‘Confected furore’, ‘trust-breaker’: Readers debate donation from Jillian Segal’s husband

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Credit: Cathy Wilcox

SPECIAL ENVOY

Australia’s antisemitism envoy, Jillian Segal, has every right to be appalled by the selective outrage over her husband’s donation to the Advance lobby group.
Her husband, John Roth, has no capacity in the Australian government. If instead, he had donated money to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the silence of his critics would be deafening. Apparently, Roth has no right to donate to the ″⁣wrong″⁣ cause.
It is besides the point anyway. Does anyone seriously believe that Segal’s vital work would be compromised by a donation by her husband? Anyone who believes that is effectively saying women have no capacity to form their own, independent opinions. If nothing else, this confected ″⁣furore″⁣ is an embarrassing insult to women everywhere.
Jeremy Browne, Ripponlea

Loss of trust in Segal’s role
Jillian Segal’s husband gave $50,000 to help fund the Advance lobby group’s vision of Australia that is narrow, brittle, and hostile to dissent. She says she had no involvement in the donation, but her role as Australia’s special envoy on antisemitism is not just any role.
Segal has been entrusted with leading a national conversation about hate, about how we live together, about where the lines of decency and bigotry are drawn. That task demands moral clarity—and public trust.
Even if her husband wrote the cheque alone, the proximity matters. Judgment is shaped by what we accept, what we ignore, and what we quietly let pass.
This is not a question of guilt. It is a question of trust. And that trust, I’m afraid, is already broken.
Nadia Green, Sunshine North

Segal must declare views on Advance
Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke says in relation to Jillian Segal’s husband making donations to the far right organisation Advance that “claims that she should not be held responsible for her husband’s actions are outdated” (″⁣Burke Slams Advance″⁣ 15/7).
However, just claiming she didn’t know is not good enough. We need to hear Jillian Segal herself condemn the racism of the Advance agenda. As a special envoy dealing with racism, such a condemnation is long overdue.
To have any credibility in her role she must be unequivocal in condemning all forms of racism, not just antisemitism.
Bruce Francis, Brunswick

Muslim and Jewish communities need own envoy
Your correspondent does not have her facts correct, (Letters ″⁣Another envoy needed″⁣ 15/7. Indigenous Australians have a federal minister representing them in cabinet. This minister has a huge budget and a department of 1200 public servants receiving and seeking and providing advice to the government on the needs for the Indigenous community. The Muslim and Jewish communities now have special separate envoys giving recommendations to the government on how to stop hate speech, incitement and terrorist acts against their respective communities.
Ian Fayman, Malvern East

Israel does not get special treatment
All those who oppose antisemitism envoy, Jillian Segal’s recommendation to apply the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism claim the definition prevents or unduly restricts criticism of Israel.
However, the definition itself specifically states that “criticism of Israel similar to that levelled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic”.
Those complaining about the definition want to criticise Israel in a way they wouldn’t criticise any other country. Perhaps they should explain why they want to apply such double standards to the Jewish state.
Mark Kessel, Caulfield North

THE FORUM

Trump’s war calendar
Re Ukraine war: Donald Trump’s ″⁣I will have it solved within one day″⁣ has proven to be a seismic miscalculation, notwithstanding his later comment that his promise was made in″⁣jest″⁣. Now, thankfully (after 175 days in office), he appears to be taking the thrust of his promise seriously.
His commitment to supply Ukraine with Patriot missiles for Ukraine’s defence and his threats of secondary tariffs on Russia are certainly steps in the right direction. They say a week is a long time in politics. Trump is finding ″⁣a day″⁣ is a long time in warfare and peacemaking.
Brian Marshall, Ashburton

Men of steel
Maureen Dowd (″⁣Why Donald Trump’s good-looking cabinet can’t stop making him look bad″⁣, 15/7) relates how White House staff posted a meme of Donald Trump as the “Man of Steel″⁣. Perhaps the staff got it unintentionally correct; we 85 year-old or more European immigrants, especially those of us from Eastern Europe, know who the Man of Steel was – the USSR dictator Stalin.
Richard Crago, Burwood East

Finnish defence
Finland’s president Alexander Stubb offered some interesting realpolitik insights into happy Finland’s strategic defence (“Landmines, fences and plenty of ‘sisu’: Life living next door to Vladimir Putin”, 13/7). The time when Australians could ask what has little Finland got in common with our very large hot desert land is long past.
Liberal democracies have a fight on their hands now, wherever they are. One compelling insight from Stubb was that Finland manages a fighter force nearly our equal spending with 1.5 per cent of its GDP spent on defence because conscription is more cost-effective than a large standing defence force.
Additionally, defence is a private/public concern reflecting the population’s consciousness of its 1340km border with Russia. Australia has Darwin Harbour leased to China interests and the Chinese navy can circumnavigate our country at will so the notion of “borders” is a vexed one.
Future conflicts look increasingly fought with drones, satellites, alliances, AI and how much ticker the population has. These are going to be decisive factors while being big, with aircraft carriers, nuclear submarines, and B2 stealth bombers not so important.
Ian Muldoon, St Kilda

Hope for 2030
Australia is indeed the lucky country to have a forward thinking man such as Ross Garnaut, not to mention successive federal governments willing to listen to him (Peter Hartcher’s article “Australia’s great leap forward: China opportunity makes Trump tariffs look like ’a pimple on the bum of the iron ore trade” ,15/7).
Once again, Garnaut shows us a viable path through the terrifying potential chaos that intensifying climate change is posing for the global community, by way of green steel, produced in Australia given our abundance of solar power, for China and potentially other countries.
Now, if only we could get developers and local government to not only get serious about leaving room for substantial urban forest tree plantings, but also be prepared to water them on a regular basis, we could be on our way to a cool blue planet before 2030.
Bernadette George, Mildura

A fairer tax system
In the push to make the tax system “simpler”, equity and fairness should not be forgotten (“If you want tax cuts, find ways to raise more revenue: Chalmers”, 14/7). Corporations who pay little tax, for various reasons, should contribute more, rather than relying on income tax from individual workers.
The “economic roundtable” which plans to focus on the supply side, should focus on research and development of renewable energy to develop increasingly cheaper power in Australia and to export this knowledge and product overseas.
To save money, the federal government could freeze its excessive amount granted to private schools who are already well resourced.
Jan Marshall, Brighton

Tax redistribution
If Australian wants to improve its bottom line then the treasury recommendation is to increase taxes and reduce spending, I cannot see a future in which Australians would be happy to pay more tax.
The government needs to find a way to redistribute Australian wealth, so the average Australian gets a fairer share. Currently, the top 10 per cent hold nearly 50 per cent of the nation’s wealth, and unless the government tackles this realistically, then tinkering at the edges seems useless.
It’s time for a brave conversation about fairness in which the rich don’t get richer through government protection of negative gearing and tax breaks that benefit the wealthy. Redistributing this wealth might actually improve productivity as the money is put in the hands of the average Australian who is motivated to do more with it. At the very least it will improve the quality of life for more Australians.
Michael Cormick, Carnegie

V2G or home battery
The 60kw battery in our new V2G compatible EV will store our home solar power and cheap power from the grid, usually at night. Some states (e.g. SA) offer discounted or free power to charge your EV battery, when green power is abundant. We will sell our power to the grid at times of peak demand (like a mini-pumped storage system), thus earning much bigger bill credits than a home battery and powering our neighbours’ homes.
Or we may wait until the new low cost EVs arrive, some with solid state batteries; they will offer up to 10 times more capacity (so even more $0/km driving) and probably at a cost not much more than an installed 10kw home battery today. Of course, the V2G only works when your car is in the driveway, which is usual for retirees like us. It will power my house up to six times longer than a home battery. So, we will plug into the latest V2G technology for a greener future (and lower power bills) and, if home battery prices continue to fall, we will install one to complement our EV battery for the ultimate home storage solution.
Tony Danino, Wheelers Hill  

Driving disharmony
Your correspondent’s letter regarding the impact on relationship dynamics in decision-making over elderly relatives continuing to hold a driver’s licence was spot on (Letters, 13/7).
When I worked as a social worker in community aged care, invariably the family and the GP handballed the difficult process to me as care manager, so their relationships remained amicable.
In one situation, I received such hostility from a client they refused further contact not only with me but any other care manager. The community shouldn’t underestimate the meaning to a person’s independence in being unable to drive, especially if they reside in a public transport desert. One of my former clients talked of taking her own life in this scenario. The GP and VicRoads’ occupational therapists need to take the responsibility in this risk assessment.
Diana Yallop, Surrey Hills

Calling time on driving
I read with interest letters in regards to elderly drivers. As a 91 year-old who recently handed in my licence, there is one aspect that has not been raised and is the reason for my ceasing to drive. I found my ability to think quickly had diminished, and in today’s heavy traffic this led to a close shave in a potentially bad accident which made me realise that although quite capable of driving. It was time to stop. Us “oldies” need to be honest with ourselves and realise we could be a risk to others as well as ourselves.
Rod Mackenzie, Marshall

Queer, not here
Your correspondent (Letters, 15/7) might be waiting a long time to have an openly gay player in the AFL when it’s one of the very few elite sports globally that doesn’t have queer players .
Looking at any of the blokey online footy group posts, the homophobic remarks are still prevalent. It might take another generation until players can be their authentic selves.
Pam Papadopoulos, South Yarra

Bird deaths
No wonder Springvale locals were shocked (“Suspected mass poisoning probed after birds fell from sky”, 15/7). More than 200 birds dropped from the sky, bleeding and dead or dying. Adults shielded children from the awful spectacle and authorities are investigating.
But for regional residents, the sight of stricken birds dropping from the sky, and terrifying children, is commonplace - just part of the annual three-month duck shooting season. It’s difficult to get a “clean kill”, so many waterbirds are broken, but alive, as they plunge to the ground bleeding.
Shooters cheer as the season opens, and the bodies begin to rain down. No wonder the 2023 parliamentary inquiry into recreational native bird hunting focussing on duck shooting called for a ban, one which Premier Jacinta Allan has ignored.
Joan Reilly, Surrey Hills

Good news via Mexico
In relation to monarch butterfly numbers in Australia there are reports of noticeable decreases in their numbers.
The good news however from Mexico is that in the winter of 2024- 2025 migratory monarch butterflies that arrived from Northern America rebounded to occupy 4.4 acres of forest in Mexico compared with 2.2 acres the previous year.
In Australia, there are a large number of people doing everything possible to boost monarch butterfly numbers.
The unexpected, but extremely good, news from Mexico will supply a great deal of encouragement to many monarch butterfly supporters in Australia.
Brian Measday, Kingswood SA

AND ANOTHER THING

War
How many Ukrainians will have been killed and towns and villages destroyed before Trump finally realises that he has been played for a fool by Putin?
Yvonne Trevaskis, Battery Point, Tas

The IDF ″⁣regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians”. I’d say that if you’re killed or injured by a missile, you’re involved.
Peter Baddeley, Portland

The Israeli army claim a “technical error” for the drone death of six children in Gaza but “regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians”, so all good, nothing to concern ourselves about!
Keith Lawson, Melbourne

Trump
Donald Trump sends billions of dollars worth of US military hardware to Ukraine but the European Union foots the bill. Has Trump ever paid for anything in his life?
David Mandara, Hepburn Springs

Another day, another TACO deadline.
Bernd Rieve, Brighton

Sport
There are now three things for certain in life: Death, taxes and that the AFL will be changing something.
Gerry Lonergan, Reservoir

Cricket already has the Big Bash. After the West Indies-Australia Test, we now have the Big Bowl!
Joan Segrave, Healesville

Money
It appears the Commonwealth Bank is now charging for teller assisted deposits/withdrawals. Considering the obscene profits made by the banks, it appears the “little guy” is being slugged again to support the profits for the shareholders.
Judy Allen, Beaumaris

If only Whitlam had listened to Rex Connor, our iron ore resources would have been owned by Australians. This wealth is now owned by billionaires Gina and Twiggy, Rio and BHP, and the ore is sold to China.
Surely, we should process it here then sell it on. We really are not a smart country.
Bill Clark, Melbourne

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