Voter backlash reflects deeper malaise for Labor in Victoria

While the voter backlash against the incumbent Victorian Labor government in the Werribee by-election reflects potholed roads, rising crime rates, rising living costs and inadequate transportation infrastructure, the missing point is that under federal and state Labor governments these essential basics of living will always come second (“Allan and Albanese on notice after Werribee voters revolt”, 8-9/2). The massive renewables energy subsidies on the pretext that environmentally destructive windmills and solar farms can tame the Earth’s climate, the bloated bureaucracy required to administer these programs and Labor’s propensity to support everything woke all represent a destructive misallocation of resources, guaranteeing that under the current crop of Labor governments we’ll never get ahead.

Ron Hobba, Camberwell, Vic

Dumping the Greens

Tony Lupton, the former Labor MP turned independent candidate in the Greens-held seat of Prahran, has given Anthony Albanese a much needed lesson in leadership. That is, if Labor is genuine about its disdain for the Greens it will, as Lupton did at the weekend by-election, preference the Liberals second. Indeed, at last year’s Queensland election David Crisafulli, now Premier, followed Peter Dutton’s principled policy of the Coalition preferencing Labor ahead of the Greens – a party Dutton is right to label a “party of extremism”.

It’s about time Albanese, the self-declared “conviction politician”, followed the lead set by Lupton, Dutton and Crisafulli. I won’t hold my breath. With Labor on the nose in Werribee, it seems it will get over the line by a nose with Greens preference flows. It is little wonder Albanese is considered to be the PM who doesn’t walk his talk.

Mandy Macmillan, Singleton, NSW

Power outage

I find Jennie George’s article very refreshing, especially considering it’s by a former unionist and Labor parliamentarian (“Rethink energy transition or face economic disaster”, 8-9/2). George sees what most of the country sees: that renewable power is a pipe dream and will never be able to produce baseload power. I hope George will have the courage to change the way she votes and support Peter Dutton’s plan for nuclear energy and gas. She should get on board and support what is right and correct for the country: cheap baseload power generation.

Mike Chester, Waterford, WA

Countering terror

How timely that Mike Pezzullo has exposed the shortcomings of our national security when state and federal governments have failed to do so (“Urgent reforms needed to avert terrorist attack”, 8-9/2). Pezzullo’s analysis indicates a lack of clarity in ministerial responsibility for security at the federal level. This may explain the absence of official reassurance to the public in the face of terrorist attacks in our capital cities. The Australian public has the right to be assured that the government has invoked the established procedures for counter-terrorist protection in this nation.

Vicki Sanderson, Cremorne, NSW

Off the sheep’s back

Charlie Peel’s report on the woes besetting the once-mighty Australian wool industry makes for grim reading (“The final straw as sheep farming goes to the dogs”, 8-9/2). The trigger for the article was the angst being experienced among wool growers in Western Australia whose important live export avenue for surplus sheep is being wound up by the Albanese government, making the merino enterprises in that state economically marginal, to the point where WA wool production this year is forecast to be the lowest in a century. Wool growers in WA would take little comfort from the comments of federal Agriculture Minister Julie Collins that “we are committed to the sheep industry in Australia and remain confident that there is a strong future for the sheep industry and those associated with the sector”. But the malaise extends well beyond WA into the traditional wool-growing heartlands of the eastern states, where the soaring costs of shearing are driving many graziers out of the merinos that underpinned our economy for most of Australia’s history.

Peter Austin, Mt Austin, Vic

Snapshot of history

Like any narrative, history relies on the subjective views of those who tell the story. So it is with the famous image of the Napalm Girl from the Vietnam War (“Photo editor’s exclusive account of caption dispute”, 8-9/2). Litigation may solve the issue of who really took that photo. But for most of us that photo is a sad reminder of Australia’s involvement in an unpopular, far-off war that resulted in the death of 523 Australian and a staggering 58,220 American soldiers. Such a heavy toll should be a reminder of how our government interprets the responsibilities involved in our alliances.

Ken Moore, Chapel Hill, Qld