Campaigning on cost of living will lift Dutton back into the contest

Many media articles are including coaching on how Peter Dutton should communicate to punch up in the remaining election weeks. Stop being so nice and factual. No one else is.

Peta Credlin wins the therapy contest. She urges him to stick on the winning target; it should be cost of living every time Dutton speaks. The Coalition has nothing to lose following this expert advice, based on Credlin’s unique political experience (“Forget polls, election clash is just getting started”, 3/4). Albo and mates are strutting as we enter the straight, but a few too many of the Coalition are looking and sounding timid, tired and defeated.

They all need training to resist their automatic conservative response to be boringly, politely, rational and factual. Labor’s not doing this and nor should they. No matter what question is asked, the answer must first be a blast on its link to cost of living.

Relevance is so easy to find in the many Labor failures of always increasing cost of living while eroding living standards.

Betty Cockman, Dongara, WA

AI probing our souls

Gerard Baker raises an interesting idea (“Long march of big tech not at odds with the divine”, 3 / 4).

He predicts that artificial intelligence will eventually do away with the need for human intelligence, thus leaving humans with the time to ponder the more intangible and non-physical aspects of their existence. He says this will lead to a deeper appreciation for the existence of a soul.

Baker is talking about a new level of human evolution here, but he is putting the new wine into old wine skins. He mentions God many times, but the concept of God needs updating now. God, or the gods of ancient times, and the Old and New Testaments, is pretty much still the big judge up there somewhere, and we are all miserable sinners, needing ongoing redemption. Who knows, it could well be that AI itself will eventually lead us to a more evolved understanding of what is what in the realm of the soul.

Carolyn McMurtrie, Berowra, NSW

Crunch time for nation

It’s time for the climate warriors to take a long, hard look at what they are trying to achieve.

To make way for the ever-increasing demand for solar and wind farms, there is the ongoing devastation of pristine forests, together with the probable extinction of native fauna in these increasingly denuded areas.

This, on top of the loss of valuable agricultural land and the social and financial implications it has had on long-established rural communities. If it had achieved as much positive influence on my energy bills as the modest array of solar panels on my rooftop, then I would agree it may be worth while. But my ever-increasing electricity and gas accounts, and my supermarket bill, tell me otherwise. Not since World War II has the struggle to maintain living standards been as dire.

The looming international threats to Australian trade over tariffs, the lack of credible defence preparedness and our falling productivity due to undue trade union influence, together with the negative implications for housing and other vital services, paint an overall gloomy picture for the nation. The time for selfishness is over. For Australians, it’s time for evaluation and assessment: the chasing of unachievable niche priorities for the few is over. This is crunch time; we may not get a second chance.

Noelle Oke, Albury, NSW

Flawed health system

If 40 years as a hospital staff specialist in NSW taught me nothing else, it is that Australians will not get the system they deserve without joint management of the public hospitals by the commonwealth and state.

The current dispute is the result of a salary model whereby NSW Health pays two-thirds of the base salary of other states with one-third cost shifted to the commonwealth through private practice options (“Doctor strike to disable state’s public hospitals”, 2/4). Those with easy access to private income take home 30-40 per cent more than colleagues in other fields despite the same 10 to 15 years of training, 60-hour week and responsibility.

Most disadvantaged are those who further trained for five years as clinician scientists (PhD, post doc) whose research work limits private practice time. No sympathy from the state because, after all, medical research is a commonwealth responsibility.

Doctors’ resignations, ambulance ramping, thousands of elderly people stuck in hospital beds awaiting a commonwealth aged-care placement, and unconscionable waiting times for surgery and outpatient specialist consultation are all solvable but never by the states alone. The jurisdictional divide in health wastes precious resources and underpins the continuance of unnecessary dysfunction. It is federalism at its worst. The starting point is to establish a national health and hospital commission to plan and oversee the transition. The politician who advocates this will get my vote.

Graeme Stewart, Avalon Beach, NSW