemitism has reared its ugly and unwanted head here in Australia. He says, “the overwhelming majority of Jews who are Zionists and believe in the right of Jewish people to live in their ancestral homeland are portrayed as colonialists and genocide supporters”. Does he not see that Zionists are, in fact, requiring Palestinians to be either relocated or exterminated to achieve their aims? As a Catholic, I acknowledge the Jewish people as God’s chosen people, but even God must be wondering why such a universally intelligent community can’t come up with an acceptable solution for Palestine – after all, they of all people should know what it feels like when others want you gone. And why are you so passionate about the state of Israel when you choose to live in Australia in preference? Brian Barrett, Padstow
Leibler should know better than to benignly describe Zionism as the right of Jewish people to live in their ancestral homeland. Author and highly regarded intellectual Professor Yakov Rabkin more accurately states an objective of Zionism as establishing control over the land, “if need be by force”. Nicholas Poynder, Rosny (Tas)
Leibler blames the government for the rise of antisemitism, but all I see in the news are politicians condemning antisemitism over and over again. In contrast, the needless death, injury, and destruction of countless children, families, and homes in Palestine is seldom mentioned. Why are they not calling this out? Are Palestinians less human? Julie Droguett, Berkeley Vale
Just not cricket
Peter Lalor’s unfair sacking highlights the disturbing imbalance of the reporting of the Gaza war (“Standing up for the people of Gaza is not antisemitic: Usman backs dumped cricket journalist”, February 4). Any anti-Israel or pro-Palestinian dialogue is automatically cancelled as antisemitic. This has led to a lopsided and unfair media portrayal of the war. Support for Palestinians is not support for Hamas, nor is it antisemitic. The media needs to call out the Gaza conflict as a war between the Hamas and the ultra right-wing Israeli government, and how the Palestinian people have been caught in the middle. The reporting of the war as simplistically being between Jews and Palestinians is misleading and only serves the interests of both the Israel government and Hamas. Ian McKenzie, Mount Annan
Cricket journalist Peter Lalor.
No, it is not Usman, but here is the thing: Standing up for Hamas, the elected leadership of the people of Gaza, is antisemitic, as their openly stated goal is the genocide of world Jewry and their homeland. It is also important to note that while standing up for the people of Gaza may not be antisemitic, it is activism, which is not journalism. Anthony Nassif, Caringbah
Spotlight off
We won’t stop antisemitic vandalism until we stop fuelling it with media attention. For months, hundreds of pro-Gaza protesters have marched peacefully in Hyde Park every week with little media coverage. Yet if someone sprays racist graffiti on a car it immediately makes national headlines. If we want to curb these acts, we need to stop rewarding them with publicity and instead positively reward peaceful protest. Walter Lee, Ashfield
Pyne confuses price for value
Christopher Pyne poses the question, “If I were a Greenlander, why wouldn’t I want to be American?” ( Trump’s Greenland blather has logic, February 4). Perhaps the better question would be, “If I were an American, why wouldn’t I want to be a Greenlander?” Peter Singer, Hamilton South
Pyne’s opinion piece on why Greenland should embrace Donald Trump’s America perfectly encapsulates the saying “knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing”. Shame on you, Christopher. Ellie Fitz-Gerald, Orange
If you want to know what’s wrong with the world today, just read Christopher Pyne’s opinion piece. It might be hard for you to understand, Christopher, but there are more important things than money. Neil Reckord, Gordon (ACT)
Christopher Pyne says Greenlanders should be happy about Donald Trump’s proposal to buy their country.Credit: Oscar Colman
Pyne seems to think if Greenlanders align with the US they will be “among the richest people on the globe” and perhaps the safest. He misses the point that, should America take over Greenland, their entire existence will change to the detriment of their culture and happiness. American culture with its drug problems, junk food and conspiracy theories is not a good role model for Greenland’s youth, nor would the exploitation of their minerals save the Arctic from climate change. Pyne wrongly equates wealth with happiness. Christine Tiley, Albany Creek (Qld)
Goodbye America, hello world
How good that Donald Trump does not know how tariffs work (“We can play the game’: Trump hints at possible tit-for-tat tariff hikes”, February 3). As the American people suffer higher prices, Canada and Mexico will have to sell elsewhere. Now, if he would only impose tariffs on the EU. I can see shiploads of maple syrup and tequila, containers of German sausage and beer, French champagne, Spanish olives and Italian fashion goods arriving on our shores. If we also develop a “Buy Australian” mentality, billions of people in India, South-East Asia, China, Africa and South America are just waiting to buy Australian-made. Goodbye America, hello world. Ted Hemmens, Cromer
If Trump wants to impose tariffs on Australian exports (and there is little chance of us getting off the hook again), the government should immediately threaten to cancel the AUKUS deal. This would make Trump, a confessed dealmaker, think twice once he realised the US was going to lose $365 billion worth of business. Stephen Healion, Wang Wauk
Michael Koziol explains Trump’s tariffs plan (“Trump has lobbed a trade bomb at Canada. It may just blow up in his face”, February 4). It works like this: tomatoes and avocados are imported from Mexico. The importer pays the tariff to the US government. The consumer pays for the tariff via increased prices at the supermarket. The US government uses the tariff money to fund tax cuts for companies and the rich. Trump then insists to his MAGA supporters that he has cut taxes. Alan Russell, Unley (SA)
I can’t help agreeing with your correspondent that “basic economics education is essential for voters” (Letters, February 4). During the US presidential campaign, when Trump promised tariffs as retribution, I couldn’t help thinking that he didn’t know what they were or how they work. On the other hand, I’m sure the millions of his fans who supported tariffs had no idea that they would be the ones who ended up paying for them. I still can’t help thinking that the political process isn’t the problem in that country, but the educational process. Brian Collins, Cronulla
It’s obvious why Trump had Rupert Murdoch in the Oval Office while the press watched him sign another executive order (“Rupert Murdoch in Oval Office”, February 4). At 93, Rupert made 78-year-old Donald look positively youthful. Mike Reddy, Vincentia
Rupert Murdoch and Donald Trump.Credit: Reuters/AP
Correspondent Han Yang airily dismisses Trump’s election win as “largely decided by electoral concerns over grocery prices” (Letters, February 4). Not so. US voters, along with many people worldwide, had grown heartily sick of mindless agendas, pronouns, quotas, non-existent borders, climate-terrifyism and, more specifically, where they’d gone wrong, what to now do and when to do it, to make reparation and regain their self-worth. Rosemary O’Brien, Ashfield
Lunch on Dutton
Peter Dutton’s proposed policy to allow small business fringe benefit tax relief for lunches but not alcohol reminded me of what happened when a Scandinavian country introduced a similar policy some years ago (“Labor calculates bill for Dutton’s free-lunch pledge”, February 4). Evidently, there was a sudden rise in “marinated olives” on restaurant bills. Andre Morony, Paddngton
The $1.6 billion lunch tax concession proposed by Dutton as a sweetener to small businesses is a long-overdue and welcome policy. I can imagine the joy on the faces of the homeless people living under bridges while sharing their two-minute noodles as they picture the struggling business owners slurping oysters and eating wagyu steak, while enjoying a long “business lunch”. Good one.
Matt Kaarma, North Nowra
Jumping the sharks
Macquarie University shark expert Professor Culum Brown has rightly pointed out that bull sharks spend their summers in the warm water of bays and estuaries (“Warming Sydney waters mean longer shark season”, February 4). It is probably timely to remind people that bull sharks have evolved to also live in freshwater as a way of protecting their young from other species of shark. Bull sharks have been found in rivers 100 kilometres inland, not where an unsuspecting swimmer might expect. They are part of a group called “requiem” sharks, a suitable sobriquet if ever there was one. Randi Svensen, Wyong
A shark hooked on a drumline.Credit: AAP
I’m an ocean swimmer and I’m scared to death of the shark drumlines. I swim most days with a group at Terrigal Beach. We know that we’re swimming in the shark’s environment and it’s not our place to push them out. But drumlines scare us because they lure sharks with giant chunks of meat on a hook. Although they are intended to protect swimmers, the problem is that many recent shark attacks in Australia have occurred near drumlines. Claudia Ishak, Terrigal
Keeping score
It was refreshing to read Ian Morison’s concisely negative review of the Albanese government’s scorecard (Letters, February 4). So many tiny pebbles are routinely cast at Peter Dutton from the left’s Newtonian shore, while the great ocean of truth about Labor’s appalling failings lies all undiscovered before us. William Lloyd, Denistone
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