Maybe we should increase our defence spending (“PM fights US call for defence spending”, March 7), particularly if those we previously relied on can no longer be trusted. But we certainly shouldn’t do it in the hope of guaranteeing future help from our supposed ally, the US. That help is less likely to eventuate. And, yes, we should meet our international obligations. But this is not an obligation. It is simply a bully telling us what to do. The question is, how will it be paid for? The Coalition doesn’t mention that at all. Maybe they think they can pay for it by cutting the size of the public service. But that is already earmarked for their Medicare commitments – it isn’t a magic pudding. And, in any case, the savings won’t be as great as they imagine. Either benefits or services must be reduced as well as costs cut. If we do increase our defence spending, then it should be our decision, not because somebody else tells us to. David Rush, Lawson
The US is putting pressure on Australia to spend 3 per cent of GDP on defence.Credit: ADF
There is a clear truth in your correspondents’ observations that President Trump’s call for “allies” to boost defence spending has as its motive a bolstering of his country’s military industries (Letters, March 7). Were Australia to heed such a call we might, as an option, look to Europe for materiel. It would be interesting and instructive to observe how Trump would react. Such a move might be an option, but our contractual record with the Europeans is poor – just ask the French. We can only hope that submarines stop being the gift that keeps on giving to our fickle American friends and that we can respond to military needs in a timely rather than multi-generational timeframe. Bradley Wynne, Croydon
Of course, Trump wants us to spend more of our money on armaments. Who are we going to buy most of them from? America. Paul Keys, Clouds Creek
I read with dismay the comments of Elbridge Colby and what he expects Australia to spend on defence. I thought, “Who the hell is this person? Who cares what his expectations are? Why does he think he can tell us what we should spend on defence?” Elbridge’s “intervention” in a sovereign nation’s democratic decision-making is outrageous. Who does he think he is? Why should the prime minister be expected to respond? Elbridge, Trump’s choice to be head of policy at the Pentagon, is just another unknown picked to be his mouthpiece. My response? Mind your own business, Colby. Worry more about your own backyard, matey, because you’ve sure got a lot more to worry about.
We Australians love our democracy and will not let someone like you “intervene” just because you think you can. Robyn Edwards, Chelsea (Vic)
As the USA walks away from yet another treaty, the Budapest Memorandum, 1994, which provided for Ukraine’s security in return for Ukraine divesting itself of what was then the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal, should we not be cutting our losses regarding AUKUS? There is not a treaty entered into by Washington since 1776 that the USA hasn’t unilaterally walked away from. Good faith? The USA? You have to be joking. It is time we made our own arrangements for our defence, starting with a fleet of submarines capable of defending our land and trade routes while at the same time entering into treaties with our Asian neighbours, and Europe. Timothy Ashton, Katamatite (Vic).
Thank you, Cathy Wilcox, for your cartoon reminding us of the absurdity of appeasing America’s incessant demands for more spending on defence. Money that should be spent to enhance life is used to destroy it. The photo in today’s Herald of Palestinians celebrating Ramadan amid the rubble of their homes is a searing image of what our money is achieving. Anne Shay, Ballina
Be more like Churchill, Winston
If the New Zealand government is going to be like Churchill, speaking fearlessly, then it’s fallen short by recalling its High Commissioner to Britain, Philip Goff, for saying, in a forum convened for frank discussion: “President Trump has restored the bust of Churchill to the Oval Office, but do you think he really understands history?” (“New Zealand’s most senior diplomat in London loses job over Trump remark”, March 7). Fear is a poor teacher, Winston Peters. Andrew Cohen, Glebe
Winston Peters has sacked New Zealand’s UK High Commissioner Phil Goff over a comment he made about Donald Trump.Credit: Getty Images
Oh, the irony. New Zealand’s senior envoy to the UK has been sacked for making what has been deemed to be an inappropriate remark about Donald Trump. The irony, you ask? He was talking at a Chatham House event. Tim Overland, Castle Hill
It’s only a matter of time before Trump changes the name of the language they speak to American instead of English. Neil Reckord, Gordon (ACT)
Protect public servants
Thank you, Shane Wright, for your article about the Liberals’ proposed public service “cull” (Dutton’s plan to cull public servants isn’t just risky – it’s misguided, March 6). It really angers me that the government allows them to harp on about the “wasted expense” of Canberra bureaucrats. What do people think these public servants are doing? Just sitting around waiting for their pay cheque, you would think from these jibes. We know that previous governments had trashed the corporate memory of the public service and “fixed” the problem by hiring more expensive consultants. The Price Waterhouse scandal was a prime example of that. Politicians of all stripes have a habit of saying they will trim the salary budget, but not the frontline people. So, those frontline people end up doing what the backroom people used to do. Just ask a nurse or a teacher. I wish we could all wake up to the lie. Martin Hastings, Manly Vale
Shane Wright spells out some of the implications of drastically reducing the Public Service. Another adverse outcome would be any temptation to make up for the lack of actual bodies by devising something devastating like robo-debt. We can expect AI to enable some clever adaptations and new approaches. It might well reduce the overall number of public servants. But it is unlikely to obviate the need for careful, principled oversight of government policies and service delivery. Losing years of experience is often a false economy, leading eventually to horrendous cost blowouts – or compensation payouts. Margaret Johnston, Paddington
Australia has a bigotry problem
The weight and power of Islamophobia is intruding on our institutions (“Let’s call it out, all hate is hateful”, March 7). Police commissioner Karen Webb exposed massive public pressure to charge the Bankstown nurses. Likewise, it took proceedings in the Federal Court to see the strength and volume of the influence of Islamophobia on the ABC. The Coalition has accused Labor of causing antisemitism. We have no remedy for that level of malicious disinformation. The Coalition is not the arbiter of moral equivalence. Its weaponisation of antisemitism disqualifies it. Islamophobia is common in Australia and predates Gaza. Sadly, it is in our language. I prefer the evidence-based reasoning of the International Criminal Court in its search for truth and justice. Anne Eagar, Epping
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said police were under extreme public pressure to arrest the two Bankstown hospital nurses over their antisemitic comments.Credit: Rhett Wyman / Supplied
Waleed Ali makes an important point. The report “Mapping Social Cohesion 2024” by the Scanlon Foundation reports adults with a very or somewhat negative attitude to Islam at 34 per cent, compared to 13 per cent for Jews and about 19 per cent for Christians. On the numbers, Muslims are three times as likely to encounter discrimination compared to Jews. Australia has a bigotry problem, not an antisemitism problem. John Storer, Bulli
Cyclone anxiety
I’m sitting in my Brisbane home feeling anxious about what cyclone Alfred may bring to my family and community. I’m anxious about future disasters as well. However, I’m absolutely furious about this country’s inability to address the cause of these disasters – climate change. We’ve had decades of inaction and the Coalition, in particular, arguing that the cost of action is too high. How long can they continue with this argument? How much have bushfires, floods, cyclones, loss of production, increase in insurance and anxiety about them cost us as a nation? Many people are hurting financially at the moment, but please remember, there’s no economy on a dead planet. Action on climate change should be at the forefront of all our minds when next we go to vote. Michelle Peile, Brisbane
I’m hoping Peter Dutton knocked on the head his dream of being prime minister when he left his cyclone-affected electorate and headed to Justin Hemmes’ party in Sydney on Tuesday. The dollar and the donors were number one on his mind. Nothing like millionaires together, just hanging out, while Queensland and Northern NSW residents head to evacuation centres and fill sandbags. Canapés over caring. And let’s not forget Hemmes, who has been a regular at Byron since he was ten. He has obviously left it to his staff and the community volunteers to protect his mansions at Belongil Beach. Both oblivious to natural disasters it seems. Wendy Atkins, Cooks Hill
In defence of Peter Dutton leaving Queensland “for a lavish fundraiser in Sydney as Cyclone Alfred approached his home town of Brisbane”, he has previously stated that he strongly opposes working from home (“Dutton under fire after leaving Queensland for soiree”, March 7). Mark Pearce, Springwood
As this Brisbane letter writer prepares for the indecisive Cyclone Alfred to make landfall in southeast Queensland, I can hear a pin drop. The lull in the wind coupled with the enforced silence of no flight noise overhead and unoccupied roads feels like COVID lock down. Now even the kookaburra’s wake-up cackle that enlivened the pandemic dawn is gone. Let us not forget that non-human life will suffer in silence when the battering starts in unprotected naked openness. I will soon leave with my overnight bag, canned food and bottled water for the hospital where I am on shift as an emergency specialist, hoping to not encounter flash floods and wild winds en route. Cheers to other essential workers braving the cyclone to fulfil rescue and health-care duties. Joseph Ting, Brisbane
Panic buying has led to empty supermarket shelves in Brisbane as Cyclone Anthony approaches. Credit: AAP
Don’t hold your breath
The recent article in the Herald regarding the lack of swimming pools in many council areas highlights the failure of Parramatta Council in prematurely closing Dence Park pool in Epping last April. This was done ostensibly to refurbish the pool, however, they did not have plans in place at the time and the pool remains closed almost a year later. We understand that a report is going to council in May with the hope of a reopening while they reassess the future upgrade plans, but we residents have no faith that this will happen. Having successfully saved the pool from closure in 2015, the community is rightly anxious about what will happen to our much-used and cherished pool. Chris Lawrenson, North Epping
Middling to mediocre
The observation of your reader to letters Robert McAulay (Letters, March 4) referring to Peter Dutton’s shadow cabinet, that “Everywhere you look in the shadow cabinet, all you find are duds. They seem to aspire to mediocrity but fall short.” On the contrary; a mediocre man is always at his best. Joe Whitcombe, Bronte
Strive to be happy
In a world seemingly filled with fraudulence and dishonour, it’s a good time to remember the words of Max Ehrmann from his poem Desiderata. ”With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.” Best wishes to us all. Judy Finch, Taree
Postscript
If you are one of the people who can’t read another word about Donald Trump … look away now. This week’s mailbox has been absolutely stuffed full of missives about the man who’s occupied the White House for the past 46 days.
At the start of the week, it was the bizarre, World Championship Wrestling-style takedown of poor President Volodymyr Zelensky that caught readers’ attention.
Greg Vale thought Trump’s statement at the end of this shambolic exchange – “this will make for great TV” – was sickening. It was disgusting behaviour from a “leader” of the free world, he wrote.
Rebecca Semple agreed: “History will judge Zelensky far more favourably than the deplorable train wreck of a US administration”.
One has to admire British PM Keir Starmer’s optimism that the US and the UK are “closely aligned”, wrote Frederick Jansohn: “From the outset of his second presidency, Donald Trump has shifted America’s position in world affairs from sheriff to outlier, if not outlaw”.
Later in the week, an opinion piece from New York Times columnist and Russian expert M. Gessen caught the eye of Alison Stewart: “History is now telling us we must accept the US is no longer a trustworthy ally and extricate ourselves from AUKUS”.
Each fortnight, I impatiently drum my fingers on the desk, waiting for a new column from Niki Savva. This week she predicted that, post-election, the teals will have the balance of power.
Amy Hiller is another fan of Niki – and the teals. “Bravo Niki Savva! ... For our democracy and our futures, let’s get behind them”.
Joy Nason agreed. “Yes, Niki Savva, it is an insult to the teals’ intelligence to suggest they are beholden to billionaires; they stand proudly in parliament, not for themselves, not for a party, but as a voice for their constituents. Bring on the federal election!”
Joy – please, it’s only been three years since the last federal election. When Scott Morrison sang April Sun in Cuba. On a ukulele. Some of us are still recovering.
Margot Saville
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