Nation paralysed by outdated antinuclear stance on energy

Adam Creighton argues in his commentary piece that Australia’s prohibition on nuclear power is an embarrassing, fact-free policy that positions the country as an irrelevant outlier during a global nuclear revival (“Sanctimonious nuke ban powers us to irrelevance”, 21/11).

He contrasts this with Argentina, a nation recovering from past state-led mismanagement, which has used nuclear power since 1950 and is pursuing a more pragmatic energy and climate change strategy.

The contrast with Australia is stark. Despite holding the world’s largest uranium resources and having stable, remote terrain ideal for reactors and waste storage, the Australian government clings to outdated restrictions and refuses to consider nuclear power. Argentina, by comparison, is issuing new uranium exploration licences and sensibly ignores the ideological obsession with intermittent energy.

With about 30 nations generate nuclear energy and planning new nuclear programs, Australia remains paralysed by ideology, with its over-reliance on renewables creating risks of blackouts. It is time for Australian policymakers to ditch the legacy antinuclear stance and join the 21st century.

John Kempler, Rose Bay, NSW

Unfair deal on Ukraine

Apparently, a part of the art of the deal is to sideline any protagonist who may have a different opinion (“Ukraine peace plan: cut army, speak Russian”, 21/11).

The US President is a self-appointed art-of-the-deal expert, yet he is being masterfully manipulated by chief aggressor Vladimir Putin. Perhaps what they are both hoping for is a Ukrainian minerals bounty?

Neither of them has the decency to include Volodymyr Zelensky, while day after day the Russians continue to murder Ukrainian civilians.

Claire Jolliffe, Buderim, Qld

It’s always good to see President Donald Trump striving to create peace, in this case in Ukraine, but giving the imperialist Vladimir Putin and Russia everything they want is a recipe for disaster.

And the Europeans know this because they’re the ones who have to live next door to him.

Russ Fathers, Tweed Heads, NSW

Left bereft of reason

Those of us interested in discussing politics can easily relate to Henry Ergas’s insightful comments on his exchange with Phillip Adams (“Public reason lost amid culture of personal attack”, 21/11).

It is almost impossible to debate politics with people of the far left because once they run out of arguments, which happens quite quickly, they resort to personal insults. Interrogating the facts to get to the truth is, sadly, now a project of the past, used by only one side of politics. It is one reason modern society has become so divisive and disconnected.

Alan Freedman, St Kilda East, Vic

Deal with Higgins row

Is it not extraordinary how politicians never seem to learn that it’s not the crime that gets you in the end, it’s the cover-up (“Cover-ups have consequences”, 21/11)?

So a word of advice for the Prime Minister on the “Mean Girls”. Brush up on your Walter Scott and reflect on his famous words: “Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.”

Hubris and dissembling along the way tend only to make worse the damage caused by a scandal finally uncovered.

Confront the steaming mess of the brewing Reynolds-Higgins scandal and deal with it now.

Chris Lloyd-Bostock, Connellys Marsh, Tas

‘Fair go’ vanishing

As a nonlegal mind, I’ve long found Chris Merritt’s column insightful. His article (“Fair go under threat”, 21/11) struck a deep chord.

While framed in legal terms, it speaks to something far broader, on the erosion of a cultural ethos that once defined Australia.

As an octogenarian, I recall a time when fairness wasn’t just a legal principle but a way of life. We were easygoing, caring and instinctively looked out for the vulnerable.

Demands were modest and decency was second nature. That spirit, the quiet dignity of a “fair go”, feels increasingly absent in today’s Australia.

John Field, Coolum Beach, Qld

Party must change

At last, Peta Credlin – someone who knows the ins and outs of the Liberal Party – has finally taken the gloves off in blasting it (“Lazy Liberal team needs to pull its weight”, 20/11).

Pointing out the party’s weaknesses, she has also outlined what it must do to resurrect future election prospects. At the moment, it means that if the party leaders don’t get off their backsides and work for policies of change and promote them relentlessly, being perennially in opposition is what awaits them.

Kevin Begaud, Dee Why, NSW