Adam Bandt’s extremist politics took Greens to the brink at election

A major seismic event from the 2025 election was the significant repudiation of the Greens’ extreme policies. Their vote went backwards in all four seats they previously held. The swings against them were significant in six out of eight states. The Greens have lost their leader, Bandt (“Bandt loss PM’s (2nd) sweetest victory of all”, 8/5), lost three of their four seats and the last, Ryan, is on a knife edge.

This is a credit to Australian voters and those groups like Minority Impact Coalition and Advance who campaigned against the Greens. Voters have rejected the Greens’ anti-Semitism, tossed out their MPs who walked out of parliament rather than condemn terrorist Hamas. The Greens’ unrealised capital gains tax would have wrought huge economic harm and adversely affected renters. Avoiding their extreme climate change electricity policies has helped save Australian businesses and jobs. Australia has dodged a bullet.

Lee Smith, Kenmore, Qld

When Kermit the Frog laments that it is “not easy being green”, he could be speaking for Adam Bandt. Not being able to reconcile the benefit of wind turbines with the associated destruction of birds and native forests, the felling of trees to provide fuel for electricity generation, or the coverage of productive farmland with hectares of Chinese solar panels, Bandt reverted to other forms of politics, some of which had already been embraced by Labor

Case Smit, Noosa, Qld

Price is right for nation

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price is the kind of leader who unites; she gained the support and respect of 60 per cent of Australians. As senator she was unavailable to serve in the Liberal cabinet in her current political role. She has now defected to the Liberals and will sit in the Liberal partyroom in the next parliament. If the Coalition is serious about selecting a politician with authenticity, authority and commitment, who’s common sense and courage is admired by many across this demoralised country, then they will promote her into the leadership now. Australia needs her.

Mary-Anne Higgins, Rose Park, SA

Defence alarm

It’s a shame to read the Albanese government will forge ahead with its plan to buy $5bn worth of Apache helicopters as the US Army moves to scrap much of its Apache fleet (“Defence defiant on legacy Apache choppers”, 8/5). Defence expert Michael Shoebridge says the government was insistent in doing so. At the very least that decision should be publicly reviewed to determine whether it’s the best option for Australia.

This report simply lends credence to Elizabeth Buchanan’s commentary, especially her observation that Australia’s defence spending remains woefully inadequate, that it is related to a continuing ambivalence in respect of defence (“We can’t defend ourselves if we don’t know who we are”, 8/5). Buchanan concludes that it is high time for a national discussion on Australia’s purpose and place in the world. That, at least, might galvanise the Albanese government into immediate action to repair Australia’s glaring deficiencies in defence.

Ian Dunlop, Hawks Nest, NSW

Union demands

Revelations that union workers on $200,000 to $300,000 have rejected 23 per cent pay rises over four years is just the start (“Demand from Snowy River”, 8/5). If these workers are successful in attaining these salary increases, the flow-on effect for the rest of the workforce will be massive. Mental health days off, unused sick leave payouts, more parental leave days, and double time for working in the rain are just some of the excessive claims being made. Big business will tolerate the increase in wages costs because those on government contracts just invoice the government while other businesses will pass the costs on to the consumer. Union members only make up 13 per cent of Australia’s workforce. But we are entering a period under a Labor government where trade unions will dominate the workplace relations landscape.

Riley Brown, Bondi, NSW

Dilemma for Putin, Xi

How India’s retaliatory strike against Pakistan plays out will be both important and instructive (“Will India’s attacks lead to an all-out escalation?”, 8/5). On the surface we see competition between two nuclear powers, but at a deeper level the situation is more complex. Russia has historically provided military strategic support to India, while China has similarly supported Pakistan.

Now Russia and China have a bilateral partnership that is, according to Vladimir Putin, “greater than a traditional alliance” with a friendship that knows “no limits”. Is this the beginning of the end for the Russia-China alliance? Or is it the end of the beginning of the next major war? Something for our new Labor government to ponder.

Patrick Gallagher, Wyongah, NSW