Asking the hard questions over quarantine and Covid

So WA premier Mark McGowan is “at the end of his tether”. Living in the most isolated city in the world, and leading the most isolated state in an isolated country, one wonders how he would go dealing with the pandemic anywhere else (“McGowan’s blow to stranded Aussies”, 26/4).

The hotel quarantine system has its problems but is preferable to expensive purpose-built facilities that would quickly degrade once the pandemic is over. NSW opened early, dealt with issues as they occurred and worked at improving the system. McGowan kept WA closed for too long, but at least he could have used the delay to learn from interstate experience and prepare. Instead, he sat on his hands knowing that when he could no longer avoid opening up, he could blame any failures on Canberra. That always seems to work.

Chris Love, Wahroonga, NSW

The acting Victorian Premier needs to explain why 78,000 people can attend an AFL match but the Anzac Day ceremony at Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance is limited to 1500 attendees inside a caged fence (“The AFL has a bit more power than the RSL ... obviously”, 26/4). At least Daniel Andrews had the courage to front a media conference every day defending the indefensible.

Riley Brown, Bondi Beach, NSW

As an ex-military man I am not annoyed, I am angry that those who fought for their country could be “cancelled” by the Victorian government on safety grounds, while a footy game is allowed. As a doctor, I can say there is no medical advice which could possibly justify this approach. Lest we forget — well, the Victorian government did.

Graham Pinn (Sqn Ldr Retd), Maroochydore, Qld

The premiers of Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia treat their citizens like a lot of sheep, casting themselves in the role of sheepdog. They bark at, hassle and herd their people into small fence-bound structures, and, bar a few pesky dissidents, the acquiescent mob falls into line.

Rosemary O’Brien, Ashfield, NSW

Wran’s legacy

The most obvious part of Troy Bramston’s article (“Wran the fires’ final victim”, 24-25/4) is to “gloss over” and exonerate Neville Wran’s choice of Bill Waterhouse’s close mate Bill Allen over 18 more senior police officers to become NSW deputy police commissioner as a “blunder”. Really?

When elected in 1976 as NSW premier, Wran also insisted on becoming police minister. Bill Waterhouse at the time called it “Minster for Corruption” as police ran corruption in NSW during the 1970s and 80s.

David Waterhouse, Elizabeth Bay, NSW

Congratulations to Troy Bramston for his forensic analysis of recent allegations concerning Neville Wran and corruption. He has demonstrated that they are unsubstantiated and insubstantial. This is not to say that the Ghost Train fire was not a horrific and tragic event. Serious doubts concerning the cause and subsequent investigation remain. An independent inquiry is needed to establish the truth, as called for by the group of ex-Wran staffers in their cogent letter (Letters, 26/4).

I have recently written a short biography of Wran. Although some may say I am ruled out of court as a Wran admirer, I did address the corruption issue and concluded that there is no convincing evidence that Wran was personally implicated. Corruption in the police and justice system was undoubtedly rampant. Wran’s major mistake was to obfuscate and cover-up in response. He would have been better advised to examine seriously the many credible allegations of corruption that emerged.

David Clune, Artarmon, NSW

New world order

Paul Dibb is right to warn of the threat an aggressive Russia and China, acting in concert, would pose to the free world (“Russia-China union casts dark cloud over West”, 26/4). The key to successfully countering such a threat is for the US to concentrate on China and for Western European nations to get serious about defending themselves. It is ludicrous that Britain, Germany and France, with economies much bigger than Russia’s, spend so little on defence. If those three European powers doubled their defence expenditure and capability, they could deter Russia by themselves and not have to rely on the US.

Bill Stefaniak, Narrabundah, ACT

Paul Dibb and Peter Jennings both warn of future danger unless the West is alert to the dangers of Russia and China, and is prepared to face up to the international bullies. To its credit, Australia is showing the necessary defiance to China. Western history shows a totalitarian regime will only respect a less powerful nation when it is confronted with a defiant stance, regardless of economic and military superiority.

Jerome Paul, Exeter, NSW