Other writers may say what they like about Alan Jones’ conduct and use of power from living in the spotlight of celebrity status, but such a bright light casts deep shadows, and we will always have the picture of him dressed, cosplay-style, as a Parthenon guard during his attempt to be elected as the MP for the then seat of Earlwood (Letters, November 21). Surprisingly, this image did not appeal to Earlwood’s many Greek-Australian voters, or the Anglo ones either, as in a pro-Liberal landslide election, Earlwood was the only seat where the Liberal vote went down. Garry Dalrymple, Earlwood
Alan Jones’ trade unionist father Charlie (centre), was a proud supporter during his son’s failed bid as Liberal candidate for the NSW seat of Earlwood in 1978.
I am informed by some of my acquaintances that I have had a few of my letters to the editor read out by Alan Jones on 2GB back in the day. Dilemma! Those letters are the early entries of my incomplete chronological scrapbook of contributions to this page. Would my fellow correspondents be so kind as to advise: tear out the yellowing pages in the scrapbook in light of current events or preserve them as evidence of the wax and wane of popular opinion? Stephen Driscoll, Castle Hill
Dislike for Alan Jones runs deep, and for good reason. But trial by media and popular opinion is neither wise nor just. We all need to step back, take a deep breath and hold our judgement. Unpopular as the man is among us, he deserves to be afforded due legal process. Meredith Williams, Baulkham Hills
I once enquired with my friend working in the media as to why the media didn’t castigate Alan Jones after his arrest in a London toilet. He advised me that while Jones had a radio program, he had “right of reply”. As a consequence, not one of the media stood up to Jones and his power became entrenched even more. Peter Nelson, Moss Vale
Trust eroded
Coalition frontbencher Sarah Henderson headlined events for private migration and education providers, then voted against a government bill to reform the sector (“Coalition MP at visa agents’ event before dumping Labor bill”, November 21). So what? This is the way business is done in Australian politics. It’s all about political and private self-interest instead of the public good. Political donations, unbridled lobbyist access, attendance at highly priced functions and the murky mingling of political with private careers has reduced public trust in the political process and seriously eroded our democratic systems. This is why we see so little real reform, why climate action is stilted, deforestation and extinctions continue, developers shape housing policy and the Pharmacy Guild shape health spending. Marie Healy, Hurlstone Park
For almost a decade, the Coalition in government allowed thousands to abuse the education visa system with dubious enrolment at private tertiary colleges. These colleges, many without proper premises, classrooms or qualified academics, were used simply as a vehicle to bring in cheap, unskilled, low-paid agricultural workers, labourers or kitchen hands for unscrupulous employers. Labor’s bill to prevent this continued practice is being hypocritically blocked by the Coalition, who cynically do not want Labor to enact a solution to the issue they wish to focus upon in the next election campaign. Mark Berg, Caringbah South
Strength in numbers
Opposition Leader Dutton could not find the generosity for a bipartisan approach to the very modest request by our First Nations people for a Voice to parliament, but now rushes arm in arm with Labor to tilt the Australian electoral system dramatically against existing independents and any future “outsider” candidates (“Teals furious as Coalition to wave through tough laws cutting campaign donations”, November 20). Labor and the Coalition each has roughly 100 members in the parliament, as well as long-established blue and red branding. If political donations are to be capped to a person giving $20,000 to a candidate, this would provide a massive distortion in the funds available for further brand-building. Shame on both Labor and the Coalition for rushing such cynical and anti-democratic legislation through the final sittings of this parliament. Rob Firth, Red Hill (ACT)
A very cross benchCredit: SMH
Rocky road for EVs
I recently experienced a very traumatic venture to Canberra, the first such long-distance journey we have attempted in an EV (Letters, November 21). The hotel had Tesla charging which didn’t match our MG EV. We then found a power point in the hotel carpark and plugged in the car, thinking that even with slow charging overnight we would have enough power to get home to Sydney. Someone turned off the power during the night. We had just enough power to get to a slow charger in Dickson, but had to leave before fully charged to get home for an event. We then tried two service centres along the Hume Highway, but neither had a charger that fitted our standard socket. Didn’t make the event but managed to catch up overnight with old friends at Moss Vale, so all wasn’t lost. It seems that petrol stations are not keen on EVs. Elizabeth Elenius, Pyrmont
Your correspondent advocates “a standard physical EV battery size” but that’s not really feasible, given the range of vehicle form factors, from micro-city cars to hatchbacks, sedans, SUVs and people movers. It would also be a handbrake on developments in new battery technology. Battery swapping has never really worked due to the very high capital cost of the swapping stations. Nio in China has been trying it for six years and loses money from it. Brendan Jones, Annandale
Fundamentally unfair
I have always thought the word “future” was rather a weasel word in the name of the Future Fund, which was set up to cover unfunded liabilities of the Commonwealth to its employees in defined benefit superannuation schemes (“Future Fund told to sink cash into homes and green energy”, November 21). Most people would think the word “future” meant the future of Australia, which it could have been if governments had ever had the fortitude to properly tax resources industries, and particularly the oil and gas sector. We might then have had a genuine Australian Future Fund rather like Norway’s. Anyway, I’m sure the government could overcome the objection of the opposition to an investment mandate change if they promise to also invest in car parks. John Burman, Port Macquarie
Keep it civil
I would like that public education campaign about using headphones to include the guidance that, if you are behaving that way in a “quiet” carriage and someone politely asks you to tone it down or change carriages, your response should not include a foul-mouthed torrent or threats of physical violence (Letters, November 21). Mickey Pragnell, Kiama
On public transport, when you are subjected to both sides of a phone conversation, do the right thing and offer your opinion on whose side you’re on. It’s only fair. Pauline McGinley, Drummoyne
Cash splash will solve impasse
Police should be paid well and needed a pay rise (“No end to rail mess as Premier intervenes”, November 21). But up to 40 per cent in some cases? No wonder other public sector workers are in no mood to mess around. Nurses’ wages have gone backwards in real terms. The government cannot recruit enough drivers for public transport. Experienced teachers are leaving while fewer new ones are entering the profession. The solution is easy enough. Rather than moan about the situation, we should make it clear to the government that adequate and needed pay rises will lead to a cure. Greg McCarry, Epping
Train strike? Recall Sydney in the ’70s. Red rattlers – brutally cold and horrifically hot. Open windows and doors, followed by Philip Shirley’s pink dilapidated fleet. Strikes would last for 10 days, orchestrated by Bernie Willingale. Transport Minister Peter Cox didn’t get a look in. No Metro. Carpools from the west crawled their way into the city. Holdens, Fords, Valiants, Vanguards, Vauxhalls, VWs. Park wherever in the city without reprisal from the brown bombers. Then back to the pub. Go to bed and do it again the next day.
Enter Neville Wran. Double-decker trains. One dollar fares. Electrification to Newcastle. Air conditioning. XPTs. Station upgrades. Pay and conditions second to none. Transport ministers and unions have never had it so good. Forget this strike. Ken Dixon, Woy Woy
Don’t sack Sarah
What on earth is happening in the lofty environs of ABC management (“Fran Kelly returns to Radio National, new Media Watch host revealed”, smh.com.au, November 21)? If it’s not enough that Richard Glover, our extended ABC “familiar extra-family member” is pulling the plug next week, for heaven’s sake! My partner and I were recently discussing how popular Sarah McDonald is as morning radio presenter. Her journalistic skills, combining curiosity and integrity and endearing self-deprecating humour, we hold in esteem. Above all that, she’s a fine, warm-hearted human being, representing the very best of what ABC stands for. Those who pull the employment levers, please rethink this disastrous decision. Cleveland Rose, Dee Why
Sarah Macdonald and Herald artist Cathy Wilcox at the launch of their book, So...You’re Having a TeenagerCredit: Jeremy Simons
Learning curve
Students turning backs on education degrees is a response to their own education experience – 19th century teaching settings, a leadership drought and classroom cultures that enable the entitled untouchables and the downright naughty to monopolise the learning oxygen while teachers waited for calm (“Why students are shunning education degrees and teachers are quitting the classroom”, November 20). And waited. I know from experience that the entitled untouchables in a classroom remain unchecked and without consequence. And dangerous. Schools and families all have a part to play in this. It might reinstate dignity to the profession and prompt those turning their backs to U-turn their way to an education degree before the exit ramp gets clogged. Penny McKee, Port Macquarie
Nuclear idiocy
Given the situation in Ukraine and the use of long-range missiles, and Putin’s nuclear threat response, it is timely to consider how a version of that may occur elsewhere (“Missiles spark Russia nuclear shift”, November 21). Dutton proposes nuclear power generators up and the east coast of Australia, which would be prime targets if this country is ever drawn in to a wider conflict. It would only take conventional missiles to turn the generator targets into widespread and forever radioactive wastelands. Chernobyl has a 30-kilometre exclusion zone in place for thousands of years. Dutton’s nuclear plan is so short-sighted, ill-conceived and costly in so many ways, one wonders how it ever became Liberal Party policy. Long-range thinking? Maybe not. Mark Olesen, Ryde
Keep free mediation
The NSW Government is closing community justice centres (“The feuding northern beaches neighbours and the morning yoga session”, November 17). CJCs are cost-effective community-based organisations that get fantastic results, help neighbours live peacefully and reduce court and policing costs for the government. Neighbours will lose access to free mediation and instead face possible police actions and costly legal bills. Without CJCs, mediation will be available only to those wealthy enough to afford the high cost of private mediators or those who choose to take their dispute to court. Courts and police should be spending their limited resources on criminal matters that improve community safety, not on disputes that could be better resolved through freely accessible mediation. Local councils have neither the resources nor expertise to deal with neighbour disputes. Now, when community tensions are escalating, when more than ever we need reason and balance, CJCs are being shut down. Frankly, I expected better from the Labor government. Jan Campbell, Springwood
Doorway to doom
I absolutely concur with Mike Dutton’s comments regarding the NSW Planning Portal (Letters, November 21). It is totally unfit for purpose, with algorithms that appear to have been designed with little understanding of the design and planning process. As an architect, the time we have to spend completing information fields that have absolutely no relevance to the size and scope of a project is truly mind-boggling. Should one of these fields not be “correctly” completed, the whole application freezes and you either have to start again or try to get assistance, often waiting weeks if it cannot be dealt with by the helpline.
I now refer to it as the “portal of doom” (a view shared by many of my colleagues and clients). Judith Kubanyi, McMahons Point
Shorten’s service
Bill Shorten’s beliefs that “failure can teach as well as success” and “you don’t have to be the leader to be a leader” make him well-placed to be a mentor and inspiration for the students he will encounter as vice-chancellor of Canberra University (“Shorten not cut out for retirement”, November 21). The two portfolios he was given – disabilities and children’s services and later the NDIS – were challenges that he embraced and transformed with commitment and hard work. His new appointment is politics’ loss and a huge win for education. Elizabeth Maher, Gordon
A big grin for the final haircut before the valedictory speech.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
Parole value
A conditional release from custody with close supervision is more likely to produce benefits in community safety than an unconditional and unsupervised release at the expiry of the sentence (The Herald’s View, November 21). The longer an offender spends in custody, the more difficult the transition to community living becomes, and discharge risks are compounded when there is an absence of graduated re-integration. It is of course true that anybody who has committed a particularly violent act will always pose some risk while they remain physically able to repeat the offence and any release from custody does pose some risk to the community. However, civilised society does not and should not completely close the door to redemption except in the rarest of situations where there is no reasonable alternative to the offender ultimately dying in custody. For many victims of crime, no sentence will ever be long enough but we need to rely upon the sentencing and post sentence appeals processes.
If the recent criticisms of the parole process are valid the logical conclusion is that non-parole periods should be abolished and all offenders should serve the full sentence. This is a recipe for a serious increase in the size and operating cost of the jail system and a deterioration in the already poor recidivism outcomes. Ross Hannah, Bowral
The State Parole Authority has a duty of care to victims of violent crime. They violate their duty of care by not insuring victims are kept informed of their intentions to release offenders whatever the rationale. Victims can no longer feel safe when they are not kept up to date. Victims are justifiably angry when the authority passes their responsibility on to other government instrumentalities. It is always convenient when there is a second or even third branch of government to take the blame. Mark Porter, New Lambton
Here’s to the Herald
As a lifelong reader of the Herald, a short note to thank and congratulate you and your outstanding team for the epic success in securing a record 11 of the 2024 Walkley Awards. Particularly given the onerous challenges traditional media face in these challenging times. With an abundance of conspiracy theories, confected fake news, a polarising impact on individuals and communities cannot be underestimated.
I remember well the proposed Fairfax-Nine merger meeting. Although recognising the need for better funding, I feared a steady decline in Fairfax’s investigative standards in that commercial marriage of convenience. Consequently, I voted against the merger. Happy to be proven wrong. So keep up the good work and “keep the bastards honest”. Kaz Kazim, Randwick
Am I alone? I’ve taken to reading the Herald from back to front. After a quick squiz at the back page, this is followed by a more in-depth look at the weather. Why? I don’t know, but sometimes they get it right, and I can compare the Herald forecast with what my phone app tells me. Then the best bit – the crossword and the letters games. After some well-considered decisions in this department, I move towards the front of the paper, enjoying the opinion pieces and the letters.
Then we get to the newsy bits. Often a good read and all the more enjoyable after devouring the best bits down the back end first! Jo Arblaster, Lower Portland
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