Too late for the PM to find his voice on the referendum

Simon Benson asks when will the Prime Minister rescue his voice or ensure an alternative will prevail (“Just when does the PM step in to rescue the voice?”, 17/7).

Hubris got the better of the Prime Minister. Anthony Albanese has given a masterclass in how to fail. A voice in the Constitution and a republic are off the agenda under his leadership as he cannot be trusted. Ideas need to stand on their own to succeed. Recognising all of us has merit. Representation as devised in South Australia has merit. But race as a reason for greater or lesser rights and representation is a particularly bad idea as demonstrated by the wars and conflicts the world has endured.

Section 25, which ensures racial discrimination by a state is applied to the state at a federal level, is a particularly bad idea in our Constitution. We need a people’s convention for the community to suggest improvements.

Peter Egan, Mosman, NSW

Pandemic pause

Responsibility for minimising the persistently dreadful rates of death and hospitalisation due to Covid-19 rests with all of us (“Booster shot slump leaves aged care exposed”, 17/7).

As shown in a recent large study during the omicron period, up-to-date vaccination at all ages reduces the risk of passing the virus on. The Covid-19 infection that kills an elderly person in residential care is the last link in a chain of transmission that could’ve been broken at several points by someone who was recently vaccinated or better adhered to public health advice.

As a basic standard of care, aged-care providers should ensure all residents are vaccinated against Covid-19 and influenza and are cared for by fully vaccinated staff who advise visitors of their role in prevention of potentially fatal infection. As we enjoy the freedom of living with Covid we should also accept responsibility for preventing others from dying from it. The Covid-19 pandemic is not over yet.

Professor Graeme Stewart, Westmead Institute for Medical Research, NSW

Reality check

Adam Creighton’s assessments on Covid-19, climate change and Russia losing the war tend to neglect significant facts (“Ukraine war the latest target in US propaganda blitz”, 17/7). Clearly he is correct on President Joe Biden saying Russia had already lost the war. However, in relation to Covid-19 there might be relatives of 1,170,000 Americans who would strongly disagree with him.

On the matter of climate change he must live in a constantly airconditioned world as he seems to conveniently disregard that the northern hemisphere is cooking currently and still has a few months to contend with. More than 2000 fires in Canada, the US and Russia alone do not exist because of normal weather patterns.

Rob Park, Surrey Hills, Vic

Wrong choice

We need an honest broker in the Ukraine, not cluster bombs. The current split in the country between the Russian-controlled area and the Ukrainian area is pretty much how it has been for the past 10 years, ever since the western Ukrainians overthrew the popularly elected president, largely supported by the eastern Ukrainians. In the last election, which Volodymyr Zelensky won, the eastern Ukrainians were denied the vote because they were breakaway provinces. We could have filled the role of honest broker but, even though the conflict is well beyond any of our understanding, we chose to back one side over the other. Siding with the Americans is not always the sensible strategy.

Brian Povey, Churchlands, WA

Lax Americana

The tragedy that is Afghanistan is another example of the erasure of women (“Taliban beauty salon ban another nail in the coffin”, 17/7). Nobody could accuse the Taliban of being woke but one can see where wokeness is leading. However, the ultimate blame for this catastrophe lies with the Americans who just cut and ran from Afghanistan, as they did in Vietnam. These are the allies on which our government relies for the defence of Australia. We need to spend some serious money on defending ourselves, not in decades, now.

Iain Rae, Palmwoods, Qld

Migrant woes

It is time to call out Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil’s fatuous denial immigration levels have nothing to with the housing crisis (“Students take housing shortage to next level”, 17/7). Net overseas migration is the highest it has been this century and levels are projected by Treasury to remain well above the 2007-19 average of 226,000 for decades to come. For how much longer will the Albanese government fail to see that these immigration settings are disastrous for inequality and particularly for young people?

Peter Cook, Buderim, Qld