Credit: Illustration: Andrew Dyson
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DUTTON’S LEAP
If compulsory acquisition by the Commonwealth to enable a civil nuclear power program sounds somewhat like a Soviet fantasy, welcome to the contorted politics of the latest round of climate war. Cost-effectiveness versus a carbon price which lets the market decide – a nimbler, fairer, non-draconian, efficient market-based solution – is one of the many details Peter Dutton should now provide.
Jim Allen, Panorama SA
No small steps, just one giant step for Dutton
Peter Dutton’s abandonment of stepping stones towards achieving net zero emissions flies in the face of contemporary business practice that emphasises the importance of defining and achieving smaller goals along the pathway to the desired outcome. Like many politicians before him, Dutton appeals to self-interest and the unsubstantiated appeasement of economic worry to win votes, but wraps these up in such a way that those swayed by such tactics are easily seduced.
Where energy is concerned, it seems clear that a multi-pronged approach is necessary that includes renewables and gas, and in the longer term might include nuclear – provided all the questions hovering over cost, waste disposal, safety, water availability and location are properly resolved. In the absence of stepping stones towards net zero, Dutton appears to be unconcerned and is kicking the can down the road.
Emma Borghesi, Rye
Bury waste in central Australia
Several correspondents ask where will we dispose of nuclear waste (Letters, 21/6). The answer is simple: bury it in central Australia. We live on the most geologically stable and sparsely populated (apart from Antarctica) continent in the world. Central Australia is a perfectly safe location, and we could make a fortune out of it as well if we accepted waste from other countries as well, as Bob Hawke once proposed. The prospect of vast sums of money flowing in to remote Indigenous communities would ensure that the only opposition to such a scheme would come from entitled white activists living comfortably in the capital cities.
Greg Hardy, Upper Ferntree Gully
Don’t confuse Quixote with Albert Einstein
A chronology of power generation: 1712 – first external coal combustion steam engine; 1864 – first internal gasoline combustion engine; 1954 –first commercial photovoltaic cell.
A nuclear reactor is the old external combustion steam engine – only the fuel, far more problematic than coal, is new.
Peter Dutton denies modern energy from the sun, and is leading a charge back to the 18th century.
I’m gobsmacked that anyone takes him seriously, and I’m blaming the media for promoting false equivalence between Don Quixote and Albert Einstein.
John Laurie, Riddells Creek
Green investment begone
The headline on the front page of yesterday’s Age: “Dutton’s plan for nuclear is ‘scaring off green money’” Policy success already.
Caroline Clark, Northcote
Credit: Illustration: Matt Golding
All a ruse?
Has it occurred to everyone that the Coalition’s policy on nuclear energy is simply a ruse to hide the fact they have no other policies?
Randall Bradshaw, Fitzroy
Lack of detail
Never mind Dutton’s lack of detail. His timing tells the real story, and it has precious little to do with the cost of living, economics, security, climate or the environment.
Bernd Rieve, Brighton
Nuclear fantasy
Dutton’s nuclear fantasy is simply a diversionary tactic to hide the fact his party is bereft of any useful policies.
Annie Wilson, Inverloch
NIMBY?
Ask the pro-nuclear people if they would be happy to have the waste stored in the empty block behind their house. They then might be less enthusiastic.
Suzanne Palmer-Holton, Seaford
How good is this?
From the party that privatised the peoples’ electricity assets, now proposing government financed, owned and operated nuclear power stations. How good is that?
Leyon Parker, Sandy Bay, Tas
Half-truths
Ziggy Switkowski, as a trained nuclear physicist, knows enough about the lingering half life of radioactive substances to address the key unsolved issue of nuclear waste disposal, yet he doesn’t. Future generations do not want half-truths about nuclear energy.
Kevan Porter, Alphington
Oppositional attraction
Peter Dutton, like Tony Abbott before him, thrives on conflict. He ignores expert advice. Opposition suits his leadership style.
John Bye, Elwood
The bottom line
The bottom line is that if we are to close coal and gas powered power stations, then nuclear power is the only option as renewables alone cannot provide sufficient reliable power.
Tony O’Brien, South Melbourne
Nuclear labour costs
Can we not make ridiculous comparison between Australia’s capacity to build nuclear power plants with those of China and the UAE? These countries are fantastic at infrastructure projects because they have no unions to contend with, no occupational health and safety standards, and a cheap and replenishable labour force.
We can’t even build an underground train system here in Melbourne without massive cost overruns resulting in a detrimental decrease in a competent workforce for other less specialised projects like housing.
Nathan Feld, Glen Iris
No, nuclear not needed
Upon what basis can your correspondent (Letters, ″Nuclear necessity″, 21/6) make the claim that investment in renewables is declining? At least until Dutton’s nuclear announcement new investment was higher than ever.
The correspondent also claims electricity prices are rising. They are not, though they did rise after Russia invaded Ukraine He also asserts no-one envisages the nation will get close to its 2030 target, thus ignoring that the department of climate change predicts that we will achieve a 42 per cent reduction.
Ian Dunn, Fitzroy North
Mandates
We’ve had the National Party MPs including Littleproud and Joyce stir opposition to solar and wind farms because they can, on a clear day, see a turbine 20km offshore. Now we have Dutton stating that if anybody opposes his nuclear plants he will use his powers to over-ride any such opposition because he would have a mandate. I remind Dutton that currently Prime Minister Albanese has a mandate to reduce emissions and build renewables.
Margaret Ludowyk, Brunswick
Switowski’s record
Why would anyone trust Ziggy Switowski’s opinions on our public interests? (″Not cheap but most valuable: Switkowski″, 21/6). He was at the helm of Telstra when it was privatised. He was in charge of the NBN rollout under the Coalition government which gutted the original Labor fibre to the home plan by taking a patchwork approach to connections.
Australians received an outsourced, expensive new Telstra and a weak and disjointed NBN under Switkowski’s management.
I won’t be relying on his assurances about the value of nuclear energy in Australia.
Susan Brookes, Box Hill South
Nuclear as mud
Before we get further into the murk of this debate (and we will) can we at least agree on one thing. The word ‘nuclear’ is as simple to pronounce as it appears. There are two syllables: ‘nu’ (new) and ‘clear’. There is not a second ‘u’ smuggled in (and invisible) between the ‘c’ and ‘l’. This perverse pronunciation conceit is a gift of the USA and they have caused enough trouble.
John Dickson, Glen Waverley
THE FORUM
Propitiatory rites
With a papacy obsessed with climate change, inclusivity and blessing of same sex unions, it is not surprising that the traditional Latin Mass has been banned (″Vale: Latin Mass ends″, 21/6).
How a rite that operated for centuries can be banned is inexplicable. The rites and rituals of the Tridentine Mass created a transcendence that the new rite, Novus Ordo, lacks.
The propitiatory nature of the mass in the new rite is almost non-existent and the nature of priesthood has been reduced to that of celebrant. Although there are now more Catholics in the world, in the past proportionally more attended the Tridentine Mass. In formulating Novus Ordo, it was said it was to include nothing that would offend our separated brethren.
So, what’s next? Will Pope Francis ban Benediction, the Rosary and the Breviary? If synodality is vogue, why not let bishops decide whether the Tridentine Mass should be celebrated within their diocese.
Many will see the demise of a century old rites paralleling the demise of the Catholic Church.
Martin Newington, Aspendale
Who’d be a teacher?
At a time when there is a chronic teacher shortage, people are keen to criticise those that remain. As a former primary school teacher and principal of 35 years, I can say teaching is one of the most exposed professions and arguably one of the most difficult. It is undervalued, and teachers are vastly underpaid for what they contribute to society. How quickly people forget the COVID times when children had to be taught at home. Parents found out that it wasn’t as easy as they thought.
If you want to attract and retain teachers, they need to be paid more, they need to be respected and valued for what they do. If you want higher entry levels for teachers, the same applies. Many teachers still struggle to get ongoing positions and are forced to go on short-term or yearly contracts. Try getting a mortgage without guaranteed ongoing employment.
Continual criticism of teachers is counter-productive. A primary school teacher is expected to teach all areas of the curriculum, manage a classroom and counsel students, and at times, parents. Teacher burn out is high. Teachers leaving the profession seeking higher paying and easier, less criticised, and ongoing employment is common. With the government, public and parents allocating blame for so many things on teachers, why would you teach these days?
Greg Tuck, Warragul
School fees and taxes
Thirty-five per cent of students across Australia attend some form of private fee paying schools. By and large, their parents tend to be higher income earners who happen to pay a large portion of the income taxes that the federal government receives.
It is these parents’ taxes that subsidise children in government schools.
For those who consistently criticise “our” taxes being used to fund private schools, please, do a little research first and appreciate who “we” are.
Tim Habben, Hawthorn
Not so leafy Boroondara
Boroondara Deputy Mayor Felicity Sinfield is affiliated with the Liberals, so it’s not surprising she’d be critical of new Labor housing targets for her municipality (″Councils alarmed by government orders that could double housing″, 21/6). She describes it as ″irresponsible planning″ by the government.
Let me take you on a virtual tour of the streets of Boroondara so you can make up your own mind about who is being ill-considered here.
Established houses on many streets replaced with boundary-to-boundary ‘McMansions’ for the use of a single family. ‘Moonscaping’, where old trees are chainsawed and vegetation is ripped up in order to build the largest possible Metricon ‘Bordeaux’.
This long-time conservative council has spent ratepayer money on mail-outs fighting greater housing density (″Andrew’s government changes to planning laws angers Boroondara council″, 27/3/2017). Women and children might be sleeping in caravans, across the country but Boroondara is turning planning into petty politics.
Our community has a right to councillors who reflect the values of its constituents by backing good policy that gives more people access to amenity-rich areas and who don’t use their elected office to push their own agendas.
Amy Liddelow, Hawthorn
Where’s the logic?
Where is the logic, explanation and proposed infrastructure in the state government’s latest housing targets for all municipalities? (“A pox on all housing”, 20/6).
At Wyndham, most working-age people have to commute towards Melbourne every day, and the trains and roads are past saturation point. An employment precinct once proposed by the state government has been shelved. Whatever happened to decentralisation?
Our birthrate has slowed while immigration is under the hammer as being a major contributor to the problem of over-population and housing stress.
What are they thinking at Spring Street?
John Marks, Werribee
AND ANOTHER THING
How about the City of Boroondara doing something about massive two to three storey houses being built in Balwyn in order to remain empty for much of the year? (“A pox on all our houses”, 21/6). Marlies Johnson, Balwyn
The Victorian government treats northern suburb residents with contempt over new Skyrail station, re “Three storeys up, four metres from train station”, (21/6). Same old, same old safe seat – or is it?
Margaret Jacobs, Aireys Inlet
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