Social researcher Rebecca Huntley nails it when she advocates expanded federal government support for rooftop solar and batteries (“If you give voters free solar batteries, they might keep you in power, Mr Albanese”, October 8). There’s been too much complacency from federal and state governments that, with over 3.5 million households living under solar panels, there’s no more to be done. But the inner-city suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne both have rates of solar uptake of less than 20 per cent of potential houses, so that means 80 per cent of houses in these densely populated suburbs could have solar but don’t. And most of our 3.5 million households with solar don’t have batteries, so with some government support, we could have vast amounts of energy storage by 2030. And whatever this all costs, we all know it’ll be cheaper and faster than nuclear.
Gavin Gilchrist, Annandale
By expanding people’s access to cheap and reliable renewable energy, the Albanese government could put money back in the pockets of all Australians.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen, iStock
Rebecca Huntley’s opinion piece is worth reading, as usual. Because Labor is at least doing something about climate change it has tended to fall off the urgency radar. That is a mistake, according to the recent report of the Australian Securities Leaders Climate Group, which says that Australia is disastrously underprepared for what is coming soon from climate change and emergency mobilisation is required. The government’s climate risk assessment report earlier also warned that climate change could impact national security, infrastructure, health and the financial system, and is working to develop a national adaptation plan. Trump in the US and wars in the Middle East and Europe seem more urgent. Climate change is an ongoing emergency. Gary Barnes, Mosman
The proposal to give free solar batteries to households (or at least subsidise them) makes sense if we are serious about switching to renewables. It gives the lie to those who claim that “the sun doesn’t always shine”. With batteries, it doesn’t have to. We can use the power generated by the sun when it is convenient to us. And it saves money during a cost-of-living crisis. Instead of having no option but to sell excess power to the generators at 5¢ per kWh and then buy it at 30¢+ per kWh, every kWh generated by the sun can reduce our power bills by 30¢+. Why wouldn’t households appreciate that?
No doubt, those more interested in their own power than the planet will say the taxpayer can’t afford such spending and that it will be inflationary. But, as the article says, “Australians want the government to invest in their future, with public spending that will make a real material difference in their day-to-day lives”. Some things are just more important than winning political points. David Rush, Lawson
Rebecca Huntley is right to say that installing rooftop solar is the easiest way to get your energy bills down. I’ve just upgraded my system to the point where my energy bills are now effectively zero. But this solution does not provide any relief to those who rent or live in apartments. A way needs to be found to make it profitable for landlords to install solar on the rooftops of properties they own, so they and their tenants can share the benefits. A way must also be found to allow apartment owners to gain from solar – perhaps by renting it from those who do have it installedor are willing to do so. Without such changes, renewable energy will remain the province of the well-off and not those who need its assistance most. Ken Enderby, Concord
Tax incentives for more solar panels and batteries is a good start but doesn’t go anywhere near far enough. Governments of either persuasion lack the courage to make these changes a requirement for building approvals (residential or industrial). The cost of installing these systems at the time of construction is a very small percentage of the total cost; each system could provide the relevant household with 110 per cent of its electricity demands. The additional 10 per cent goes back into the grid. Technology also exists overseas for roofing material itself to become solar generating, rather than unsightly add-on panels.
To capture existing buildings in the program, property owners could be given a deduction over a period similar to depreciation currently allowed to business, and those not complying penalised with an increase in their tax.
Think of every rooftop being an electricity generator; the massive cost of new power stations of any type, the short-sighted wind turbine farms and hectares of solar panels on agricultural land and the folly of pumped hydro could all be avoided. John Bone, Moss Vale
Less is more
As a lover of rugby league, I fear for its future (“Haters will never kill the glorious hot mess that is rugby league”, October 8). Nothing to fear, though, from the ignorance of myopic commentary from those who don’t know the game, as you point out. My fear is that the competition at the elite level is becoming so lopsided that the trophy engravers will only have two teams’ stencils in their kit, Penrith and Melbourne.
Talk of expansion and two more teams is worrying. Where will the talent come from? Will the competition and the viewing public handle blowout scores of 50 points and more to nil as entertainment? Those moulding the game right now better realise that perceived short-term “gains” are long-term detriments in building committed and enduring fan bases and the trappings of sponsors and community that a successful club brings over generations.
As demographics change, the game must change too. Fewer clubs and stronger playing squads might be the only way forward to break the “duopoly of the unbeatables” and keep interest in a competition that deserves to flourish because of community support. John Kingsmill, Fairlight
Eliesa Katoa of the Storm is tackled during the 2024 NRL Grand Final match between the Melbourne Storm and the Penrith Panthers. Credit: Getty Images
While Michael Deeth may be happy with a book, many of us are already absorbed by the NFL (aka gridiron) season which takes us up to Super Bowl and the restart of our AFL and NRL. Before you all get apoplectic about a game taking four hours, please realise there is a reason most of the players in that 32-team competition are paid more than $US10 million per year for their participation in that entertainment. Businesspeople do not outlay money for something which gives no return and has no appeal. Go the Commanders! You are also welcome to join our annual Superbowl party at the pub, which does go all day. Wolf Kempa, Lithgow
Michael Deeth would like some sport to watch before the cricket starts (Women’s T20 World Cup notwithstanding). Allow me to present the America’s Cup! It starts this weekend. Lesley McBurney, Wavell Heights (Qld)
Flick the bird
The only reason I can think of that a person or persons might deliberately poison cockatoos is because the birds have damaged property (“Cockatoos ‘falling out of sky’ after poisoning”, October 7). They are mischievous. Sometimes they visit my balcony to have a drink from the birdbath, but have also pulled out plants from pots, and try to unhook things. I just scoot them off before they get any further ideas, and they do give up. Please don’t poison birds, we’ve all got to live together. Lisa Clarke, Watsons Bay
Staircase wit
While young writers are to be encouraged they should also be cautioned about the risk of incurring contributor’s remorse (Letters, October 8). This is the realisation by the writer, immediately after sending a letter to the editor, that there were more succinct, witty and insightful expressions that should have been used. Usually followed by a sense of rejection. Barry Wooldridge, Harden
Payman pays the price
Senator Fatima Payman is a novice and naive politician (“Payman’s new political party to have teal appeal, with a focus on cost of living”, October 7). She pointlessly crossed the floor to vote against the Labor Party which had endorsed her as a Senate candidate and, in consequence, has had to leave that party. She has now learnt that, because of our lazy and distortionary above-the-line party voting option for the Senate, she has Buckley’s chance of being elected as an independent candidate for the Senate and needs to be endorsed by a party. So she is forming her own party. She is yet to learn, but undoubtedly will, that any party formed to further a particular person’s electoral cause, rather than emerging from a genuine political movement, also gives that person Buckley’s chance. Unless she joins the Liberals in the meanwhile and manages to receive their blessing, her political career will be history in 2028. Ross Drynan, Lindfield
Ex-Labor senator Fatima Payman Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Old school ideas
On the same pages we read about the schools with the best NAPLAN and HSC scores, we read about those schools with students not “completing” their schooling (“More students quitting school before year 10″, October 8). Six years is two too many years of study at institutions where academic success seems to be the only celebrated achievement. These institutions have not really moved on to better cater for those who prefer to learn by doing rather than reading, to express themselves through spoken words rather than the written. Today’s schools are still not for everyone. Kate Fellowes, Glebe
Hands off Central
The whole narrative that building over Central Station would “join the city together” is absolute nonsense (“Critics lash scrapping of station revamp”, October 8). Central Station doesn’t split the city any more than any large school, stadium, or any other facility people can’t simply walk through; you don’t see people wanting to build over the Sydney Cricket Ground. Unless you’re in Prince Alfred Park, most of the time it makes more sense to walk around Central Station anyway. The railway is part of the city too. This is a win for rail and heritage, and the best outcome for Central Station. Thomas Walder, Cherrybrook
Can someone please explain why the train line is not being extended from Leppington Station to Badgerys Creek to link with the new airport (“They built a Sydney suburb at a train station but nobody came”, October 8, smh.com.au)? Seems a bit of a lost opportunity having a rail line so close and not making the most of it, or is it more of the same dumb planning that pulls some idea from left field and sticks with it no matter what common sense might suppose? Lee-Ann Groblicka, Turramurra
Standing together
One has to presume that many in Australian society have fled their countries of origin seeking a better life with better opportunities and more equality for everyone independent of gender, political persuasion, sexual orientation and, in particular, religious leanings (“Hundreds gather for pro-Palestine rally”, October 8). Perhaps with that in mind, our Jewish and Arab communities in this country would be better off marching together to remind those back in their countries of origin that they can really live together as one while still observing their own faiths in their own way. This mindless slaughter of innocents needs to stop once and for all. Tony Bennett, Broke
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators rally in Sydney on Sunday.Credit: AP
If I could draw an analogy, the Israeli government’s course of action is akin to medical professionals blasting cancer secondaries with surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, while the primary cancer remains untreated. There is no possible cure for the cancer of hatred and military action in the Middle East until the primary is treated – namely, the dispossession of Palestinians and the military occupation of conquered lands. Surely there are enough people in Israel who realise that a two-state solution is the only solution to this sad saga. As has been said over millennia, the blood of martyrs is the fertiliser of converts. Andrew Moran, Narara
Brandis is to be commended for his open and essential defence of the right to free speech, being one of the hallmarks of a democracy (Letters, October 8). However, my thoughts on Israel and genocide are more in line with the International Court of Justice, which ruled that “at least some of the acts and omissions alleged by South Africa to have been committed by Israel in Gaza appear to be capable of falling within the provisions of the (Genocide) Convention”. Stuart Leckie, Port Macquarie
Ben Cubby’s report of the Jewish community’s vigil in Sydney for the 1175 killed in the Hamas attack of October 7 recounts that Peter Dutton received a standing ovation for a speech describing the conflict as civilisation v barbarism, and decrying the lack of moral clarity around criticism of Israel’s subsequent actions. The exploitation of grief and suffering by Dutton for political gain is reprehensible.
Thank god we have the recent opinion piece of David Leser, demonstrating that there is no moral clarity on either side in this decades-long conflict and its endless cycle of killing and revenge. In its frenzied revenge Israel has turned Gaza into a charnel house, with the Palestinian aspirations subsumed in a battle between an Israeli government that can only stay in power by continued war with arms supplied by the US, and the theocracy of Iran and its acolytes. Peter Gibson, Wentworthville
Congratulations to President Macron for urging the US and other nations to cease sending arms to Israel. On October 7 we all mourned the loss of innocent lives at the hands of Hamas. But the Netanyahu government’s revenge onslaught on Gaza and Lebanon has only led to the loss of thousands more innocent lives. The expensive weapons supplied to Israel have been successful in eliminating some Hamas leaders, but what about the deaths and injuries of ordinary Palestinians? If Netanyahu continues his battle into Lebanon we will have thousands of innocent Lebanese facing death and injury. By denying Israel its war toys, we may be able to call an end to this catastrophe. Both sides must be forced to negotiate. Shirley Bains, Blaxland
If you knew that no matter what you did, you would be protected by the world’s most powerful country, would you be inclined to change your ways, particularly if you think you have a god-given right to do what you want? And what are these young boys in Gaza and Lebanon going to do, who’ve seen their parents and brothers and sisters blown to pieces? I’m afraid that one way or the other, the world is in for more of what has been happening for the last 75 years. Ian Adair, Hunters Hill
At a time when emotions are heightened and we need political rhetoric to be calm and considered, we can always rely on Tony Abbott to arrive with a can of petrol (“Sadness, bewilderment and anger as Australians commemorate October 7”, October 7, smh.com.au).
Margaret Allen, Bexley
On October 7, Tony Abbott told the crowd, that “It is absolutely right that [Hamas] should be utterly destroyed. And that’s exactly what the Israeli government has been doing every day since then. And sure, we lament the civilian casualties, and we admire the way that Israel has been so incredibly fastidious in trying to avoid them, and we admire the extraordinarily clever and successful way in which the Israeli military and government have fought back.”
Does he really think that carpet-bombing Gaza and deliberately destroying the sanitation, water distribution systems and healthcare systems while starving the entire population is “incredibly fastidious” in “trying to avoid” civilian casualties? How can he use the words “clever and successful” to describe the catastrophe of what has been done to the 2.3 million Palestinians?
And the throwaway line; “and sure, we lament the civilian casualties” to describe 42,612 people killed. No mention that 72 per cent of the victims were children and women. Jo Fallshaw, North Sunshine (Vic)
The Daily Star lettuce shot to fame after outlasting Liz Truss, who resigned as Prime Minister of the UK on October 20, 2022. Credit: Twitter
Salad days
What an extraordinary honour for our distant land to be blessed with a visit from the UK’s shortest-serving PM. Lettuce rejoice.
Tim Parker, Balmain
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