Thanks to my local member, Paul Fletcher, I now know that I’m so ignorant that I’ve been prey to a “giant green con job” (“Coalition frontbencher says voters conned into backing independents”, December 2). I voted for Nicolette Boele in the last federal election not because Paul Fletcher was part of one of the worst governments ever inflicted upon this country, but apparently because I am such a stupid woman I had no idea what I was doing. And I can’t learn from my mistakes because I’ll be doing it again. Thank you, Paul. I think you’ve just signed your own dismissal notice. Elisabeth Goodsall, Wahroonga
Paul Fletcher MPCredit: Martin Ollman
Politicians like Paul Fletcher miss the point entirely when they complain that there is a “giant green con job” being foisted upon electorates by the teal independents. The conservative parties, via their climate change denial and inaction, have left many voters behind as they have shifted to the right. That the ALP have likewise shifted right to fill the centre void means they too are losing voters who expect more to be done to combat the threat. People are voting for greener politicians because they want the issue taken seriously.
Andrew Brown, Bowling Alley Point
Paul Fletcher seems to have really relied on the fact he is (or was) in a safe Liberal seat and never bothered to find out what the non-stuck-on Liberal voters think. I lived in his electorate for many, many years and visited him on occasion with my concerns about climate change, to no avail. He never once voted against the majority far right of his party on anything dealing with climate change. Maybe there are more intelligent voters in his electorate who do care about the environment and climate change than he realises, and they are not just being “duped” into voting for those trying to do something about it. Peggy Fisher, Manly
If this is Paul Fletcher’s view of the world he lives in, then the next election bodes well for the disenfranchised Liberal voters who have drifted towards the teals. They are tired of the Liberals’ broken promises, mismanagement and ties to yesterday’s world. I am part of the disbanded North Sydney electorate that has been consigned to the Bradfield constituency. We are a band of successful campaigners with deep experience and eagerly await the day the PM pulls the trigger for the next election. We look forward to the big celebration that brings home Nicolette Boele. John Whiteing, Willoughby
Surely, the teal independents are primarily the result of the Liberal Party’s longstanding attitude that politics is primarily a man’s occupation. These competent women are hard at work to keep their seats, and still more may follow them. The Greens are likely to gain more seats as well, leaving the so-called two-party system struggling to survive. Perhaps the time has come to consider proportional representation. The New Zealanders and South Africans changed that misconception in 1996. Klaas Woldring, Pearl Beach
Paul Fletcher’s outburst claiming the teal independents had a “deliberate plan” against the Liberal Party in the 2022 elections shows how paranoid the Liberals are about the teals in next year’s federal ballot. He claims the teals duped the voters in the seats they won, thus insulting the intelligence of anyone who supported them, including the 20 per cent of voters who voted for Nicolette Beale in his own electorate. He says, “majority government is a good thing for Australia”, but he conveniently overlooks the fact that every Coalition government is actually a minority Liberal government supported by the Nationals. Rob Phillips, North Epping
By blaming the last Liberal federal thrashing on “a giant green con job”, Paul Fletcher reveals the Liberals learnt nothing from that electoral whipping. The NSW Liberals demonstrated precisely the same incompetence in the run-up to recent local byelections and received precisely the same rejection from voters. Mr Fletcher, voters resent being taken for fools by their elected representatives and won’t vote for people who need to demonstrate they can run their own party before they ask to run the country. Russell Murphy, Bayview
Just when I thought that politics had lost its entertainment value, along comes a politician accusing other politicians of conning the public. You couldn’t make it up. Paul Fletcher’s main concern seems to be that it worked in some places, and even worse, could work in his electorate. It’s good to start the morning with a laugh. Ron McQuarrie, Budgewoi
Paul Fletcher and the Liberal Party have got it wrong. The voters of Bradfield want strong action on climate change, housing, integrity in politics and effective gambling advertising reform. We have been taken for granted for years by the Liberals. Bradfield deserves better! Nicolette Boele is a true community-appointed independent who, if elected next year, will take Bradfield’s concerns to Canberra. Michele Rossetto, St Ives
Paul Fletcher, can I suggest that trying to woo back disaffected Liberal voters in your electorate by saying they were duped by a teal is rather insulting of their intelligence? They gave you a big scare in 2022 and may just repeat that in 2025 to teach you a lesson in humility. Peter Kamenyitzky, Castle Hill
Of course, the teal candidates in the 2022 election emphasised their Liberal family connections. That’s how they managed to attract so many voters who would never vote Labor or Green. But those voters also realised that if they voted for the official Liberal candidate, then there’d be a continuation of the climate inaction that had bedevilled us for the prior decade. Voting independent allowed them to choose someone who truly represented their values – conservative, but without being beholden to the far-right views of the Coalition on climate change. Targeting Labor electorates wouldn’t have worked. Labor was already promising more on climate change, and the other teal policies wouldn’t have encouraged people in those electorates to change their vote.
Maybe, instead of seeing the threat posed by the teals as a “giant green con job”, Paul Fletcher should seek to change the policy of the Coalition on climate change. That way he might attract traditional Liberal voters back into the tent. Or he could go the next step and claim that the 2022 election was rigged. David Rush, Lawson
I know that 2024 is almost over, but is it too late to add Paul Fletcher’s name as a nominee for Sook of the Year? Phil Peak, Dubbo
The community-backed independents’ success at the 2022 election was due solely to voters’ disenchantment with being taken for granted for far too long by incumbent MPs in so-called safe seats. Electorates independently demanded change, and there is no better proof of people-power calling the duopoly to account than Fletcher’s statement that the teals constitute the most serious threat to majority government in 80 years. To paraphrase Don Chipp: long may the teals keep the bastards honest. Joy Nason, Mona Vale
The arrogance of the man! That Paul Fletcher thinks teal independents “duped traditional Liberal voters” into voting for them at the 2022 election is another indication of how out-of-touch the Liberal Party is. An educated constituent will vote for whoever they think the most suitable local candidate is, which necessarily includes policies, either party or independent. The Liberal Party may need gullible voters who are influenced by the soundbites fed by the Coalition to shock jocks and various media, but their lack of concern for the environment and for those less fortunate in society will continue to resonate with many voters, who prefer to elect grown-ups who can have a civilised debate in parliament for the good of all Australia (not just the Coalition and their mates). Sharon Warner, North Turramurra
Paul Fletcher thinks voters are tricked into voting for independents. Obviously, those independents who grew up in politically aware families are likely to be interested in politics but not follow blindly as some “traditional” party supporters do. The independents are not a party, are not forced to vote as one, think for themselves and have been brilliant. Let’s have greater accountability. Jill Stephenson, Woolwich
Nicolette Boele - the teal independent candidate for Bradfield.
Paul Fletcher is clearly suffering a delusion if he thinks Liberal voters are being duped into supporting independents. He needs to ask those disillusioned Liberals why they have turned away, and he will soon learn they believe the Liberal Party has deserted them. It has moved so far to the right that it no longer represents true liberal values, and the independents have moved in to fill the void. Talk of conspiracy theories is nonsense, and Paul does himself no credit by not facing reality. John Duff, Lavender Bay
Paul Fletcher still doesn’t get it after almost three years and a 15 per cent swing against him. We want change. Tim Schroder, Gordon
This graphic disease
Vicky Marquis suggests that the cure for compulsive writing of letters to the Herald is not to get published (Letters, December 2). Google informs me that there are actually several different forms of compulsive writing – hypergraphia, graphomania (also known as scribomania), and graphorrhea. I have identified a few frequently published correspondents who must suffer from the third of these compulsions.
John Payne, Kelso
Brandis attack is too personal
It sounds suspiciously misogynistic for George Brandis to describe Kamala Harris as “an awful candidate – hectoring, annoying, a platitude-mongering avatar of political correctness” (“Don’t try the Trump card on Dutton”, December 2). It confirms my feelings that America will never elect a woman president of any colour. There are too many who are threatened by strong women. Ruth Barwick, Hornsby
Brandis rages that attacking a person rather than a policy is weak, yet that is what he perpetrates in his battering of Harris. Where he thinks she was hectoring, many others saw her as congenial and nuanced. Similarly, Brandis mistakenly argues that Anthony Albanese and his able ministry underestimate the possibility of Peter Dutton becoming PM. Not so. Their alleged attacks on the divisive opposition leader have focused on the lack of detail in his proposed policies, especially those concerned with his expensive nuclear plans, what his team will do to alleviate cost-of-living pressures and his preparedness to slash international student numbers and undercut aspects of the permanent migration program. Ron Sinclair, Windradyne
Labor can keep trying to convince voters that Peter Dutton is unelectable, but Kamala Harris made that mistake with Donald Trump.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen, AP
Brandis has to be kidding. No doubt the ALP is deeply grateful for his little pro bono campaign expertise but does he even bother to read his own streams of consciousness? Dutton has spent months road-testing every personal attack on Albanese that Coalition focus groups can come up with. Not a scintilla of policy from Dutton and not a whimper of protest from Brandis. Terry Flanagan, Wagga Wagga
Kids will be kids
The Australian government, in banning social media for children, clearly doesn’t understand how it feels to be a teenager (Letters, December 2). Tell a kid they can’t do something and they’ll want it all the more. Social media is inevitable in today’s society; instead of banning it, teach teens to use it safely and responsibly. A 16-year-old can drive or work but can’t use social media? Kids will go behind their parents’ backs, secretly downloading apps, to feel the sense of rebellion they so desperately crave. It shouldn’t be the government’s choice but the parents’. As harmful as social media can be, it also helps teens find community and belonging during their lonely teenage years. Bullying is inevitable. Children will always say mean stuff in the playground. The issue starts with parents and what kids hear at home. Alexis Franulovich, Bondi Junction
I feel the most important thing the social media ban can achieve is to empower the parents. Social media has a positive side, but it can also be poison to a young mind. Parents will be empowered to say “No, it’s against the law” as my parents did when, at 14, I wanted to drive the family car into town to buy a packet of smokes. Bill Young, Killcare Heights
One of your correspondents suggests extending the social media ban to TV and certain video games. I suggest we ban them from watching the Australian men’s cricket team playing the remaining four Tests against the visiting Indians. Such horrors, especially the batting, should not be seen by the younger folk. John Lees, Castlecrag
Gone to the dogs
How weak are our politicians when both sides are shown to bow to the pressure of the greyhound racing and gambling industry rather than confront the actual cruelty to the dogs (“The plot to close tracks that ‘would have started World War III’”, December 2). Time and again over the past seven years the industry has been shown to be horrendously cruel, but politicians are more interested in their political futures than the welfare of the dogs. So much for politicians’ moral standards. It’s just one more reason why I choose to vote independent. Janine Burdeu, Mona Vale
Biden his time
Joe Biden has reneged on his previous declaration to not pardon his son, Hunter (“Biden pardons his son Hunter despite previous pledges not to”, smh.com.au, December 2). As a pardoned convicted felon, I assume he is now fit to be nominated to Trump’s cabinet or receive a plum ambassadorship? Jeremy Brender, West Richmond (SA)
Flood of housing
Sydney urbanites are beginning to realise the type of housing environment they have created (“‘Swimming in Double Bay’: Flash flooding leaves suburb submerged”, September 2). Cramming ever larger dwellings onto 300 square metre blocks with no old-style verandahs, gutters as eaves, little or no green space with no trees, black roofing, black asphalt roads and cement footpaths, all contribute to a heat-absorbing environment. The Cumberland Plain, once a productive agricultural area producing most of Sydney’s dairy, vegetables and fruit, has become a human-induced heat island. Best of luck in endeavouring to reduce the impact of heat waves and flash flooding due to intense storms in summer. A blanket of housing across the entire Sydney Basin to the exclusion of any agricultural production has created an environment where every road, concrete footpath and dwelling has become instant runoff during heavy rain events, flooding roads and low-lying areas. Bruce Clydsdale, Bathurst
Stills from a video posted to TikTok on Sunday.Credit: TikTok: @frosty.johnson.v2
Savage storms are here to stay. Flash flooding rainfall can and does occur with frightening speed and life-threatening results. Don’t be alarmed, be alert to the fact that local governments are not up to it any more. Look around the streets and suburbs, especially in the older places with mature trees and established gardens. Gutters and drains are choked with leaves and other rubbish that sits there undisturbed. Councils gave up on street and gutter clearing decades ago. When one can see camphor laurels growing out of stormwater drains, be prepared to “swim” in flooded streets again and watch out when taking a dip in the harbour or a city beach: pathogens of ill-health brought to us by local government indifference will be present. John Kingsmill, Fairlight
BAD decisions at ABC
There is a significant overlap between Herald readers and ABC Sydney radio listeners (Postscript, November 30). Rarely can an organisation’s management have alienated both audience and employees so successfully and quickly as ABC did last week. The very week we also had to deal with the loss (voluntary) of Richard Glover. We can only assume that the new managerial imports from commercial radio have never listened to the daytime output of the ABC, which is an important companion to many. Otherwise, the loss of Sarah Macdonald and Simon Marnie would not have been contemplated. As per the song played by the exceptional Marnie as he signed off after an emotional show on Sunday: “Tell me why?” Shocking decisions. Tim Parker, Balmain
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