Credit: Badiucao
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BARNABY JOYCE
Your letters correspondent is justifiably annoyed and critical of the elected individuals and the system that permits the likes of Barnaby Joyce and Lidia Thorpe to ditch their respective party allegiances in “mid term” (Letters, 29/11). Her reasonable argument is that their constituents voted for a brand or party, in the above instances the Nationals and Greens.
A possible counter argument or justification from the likes of Joyce and Thorpe is that the electorate also voted for them and the status quo – the party – no longer represents or reflects what their constituents want. Still, pretty subjective.
Brendan O’Farrell, Brunswick
Each-way bet
Re your correspondent’s letter, “Barnaby Joyce was voted into parliament” (29/11). The ballot paper clearly stated his name and his allegiance, but voting for the House of Representatives is to elect members, not parties, and that is why their names are first.
In the Senate, the story is different. The ballot paper is designed for party allegiance and thus criticism that a person who resigns from the party should resign from the Senate has merit. The Senate ballot has now got far beyond being sensible or democratic and should be changed so that citizens are elected and party hacks who are past their use-by dates are not rewarded.
It is unlikely that Joyce will be re-elected to a House seat, and he is flirting (chortle) with joining One Nation. If his interest was financial, he could contest his current seat as an independent, then probably losing, he would get the resettlement allowance of six months’ salary. If he stood for the Senate, wearing any hat, and lost, then based on previous cases of George Christensen and Andrew Laming, he would get the resettlement allowance.
If he won, he would get money, glory and perks for another three or six years.
Adrian Tabor, Point Lonsdale
A man who produces so little that is positive
Your correspondent (Letters, “The Barnaby Burden”, 30/11) lives in Barnaby Joyce’s electorate and is not a great admirer of his local MP.
One of the great mysteries of the Australian media is why it is so obsessed with the antics of this man, who produces so little that is positive for the country.
David Fry, Moonee Ponds
Drawing the line
Billy Hughes, prime minister between 1915 to 1923, was a member of six political parties and expelled from three during a long and opportunistic political career. He famously said he never joined the Country Party because he had to draw the line somewhere.
One can imagine that Hughes would also have drawn the line on joining One Nation. It appears however, that that might be the eventual course for Barnaby Joyce.
Malcolm McDonald, Burwood
Passed the use-by date
I loved the Wilcox cartoon (28/11) depicting Barnaby Joyce quitting the Nationals.
Surely, his seat in the House of Representatives should now be subject to a by-election as he was chosen by the people of New England because he was a member of the National Party sand not an independent or One Nation member.
The country would be better off if he departs politics altogether. He has definitely passed his use by date.
John Aarons, Brighton East
One last question
One can imagine the National Party being happy to see Barnaby Joyce go. But why would One Nation want such a bundle of damaged goods?
Malcolm McDonald, Burwood
THE FORUM
Big emissions
As reporter Millie Muroi and your correspondent have explained, tackling climate change means cutting pollution at the source (“Coalition is no friend of environment – neither are carbon emission offsets”, 29/11) and (Letters. ″Stop fossil fuels”, 28/11). You can’t lose weight by eating a green salad one day and a Big Mac the next. Similarly, carbon credits won’t undo the damage that burning coal, oil, and gas is doing to our atmosphere and climate. It’s time to close the carbon credit loophole.
Isabelle Henry, Ascot Vale
Care for reefs
Around 85 per cent of Australians live within 50 kilometres of the coast, with ready access to beaches and reefs. But your article reveals a second, deeply disturbing threat to coral (“Curtain of bubbles led to bleak ocean discovery”, 30/11). While we are familiar with the bleaching and mortality caused by marine heatwaves, the corrosive effect of ocean acidification from CO2 absorption is far less understood.
The chance discovery of natural carbon-dioxide bubbles on PNG’s east coast by reef ecologist Katharina Fabricius enabled her to show that the sea is now 30 per cent more acidic than it was in pre-industrial times — an alarming shift for coral structures already under stress.
It is welcome news that Australia is among the 24 nations supporting the Belém Declaration on the Just Transition Away from Fossil Fuels. Yet, the prime minister’s subsequent statements in South Africa were, at best, ambiguous and, at worst, contradictory.
If the UK can commit to no new licences for oil and gas exploration in the North Sea, then surely a renewables-rich Australia can make a similar pledge. We owe it to our reefs.
Ray Peck, Hawthorn
MAGA madness
US correspondent Michael Koziol writes (″Many Will Pay Price for Shooting″, 29/11) that the Afghanistan man who shot the two National guards (one of whom has died) was, with a total of 190,000 other Afghans, welcomed into the USA, “an open and welcoming society”.
Just how welcoming and open is the US? The article provides examples of just how unwelcoming and closed it has become. The sort of hatred continually articulated by Trump and cheered on by his MAGA followers will only ever foment further hatred. It will never calm the waters.
Judy Kevill, Ringwood
Harm in plain sight
John Ruddick, president of the Digital Freedom Project (″Call for Musk, Google to fund case″, 29/11), opposes the government’s social media ban for under 16s, claiming that a ban will lead to teenagers accessing “underground social media without parental supervision”.
The same day in the column ″The unfiltered truth about beauty″, Julia Baird reveals the extent to which mainstream social media is teaching young people to “hate themselves”, with a study showing “90 per cent of young women on social media use filters or edit their appearance” to the point that they are “no longer able to analyse how they appear in reality”.
Clearly, Mr Ruddick, young people don’t have to go “underground” to find harm on social media; the dangers are plainly on the surface for anyone to see.
Justin Shaw, Ringwood East
Texting menace
The article by Geraldine Bilston ″My daughter is 12. This is the violent text her ex-boyfriend sent her″, (30/11) highlights the glaring gap in Albanese’s legislation banning 16 and under-aged children from accessing social media. Those young people will still have phones and bullying by text will continue.
Reg Murray, Glen Iris
Police disbelief
Re “Perpetrators are using vacuums and photo frames to spy on women. Connie and other ex-policewomen are fighting back”, 30/11). For specialist practitioners ″in the know″ and women who have experienced Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), such as former police officer Connie Carroll, a common tactic employed by male perpetrators of intimate partner violence is to “make her look crazy”, aided by an array of spying devices.
It’s women such as Carroll and former police officer Rose MacDonald – the latter has created a data protection platform to upload all the vital identity and other documents for women who need to flee their abuser at a moment’s notice – who must be at the helm of police workforces across the country.
If we listen closely to women of being disbelieved, misidentified and dismissed by police (because she doesn’t fit the bill of a ″perfect victim″ or hasn’t got tangible evidence to give to police), it becomes all too clear that a spotlight needs to be shone on the workforce that is supposed to help women.
Jelena Rosic, Mornington
Abundance of caution
Richard Glover signposts Australia’s finger-wagging nanny-state.
Warnings have morphed into a non-stop film reel rapidly issuing redundant “take care”, “caution required″, and “open with care” exhortations, wherever and whenever one turns to look on leaving home (″Warning: Take excessive caution reading this column″, 30/11).
One safety concern is that common-sense is being substituted with a road sign every few metres on our roads. The by-the-minute attention necessary to decipher these warnings distracts the driver from traffic playing out around us in real time.
Do warnings insulate the sign-reader from self-evident, clear-as-daylight road hazard or are they intended to absolve blame from the authorities by insinuating that the harmed product buyer or driver were plentily warned in an explicit written format?
The coffee-burns compensatee (take-away hot coffee burns if spilt on any part of one’s body, duh!) has a lot to answer for.
The time is now to scale back the waste required to imprint warnings on packaging and the manpower deployed to install a gazillion road signs. There remains scarce evidence that ubiquitous warning signs improve public safety.
Joseph Ting, Kelvin Grove, Qld
Return Burke and Wills
I am one of the nearest living descendants of William John Wills. He was my grandfather’s great uncle. He and his fellow explorer Robert O’Hara Burke died tragically at Cooper Creek in Queensland. Wills was 27, he was the expedition’s navigator, a scientific and gentle man.
The statue of the two –no longer in the City Square – is a magnificent and unique sculpture acknowledging a wholly tragic and flawed expedition from the south to north of Australia. The expedition was beset by poor planning, inexperienced leadership and ignorance of the knowledge contained by the local Indigenous peoples.
The original statue location was excellent. The statue must have a high-profile location. We need to understand many lessons from this monumental national disaster. If required, for contemporary context, extra text can be added to the plinth.
Stephen Bargwanna, Coogee, NSW
Intrusive outbuildings
Further to Letters (“The water wall is gone”, 29/11), there is more “visual cacophony” on St Kilda Road with the massive Anzac Station, eight large, brown ventilation structures, the Domain Road station entrance, plus numerous other assorted lift and maintenance buildings. Underground rail networks overseas function safely and effectively without such intrusive outbuildings.
Elizabeth Douglas, Melbourne
What’s my line?
Perhaps the line running through the new Metro Tunnel from Cranbourne to Sunbury could be named the ″Cranbury″ line.
Ruth Brown, Mentone
One day matches
I was interested in Malcolm Knox’s article (“Ashes combatants should forget golf and give fans what they want: more cricket”, 29/11) when he mentioned the first one day match at the MCG 1970. I was there, luckily in the members.
The powers that be, whilst to be congratulated on creating this match, did make an enormous blue.
They didn’t think many people would turn up so they had only two gates open to the outer. The lines to get through stretched back to the Richmond Station. Realising their mistake, they were lucky to get in touch (no mobile phones then) with the bloke who had the keys, who was on holiday down on the Mornington Peninsula.
They told him to call a taxi and give the driver the keys. Obviously, that took a long time and thousands would have given up and gone home.
The caterers were also must have been advised that there wouldn’t be much of a crowd: they ran out of pies and beer very early.
Bob Morrow, Eltham
Books not dead
Jane Sullivan (″Are the doomsayers right? Is this the end?″, 29/11) asks if the doomsayers are right about a ″sad farewell to the book″.
Horsham College recently held its annual Chaplaincy Book Fair. Not wanting to miss out, we arrived two minutes past opening time; couldn’t get a car park and thought: ″There must be something else on here″.
No. Once inside the hall, we understood. It was packed with people of every age, from toddlers checking out Fireman Sam to older people with walking sticks checking out local history. Every one of them put their money (that is, $1) where their mouth was; the wise arrived with shopping trolleys and green bags and left with them full.
The book dead? I think not.
Pam Cupper, Dimboola
Skyhooks reunion
Bongo, Balwyn calling. Living in the ’70s was great. Give Shirl a heavenly hug. Thanks.
Ann Rennie, Surrey Hills
AND ANOTHER THING
Wedding day
We have a public holiday for the King’s birthday, let’s have a public holiday for the prime minister’s wedding. There is so much sadness in the world it is refreshing to have a good news story of love to celebrate.
William Peacock, Redan
Transport
Well done Metro team, a central rail link to be proud of, with the Suburban Rail Loop to be the “pièce de résistance”!
Greg Curtin, Nunawading
We learn that Ray Kinnear’s 1997 vision mapped out a commitment to the Metro Tunnel MM1 (30/11). Now for MM2 to be taken off the ice and swap it for the budget busting Suburban Rail Loop of dubious benefit in anyone’s lifetime.
Cynthia Pilli, Doncaster East
Instead of seeing Jacinta Allan being photographed in the Metro Tunnel in a hard hat and orange vest, I would prefer to see her filling in some potholes on our atrocious country roads.
John Guy, Elsternwick
Forget the potholes in the road, our dollars have gone to the improved rail system. We don’t need a car.
Bruce Dudon, Woodend
I ride motorbikes. Potholes can kill me.
John Cayless, Red Hill
Furthermore
Since 1865, Melburnians have loved and cherished Charles Summers’ monument of the doomed intrepid explorers, Burke and Wills. Their expedition has always been part of our heritage, and folk law, alongside the Collingwood cheer squad, Flinders Street Station and the ding of a tram bell. Please put them back in their rightful place.
Susie Holt, South Yarra
If Pauline and Barnaby had wanted to show they were true blue, they’d have used a jaffle iron.
Belinda Burke, Hawthorn
A weekend of great celebrations at Arden Street. The opening of the grand metro station only to be surpassed by the Kangas’ back-to-back premiership.
Jim McLeod, Sale
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