Democracy not included.Credit: Cathy Wilcox
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POLITICAL DONATIONS
It is difficult to determine which side has the best, or least hypocritical argument in the squabble about election funding reform (“Cross bench fury at deal with Dutton on donations”, 13/2).
The major parties refer to the benefits of reducing the impact of large private donors like Clive Palmer on elections, but seem less willing to talk about the large increase in public funding of elections which will disproportionately benefit Labor and the Coalition.
However, the motivations of the independent MPs are not as pure as they suggest. They seem to disapprove of money corrupting Australian politics, except when it is ‘clean’ money used to elect worthy candidates such as the teals.
Neither side is free of self-interest, and the spat does little to enhance the public image of all politicians, whether they belong to a major political party or are independent.
Rod Wise, Surrey Hills
Fearless leadership wanting
Anything that makes it more difficult for the teal candidates to fund their election campaigns is a disgrace. Politicians who cannot or will not understand climate change are not fit to lead. And, neither are those who ignore the urgency of the crisis.
They are like leaders in Pompeii in AD 79 who acknowledged that the volcano was rumbling, but reassured residents that there was no immediate threat. We need politicians who are willing to follow the science and tell us the truth.
Margaret Lothian, Middle Park
Hung parliament possibility poses amendments
Labor and the Coalition might be thumping their chests over the electoral funding bill, but they might remember that there is an election within the next few months.
It is a reasonable assumption that we will have a hung parliament and the party that forms government will have to gain the backing of the Greens and independents.
Both groups are very angry with parts of the legislation and may well require the act be amended. If the governing party accedes to the request, then the party who is opposition will accuse the government of cowering to those lefties.
Perhaps, both major parties might think before they act.
John Rome, Mt Lawley
Rotten underbelly of duopoly exposed
Afraid that even more voters will flock to minor and independent parties at future elections, the major parties’ Electoral Reform Bill deal is a stitch up.
Labor and the Coalition could win back voters with good policy, but instead they are clipping the wings of independent candidates who actually listen to, and act in the interests of the people. This is deeply frustrating.
Although I am in favour of donation transparency and capping election spending, these new laws really just expose the rotten underbelly of Australia’s democracy and our political duopoly.
More power to grassroots campaigns and Australians who still support a “fair go” and wish to productively shape our legacy (“Letters, Shaping our legacy”, 13/2).
Amy Hiller, Kew
Expect more support for independents
In a desperate attempt to permanently secure their self-determined entitlement to power and control, the LNP and ALP have partnered-up to protect their ever-diminishing fiefdoms. An own goal if ever there was one. In true Aussie fashion, people power and local communities will respond and prevail.
Expect a significant groundswell of support for the independents, and even more fresh faces and voices when the 48th federal parliament convenes later this year.
Peter Wallace, Pelican Waters, Qld
Coalition and ALP in agreement raises alarm
Electoral reforms become law (13/2). Labor and the Coalition are actually in agreement. I smell a rat, or is it just plain old self-interest yet again?
Jennifer Quigley, Balwyn
THE FORUM
Turnbull back in favour
How extraordinary that the Coalition-friendly Murdoch media which had former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull in its sights when he came to power, now hold him as the benchmark on how to handle Trump when he talked Trump out of imposing tariffs on a range of exports to the US first time round.
If Trump 2.0 does not grant a tariff exemption on our steel and aluminium to the US, we can expect the Murdoch media to heap blame on Albanese, not the capricious Trump. You have to wonder whose side the Murdoch media is on. Wait; he’s an American citizen, isn’t he?
Nick Toovey, Beaumaris
Morrison deal-making
Former prime minister Scott Morrison has, figuratively speaking, apparently ″signed″ us up for a verbal deal regarding
steel and aluminium, which, after his demise seems to have stitched us up.
Heaven help Australia with his AUKUS deal, where we pay America a few hundred billion dollars and our so-called ″closest ally’ may sanction us while providing us nothing.
What other surprises are waiting to spring out of Scott’s jack-in-the-box?
Kim Kaye, Surrey Hills
Tweedledee or dum
There are two powerful regimes in our political sphere. One has just sanctioned the International Criminal Court, engaged in human rights abuse, threatened the takeover of other countries including Greenland and Panama, is engaging in economic isolation, punishing exporters from all other countries and is led by an unstable, self-serving narcissist.
The other regime is our largest trading partner and is located in our backyard, South East Asia. Its leader appears to be an intelligent person, militarily and economically powerful with clearly defined goals. I wonder which country we should align with?
Sean Geary, Southbank
Reap, sew
If only past governments, particularly Liberal ones, had listened more to Climate Change 200 (″Political stitch-up″, 13/2), this country would not be in the tragic situation it is now with fires affecting the Tasmanian World Heritage Area, the Grampians, wild weather in Queensland, and constant climate extremes around the country.
Peta Colebatch, Hawthorn
Mainstream racism
We are now feeling the full force of the lack of leadership of Anthony Albanese and his crocodile tears over antisemitism in Australia.
On his watch, racism has gone mainstream. Who would have thought that in 2025 in Australia public hospital workers have not only boasted about refusing to treat Israeli patients, but have also bragged about actively killing them?
Why should any group of Australians be afraid to enter public hospitals because of their race or support of Israel?
Under Albanese’s watch, Hamas’ hatred is sadly and openly displayed in Australia.
Jeremy Browne, Ripponlea
In Mandela’s shadow
It is timely that you republished your excellent article (10/1) from 1990 on the release of Nelson Mandela from his 27 years of political imprisonment.
It’s timely because the belated ceasefire process and hostage exchange in Gaza has reminded us of a fact that is often neglected in the almost exclusive mainstream media emphasis on Israeli hostages taken on October 7, 2023.
The neglected fact is that in the 20 years preceding the events October 7, 2023, over 7000 Palestinians have been detained without standard trials and imprisoned in circumstances similar to those experienced by Nelson Mandela.
The reminder of Nelson Mandela is timely because as of the end of 2024, there were approximately 300 Palestinian children still in Israeli prisons, with 112 held in administrative detention without charges or trial. Some of them were imprisoned for throwing stones at Israeli tanks that were mowing down their families.
When we praise our world for being enlightened enough to oppose and deconstruct apartheid in South Africa in 1990, we should also hang our heads in shame that another still exists in 2025.
Paul Evans, Carrum Downs
Antisemitism definition
Australian universities would reclaim their calling to be centres of enquiry, discovery and debate if they resisted political pressure to adopt a definition of antisemitism ″that closely aligns″ with that of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (″Unis told to adopt definition of antisemitism″, 13/2).
As much as the Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Peter Wertheim might wish it were otherwise, the so-called Group of 8, to its credit, has adopted a definition less open to the conflation of antisemitism and criticism of Israel. As reported, the IHRA definition states that ″the targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity″ could be antisemitic.
The problem is that on July 19, 2018, Israel’s Knesset made explicit what had long been implicit. It passed the Basic Law defining ″Israel as the Nation State of the Jewish People″, thus rendering all criticism of Israel antisemitic. It is this kind of defensive wall that universities must lead the way in breaching, for everyone’s sake.
Tom Knowles, Parkville
Continue protests
Like Wendy Syfret (″Pro-Palestine rallies are accused of sowing hate. This is the weekly reality″ 10/2), I am an attendee of the Sunday rallies in support of Palestine. These rallies are one of the few opportunities to express my concern at Israel’s inhumane treatment of the 2.2 million residents of Gaza, who even now are prevented from returning to their homes and continue to lack access to food and medical care.
As a 74-year-old woman, I not only have felt completely safe at these demonstrations, I have felt surrounded by people from all walks of life who have a strong commitment to human rights. Given the ongoing lack of resolution to the Israel/Gaza conflict, I urge Premier Jacinta Allen to support the continuation of these peaceful demonstrations.
Nancy Otis, Elwood
Boorish behaviour
Your correspondent (Letters, 13/2) defends Sam Kerr’s behaviour toward a police officer while being heavily intoxicated. She states: ″Who hasn’t been embarrassed by their own behaviour on a drunken night out?″ Good grief! I must be living in a parallel universe. Neither I, my wife, our large extended family, nor the congregations in various churches we have attended have ever to my knowledge behaved in that way. And they would not be the type to call a police officer ″stupid and white″. I do not know a single person who has been so intoxicated they vomit in a taxi and in an obvious drunken state abuse a police officer. Alcohol consumed in moderation is acceptable within a civilised society.
Lance Sterling, Nunawading
Bobby behaviour
As a London bobby during the 1970s, I knew that the Metropolitan Police Act specified that no police officer was capable of being insulted.
As a result, the police work around saw officers relying on members of the public being insulted by the offender’s words or behaviour for the offence to be made out. However, civilian witnesses rarely, if ever, attended proceedings where these offences were contested; police would give evidence that they were too busy with the offender to get witness details, or that the witnesses hurried on, or that they declined to give their details.
Invariably, those insulted were described as ″mothers with children″, ″passing cyclists″ or ″an old lady″.
According to Metropolitan Police legend, when an elderly lady actually appeared at court as a prosecution witness, the magistrate looked over his spectacles and exclaimed, ″Madam, I have been waiting 20 years to meet you!′
Simon Foster, Blackburn
Pedestrian concerns
In relation to the wisdom of walking on only one side of a pedestrian path, (“Dear fellow pedestrians, keep to the left, you drongos”, 13/2), two highlights of my 1974 first visit to Germany were, firstly, that painted arrows clearly delineated that one must walk always on the right side of footpaths; and that German Shepherds there were of ‘Inspector Rex’ proportions in contrast to their scrawny Antipodean cousins.
Also, elegant coffee palaces welcomed small dogs, some of them chihuahuas, in handbags carried by elegant women. German culture seemed eminently sensible compared with staid Melbourne then.
Jon McMillan, Mt Eliza
Road congestion
Your letter correspondents recently refer to the traffic and pollution issues associated with childcare and aged care facilities on busy roads. These facilities are on main roads for very good reason – because that is where traffic is. Such facilities generate their own traffic, childcare with drop-off and pick-up times meaning perhaps 40 or so cars at the same time, and aged care with visitors coming and going all through the day.
There are also issues of staff movements and parking. Residents of quiet streets don’t want this, even though quiet streets would be better for the facilities’ users.
Planning restrictions are in place to limit traffic in residential areas, and residents would certainly protest at any plans to build a facility that does not conform to residential use. Doing a school pick-up every week, I feel for the local residents who have to cope with some outrageous driving and parking by some of those picking up children after school. Allowing childcare and aged care facilities in quiet streets would create difficulties for more residents.
Louise Kloot, Doncaster
AND ANOTHER THING
Credit: Illustration: Matt Golding
Trump
Presumably, Trump will come back from meeting Putin waving a piece of paper and saying ″Peace in our time″. Dave Torr, Werribee
Now that Trump has made territorial demands for Greenland, the Panama Canal and Gaza, what will he do when Putin wants Alaska back?
Anthea Fleming, Ivanhoe
It seems fairly likely any negotiations conducted by Trump to end the war in Ukraine will involve the ″what’s in it for me?″ solution.
Annie Wilson, Inverloch
What a deep thinker he is! Easy to end a war by ceding the stolen territory to the aggressor.
George Stockman, Berwick
Trump should repurpose Trump Tower to provide safe housing for displaced Gazans.
Ian Cameron, Chelsea
Dear Anthony and Peter: Standing up to bullies will trump everything!
Felix Patton, Mt Martha
With friends like the USA, who needs enemies?
Denny Meadows, Hawthorn
Seems Morrison made an agreement with Trump but kept it a secret. Now, there’s a surprise.
Graeme Gardner, Reservoir
We might as well be the 51st state of the USA, with the amount of news space that the actions of Donald Trump takes up in this country
Bill Pimm, Mentone
Furthermore
We pay land tax on our holiday home and are strong supporters of the SRL, as our city grows we need to build more public transport infrastructure for future generations.
Anne Maki, Alphington
The Sam Kerr acquittal was disappointing. It conveys an undesirable message, giving the green light to offensive and entitled behaviour.
Dennis Walker, North Melbourne
Kerr 2 vs. Police 1: Own goals 1 each; one in off the ref.
Neil Champion, Moonee Ponds
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