Credit: Matt Golding
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Misguided bill
The senators who are resisting passing the proposed misinformation bill – which would result in the creation of an Australian Communications and Media Authority – are absolutely right to do so (″Truth bill on the brink in Senate showdown″, 9/11).
I don’t doubt the government’s sincerity in being concerned about the falsehoods being asserted on social media. However, in a highly partisan and febrile political environment, there simply isn’t the public trust that state institutions will be able to guarantee fairness and impartiality when it comes to adjudicating what is misinformation. We all know that too often the charge of ″fake news″ is a euphemism for ″I don’t like that point of view″.
As the legal bodies opposing the bill have made clear, there are too many incipient dangers for censorship and the muzzling of free speech in the proposed bill. The government is putting the cart before the horse with this proposal.
All political parties in Australia have to work hard to regain our trust. I suspect for most Australians, the idea of bureaucrats deciding what is truth and what is permissible to express sounds like a nightmare.
Christos Tsiolkas,
Preston
Dangers everywhere
The federal government is concerned about the harms social media does to young Australians. Have they also considered the impact watching gambling advertisements on free-to-air television has on children, the harms children under 16 may experience in prison or the severe anxiety many young people experience worrying about the impact of climate change on our planet?
Sarah Russell, Mt Martha
How to kill a town
The Minister for Environment, Stephen Dimopoulos, does not understand that by closing climbing access to Mt Arapiles, you kill the economy of the small town of Natimuk which sits at the foot of the internationally acclaimed mount. Yes, Indigenous artefacts and creation stories need protection, but so does the economic sustainability of the town.
Co-existence was a cornerstone of the Mabo decision in 1992. Apparently this Victorian government has failed to understand this in the most miserable of ways – by imposing divisive decisions, sham consultation, and never delivering on a balanced plan.
Kerry Walker, Natimuk
Art of the hideous
Your correspondent is absolutely right about silo art (Letters, 9/11). Most of it is hideous, and all of it confronting, lurid, sentimental, and completely misplaced. I love driving in country Victoria, but give me a gum tree and a few galahs any day.
Lindsay Zoch, Mildura
Political lesson
Politicians thrive on controversy and fear. They want us to stereotype people. They need people to be xenophobic, homophobic, transphobic and fearful of gender equality. They wish to divide us, because in that division, they see opportunity. To counter that we need to see others as individuals and try to master our own insecurities and sensibilities.
From a young age we are taught to defend what we have rather than share it. We learn to assess a person’s worth by what they have and not by who they really are. If the US election has taught us anything, it has taught us that.
Greg Tuck, Warragul
Not Australia’s path
I can see the attraction Australia’s richest woman Gina Rinehart sees in being a cheerleader for Donald Trump, but spare us her exhortations that Australia should follow his stated intended policies.
I not sure which ones she has in mind but could they include forceable removal of immigrants, hiring a vaccine denier to be head of the federal health department, giving the world’s richest man the opportunity to reduce government expenditure particularly on social services, seeking to throttle the Department of Justice, stacking the Supreme Court and lower courts and surrounding himself with sycophants and misfits as policy advisers. That’s not even considering tax increases to all Americans (aka, tariff increases of between 20 and 60 per cent).
Richard Caven, Melbourne
The grandfather clause
As horrifying as the Donald Trump debacle has been, I was more shocked to read Trump’s new chief of staff described as a ″Florida grandmother″. When has any man, ever, been described as a grandfather? Just because the US has lurched back to the 1930s doesn’t mean we have to follow suit.
Claire Cooper, Maldon
Transactional man
Your correspondent (Letters, 9/11) argues that Donald Trump’s re-election is indicative of public anger towards the lobbying and corruption that characterises politics, citing Trump’s repeated declaration that he will ″drain the swamp″ of Washington. However, when it comes to integrity, Trump’s actions speak far louder than his words. During his first term in office, Trump appointed fossil fuel, pharmaceutical and investment firm executives to positions of power and promised favourable legislation to corporations who supported him. He refused to make White House visitor logs available to the public and sold expensive Mar-a-Lago memberships, allowing lobbyists to access him with ease. Donald Trump has shown that he operates on a purely transactional basis, but now it will be the whole world who pays.
Darcy Conquest, Seddon
Original anxiety
A large section of Americans appear to be nervous and angry about illegal immigrants. I wonder how the Native Americans feel about that?
Phil Labrum, Trentham
Reverse migration
Rumour has it that Mexico is concerned about a possible surge of illegal American immigrants fleeing the US and forcing their way across the border.
Peter Dodds, Montmorency
Ukraine trade-offs
I am wondering if Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been anticipating Trump’s win by invading the Kursk region of Russia. Assuming that Trump will try to broker a deal whereby Russia gets permanent possession of Ukraine’s occupied eastern provinces, Zelenskyy now has a bargaining chip against that proposition.
″If you want Kursk back, get out of eastern Ukraine″ would be his position. This will be an interesting negotiation.
Michael Meszaros, Alphington
America, it’s over
Dear America, after what you did to us last week I realise I don’t know you at all. It’s over. I’m no longer into you.
Lee Guion, Portarlington
Poor choice
While we might be using less cash these days (″Australia further down the path as a cashless economy″, 9/11), going cashless will have a severe negative impact on institutions that can least afford it. For example, many charities such as the Salvos, health providers and animal welfare organisations seek donations at shopping centres and the like. Without cash, how are people going to donate? Sporting clubs and special interest groups run community raffles. These fundraisers are mostly cash based and by removing cash, some of these clubs could fold. Libraries run book sales where, for a coin or note, you can pick up a used book that is no longer needed by the library.
There is also the older generation to consider, and those with disabilities, some of whom don’t have the skills or means to use internet banking. We will all be poorer if we become cashless.
Michele Finey, Altona Meadows
Holiday for AFLW GF?
Will we get a public holiday for the AFLW grand final this year?
James Lane, Hampton East