Credit: Cathy Wilcox
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WILDFIRES
A chilling phrase used by fire science expert David Bowman in response to the LA fires is “house-to-house ignition” where the houses themselves become the fuel (“Could what happened in LA occur here? Short answer: Yes”, 10/1). A contributing factor to the intensity of the California fires in built-up areas may be the way Americans traditionally construct their roofs: wooden shingles, made from cedar, redwood or even asphalt, fastened to an underlay of marine ply; immensely strong, very stable in earthquakes but highly flammable. Iron-roofed houses burn in Australia, too, especially under ember attack, but perhaps not so quickly.
Claude Miller, Castlemaine
Reduce the fuel
Thank goodness for the practical advice provided by the experienced bushfire behaviour expert David Bowman regarding managing native vegetation near urban areas, rather than the incessant hand wringing over the tragedy. Instead of our current practice of burning large areas of bush in the hope that it will reduce the worst of the fire effects when we get dry and windy catastrophic weather, we should be concentrating on better protection measures at the urban-bush edge.
We need to reduce the number and density of trees in these zones, and planned fire does not kill most trees but rather helps control the shrubs, grasses and leaf litter. To do this environmentally sensitively we need to grow open woodlands by retaining the larger trees and physically removing the smaller ones. This enables native plants and animals to flourish and then enables the use of cultural fire or other methods like mulching to maintain it, all the while reducing the fuel hazard.
Ian Davidson, Wangaratta
Change where we live
The fires in California, the floods in Asia and Europe give only one answer. We need to stop living in areas that are prone to the effects of climate disruption. The elites in California decide to erect their homes in the pathway of winds that stoke fires. They allow government to oversee an emergency that they were ill-prepared for. The fact that old dead wood and low reserves of water were allowed to happen showed that everybody failed to have their eye on the ball.
We have to look at the example of how the third richest region in the world has failed to prepare for catastrophe and put a whole lot of policy initiatives of our own in place so we don’t have to contend with a disruptive climate in a tragic way.
Graham Haupt, Glen Waverley
Toxins released
Apart from the catastrophic damage to human lives, property and animals, the other major casualty of wildfires is the global environment. The massive amount of smoke generated containing toxic particulates from plastic, paint, chemicals, electronics and so on disperses around the planet, ultimately affecting the quality of the air we all breathe.
And then there’s the thousands of tonnes of debris left behind – where does that all end up?
Greg Lawes, Dingley Village
The cost of cuts
A month before Los Angeles burned the fire chief warned that budget cuts were hampering emergency responses and could hinder the city’s ability to combat wildfires. Cutting 2 per cent, $US17.6 million ($28.7 million), from the firefighting budget for Los Angeles of approximately $US800 million does not seem a large amount. However, responding to unprecedented events in all areas of government requires additional capacity. Small government leaves no capacity for forward planning or developing and implementing prevention planning.
Those who think any different are living in a parallel universe. They should look at Los Angeles and, if they get their way with fewer government services, hope they stay lucky. Los Angeles didn’t.
Carolyn Worth, Brighton East
Are we prepared?
There is no doubt that Australian cities are vulnerable to uncontainable conflagration (“Could our suburbs burn like LA’s? Short answer: Yes”, 13/1) I’m old enough to have been involved in the Dandenong Ranges fires of January 1962: 32 killed and 250 houses destroyed. Mercifully they only burnt for three days. Hal Todd’s tearful “last-ditch” broadcast from the flame-encircled St Andrews pub became the stuff of legend. Melbourne’s population then was 1.9 million; it’s now 5.4 million. Fringe suburbs at the heart of those fires, such as Hurstbridge, Warrandyte and Mitcham, are now densely populated with limited road systems for a mass evacuation. Are we prepared for an urban bushfire? Do we have adequate firefighting capacity? Let’s pray we never have to find out.
John Mosig, Kew
THE FORUM
Solar shock
I read with horror that the Victorian Essential Services Commission is recommending a reduction in minimum feed in solar tariffs from 3c to .04c per kilowatt hour (“Victorians with rooftop solar will get virtually nothing for feeding power to the grid”, 10/1). Yes, we know there is too much solar floating around. People like me trustingly took up government incentives to reduce the impact of these multinational utility companies making their huge profits so we could still put food on the table in the years to come.
This is a dramatic and fast policy change. As a pensioner, I used a chunk of my meagre savings to pay $7000 for solar panels two years ago, plus a solar government loan of $30 per month. I have barely started to pay the outlay off.
The current rates should be retained for pensioners until they have fully recovered these costs. That seems only fair.
If there is an oversupply of solar then provide pensioners with batteries so that the solar can be stored and used.
Jan Barrett, Stratford
Bait and switch
It has been announced that households with rooftop solar panels will only receive a feed-in tariff of 0.04c per kWh, down from about 3.3c per kWh. Those of us who took the government’s advice and installed roof-top solar panels have been misinformed and scammed into paying installation costs. We are now told to use all our electrical appliances during daylight hours as any excess power generated will result in very little rebate. For households where the occupants are away working and or at school this is not possible. The solar panels are of no use. In the evenings, households have to buy electricity from the grid as their panels are ineffective.
In our household the reduction in the feed-in tariff will result in an increase of $400 in our annual electricity bill and I’m sure this will be the case for a large number of households.
Anyone thinking of installing solar panels should think again. You are probably better off spending your money elsewhere.
Ian Bennett, Jan Juc
Tennis elites
The Australian Open is a prime example of why elite sport has lost me. It has a host of non-sporting ventures – extravagant food outlets, digital gaming, beauty parlours, retail outlets etc – unrelated to the main game, tennis. Players making serious money by every means except winning matches. Players “designing” takeaway food. Everything they wear, touch or sometimes say is done for a business reason. Celebs/influencers and an exclusive club with unlimited champagne etc. I would be interested to know the break-up of actual tennis fans to non-tennis fans and those who turn up to the “event” for business or self promotion. The Sunday Age headline “Open for business” (12/1) says it all.
Every activity at the Open is designed to manipulate, influence or sell. If anyone thinks they are witnessing a sporting spectacle and not a business endeavour they are deluded. I know my opinion will be seen as outdated.
When I travel around the country I would get much more pleasure seeing our local sporting fields and open spaces filled with active kids and young people doing their own thing, rather than obscene amounts of money spent on a select few.
Geoff Brown, Wodonga
Vaccine indulgence
Novak Djokovic claims that he is not anti-vaccination, just “pro-freedom” (“Open boss reacts to latest Novak storm”, 11/1). There might be some merit in this stance if Djokovic’s choice not to get vaccinated affected only himself, but of course the potential impacts of his choice go well beyond himself.
An individual’s choice not to be vaccinated increases the risk of infection and serious illness for others, in particular those who for genuine medical reasons are not able to be vaccinated themselves. An individual’s choice not to be vaccinated increases the load on already stressed medical and hospital staff, potentially resulting in others not receiving the care they need. An individual’s choice not to be vaccinated in the midst of a pandemic increases the likelihood of shutdowns and restrictions being imposed on everyone.
Simon Bennett, Hawthorn East
Suppressed nationality
For good reason Tennis Australia does not acknowledge nationality of some players at the Australian Open. It’s a pity that the media, both print and electronic, do not support this convention. I would prefer Australia not grant visas for entry to our country to these people as demonstration of international policy.
David Wright, Launceston, Tasmania
The greatest
Any list of the best, such as “Who is the greatest GOAT of them all?” (11/1) is bound to lead to discussion, if not argument, in part due to the difficulty of comparing athletes across the generations. Nevertheless, I did find it strange that Heather McKay, who won 16 British Open squash titles (the unofficial world championship in the 1960s and 1970s) then two World Open squash titles, and who lost only twice in her professional career of over 25 years, merited only a footnote in the citation for the male Pakistani squash player Jahangir Khan. Amazing how people remember or see things differently.
Tim Freer, Torquay
Forgotten GOAT
Your top 50 GOATS is as usual filled with the normal sports, ie. AFL, NRL, tennis, basketball, athletics and some other sports that Aussies sometimes excel at. The not very often mentioned sport of rowing has what must surely be the greatest sportsperson of all time. Steven Redgrave represented England in Olympic Games from 1984 to 2000, winning five gold medals in different boats. He also was a nine-time world champion between 1986 to 1999 in pairs and fours while winning three gold medals in the Commonwealth Games, one of which was in the single sculls.
Gary Florence, Hampton Park
Given a rocket
I looked and I looked and looked again at The Age’s list of the top 50 sportspeople of all time but could not find Rod Laver’s name; the only tennis player to win the grand slam (all four slams in the same year) twice. I did, however, for example, find Wayne Carey’s name. Really?
Dan Meehan, Caulfield South
Lost advice
Two essential principles of bushwalking are illustrated by the 13-day search and ultimate rescue of medical student Hadi Nazari (“The stunning moment hikers found Hadi on a hillside”, 9/1).
First, do not separate from your party. Second, if you do become separated and disoriented, stay put. Nazari failed both principles.
According to reports, he separated from his companions to take photographs. Then, unable to find the agreed meeting point, he created a moving target for rescuers by moving through dense bush, away from the area in which he might have been reasonably expected to be.
Ultimately, he was not found by any of the about 400 rescuers, but by three bushwalkers. This was a very fortunate coincidence. Nazari’s ability to survive is commendable, but it must be hoped he, indeed others, in future follow these well-accepted bushwalking principles. A great deal of time, financial and emotional cost would be saved should a search be necessary.
Graham Downie, O’Connor, ACT
Words of the wise...
In anticipation of Trump’s historic second inaugural address, George Brandis gives us a survey of influential words spoken by past US presidents (“If Trump is lost for gracious words, this long line of presidents could guide him,” 13/1). Ten centuries before the Athenians, wise King Solomon recognised the lasting impact of the spoken word for good or evil. “Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” (Prov 12:18.)
Geoff Francis, Doncaster East
... and not so wise
I enjoyed reading George Brandis’ article “Trump faces the rhetoric test”. His examples of how former American presidents have left us with memorable pieces of oration, give us a snapshot in time of some of the world’s most seismic events to the state of a nation, which today sees itself, as incredulous as it may seem, as the world’s greatest democracy.
So, how did we get from; “We have nothing to fear except fear itself,” – FDR, “Ich bin ein Berliner,” – JFK, to “They’re eating the cats, they’re eating the dogs?”
Craig Jory, Albury, NSW
Credit: Matt Golding
Positive thinking
I’m with Peter Dutton who says “optimism has turned to pessimism”. As our country’s primary promoter of doom and gloom, negativity and divisiveness,the opposition leader is in a powerful position to make a difference. The nation waits for him to move beyond his headline-grabbing slogans and platitudes and present constructive policies that contribute positively to our national wellbeing and sense of optimism.
Kevin Burke, Sandringham
AND ANOTHER THING
Coalition slogan
So the Coalition wants to get us “back on track”. The problem is that simplistic track leads to a very big hole where we can all jump in and bury our heads in the sand.
Julie Perry, Highton
For once the Liberals are being honest. Their slogan, “Let’s get Australia back on track”, exudes mediocrity, lack of ambition and a longing to go back to the past, which is consistent with their policies.
Denny Meadows, Hawthorn
Dutton wants to put the country “back on track”? Well, having successfully derailed the Yes vote, his track record leaves a lot to be desired.
M Leah Billeam, Portarlington
Peter Dutton has spent his three years as opposition leader stoking division, most notably during the referendum. His election pitch is to heal the social division that he created. Reminds me of someone who digs a hole and then offers to fill it in.
Sarah Russell, Mt Martha
Politics
My dream for 2025 is to read a positive media story on a government initiative. Two weeks into 2025, it seems like 2024 in replay. The same stories dominate. Please, could the media publish such a story to realise my dream for 2025.
George Reed, Wheelers Hill
Wouldn’t it be incredible if a journalist had the courage to walk out of an interview with a politician when the politician is obviously lying or totally avoiding answering the question.
Michael Brinkman, Ventnor
Credit: Matt Golding
Beach wars
Part of the conversation about beach usage (“Beaching and moaning reaches fever pitch over cabana campers”, 13/1) must include the ever decreasing space. Rising sea levels and storm surges are diminishing our beaches. Demand that our politicians act to stop using fossil fuels. We owe it to future generations to pass on our wonderful beach culture.
Glenda Simpson, North Fitzroy
Just wondering what First Nations people thought when we put our cabanas all over their land all those years ago.
Jan Marshall, Brighton
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To submit a letter to The Age, email letters@theage.com.au. Please include your home address and telephone number below your letter. No attachments. See here for our rules and tips on getting your letter published.