In his keynote speech in August, President Joe Biden said: “I love the job, but I love my country more.” It seems Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s motto might be: “I value my job, more than I value Australia’s future” (“PM sinks Plibersek deal with Greens”, November 28). Why else would he pull the plug on what is effectively his own bill from 20 years ago, when he accused the Howard government of “procrastinating on a climate change trigger since 1999”? Sure, the fossil fuel giants will kick up a fuss with their usual scare campaigns, but surely Australians can expect their political leaders to stand up to vested interests and take the heat? If politicians have learnt nothing else from recent elections in the US and Europe, it is clear there are a lot of angry and disillusioned people prepared to reward bold political leadership and severely punish governments they perceive as weak. Rob Firth, Red Hill (ACT)
Anthony Albanese has halted an almost successful negotiation between Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek and the Greens.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Albanese’s intervention to halt an almost successful negotiation between Tanya Plibersek and the Greens on Australia’s first-ever environmental protection agency begs the question: what is wrong with you? We need this legislation so badly and, at the last minute, the Greens are becoming more co-operative. You’ve undermined one of your key performers in the cabinet, and for what? To keep the opposition from targeting you during the election campaign. Are you going to spend your whole three years in leadership trying to get re-elected? I emigrated from the United States 43 years ago, but feel like I’ve just returned. Marilyn Lebeter, Smiths Creek
Albanese knew Plibersek was in negotiations with the Greens about a national EPA and what decisions that body might have made. Someone seems to have influenced Albanese at the last minute about mining/forestry jobs, money and power. That makes Labor look ridiculous. Albanese 3, Environment 0. Ted Bush, North Epping
A case to answer
Colin Rubenstein and Jamie Hyams’ opinion piece on the federal government’s comments on Gaza is no doubt a far stretch (“Canberra’s Gaza comments have contributed to antisemitism in Australia”, November 28). Rejecting the visa of Israeli former minister Ayelet Shaked was not antisemitic, but the most appropriate thing to do considering her highly controversial and divisive comments after October 7. The criticism of the International Criminal Court in issuing arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant also does not hold its mud. They were not issued because they were Jewish. The fact arrest warrants have been issued is enough to suggest they have a case to answer. Questioning the legitimacy of the warrants on a technicality does not absolve them of the need to answer questions about war crimes in Gaza. This is particularly the case considering the world’s leading humanitarian organisations have released reports accusing Israel of using starvation as a weapon. Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Oxfam and Save the Children have all reported on the lack of aid entering the territory. Saba Mustafa, Punchbowl
Roger Shanahan states Hezbollah will learn many lessons in this round of the never-ending conflicts (“Hezbollah will use ceasefire to rebuild”, November 28). With Israel’s seemingly unstoppable forays into Lebanese territory, striking its cities and villages and causing much death and mayhem, it is obvious that the organisation’s defence capabilities are virtually non-existent due to lessons it never heeded from all the previous conflicts. So, will Hezbollah finally learn from the battering they and the whole of Lebanon have taken? I very much doubt it. It will be business as usual, to the detriment of many innocents. John Boutagy, Mosman
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Beirut, Lebanon.Credit: nna\advidler
Sad outcome overall
The conviction of Senior Constable Kristian White is a sad outcome of when someone falls through the gaps of the health and aged care systems (“Police officer no longer being paid after guilty verdict for Taser manslaughter”, November 28). Why was Clare Nowland only diagnosed with dementia as part of evidence for the trial when it appears she was exhibiting BPSD (behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia) well before the night the police were called to her aged care facility? With a dementia diagnosis, White may have realised she may not have understood what she was being asked to do. With that knowledge, he may not have felt there was no alternative but to use the Taser. Mark Bagnell, Singleton
A jury has found that an elderly woman suffering from dementia was unable to comply with the commands of the attending police and, moreover, was not an immediate threat to those at least 50 years younger than her. Nevertheless, she met her death anyway. Why did the police officer think it was alright to deploy his Taser? We need to ask why the police deploy force rather than communication with vulnerable members of the public. Police should be citizens in uniform, a service rather than a paramilitary force, and they should be trained accordingly. We have to ask why the force model used by police is acceptable. Denise Weelands, Erskineville
Do I want a person in the police force who is frightened by a frail, elderly woman using a walker carrying a steak knife? The answer is no. Genevieve Milton, Dulwich Hill
Education must keep up with technology
It’s fine to use ChatGPT in the workforce for research, reports and emails, but in the sacred environment of the Australian tertiary system, it’s sacrilege (“Degrees will be worthless if we can’t arrest AI’s march”, November 28). This, despite the fact that a majority of students join the workforce for a living, with universities only employing a fraction of the PhD graduates who apply its academic standards. Author Mindy MacLeod’s complaints of international students using ChatGPT adds fuel to a moral panic that has been rising in Australia since the pandemic. It suggests they are unAustralian and unworthy of living here. The attitude is completely different at Keio University in Tokyo, Japan, where I’m an international exchange student and the universal language is broken English. Lecturers are open-minded towards ChatGPT, which is seen to assist communications and expedite non-essential tasks. Just last night I read the best piece of writing on Kant I have seen, based on a German translation through ChatGPT. We should be adapting to technological changes or risk being left behind. Instead, we hold up a highfalutin attitude towards international students, reflecting an endemic reversion to tall-poppy syndrome, when some old-fashioned notion of anglo-centric morality is crossed. It’s simply 21st century discrimination towards international students, and it stains our global reputation. Cameron Chu, Kawasaki, Japan
Universities are catching hundreds of students in a new wave of alleged cheating using ChatGPT or other artificial intelligence.
Hear, hear, Mindy Macleod. I attended university with many overseas students in the 1970s who were all reasonably fluent in written and spoken English. They would have had no chance of gaining a degree otherwise. Apparently fluency in the language of instruction is no longer necessary at Australian universities, especially now that AI produced work is acceptable. I once dreamed of studying overseas myself. Unfortunately, I do not have fluency in German, so the idea that I could gain a degree in history at the University of Heidelberg is absurd, as it should be. Steve Ellis, Hackett (ACT)
Stuffed shirts
So, student activist traditions such as sit-ins and making political statements at the start of lectures are “from a different time” and must be stamped out, says a Sydney University review (“End university activist traditions: review”, November 28). I can’t imagine the anti-Vietnam, anti-apartheid or anti-nuke protests would have been thought of any differently by the establishment stuffed shirts back in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Ditto human rights protests at unis worldwide. Sorry, but I hope a huffy report by those in power doesn’t change things. The kids often see things much more clearly than us grumpy old fuddy-duddies. Mark Southcott, Thirroul
Senate scuffles
Senator Fatima Payman’s accusation of racism against Senator Pauline Hanson is news to nobody (“Payman launches attack on Hanson”, November 27). Hanson’s “credentials” in this department were obvious when she first entered parliament. That is the reason the Liberal Party let her go. They do have some standards. First, it was Asians, then Muslims, and also Indigenous Australians who were the target of her sharp and indiscriminate tongue. Hardly an ornament to our upper federal house. Derrick Mason, Boorowa
Lidia Thorpe and Pauline Hanson after a division in the Senate this week.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Senator Lidia Thorpe appears to be her own worst enemy (“Senate suspends Thorpe after paper-throwing rant”, November 27). She could achieve so much more by playing by the rules. Her ambitions for Australia may have merit, but are thwarted by the constant turmoil she creates around her. Her angry outbursts in parliament are disrespectful and unacceptable. It’s sad to see politicians waste the opportunity bestowed on them to contribute to the welfare of Australia. Political capital is not easily acquired, but is easily squandered. Graham Lum, North Rocks
I always felt that someone should throw the book at Pauline Hanson, but papers will do for now. Jim Dewar, Davistown
Dutton’s free hits
It’s the elephant in the newsroom – Peter Dutton’s political missteps and giant policy holes are being consistently ignored by most commercial media organisations in Australia (Dutton gets early media honeymoon, November 28). Shaun Carney’s column nails clearly what Dutton is being allowed to get away with day in and day out by the media. In other times this would be called journalism falling down on the job. The same editors pretend there’s no problem with climate change. Murdoch media operatives, in particular, have been doing this for years, although their bias becomes more obvious when there’s an election on the horizon. The only thing missing from Carney’s article was an explanation of why these media outfits are so keen to get Dutton into the Lodge. Nick Franklin, Katoomba
Food warning
The collapse of yet another dairy company in South Australia while owing farmers tens of millions is a lesson for Sydney (“SA dairy to close after failing to find buyer”, November 28). The city is beginning to realise the type of housing environment it has created, cramming ever-larger dwellings onto 300 square metre blocks with little or no green space or trees, black roofing, black asphalt roads and cement footpaths, which all contribute to a heat-absorbing environment. The Cumberland Plain, once a productive agricultural area producing most of Sydney’s dairy, vegetables and fruit, is no longer – it has become a human-induced heat island. With a blanket of housing across the entire Sydney Basin to the exclusion of agricultural production, the importation of food to Sydney is inevitable and will only increase prices at supermarkets. The ACCC inquiry into price gouging will not change this situation. Bruce Clydsdale, Bathurst
Please explain, ABC
Reading the comments by Kim Williams does little to explain the management reasons for dumping Sarah Macdonald (“ABC chair backs axing of popular radio host”, November 28). What did she do wrong? I know that all the support she has received from listeners, colleagues and competitors will not affect the outcome, however, I, for one, would like to understand with a little more clarity why she was dumped by management. Is there more to his story than meets the eye? Change usually occurs if something is broken. So what was broken? Please explain. Geoff Hermon, Maraylya
ABC chairman Kim Williams has backed the axing of popular radio host Sarah MacDonald. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Building anomaly
It is flawed economics to attribute the decline in new dwellings to the low risk and simpler planning processes for renovations. In fact, renovations can be far riskier for the builder than construction on a greenfield site, or even a knockdown rebuild. The fact that there are more renovations in suburbs like Hunters Hill, Mosman, Waverley or the inner west is because there are no vacant sites on which to build new dwellings. These areas were fully developed by the mid twentieth century. Furthermore, they contain heritage buildings and precincts that cannot be bulldozed for Premier Chris Minn’s grandiose dream of infill housing. One solution would be to ban the use of the simplistic Complying Development State Environmental Planning Policy to knockdown rebuilds, which don’t add to housing stock one iota, but siphon funds from areas where new dwellings can be built. Rodney Crute, Hunters Hill
Date rape precedent
The result of the Conor McGregor civil rape case should be a watershed in legal precedent because it defined alcohol as a date-rape drug (“MMA fighter Conor McGregor sexually assaulted woman, civil jury finds”, November 23) . Consent under the influence of alcohol is not consent at all. The defining of alcohol as a date-rape drug is something criminal law apparently does not do, but it should. This is a major change to the law that is needed to see that many more rape victims could get justice. If any lawyer or shock-jock wants to argue this, just ask them if they would regard a contract signed while they were under the influence of alcohol as valid. Bob Vinnicombe, Sefton
Lost in translation
CBD’s reporting of the MAGA (Make Albo Go Away) caps being auctioned at a Liberal Party fundraiser is reminiscent of another political word substitution gag, which supposedly took place in America some time before the latest election (“Dutton’s MAGA moment – but it’s not what you think”, November 28). A long-time conservative and staunch Republican voter in one of the mid- western states was seen with an LGBTQ sticker on his car. He told his astonished friends that the sticker was given to him by a young relative who convinced him that the sticker meant “Let’s Get Biden To Quit.” William Galton, Hurstville Grove
Save your energy
Surely the actions of government agencies, and all of us, to reduce energy demand should be happening every day, not just in a heatwave (“Trains slow down, air-con turned off as heat soars”, November 28). Sally James, Cromer
It might be a good idea for me to think seriously about having the 19th century hand pump reinstalled on the church organ. At least it won’t run out of wind during Christmas services with manpower available to operate it. Pastor de Lasala, Seaforth
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