Conscript retired judges to hear family law cases

In the Anglican Church system priests who have to retire at 70 years of age can act as locums where there are parishes with no priests or a priest is on leave. In the corporate world directors are voted on yearly once they reach the age of 70 — they don’t necessarily leave the board. One wonders why appropriate judges could not act as locums for specific cases after the age of 70, if the system is not functioning well for lack of judges (“Family courts at break point”, 3/11). I don’t know how long ago the rule was brought in that they should retire at 70 years of age, but the population remains healthier for much longer now and it seems somewhat of a solution to an ongoing problem.

Sheila Knight, Malvern, Vic

Eye on public spending

It is good to see the federal Attorney-General’s proposed Commonwealth Integrity Commission will not be a star chamber like we have in NSW, which has destroyed the careers of innocent people (“Federal MPs to face corruption scrutiny”, 3/11). Importantly, if the CIC is to be fully effective in protecting public funds and assets it must include the ABC, SBS, Australia Post and any organisation that’s funded by government, including the many advisory groups in which millions of dollars of public funding is invested.

Ian C. Murray, Cremorne Point, NSW

Time to bid adieu

Paul Dibb paints a very clear picture of our future defence needs (“US always the key to Australia’s defence”, 3/11). Surely the dramatic geopolitical change in the last year is a good “force majeure” reason to break the French submarine contract and develop a US-aligned nuclear submarine project. That would further reinforce defence relations with the US to mutual long-term benefit.

Peter Balan, St Peters, SA

Hiding to nothing

If the only economic remedy the Reserve Bank board has available to it is the reduction in the “official” interest rate from 0.25 per cent to 0.1 per cent then God help us all, as surely there is no one out there who was holding back borrowing waiting for yesterday’s reduction. This decision delivers nil.

Tony Brownlee, Sydney, NSW

Gas is not green

Nick Cater’s article “Turn off the bleating hot-air-mob — time to turn up the gas” (25/9) makes the proposition, “Whichever way you look at it, natural gas is preferable to coal.”

Fossil gas is mainly methane and, over 20 years, it traps 86 times more heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. Its potency as a greenhouse gas can be measured by the Global Warming Potential scale.

Carbon dioxide has a GWP of one over 100 years. In 2013, methane’s GWP was calculated at 28-36. It’s now thought to be even higher. Methane is released from fossil gas before it’s even used — through fugitive emissions both at the time of extraction and distribution — in leaks and venting. An international study also found gas leaking across Sydney and Melbourne.

It’s well established that we’ve been vastly underestimating the amount of greenhouse pollution released by fossil gas. Gas is not clean or green and it’s transported in massive pipes and tankers — not “invisibly”. Unconventional gas development creates air pollution linked to respiratory problems and cancer. Fracking has led to toxic contamination of groundwater and has even been linked to mild earthquakes.

To be fair, gas does produce 50-60 times less carbon dioxide than coal when burned in a new, efficient gas power plant. But the simple fact remains: we cannot keep extracting and burning any fossil fuels and maintain a safe climate.

Belinda Noble, co-founder,
Comms Declare