Nick O’Malley’s story is a shocking account of events (“How the fight to save the bush became a battlefield”, January 20). Shocking not only because of the appalling treatment of Mark Graham, but the actions of Forestry Corporation NSW, police, and the Environment Protection Authority to engage in systematic intimidation of a citizen, who by all appearances has not broken the law nor shown any intent to do so. This is yet another example of where the NSW Labor government will not tolerate any kind of legitimate protest. The buck stops with the premier, who appears more concerned about concerts and music festivals than the unethical and bullying behaviours of public servants and their contractors. Weasel words from the Forestry Corporation about “the highest standards of ethical behaviour” clearly don’t cut it in practice. Carolyn Pettigrew, Turramurra
Mark Graham of the Bellingen Nature Company at the Ellis State Forest, south-west of Grafton, where critical, old-growth koala habitat is being logged.Credit: Wolter Peeters / Dean Sewell
This story is chilling reading indeed. The bullying, violence, intimidation, trespassing and destruction of privately owned property by private contractors employed by the state-owned Forestry Corporation and apparently with their support and that of the local police is a disgrace. It is past time that native forest logging is banned. It is one of the major causes of species extinctions, and appears to act and be above the law. Peggy Fisher, Manly
What happened to Mark Graham is a travesty. The Forestry Corporation, the EPA, the police officer involved and the contractors were disingenuous and behaved unprofessionally. The Forestry Corporation’s excuse for destroying a tree on Graham’s property is outrageous and condescending. There is no excuse for that situation occurring. Laura Beaupeurt, Callala Bay
Reading the account of the court case of well-known forest campaigner Mark Graham this
weekend is like something out of a Dickens novel. An innocent forest defender charged with assault, police withholding evidence and collaborating with the attackers to defend big business. Then, the invasion into Mark’s home by the riot squad late at night when he had done nothing illegal, but had in fact been trying to cast his professional eye over the often-indiscriminate logging by unsupervised contractors inside delicate ecosystems full of our rare and endangered species.
Forestry contractors bulldozing across Mark’s clearly delineated property boundary and felling a large habitat tree shows how this kind of action can be carried out with impunity. Mark fought long and hard to save many species in the Black Summer fires and is still doing it. We need to protect our guardians of the forest. They are not doing it for themselves or vested interests, but for all of us and future generations. Louise Cranny, Bellingen
Mark Graham and Andre Johnston you are my heroes. And, Sue Higginson, thank you for supporting them through their ordeal of the past few years. May the Great Koala National Park soon become a reality. Margot Vaccari, Berowra
Kudos and thanks to Nick O’Malley for his excellent piece on Mark Graham. And kudos and thanks to Mark Graham, who in the face of harassment, intimidation and threats continues to fight to save our environment. The video footage firmly established there was no justice in his arrest. This whole sordid affair needs to be investigated independently. Alph Williams, Red Rock
Just can’t brook inner west continuing to cop it
Thank you, Geraldine Brooks, for publicly stating what has been obvious for 20 years (“One-size-fits-all rezoning plan won’t work for Sydney”, January 20). State governments and associated planners seem to find it easier to pick on the inner west (which is pulling its weight on housing targets) than go for the seriously powerful end of town: the eastern suburbs mansions and the north shore. It is interesting how often the inner west cops it when, as you described, people who bought small dumps years ago and now have community connections in the neighbourhood are suddenly being compared to greedy villains. Throwing heritage and nature under a concrete bus and trashing local connected communities in the process might tick a bureaucrat’s boxes but it will butcher the city without improving affordability. Ann King, Lilyfield
Writer Geraldine Brooks Credit: Randi Baird
Why does it take a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author to point out the bleeding obvious in our premier city’s planning? Could it be an absence of creativity mixed with an inability to face the cold, hard truth? Geraldine Brooks’ comments regarding a more equitable housing market has a real ring to it: “build more rapid transit, ban Airbnb and abolish negative gearing” – which are no-brainers. Cleveland Rose, Dee Why
Geraldine Brooks says what so many Sydneysiders are concerned about. Over the years, both Labor and Liberal governments have given developers carte blanche, allowing them to destroy our suburbs because they have never come up with an intelligent, well-thought-out, long-term plan. Avalon has lost its native habitat over the many years of development. I haven’t seen a koala here for many years. Gloria Looby, Avalon
Geraldine Brooks, I nominate you for a second Pulitzer Prize for your article. It cuts through all the myths, fallacies and bullshit, from developers and politicians alike, regarding the rezoning of our suburbs and the destruction of the communities that live in them. Helen Robinson, Killcare
Geraldine Brooks’ nostalgic article about the housing in the inner west is all fine. She rightly argues that the destruction of these old houses will result in units with high prices. She argues that this is somehow wrong. Well young people who are likely to live in these new units will live close to the city. That is probably what they most desire, despite the price. Nostalgia is fine and I suffer from it, too, but the opposite is progress. We can’t have an increasing population, including more immigration, and push them further and further away from the city where services and facilities are second rate or non-existent. John Rome, Mt Lawley (WA)
Make certifiers public again
What is it about NSW that we have all these risky developers and builders (“Probe into troubled unit complex”, January 20)? No other state has a building commissioner. No other state seems to have the issues with poor construction and buildings in threat of collapse. What are they doing differently? Part of the problem in NSW is that anyone can start up a “commercial” construction company with very limited licensing or financials required compared to other states. NSW has also outsourced quality control to private certifiers who are paid by the developer or builder. I agree with various correspondents that when councils were inspecting buildings, it took longer, but the outcomes were much better. Finally, developers taking the lowest price from consultants and builders with a limited track record does not help when it comes to quality. Perhaps we need a rethink about the whole process and not just catching these risky developers when it is too late; after the buildings are already built and sold. Warwick Spencer, West Pymble
Lachlan’s Line at Macquarie Park is being investigated for serious defects
Here are two further possible solutions to the problems in the NSW building industry. Either give the professional body the power to imprison offenders instead of being restricted to handing out cautions, reprimands or fines, or scrap the clearly dysfunctional private certification system altogether and revert to certification only by local council building surveyors.
The change to this in 1998 was as obvious an example as any of the inappropriate, unnecessary and ideologically driven privatisations of a public service. As time has shown, it was a clear case of “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it”. Harvey Sanders, Paddington
Wong’s visit a positive
Senator Penny Wong is to be commended for having the courage to speak truth to power in her visit to the Middle East (“‘I visited a kibbutz after the October 7 attacks, but Penny Wong didn’t have to’”, January 20). While not a central player in that area of the world, we are well known as a staunch ally of the US, which is. Even a slight deviation from the US position would surely be noted. And if our voice is to be heard and respected, then it must be informed and sincere. The foreign minister’s visit adds credibility to any comments made by our government, now and in the future. While clearly sympathising with Israel over the October 7 atrocities, Wong is right to highlight the 24,000 deaths in Gaza since then, and the decades-long injustice and provocative nature of the creeping settlements in the West Bank. No country is ever too small or lacking in influence to take a stand on human rights and the need to abide by international law. Meredith Williams, Northmead
Penny Wong treads a fine line Credit: John Shakespeare
The state of Israel has a troubled history, preceded by an equally troubled history of the Jewish people. Faced with dispossession, persecution, hatred and violence, Jews around the world longed for a homeland – a place of peace and hope. Now, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems determined to inflict the same pain on the Palestinians and deny them the very hope that the state of Israel embodied. Philip Cooney, Wentworth Falls
Dave Sharma does himself no credit when he describes Penny Wong’s actions as “petulant and childish”. He spouts this nonsense because she chose to visit the families of Israeli hostages taken by Hamas, rather than visit the Kfar Azar kibbutz. As Matthew Knott points out, Joe Biden, Antony Blinken, and the foreign ministers of Japan and Canada similarly eschewed visiting the same kibbutz. It would have been more appropriate for Sharma to acknowledge the effort spent by Wong in travelling a considerable distance, the number of meetings that she would have had to prepare for with her characteristic thoroughness, and her decision to visit the West Bank. Is Sharma striving to out-Dutton Dutton? Greg Tome, Burradoo
Democracy dumbed down
Donald Trump won the Iowa caucuses and there is learned press commentary discussing it as if America were a democracy. If it is, it is not the kind of democracy Australians would recognise. The Iowa population is 3,207,000 of which 22.6 per cent is under 18, leaving 2,482,218 voters. Some 100,000, or 4 per cent, voted in the Republican caucuses. Trump got 56,260, or 2.27 per cent. In Australia, if you get 2.27 per cent of the vote, you lose your deposit. You are not a certainty for nomination. In the US there are obstacles to voting. Voting on Tuesdays and in snow storms are two. About half the US population votes in presidential elections. That helps keep Trump a candidate on a vote that would render him a clear loser elsewhere. David Goss, Woonona
Rum Rebellion beat tyranny
Unlike Sue Williams, I think we should commemorate the Rum Rebellion, regardless of the date it occurred (“Case against Australia Day adds up”, January 19).
Sue Williams offers the view that the corrupt military officers of the NSW Corps overthrew governor William Bligh on January 26, 1808 as he threatened their economic interests – particularly their trade in rum. But what actually happened is far more significant. NSW had a redemptive purpose; it was never intended to be a dumping ground for convicts. Instead, thousands of felons were shipped to the colony in the hope they would become useful settlers. As incentives to co-operate, the colony’s governor was authorised to grant the convicts special benefits or privileges.
Bligh came in 1806 and set about dismantling this system. He ignored the colony’s redemptive function and instead subverted the colonists’ legal and customary rights. By January 26, 1808, he had alienated key elements of the settler population. The Rum Rebellion made it clear that his authority was not to be exercised in a despotic manner. Arguably, the NSW Corps’ deposition of Bligh was just as significant for us as the Battle of Lexington to the Americans. That day, we had our own revolution to assert rights against tyranny. Justin Cahill, Roseville
The royal jewels
After reading Ian McNeil’s letter, my 100-year-old mother remarked that she didn’t envy the surgeon handling the royal jewels (Letters, January 20). Lesley Heyward, Wollongbar
King Charles Credit: Getty Images, digitally altered
Has anybody described Charles’ enlarged prostate as being king-sized? Kimball Knuckey, Alexandria
King Charles III has gone to hospital for treatment for his prostate. His much-promoted homeopathy and other quackeries haven’t worked. I wonder if he will notice and change his outlook.
Douglas Irvin, Artarmon
Editor’s Con test
Bernie Bourke cannot be serious (Letters, January 20). Unless ultra dumb, anyone employing AI to pen a letter to the editor is not going to send the letter with signature Con Artist if they hope the editor will publish it. Ross Drynan, Lindfield
Weeding out the dopes
So, Jeremy Buckingham claims almost everyone in parliament has smoked pot (“‘Almost everyone in Macquarie St has smoked marijuana’”, January 20). That would certainly explain at least some of the deranged behaviour during question time. Ross Duncan, Potts Point
Nelson ratio
Three contributors to Saturday’s letters page, all with the same surname; Nelson.
A coincidence or a potential coup? You prolific regulars beware! Peter Nelson, Moss Vale
So hot right now
Early nomination for phrase of the year; “dew point”! Michael Deeth, Como West
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