A substantial number of patients who see a GP are suffering a minor ailment or illness that resolves on its own (“Middle Australia stung by rise in medical fees”, January 3). The list includes a sore throat or a mild rash. Common sense and resilience in past generations, as well as valuing scarce GP access favoured a “wait and see” approach rather than hurrying along to the local doctor.
Nowadays, the worried well expect a same-day no-fee consultation at a GP clinic. When that is not feasible, this cohort call an ambulance to transport them to the local emergency department, clogging already congested public hospitals. These patients are the first to complain about long waits because I have been caught up resuscitating seriously ill or injured ED attendances.
Doctors do have reasonable expectations that the community exercise a moderate dose of common sense before they trundle off to a GP or catch an ambulance to an ED. The community needs to view healthcare as a privilege, not undervalue it as a free entitlement. Use healthcare as the limited resource that it is, please. Joseph Ting, Carina (Qld)
Health Minister Mark Butler says the government’s changes to Medicare have helped the people who need it the most.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Nobody likes paying more, especially for a doctor’s visit. However, fewer practices offering bulk billing should be seen as a necessary development. Increasingly, medical consultations have become rushed and low in quality, and this trend needs to be reversed. Beyond those on low incomes or on welfare, the community should contribute more to ensure general practice remains sustainable and prospective doctors continue to practise in this field. Early diagnosis of serious illness can save significant costs compared to delayed treatment. A small co-payment would encourage patients to act responsibly and avoid overloading the healthcare system with unnecessary visits.
Pharmacies often provide a practical alternative for minor issues. Trials allowing pharmacists to prescribe certain medications should be expanded to make healthcare more efficient and accessible. This approach can help reduce pressure on GPs while ensuring patients receive timely care. John Kempler, Rose Bay
I am all for Chris Minns’ recent addition to our health system, the urgent care clinic. My usual GP practice is having a well-deserved break and being in dire agony with an infection, I found the clinic, run by NSW Health, in a Google search. The process, beginning with a telephone call to Healthdirect and then an appointment with a nearby clinic where I saw a nurse and a doctor, was fast and efficient. It certainly beat waiting hours in a crowded emergency department of a hospital and for me, it was bulk-billed. Lyndall Nelson, Goulburn
It’s no surprise that the government’s bulk-billing initiatives are trying to recover after the Coalition left Medicare gasping for air. It’s the same with any service where government money is involved: Medicare, the NDIS, childcare rebates, first home buyer subsidies, property tax concessions. The list goes on. As soon as more government money is injected into anything, the private providers increase their prices on the basis that the punters have more money to spend. Overall costs then balloon and around we go again. No-one minds adequate reward for work done, but when capacity to pay is a factor in setting prices, it’s called greed. And it’s enough to make you sick. Adrian Connelly, Springwood
Sound the alarm
The world’s hottest year in 2024 should sound alarm in the halls of political and business power (“Second-hottest year in Australia amid more climate fears”, January 3). History demonstrates civilisations collapse during catastrophic climate change. For example, highly advanced Bronze Age communities were wiped off the map following incursions by “sea people” during a 200-year drought. Our climate change affects the world, not just Europe. Executives take note: there are no profits on a dead planet. Rather than just observing “enshittification” where the profit imperative eventually sucks dry customers and workers while consuming all natural resources and leaving a pile of contaminants, we should seek modification to prevent our economic system from self-destructing. Legislate to prevent it destroying our only home, Earth. Urgently. Anne Matheson, Gordon
Our overheating planet Credit: Joe Benke
The scientifically confirmed global heating figures, escalating extreme weather events and deaths render it quite bizarre that many still stubbornly deny climate change. And yet we head into an election with significant numbers prepared to vote for the extension of coal-fired power stations, an unfeasible nuclear power program and the downgrading and demonisation of renewable energy. And climate scepticism is still rife in conservative circles. Are those who deny despite such catastrophic evidence being duped by groups benefiting from fossil fuel proliferation? This must be why people might actually vote against their own best interests and that of their children and grandchildren. Alison Stewart, Riverview
It turns out that Vladimir Putin has done more to fight climate change than just about any other world leader – not by cutting Russia’s emissions, but by invading Ukraine (“End of an era: Russian gas stops flowing into Europe”, January 3). That foolish incursion has put an end to the toxic embrace between the EU and Putin’s homeland, whereby the two swapped industrial goods for Siberian gas. Thanks to boycotts imposed by the West, much of that gas will now stay in the ground, where it needs to be if we are to reach net zero by mid-century. The invasion has also spurred the Europeans to reduce their energy use and to accelerate the transition to renewables. Of course, it’s tragic that Ukraine has had to pay the price for this energy realignment. As such, we should give it every support in its war with Russia and its efforts to rebuild. Ken Enderby, Concord
Flat chat
After three years living in Germany, there was no greater feeling than that produced on hearing the flat Australian accent of the flight steward’s warning as he wandered down the aisle of the plane spraying some unnamed substance designed to kill any germs we passengers might unsuspectingly have brought with us into the country (Letters, January 3). Louise Dolan, Birchgrove
While we were in Zimbabwe in 1982, we were sent a cassette tape from Oz. It included the theme tune of the ABC News followed by a reading of the headlines. We burst into tears and booked our tickets home soon afterwards.
Tom Meakin, Port Macquarie
In on the joke
Wendy Crew generously admits she did get the jokes in a certain correspondent’s letters. Is she sure they are jokes or is she making a good joke herself? Paul Fergus, Croydon
Peter Fyfe, I’m just grateful that the Letters editor’s resolution was not to stop printing mine. Jeremy Brender, West Richmond (SA)
Skinny-dipping
I live in Port Macquarie, where the (unofficial) clothing-optional beach (Miners) has reportedly been the subject of vigilantes patrolling, photographing those who dare to bare all and ringing police (“Surely the nudes and prudes can respectfully co-exist”, January 3). We are not born wearing anything but our birthday suit and a smile; perhaps those wowsers who object to seeing bare flesh were born scowling and screaming. Lighten up. Mike Powter, Port Macquarie
A special exception for nudity: the Sydney Skinny, at Cobblers Beach at Mosman, boasts that it is the world’s biggest annual nude swim race.Credit: Edwina Pickles
Australians do seem very anxious about nudity. I have taken the opportunity to swim nude for many decades and there’s nothing like the feeling of freedom it engenders. When I had children, their father and I took them to designated nudist beaches. We believed that Australians were way too hung up on how their bodies looked and wanted our kids to see the wonderfully full range of bodies being comfortably inhabited in public. Given the prevalence of eating disorders, obsessive focus on looks and increase in plastic surgery, we could all well take a deep breath and embrace the joyful acceptance of our bodies and everyone else’s. Swim nude! It’s good for you! Sue Adams, Dulwich Hill
I read James Norman’s article with amazement. I spent years teaching children the importance of sun safety. With the high incidence of skin cancer in Australia, I find the nude beaches debate to be old-fashioned and dangerous. Put on a rash vest, and remember to “slip, slop, slap”, please! Linda Page, Baulkham Hills
Have you not read about the dangers of melanoma? And Australia being melanoma central? Yes, I know, I did skinny-dip at a rock festival or two, but now being caught naked in public is literally the stuff of my nightmares. Robert Hosking, Paddington
The current trend for minuscule bikinis ensures that most beaches are basically nude beaches. The Emperor’s New Clothes should be compulsory summer reading, distributed free by the Cancer Council. Amanda Berry, Hamilton East
Astle to the hilt
I enjoyed David Astle’s writings on the nuanced distinction between words with similar meanings but take issue with “tint” as a unit of measure for dudgeon, which according to my 93-year-old mother and her mother only comes in one quantity or moral location, which is “high” (“Isn’t it ironic? No, sorry, that’s sarcasm”, January 3). Given that a dudgeon is/was the hilt on a blade, I guess it is invariably high. I was impertinent enough to enquire about medium and low dudgeon, only to get one of those looks. Peter Campbell, Wentworth Point
Fee free-for-all
In the Herald‘s survey of 30 high-fee schools, principals blamed higher operational costs including teachers’ salaries for increased school fees (“Private school fees hit $51,000 for year 12”, January 3). Looking back at my parents’ chequebooks, our year 10 GPS private school fees in 1969 were $581. That’s equivalent to $4642 in 2025 monetary terms. A good education does not require an $80 million baronial-styled castle for student study or the many other multimillion-dollar facilities that private school principals think are essential. As HSC results show, what students need are good teachers and a broad education to equip them for the real world, not world-class luxury sporting and theatrical facilities. That’s what is putting up the fees. Margaret Nash, Randwick
Some Sydney private schools will be charging more than $50,000 a year.Credit: Michael Howard
Pour-down economics
Even pre-housing boom, Australia’s inheritance arrangements meant the gap between the haves and the have-nots increased from generation to generation simply because of intergenerational wealth transference (“Gen X now richer home owners than Boomers”, January 3). Now, as a result of the huge increase in the net value of property, young people lucky enough to have or anticipate inheritances from home-owning parents are coming into instant wealth, whereas the rest are falling further and further behind. It is now not just a gap but a gulf, and it is widening at a worrying rate. We need only look to history to see that an ever-increasing gulf between the haves and have-nots usually ends badly.
More countries have an inheritance tax than don’t, including 24 in the OECD. Well-designed inheritance and gift taxes, with exemptions for low-value inheritances, can play an important part in levelling wealth distribution and increasing opportunity. And if we don’t choose to do something soon about the widening wealth gap in Australia, it will cause a huge amount of resentment and suffering, and will ultimately be done for us. Prue Nelson, Cremorne Point
Your correspondent might be correct to some extent that the Keating rules on capital gains tax were complex, but at times complexity is required for fairness (Letters, January 3). Indexation of some form is the only means of accurately taxing real gains over long periods in real dollars. With modern statistical data and IT resources it should be possible for the ATO to design the means to do that automatically and annually. Might also provide the fairest way to deal with bracket creep in income tax. Al Svirskis, Mount Druitt
Food for thought
While I appreciate the sentiments expressed in the article by Millie Muroi, I doubt the proposed solution is one that would succeed, even over the longer term (“The secret to better health and less obesity is a tax”, January 3). Imposing a sugar tax would generate significant displeasure among major food producers and operators, which would bring about a financial issue for political parties that rely on sizeable corporate donations. Hence, a legislated tax on foods directed at improving eating habits would be most unlikely. If we were to remove private funding of politicians and political parties, then our politicians should be free to make legislation that reflects both the values and the requirements of the community at large. Until then, one suspects there will be no change, and people will become fatter, require more medical interventions and generally become less productive. At present, it seems we are in a race to the bottom. Chris Rivers, Port Macquarie
Konstas catch
Just when I was already becoming a little Konstas-weary, this comes along (“‘That boy will play for Australia’: Sam Konstas’ junior club saw all this coming”, January 3). The article captures the essence of junior sport, its community aspects and the involvement of volunteers. A special shout-out to Manisha Shirodkar, an Indian lady who migrated to Australia in 2006 and whose husband, Subodh, was Konstas’ first cricket coach and mentor. Manisha, who describes India as her mother and Australia as her mother-in-law, now faces a dilemma in the current Test series decider. She told Konstas years ago that she would follow Australia first if he played for the country. There is depth to the Konstas back-story. Recommended reading. Brian Jones, Leura
The good people at the Kingsgrove Cricket Club, where Sam Konstas emerged as a junior, are as shocked as anyone by the steep ascent of his career. But they’re not surprised.Credit: Getty Images
Towering memory
The listing of Sydney’s AMP Building on the NSW Heritage Register brought a nostalgic smile as I recalled my first school excursion in the 1960s as a student at Ryde Primary School (“The town that grew ‘on the back of a group of drag queens’”, January 3). This included a visit to the first skyscraper in Sydney and a memorable ride in its lift to the top floor. We visited other Sydney landmarks that day, but the AMP building remains the highlight. Maria Raynor, Eastwood
Buzz cuts through
You don’t become a fully credentialed citizen of the inner west until you are associated with a little white dog (“How Monte changed my life”, January 3). My association is with Buzz, who I call the Prince of Balmain. Buzz, a Havanese, is well known in all the cafes along Darling Street but also has fans farther afield, in Drummoyne and Leichhardt, where he has a resort lifestyle when his mother travels. Like Monte, the cavoodle, Buzz’s eyes are expressive but his little gait while on the move is to die for. Max Redmayne, Drummoyne
The Big Uneasy
My son lives in New Orleans, and we visit there often. It is a stunningly beautiful small city, renowned for its architecture, parklands and friendly welcoming atmosphere (“Bourbon Street massacre rocks US”, January 3). When we attended summer Mardi Gras last August, there was little police presence, a large and friendly crowd, great music – no wonder the city is known as The Big Easy. Playwright Tennessee Williams thought it was one of the only cities in the US worth living in, recalling that he had found the kind of freedom there he had always needed.
To see the French quarter now bearing the moniker of “the Bourbon St massacre” is totally heartbreaking. I honestly thought New Orleans would be the last city in the US to be hit with such hateful violence. The Big Easy will never be the same. Josie McSkimming, Coogee
A memorial of flowers is set up on Canal and Bourbon Street in New Orleans. Credit: AP
The two recent incidents in the US – the New Orleans massacre and the Cybertruck suicide – show the importance of veterans’ mental health and support services. In an increasingly fractious world, how to maintain peace and hope? How to protect against nihilistic attacks as a political statement? The US, and our world, may not be in for a smooth ride. Rhyan Andrews, Faulconbridge
Capital gains and tossers
Is there any better end-of-year present than the annual release of the cabinet papers? On January 1 each year, the National Archive lifts the lid on all the nefarious political secrets from 20 years earlier by publicly revealing cabinet documents – it’s a political tragic’s dream come true.
This year’s crop revealed that then-PM John Howard and treasurer Peter Costello had disregarded a report that proposed much-needed tax reforms, including winding back capital gains tax discounts and means-testing home buyer grants, which would have helped to lower spiralling house prices (“Why Howard vetoed plan to fix soaring house prices”, January 1).
Martyn Frappell said they “knew their tax policies were crushing housing affordability and yet with trademark arrogance, did nothing. A whole generation of younger Australians have already paid a high price for their inaction, and it could take another 20 years to fix the problems Howard and Costello failed to address”.
Michael Berg wrote: “Governments have known for 20 years that Howard’s capital gains tax changes killed housing affordability. Howard himself knew it, and chose to pander to his home-owning base. Time to end this failed rort.”
Housing affordability was in the mind of this year’s winner of Letter of the Year, Kellyville’s Robyn Dalziell, who wrote in response to Jacq Gallagher’s heart-wrenching personal story (“My home became a holiday rental, so I slept in a cemetery”, August 16).
“We have since 2004 perfected the globalisation and commodification of our housing ‘market’, become a haven for money laundering through property, prioritised outrageous tax breaks for unproductive property investment, dismissed the homeless, and destroyed the futures and hopes of countless precious young people,” Robyn wrote. “Today I turn 70, and while immeasurably grateful for ... being so fortunate in life, I cannot celebrate my unfair nation, now so profoundly unrecognisable to me.”
We published almost 10,000 letters in 2024 and felt that this one encapsulated Robyn’s clear-sighted insights and deeply felt empathy. Congratulations to Robyn and all our letterwriters – I’m looking forward to hearing more from you in 2025. Margot Saville, letters editor