Credit: Cathy Wilcox
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GOVERNMENT
Ross Gittins is on the money, as ever, with his analysis of changing patterns of political persuasion (“Both sides take us for the mugs that so many of us have become”, 14/4). It’s easy to agree with his conclusion that the days of the political duopoly are being overtaken by issues-based, community-focused minor parties and independents.
This seems a healthy development, not only politically but also economically. Instead of bribing the electorate and/or avoiding scare campaigns, we need more mature discussion of policy initiatives to bring about real improvements in critical areas. Politics should be about ideals, not just about dollar signs: real progress requires real courage, and that’s most likely to succeed if it’s solidly based in community support.
Jenifer Nicholls, Windsor
The answer is with independent candidates
Ross Gittins is correct in saying if we want politics to improve we should put “neither major party back in majority government”.
But in his long survey of “what’s wrong”, he steadfastly avoided the two major problems – the rise and dominant influence of the News Corp stable and the influence of lobbyists’ dollars. Gittins also remains coy about the solution – the rise of candidates with a range of skill and experience as exemplified by community independents who act on their electorate’s concerns.
Your local Liberal or Labor candidate is little more than a decoration at local events. A vote for Liberal or Labor is a vote for more of the same party-focused, lobbyist-serving government. A vote for a community independent is a vote for an MP who knows and votes for their community. Do we have the courage to vote for the change Australian politics needs?
Margaret Callinan, Hawthorn
Bring on a minority government
Ross Gittins gives a great summary of the current election process, which hinges on pork-barrelling far more than long-term reform. He offers a partial solution.
As a volunteer for prominent independent Zoe Daniel, I do agree with his hope for a hung parliament. That would mean the likelihood of a minority government, with parts of the crossbench, adopting Gittins’ ″real, controversial policy changes″, like better climate action and overall tax reform.
In the current stagnant political scene, the teal independents’ positive alternative of community orientation was a key attraction to me. The Greens have always been ahead of the larger parties on climate action and the environment, but other policies have been too left wing. Many former Liberal voters in independents’ seats like Goldstein (Zoe Daniel) and Kooyong (Monique Ryan) clearly agree. Roll on a minority government.
John Hughes, Mentone
Being bold doesn’t always work
Could your correspondents please stop complaining about the Labor Party not being bold on taxation reform. It was bold, it offered policies on changes to negative gearing, capital gains tax and more to the 2019 election and guess what, it lost. The electorate obviously deciding that bold reform was not what they actually wanted and hasn’t it worked out well since.
Housing affordability is at its lowest level, the wealthy have substantially increased their wealth, the poor are worse off, the middle class has stagnated, and we just muddle along hoping for change to ensure a more equal society, but when it’s offered, we reject it.
Samantha Keir, East Brighton
Great leader wanted
Australians know we are in trouble, and we are crying out for a real leader. Handouts and subsidies will not fix this. Albanese failed the test with the divisive Voice campaign and the false promise of renewable energy.
We will swallow tough medicine today for a brighter future, but we need a great leader to show the way.
Wayne Alexander, Eltham
End showbag electioneering
Bravo Ross Gittins (“Both sides take us for the mugs that so many of us have become”, 14/4) for his comprehensive takedown of the ALP and Coalition offerings in this election campaign. Fiscal responsibility seems gone, and any transformational policies kicked down the road.
His criticism of major party politics is spot on, but mainstream media should also take a big slice of the blame. Superficial “gotcha” coverage has starved voters of meaningful information, and encouraged showbag politics. The rise of community independents suggests people are looking past electoral bribes and prefer intelligent debate and longer term solutions. Media might take note.
Vivienne Kane, Hawthorn
Nuclear is an option
We need politicians to look ahead as huge wind turbines and solar farms will need to be replaced every 20 or so years. Where are these wind turbines, solar panels and lithium-ion batteries, much of which are made up with toxic materials, going to be buried in the next 100 years?
We only have a certain amount of agricultural land to supply much of our food needs and it should not be used as burial grounds for rotting materials. Some of this land has precious water tables beneath. Surely, nuclear must be explored. This could reduce problems we have with transmission lines and our countryside would be preserved.
Elizabeth McCormack, Berwick
Edmund Burke’s words
The Coalition’s consistent denial of the truth of climate change, despite feeble attempts at denying its denial, flies in the face of one of its heroes. Edmund Burke, the 18th century philosopher said “society is but a contract between the dead, the living and those yet to be born″. There has been no greater challenge to care for those yet born, than to act seriously about climate change mitigation. Burke also said ″nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little″. He sounds like a climate activist.
Phil Labrum, Trentham
Climate will dictate all
Re “An ALP or LNP win hastens burning planet” (Letters, 14/4).
Our political parties foreground simplistic and short-term economics before climate science despite studies revealing our cheapest power sources to now be wind and solar.
Peter Dutton’s energy plan prioritises fossil fuel expansion. He proposes tax cuts on fuel for non-renewable-reliant vehicles and subsidies for domestic gas supply, falsely claiming this will lower power bills. The real issue isn’t just economics – it’s survival. If climate change can shift election dates, how long before it dictates everything else?
Paul Evans, Carrum Downs
Not-so-controlled burns
Another planned burn has turned into a bushfire. Much of regional Victoria is wreathed in smoke from planned burns, smoke not only from burning vegetation, but from accelerant. This is affecting the health of residents, especially those with respiratory issues. When is the state government going to admit that planned burns, apart from causing so much damage, do nothing to subsequently stop or retard the progress of bushfires? They should be abandoned as a bushfire-mitigation process.
John Christiansen, St Kilda
Two party back step
Labor promises to expand the existing First Home Guarantee program, with a government guarantee of 15 per cent on top of first home buyers’ 5 per cent saved deposit. This is aimed at avoiding the buyers’ cost of lenders mortgage insurance. The Coalition instead, promises to make first home buyers’ interest on mortgage payments tax deductible for five years (“A campaign full of sound and fury pauses for some constructive policy”, 14/4).
The two promises have one thing in common. They both let more people into the housing market. If you haven’t studied microeconomics and haven’t thought much about the law of supply and demand, think about it in terms of the crowd at any house auction. If either promise is fulfilled, there will be more potential bidders and fewer bystanders in the crowd. You don’t have to be an economist to know that the more bidders, chances are the higher the price. Any auctioneer, or casual observers at auctions, will tell you that.
Consider too, “property investors” standing in the auction crowds, still negatively gearing and enjoying concessionally taxed capital gains. Neither Labor nor the Coalition are curbing their profits. From where I stand, the major parties’ promises on the demand side of housing prices, far from being “constructive policy”, seem counterproductive.
Lawrie Bradly, Surrey Hills
Building smaller, smarter
Reading your correspondent’s “Policies miss point” (Letters, 14/4) reminded me of the program called The Age Small Homes Service, sponsored with the Royal Victorian Institute of Architects, that began in the late 1940s.
It offered individuals the opportunity to purchase architectural drawings designed by the likes of Robin Boyd and other architects for a fee of £5, then find a builder to construct the modestly sized, well-designed home.
Maybe we need to revisit this program today instead of the current trend of building larger and larger homes.
Kate McCaig, Surrey Hills
Kitchen cabinet
Women don’t want to be “protected” by Peter Dutton, nor by Sussan Ley’s “boys in the blue singlets” (“Coalition’s pitch to protect women and girls will strike a chord, but is it the right one?“, 14/4). Women want to live in an Australia where their strength is recognised and respected and where violence isn’t tolerated, no matter the gender of the perpetrator.
Dutton’s comments have echoes of popping women back into the kitchens of the 1950s so no harm can come to them. No thanks.
Claire Merry, Wantirna
ALP, LNP aged care fail
Australians should not confine blame for the deterioration of our egalitarian and caring society to lamenting legislation of the long-gone Howard government (“Dutton’s hero’s policy fails”, Letters 14/4).
On aged care, for example, the bipartisan response of the Albanese government to the disgraceful findings reported in 2020 and 2021 by the aged care royal commission, which have continued to be endured in person by many Australians since, was the 2024 Aged Care Act. It limited new legislation to requiring Australians to pay more for aged care, without any guarantee that the care will be of a higher standard, and even more disturbing, leaving the rights of aged care residents unenforceable.
Ruth Farr, Blackburn South
THE FORUM
Pre-emptive obedience
Day by day we read about the horrible and destructive things Trump is doing, and may forget that this is executed by a significant part of the population, government and private employees high and low. What we are observing is a phenomenon that Masha Gessen calls ″pre-emptive obedience″: People anticipate and comply with a dictator’s desires or rules in their spirit, before they are explicitly demanded. This helps authoritarian regimes gain and maintain control, often without needing to resort to direct enforcement.
Ralph Böhmer, St Kilda West
Victim of changes
As a fan of Judas Priest, I’m thrilled to see Keir Starmer recognises the influence of their seminal album (″Starmer races to save British steel″, 13/4). Humour aside, as a student of history, I am elated to see a government that understands the importance of nationalised industry. British Labour went to the general election with the promise of establishing Great British Energy, a state-owned renewable energy body. This follows the erstwhile Conservative-led push for Great British Railways, which Labour has assumed responsibility for. After decades of job losses, higher fees and diminished services due to privatisation, nationalisation remains the shrewd choice even before Donald Trump’s tariffs came into play. Australian Labor should follow suit.
Anders Ross, Heidelberg
Automation isn’t enemy
As automation reshapes our world, we must rethink what meaningful work means for all Australians. The romanticised view of labour – tied to physical toil and outdated industries – lacks imagination, ignoring the diverse ways we find purpose.
Automation isn’t the enemy; it’s a chance to elevate human-centric roles like teaching, caregiving, and creativity, which foster connection and resilience.
Yet, as Jacqueline Maley highlights (″Trading in lunacy. How Trump’s tariffs will ‘save’ masculinity″, 13/4), nostalgic politics risks trapping us in a past that glorifies “male” jobs while sidelining women and modern realities.
To move forward, we need investment in lifelong learning, fair wages for undervalued work, and education that equips kids for adaptability, not rigidity. Let’s champion local economies and challenge gendered stereotypes, ensuring everyone – whether crafting, coding, or caring – feels their contribution matters. There are still plenty of hands-on roles to be done and meaningful work isn’t only about clinging to coal mines; it’s about building a future where all can thrive.
Sue Barrett, Caulfield South
National statistics
Your tipping correspondent (“Bad hair day”, Letters 14/4) might have given more consideration to the emergence of non-Victorian teams in the AFL competition. With interstate teams occupying the top three places on the AFL ladder, five of the top eight and seven of the top 11 places, it can fairly be said that the AFL is the one truly national competition!
Brian Kidd, Mount Waverley
AND ANOTHER THING
Credit: Illustration: Matt Golding
Federal election
Same old show bags of sugar-coated giveaways designed to woo the voters. Do they really think the majority of voters still fall for it?
Peter Randles, Pascoe Vale South
Exactly which ″track″ does Peter Dutton want Australia to go back on to? His predecessor’s? Australia needs to move forwards, not backwards.
Paul DeFelice, Briar Hill
Peter Dutton’s property portfolio is reportedly worth $30 million. And he wheels his son out to say he can’t afford a house. Seriously?
Ross Hosking, Blackwood, SA
Since we don’t have a clue what Putin and Trump have in store for us, this election is a waste of time. Surely, there’s something better to do than guessing whether we’re better off with a dollar in our pockets?
Gordon Thurlow, Mooloolah Valley, Qld
Trump world
Without firing extra shots, Putin has added another 50 states to his empire. How easy was that?
John Lippmann, Canterbury
The ability for ″the misguided grievances of one narcissistic individual″ (Letters, 14/2) to affect ″every single person on the planet″ is facilitated by the thing that one narcissistic individual detests: Globalisation:How ironic.
Vincent O’Donnell, Ascot Vale
Trump’s tariff strategy is clear now: Wakes up, throws a dart at a world atlas, spins a numbered wheel, then holds a press conference to announce which country he is going to pick on that day. Just like a daily games show.
Peter Heffernan, Balaclava
We’ve had “Sleepy Joe”. Now we have “Dopey Donald”. Who next will Snow White inflict upon us? With apologies to Walt Disney.
Anne Carroll, Brighton East
Finally
Congratulations to the NGV for breaking records for the Kusama exhibition. Art is accessible to everyone and it soothes the soul. We live in a wonderful cultured city!
Pam Papadopoulos, South Yarra
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