Sporting prowess of the Matildas sets an example for all of us

Sporting prowess of the Matildas sets an example for all of us

Wednesday’s article by Will Swanton should be compulsory reading for all young students, all sporting teams and particularly our political leaders (“Forever fun, Matildas ride the Cup highs”, 2/8). Passion, leadership, national pride and women leading the way. And not forgetting the fabulous results achieved in Japan by our women’s swimming team, breaking records that have stood for years.

What a marvellous demonstration of the will to win, of a positive work ethic second to none, of teamwork and pushing aside injury challenges without complaint, a multicultural nation showing the world how it’s done.

Yes, we can all learn from this in everything we do; division is not the answer to success, it’s pride, teamwork, focus and hard work – just ask those wonderful women who proudly represent our nation.

Ian Murray, Cremorne Point, NSW

Your cricket journalists provide an incisive summary of an enthralling Ashes series. Peter Lalor asks: “Who won the cricket?” (“Ignore Bazball at your peril: Ponting”, 2/8). It’s a pertinent question as it’s evident the game has won even more hearts and minds with the daring new crash or crash-through style that England has brought to Test cricket. It is a fusion of the T20 game – which appeals to younger generations – and the five-day game that has its older devotees.

No one player exemplifies the risk and reward style of Bazball more than Jonny Bairstow. He is possibly his country’s third-best wicketkeeper and it’s likely that had he not missed opportunities at vital stages in the first two Tests the results might have been reversed. But he also brought his dynamic batting down the order to great effect in the games that England dominated late in the series. When the entertainment space is log-jammed with myriad options, this new energised method will likely save cricket’s longest format. Long live Bazball!

Kim Keogh, East Fremantle, WA

Global warning

It is an interesting parallel to make between the scientists who worked on the atomic bomb and climate scientists today (Letters, 2/8). Those who worked at Los Alamos on the atomic bomb were engaged in an arms race; they knew, if successful, their work would be destructive on an unprecedented scale – that was the point. J. Robert Oppenheimer may have been conflicted after the event, but does Bill Pannell (Letters, 2/8) seriously believe climate scientists are conflicted now?

The growing tide of data from respected institutions such as the Bureau of Meteorology, CSIRO, NASA, the World Climate Research Program and the UN suggests the opposite: climate scientists are now less inclined to moderate their language when speaking about the dire consequences of global warming.

There is less and less “diversity of opinion” about the degree to which more and more people and places are being adversely impacted. The majority of climate scientists are attempting to warn us that we are on a destructive path; the data (for example higher air and ocean temperatures, melting ice, rising sea levels) is not opinion, it’s fact.

Fiona Colin, Malvern East, Vic

With a hot El Nino summer on the radar, the Great Barrier Reef is in grave danger (“PM claims credit for UN backdown on ‘in danger’ reef’ ”, 2/8). David Attenborough says so. And leading reef scientists support a UNESCO “in danger” listing. Labor’s climate targets are consistent with more than 2C of global heating, the point at which scientists deem we will have lost more than 99 per cent of the Great Barrier Reef. Our climate policies are not nearly enough to protect the majestic reef and the 64,000 people whose jobs rely on it. We must rapidly lift our decarbonising efforts. The reef is an icon too precious to lose.

Amy Hiller, Kew, Vic

Rental crisis

The Greens are calling for a rent freeze but fail to understand that many owners of rental properties are also experiencing high cost-of-living expenses, not only on their rental properties but also on their own residences. The Greens would gain more credibility if they called for all governments, including state and local governments, to freeze their utility prices, stamp duty, rates and fees.

Carryn McLean, Kingsley, WA

Legal eagle

The piece in Wednesday’s Australian by Janet Albrechtsen expert­ly questions the legal protections provided by the ACT government for defendants in criminal trials and in particular how the right to a fair trial is ensured (“ACT’s system of justice hangs in the balance”, 2/8).

Her commentary around the potentially illegal denial of defence evidence invokes Montesquieu’s judgment in his 1748 treatise The Spirit of (the) Law: “There is no greater tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the shield of the law and in the name of justice.”

Craig Mills, Kew, Vic