Coalition must present its pre-election policy agenda to public

Coalition must present its pre-election policy agenda to public

Election campaign strategy is a mysterious dark art about which most of us know little. One wrong move and the game could come to an abrupt end. Why? Because we voters tend to kneejerk over single issues rather than analyse the bigger picture. Peter Dutton certainly needs to get his key policies on the table but it’s all about timing. Do it too soon and he risks the scaremongering and dirt raking for which Labor is famous. Labor has little regard for fact, its strategy is about misleading and frightening voters about the intent and outcome of its opponent’s policies. So, it’s understandable if Dutton is being cautious.

That said, Dutton needs to be bold. Voters are looking for change. They are looking for visionary and strong leadership that will return this country to its once prosperous self; to restore their once comfortable lifestyle without the stresses of being able to put food on the table, drive the family car, keeping the lights on and paying the mortgage. Dutton needs to show us how he will do this. But Dutton must also show us how he is going to protect us, our borders and our sovereignty. He must tell us how we will be “guaranteed” quality education, healthcare, and a quality of life for the aged.

He must tell us how he will reunite the country as one, how he will remove us from the welfare state we have become, but how we will care for the disadvantaged. Dutton needs to show us he is bold and has courage to reform and regrow our nation. If he can do these things he will be our next PM and we will be rid of a government that has failed us demonstrably.

John George, Terrigal, NSW

Tyrant’s spoils

It seems some Western commentators are placing a great deal of faith in the possibility of Vladimir Putin agreeing to a ceasefire in Ukraine. He may well sign up to an agreement that gives him a chance to reorganise his forces so as to inflict ever greater casualties once the ceasefire is over. Given the habitual mendacity of his murderous regime, the world should be in no doubt that he would use the time to reinvigorate his troops in the expectation of eventual victory regardless of the cost to either side.

Kerry MacDermott, Binalong, NSW

Moral clarity

Peta Credlin in her excellent article shines a light on the main cause of the breakdown in social cohesion affecting not only Australia but also a number of other Western democracies (“Immigrants welcome to join us, not change us”, 13/3). She confronts the penetration of Islamic extremism and the failure of the Muslim community to hold the line against it.

As she points out, neither Jews nor Christians are killing anyone on the basis of their religion. Indeed, no rabbis nor priests are preaching hate. Muslim leaders have failed to unequivocally condemn the widespread anti-Semitism, and indeed have tried to justify some shocking instances, as with prominent Muslim statements about two nurses in Sydney who said on social media they would kill patients. The problem has rapidly expanded with the increasing presence, through both further immigration and a high birthrate, of the Muslim community and hence of extreme elements within it.

Politicians in cynically courting the large Muslim vote fail to deal adequately with anti-Semitism and constantly rely on a false and contemptible equivalence with Islamophobia where in terms of scale this is patently absurd.

In acceptance of our values, rather than trying to change them, the Muslim immigrant community would do well to emulate the example of our Jewish community who have made a far more significant contribution.

Alan Franklin, St Ives, NSW

Scrap net zero

While Peter Dutton’s call to stick with the Paris accord will understandably disappoint many a Coalition supporter, the reality is that the goal of net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 enjoys bipartisan support. Indeed Dutton has often expressed concern about the absurdity of the government’s weather-dependent energy rollout of infrastructure made in China, using Aussie coal, which is causing economic, ecological and environmental self-harm, and has promised to scrap a number of wind projects should the opposition win office.

He has been spot-on to point out the bipartisan support for nuclear-powered submarines and for nuclear medicine, and to challenge Anthony Albanese to a debate on nuclear power and to lifting its legislative ban. Quite simply, Labor and its Greens-teal boosters cannot be pro net-zero emissions, but anti zero-emissions nuclear power.

Dutton is also pro gas, and while icing on his energy cake would be advocacy for high-efficiency, low-emission coal plants, hopefully Coalition voters will not allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good.

Mandy Macmillan, Singleton, NSW