Governments are elected to make decisions, not tinker with policy

Strong leadership is urgently needed to make decisive policy on difficult issues such as energy, water and immigration

Australians are well aware that after many decades of political squabbling and fumbling over the site of Sydney’s second airport, former prime minister Tony Abbott’s government displayed excellent leadership and decided that it would be at Badgerys Creek.

Since then the NSW government and private organisations have jumped on board to provide the essential planning for roadways, railway access and other significant infrastructure.

This type of strength is needed urgently to address issues including affordable energy supply; self-sufficient fuel production, refining and distribution; water capture, storage and distribution; and management of an immigration policy that reflects the level of medical and education facilities and housing availability.

Governments are elected to provide strong leadership: it is not their task to tinker around the edges of fundamental issues while spending most of their time and our money focusing on lesser matters in our society.

Keith Askew, Hornsby Heights, NSW

Premiers must get real

Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg were naive if they expected a rational response when asking premiers for infrastructure and workforce requirements regarding migrant intake (“States to pressure treasurer over crush”, 8/2). Politicians rarely spend time with anyone other than those with a vested interest in population growth and don’t see past the electoral cycle. The answer to our degrading environment and quality of life is not infrastructure, but fewer people.

William Mapleston, Ashgrove, Qld

Independents won’t work

Meg Mack (8/2), watching 150 independents in parliament trying to find someone to lead the country would be interesting to say the least.

Murray Horne, Cressy, Vic

Reading’s for pleasure

Bella d’Abrera encapsulated an enduring reality about literature: the simple joy of reading is sullied when pages are seen through the prism of identity politics (“Children lose out if academics shade literature with gender politics”, 8/2). When readers are taught they can essentially ignore the author’s original intent and freely determine meaning with respect to race, class and gender, the outcome will be a sense of grievance and victimhood.

Peter Waterhouse, Craigieburn, Vic

Bella D’Abrera’s article is excellent and I wholeheartedly endorse it: Australia’s plummeting educational standards are due in no small measure to the pushing of identity politics, with increasing instances of studies being oriented politically.

I find it disturbing that approaches to our universities with funding for courses involving study of the great books of Western civilisation are being rejected.

Alan Franklin, St Ives, NSW

Pipedreams not enough

The Murray-Darling basin discussion has been about regulations and allocations, with never a thought to the provision of more water. Right now, as happens every year, the monsoon is bringing a deluge to the Gulf country. With the development of a system of low level dams to harvest the water, it could, and should, be pumped into the upper reaches of the Darling, to support the system exactly when most needed.

Murray Raynes, Nannup, WA

Diverting large volumes of water from northern Australia a thousand kilometres or more to the Darling River, or similar grandiose schemes, would pose an exciting challenge. Unfortunately, it would be economic madness.

These well-intentioned folks should get an engineer to do the sums. If water is to be taken from the environment, the best place to use it is as close to the source as possible.

Peter Crammond, Kadina, SA