Covid, vaccines and when is the right time to open our borders

Money is a powerful motivator, and so is business success and profit for senior executives (“Virgin execs have plenty of reasons to fly high”, 19/5). And it takes a strong government to withstand the pressures from businesses to effectively and fairly balance the competing interests — health versus profit-making — in the COVID-19 situation. Fortunately, the government appears to lean heavily towards protecting us by avoiding big risks. Virgin’s call for open borders is understandable given its financial situation. But one cannot help wondering whether big share assignments to its senior executives are also a contributing factor in making such a call at this still risky time.

Michael Schilling, Millswood, SA

Virgin chief Jayne Hrdlicka is wrong to say that Australia needs to learn to live with COVID-19. It is obvious that we have done an excellent job in learning to live with this pandemic. Sure, we can no longer globetrot the way we used to, but our day-to-day lives are mostly normal, and we don’t live in fear of infection. In fact, given our complacency about vaccine acquisition and administration, I would instead argue that we have done too good a job in learning to live with COVID-19.

Sue Lester, Grange, SA

I understand David Seidler’s anger, angst and frustration about being stranded in New York and if he wants to return to Australia he will have to cough up $8000 for flights and $3000 for quarantine (“‘Project Ostracise’ traps us in a bubble of denial”, 19/5). However, I need to remind him that according to Monday’s Newspoll 73 per cent of Australians believe borders should be closed until at least mid-2022 or the pandemic is under control globally.

Riley Brown, Bondi Beach, NSW

China caution

Labor’s Penny Wong has good reason to hold the Morrison government to account by questioning whether its premature beating of war drums over a potential Chinese military invasion of Taiwan is merely a domestic political ploy (“Talk of China war ‘a political strategy’”, 19/5). Analysts at the US Naval War College predict that such a scenario would involve a colossal loss of life and that a US victory cannot be assured. They further warn China would target the 50,000 US forces stationed on Japan’s Okinawa Island, and from there the conflict could spread quickly to other parts of the world.

With the US caught in the middle between pleasing both Beijing and Taipei, it has maintained a posture of strategic ambiguity, clearly indicating its intention to stave off hostilities for as long as possible. From Australia’s own strategic perspective, Wong’s expression of caution should be strongly heeded if we are to avoid staring down the barrel of a possible World War III.

Vincent Zankin, Rivett, ACT

Mad as hell

Hi. My name is Jim and I too am politically homeless. (“Politically homeless in the hermit kingdom”, 19/5) I’ve been a conservative voter all my life but have arrived at a point where I can no longer support a party that will not take on the most basic issues. It’s all well and good to campaign on economic management and things like superannuation and the usual bread and butter issues but I’m in the market for a conservative party with a backbone. Time and again fundamental issues upon which we expect the government to act are simply ignored or left hanging. Whether it be the education curriculum or the latest case of outrageous partisan bias by the ABC, feckless conservative politicians go to jelly every time. At the next election, in a safe Liberal seat, I intend to get my name crossed off and then discard my ballot. I’m sick of them and “the alternative is worse routine” just doesn’t cut it anymore.

Jim Ball, Narrabeen, NSW

First aid

The eight-page weekend budget special (15-16/5) focused on “what the budget means for you”. That’s a fair question, but it is also fair to ask what the budget means for our commitment to people who desperately need our help in other countries now ravaged by the COVID pandemic. Our foreign aid is frozen for the next three years at its current paltry level: about 0.2 of our Gross National Income. That is 2c out of each $10 — compare Sweden that manages 11+, or Britain with 7, which is the figure many countries once agreed to. We in Australia have been spared the ravages of the pandemic, our economy is booming, and we are right there at the top of the list of wealthy nations. We and the government that represents us have a moral obligation to lift our foreign aid significantly, especially in these COVID times when people are suffering and dying in huge numbers and many nations are on the brink. Or have we as a nation become so apathetic and self-centred that our compassion, like our foreign aid budget, is frozen at a subminimal level?

Dean Zweck, Panorama, SA