Climate and energy policy is at the heart of the Coalition split (“Inside the Coalition split: Ley and Littleproud’s animus laid bare”, May 22). Nationals MPs have made a habit of vehemently opposing climate pollution targets and renewable energy projects, with Barnaby Joyce’s “reckless renewables” rallies a prime example. Yet, it is regional Australians, the very people the Nationals claim to represent, who are most affected by climate-related disasters. Many in NSW are enduring yet another flood (“The intensifying climate driver behind the coastal deluges and inland drought”, May 22). The supposed city-country divide on climate action has been debunked by research. But this is a myth the climate-denying Nationals are all too happy to perpetuate – much to the detriment of their constituents and the rest of Australia. Amy Hiller, Kew
Floods have caused havoc in the NSW Mid North Coast this week.
The Liberal Party is to be congratulated for recognising that it needs to do some soul-searching. The Nationals, on the other hand, see no reason for it. They make no attempt at formulating a climate change amelioration program, while the country is experiencing devastating floods in northern NSW and crippling drought in parts of Victoria and South Australia. They sit back and don’t even consider the possibility that scientists might be right and their ignorance and bravado hurts and damages their most loyal followers – those on the land. The Nationals is the party that really needs to look at itself, but hubris and overgrown self-righteous ego gets in the way. John Rome, Mt Lawley (WA)
Once again, farmers are reporting unprecedented floods, with deaths and great losses – in stock, power, housing and security – while wildlife suffer and die silently (“Locals brace for more rain amid flood disaster”, May 22). Five years ago, communities and experienced firefighters were reporting unprecedented fires – some burning across the same fire grounds twice, something which had never been seen before. As the PM says, these severe floods are devastating. One thing they aren’t any longer is unprecedented. They are all too predictable as long as we promote mining, fossil fuels and the deforestation of Australia. Penny Rosier, North Epping
Fears for the future
As an 18-year-old looking to the future of our nation, I fear the unprecedented power wielded by the Labor Party in light of the Coalition split. The Labor government has a choice to make. They have an opportunity to change Australia for the better – to develop a long-term plan that supports the economy, environment and society, without fear of public scrutiny, as they will not be removed from power until an alternative rival party emerges. In this tumultuous period of uncertainty, Australia stands on the precipice of despotism, the Labor government could go down in history as the government that divorced itself from the inherently corruptive nature of power to better the future of Australia. Will it? Or will it continue to be a passive government that prioritises re-election over the long-term prosperity of Australia? As a young person, I beg the government to seize this opportunity, to think beyond the here and now and concern itself with generations to come. Alexandra Cuthell, Lindfield
Shaun Carney correctly identifies a major flaw in the attitude of both the Liberal and National parties (“Coalition is lost with no map home”, May 22): their misplaced belief that being in government is their birthright and that all their energies should be aimed simply at “keeping Labor in opposition”. Nothing from them is ever directed towards the long-term welfare of the Australian people. No structural reform, no feasible nation-building projects, no big ideas, no vision. All we get is short-term vote-buying largesse, foot-dragging denial, vague aspirational platitudes, divisively populist pettiness, vindictive penny-pinching, outrage at the very idea that the people “could actually elect the Labor Party” and a manic determination to stop it ever happening again. Such inward-looking arrogance and effrontery continue despite their massive loss and I only hope that the split of the parties will allow at least some of them to realise that they have to deserve a turn at the controls. It doesn’t come with their party membership. Adrian Connelly, Springwood
Former Coalition leader Peter Dutton with shadow energy spokesman Ted O’Brien (left) and Nationals leader David Littleproud.Credit: Glenn Hunt
Shaun Carney is dead right in his assertion that there is no political value for the Liberals to stick with nuclear energy. Peter Dutton claimed that Australia was the only country of the world’s top 20 economies not using nuclear power but while the world’s use has seen a slight decline, use of renewables has been accelerating. By 2027, South Australia will have 100 per cent renewable power and by 2030, 80 per cent of our national grid will be powered by renewables. We have missed the boat with nuclear power and should be thankful that we do not have the problem of looking after the waste for the next 1000 years. Peter Nash, Fairlight
Battle for Bradfield
Alexandra Smith makes a pertinent point about the situation in the seat of Bradfield when she says the voters did not reject Giselle Kapterian but rather turned their backs on the Liberal Party (“Why losing Bradfield would be salt in the wound of the Liberal Party”, May 21). It is also important to realise that Kapterian had five months in which to campaign against Nicolette Boele, who had a significant head-start. The Liberals should hang their heads in shame for exposing such a young and capable candidate to an almost impossible task, thereby risking losing someone who should represent the future of the Liberal Party. Fran Durand, St Ives
Trump finds someone new to bully
President Trump’s pre-election promise was to end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours. His efforts to date comprise an attempt to bully President Zelensky into surrender and a friendly two-hour chat with Putin. The war rumbles on. Michael Koziol’s article summarises the current position very well (“Trump washes his hands of Ukraine”, May 22). Trump’s reaction to the stalemate is to wash his hands of the matter. His greatest concern now is that he might be labelled “a loser” – the greatest insult he can imagine. To avoid this fate, he has picked a new fight – one he appears more confident of winning. He is now bullying the president of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa (“Trump confronts South African president”, May 22), accusing him of genocide against white farmers. He obviously hopes that no one will notice a slightly Musky smell to this claim, and that the South African president will be more of a pushover than his Ukrainian counterpart. E. Mark Latham, Croydon Park
If they continue being treated like this, America’s allies won’t want to visit the White House. This is further evidence that Trump is not fit to lead. Apparently, the adage in this second term is “let Trump be Trump”. As a result, this sort of irrationality is unleashed. What will it take for others, Congress particularly, to have had enough of this? If Anthony Albanese is planning to visit Washington, he should beware. David Rush, Lawson
A former slumlord lectures a former victim of apartheid on race relations in a country he’d be struggling to find on a map. Hang your heads in shame, America. Rob Mills, Riverview
It doesn’t take a genius to realise that the violence in South Africa is a result of a complex history of racism and exploitation. Yes, there are racially motivated killings of whites, but there are also thousands of murders of blacks by blacks. This violence is a direct result of the apartheid system. The dehumanising of the black population has led to high levels of violence in South Africa that exist to this day. Only a fool wouldn’t see this. Philip Dowle, Wickham
President Donald Trump meets South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office of the White House.Credit: AP
Is there no hint of decency or a heart in that man’s body? To watch Trump berate and belittle the leader of South Africa in front of the world by dimming the lights of the Oval Office to show a short video of supposedly state-sponsored “genocide” of Afrikaners made my blood boil. All credit to President Ramaphosa for keeping his cool with dignity and eloquence when he could rightly have responded with justifiable indignation to the master of deceit and depredation. Mary Carde, Parrearra (Qld)
Donald Trump’s utter lack of class and lack of awareness was shown to the world during his childish outburst at the South African president, who, to his credit, did not respond in kind. For Trump to criticise another country for its treatment of a minority group stands in stark contrast to the United States’ centuries long mistreatment of African Americans. It was interesting to note that Ramaphosa brought his agriculture minister, a white South African, to the meeting. Trump, the man hurling the insults, could have shown the high moral ground by bringing his African American cabinet members to the meeting, but he couldn’t because he hasn’t got any in his all-white cabinet. Trump never fails to disappoint. Ross Hudson, Mount Martha (Vic)
Before President Trump chastises the South African president over alleged genocide of white farmers, he should reflect on the military equipment he supplies to Israel to kill civilians in Gaza. Laurie Dicker, Forest Glen
Indefensible war tactics
At last Benjamin Netanyahu has admitted to what most of us could see all along: his aim is to take over the whole of Gaza (“UK takes action against Israel as Gazans wait for food”, May 22). The tactics used by the Israeli government in this so-called defensive war, including escalation of violence, mass destruction, bombing hospitals and schools, blocking aid and dismissing the concerns of friends and partners are indefensible. Meredith Williams, Baulkham Hills
Credit: Cathy Wilcox
To your letter writer decrying the “pile on” against Jamie Hyam’s letter (Letters, May 22), I find it extraordinary that he states that “Hamas has a long, sordid history of oppressing Gaza’s people” when it is the Israelis who have been doing this since the Nakba in 1948. I also despair when people seem to feel the response of Israel is justified by the events of October 7, that reducing Gaza to rubble and killing tens of thousands of civilians, some 20,000 of them children, is an acceptable response. Nothing can justify this relentless killing of unarmed civilians. Lisa Dixon, Croydon
Moving goalposts
Correspondent Tim Parker (Letters, May 22) raises the issue of pending changes to superannuation, and criticises “the wealthiest” for objecting to changes that will redirect the “pendulum” away from them to those “less fortunate”. He may well have a point, but this government is now following the example of the Turnbull Coalition government of moving the superannuation goal posts when people are planning their retirement, or have already retired and have no capacity to change their strategy. This was argued at the time, particularly by judges. When Turnbull introduced the transfer balance cap, which affected defined benefits pensions, the politicians exempted themselves from the changes. It will be interesting to see whether they do the same thing with the current changes. Ian Rewell, Longueville
Railway pinch-point
I guess it is possible that unforeseen power outages can occur, and passenger safety in the train involved is of top priority. The premier is calling for a review of the cause and the processes. However, citywide transport will continue irrespective of any review findings while no one is prepared to address the elephant in the room. So long as every train heading west of Redfern has to go through the Stanmore, Ashfield, Burwood, Strathfield corridor, any mishap on any one of these lines is going to bring complete chaos to the whole Sydney network, including the T1 North Shore line. The only unaffected line is the standalone T4. Whatever happened to the separation of networks program promised by Labor governments nearly 20 years ago? Brian Collins, Cronulla
Rail workers at Central Station this week.Credit: Max Mason-Hubers
A huge shout-out to the train and station staff at Chatswood, Strathfield and Parramatta, who did such a fantastic job of wrangling commuters on Wednesday during the great train troubles. They were courteous and helpful even in the face of disrespect from some commuters, and they made a difficult day easier than it might have been. I am sure the same applied to staff at other stations as well. Merilyn McClung, Forestville
Drug games a joke
Who cares how fast James Magnussen, or anyone else, can swim with the assistance of whatever cocktail of performance-enhancing drugs and/or a now-banned floating suit (“After months of doping, James Magnussen sees $1m bounty go up in smoke”, May 22)? Many swimmers could do 50 metres in 15 seconds with a monofin, or five seconds in a jet ski, but so what? Respect for world records comes from the fact they were achieved by natural talent, skill and hard training. Mark Morgan, Palmwoods (Qld)
Someone needs to tell James Magnussen that taking steroids will reduce his life span enormously. How any doctor could prescribe such medicine for the sole purpose of winning a swimming race is beyond me. I have seen how first hand what harm these drugs do to a person’s body and psychological state over time. Magnussen is 34 years old. He needs to think about his family and friends rather than himself. It’s just not worth it. Riley Brown, Bondi Beach
NRL wins again
Oh yay, another footy club has received taxpayer funding and opened an extravagant training facility for its millionaire players (“Eels training facility in a global league of its own”, May 22). Yet another team backed by rivers of gold from its poker machines and the NRL’s TV rights has received taxpayer money ahead of hospitals, schools and housing. Taxpayers have footed the bill so that the NRL has major stadiums twice the size of the crowds that attend. The Penrith stadium is being rebuilt with taxpayer money. All of this taxpayer funding while the NRL and various clubs invest in hotels and pubs. Taxpayers are effectively subsidising those investments. Steven Lee, Faulconbridge
Concrete jungle
I am bemused that correspondent Paul Doyle is concerned about “pushing a pram past that jungle” in Potts Point (Letters, May 22). On viewing the Herald’s picture and with my long experience as a pram pusher, I would have managed with ease. Ferdo Mathews, Robina (Qld)
Lessons in rejection
In response to a New York Times′ article on the difficulties young people in America are having finding jobs, one reader’s letter to the editor suggested that those of them wishing to learn to deal with rejection should try submitting letters to the New York Times as a hobby. This is helping me see my recent spate of unsuccessful missives to the Herald in a more positive light. Louise Dolan, Birchgrove
Writing letters to newspapers for a hobby can help you deal with rejection.
Full paddock
Big hat, no cattle? Hardly (Letters, May 22). Correspondent Anne McCarthy clearly hasn’t noticed that most of the cattle jumped the fence and ended up in Albo’s paddock. Dave Watts, Avalon
“Big hat, no cattle” is a perfect expression to describe most of our Nationals officers. Wolf Kempa, Lithgow
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