What doesn’t Minister Clare understand about anti-Semitism?

What doesn’t Minister Clare understand about anti-Semitism?

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare is clearly taking a leaf out of the NSW Police handbook in declaring that the slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine must be free!” is not a call for the destruction of Israel. In a similar vein to when police said the anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic mob out the front of the Sydney Opera House did not chant “gas the Jews” but instead “where’s the Jews?”, as if this was somehow permissible, does Clare want to redefine the “from the river to the sea” slogan into a benign form? While the pro-Palestinian demonstrations call for the destruction of Israel, Jewish rallies call for the release of hostages and the end of anti-Semitism. The contrast could not be starker. The Education Minister should note that the only state fully situated between the Jordan River and the sea is Israel and the appalling slogan does not call for a two-state solution.

Michael Neustein, Bondi, NSW

Energy economy

We should be grateful to Chris Uhlmann for his intervention into the energy debate (“Bowen mugged by power of reality”, 4-5/5). Uhlmann’s refreshing take, founded in fact and constructed with reason and common sense, reminds us that without energy everything that sustains modernity would stop and the return to a life that is, as he writes, “nasty, brutish and short” would be swift. In an unpredictable future, it is clear that the transition to new sources of energy will not go according to plan. We must be constantly aware, as Uhlmann points out, that the stakes are nothing less than the wealth and security of the nation.

Ian Dunlop, Hawks Nest, NSW

In just two short sentences, Chris Uhlmann demonstrates why he has long been one of Australia’s leading journalists: “Energy is not part of the economy. It is the economy.” That has to be the most insightful and illuminating opening sentence to any article I’ve read in years. That line should be on every billboard in the country, in big, bold type. Sadly, even then Energy Minister Chris Bowen and Anthony Albanese would ignore it. If he had any sense, Peter Dutton would make that line the Liberals’ election slogan.

Burt Bosma, Surrey Hills, Vic

Former NSW energy minister Matt Kean criticises the Minns Labor government for negotiating with Origin Energy to keep the Eraring coal-fired power station operating beyond its expected closure in August next year (“NSW’s bid to keep coal-power station going a backwards step”, 4-5/5). While in government, Kean’s solution for keeping NSW’s lights on was to commission “the biggest super battery in the southern hemisphere to keep our energy security safe and secure”. What errant nonsense. Batteries don’t generate electricity; they merely store it. And when renewables stop generating power because the wind isn’t blowing or the sun isn’t shining, batteries are useless.

Kean says: “For decades coal-fired power stations have been the backbone of our energy grid, but as they age, they become less reliable.” Age has nothing to do with it. Like nuclear power plants, provided they are correctly maintained and refurbished when necessary, coal-fired power stations can continue operating for up to 60 years, even longer. The only reason they are being shut down, not just in NSW but across the country, is to enable weak, intermittent renewables to dominate the nation’s energy system.

This the policy of the Albanese Labor government and its state and territory counterparts. Eraring is NSW’s largest coal-fired power station. It provides 25 per cent of the state’s electricity and is an integral part of the national electricity grid. Reality has hit the Minns government hard. It knows that if Eraring shuts down next year the state will be plunged into a power supply crisis.

Yet Kean’s advice to Premier Chris Minns is to close Eraring and to “get on with the job of transitioning NSW to a clean, reliable and affordable energy future”.

Dale Ellis, Innisfail, Qld

Follow the leader

The dispiriting similarities between Anthony Albanese’s Labor government and Joe Biden’s Democrat administration continue to mount.

We’ve got Albonomics here in Australia and they’ve got Bidenomics. We’ve got the Future Made in Australia initiative, they’ve got the supposed Inflation Reduction Act, where both policies use exorbitant sums of taxpayer funds to subsidise “green” projects that would otherwise not stack up. Both leaders have been in politics for decades, yet aside from reaching the highest political offices in their respective lands, there’s not one signature achievement between them. They promised more unity and less division, but play the predecessor/man. They forgive university student debt, but offer weasel words about anti-Semitism on campus, rather than stand up for our Western civilisation and values.

Mandy Macmillan, Singleton, NSW