Omi Kumari and Ehsan Noroozinejad effectively identify the “latte line” as a climate division line (“Western Sydney’s extreme heat is unsustainable”, December 17). The low side of the line is effectively the Sydney Basin, whose main climate problem was once that it trapped smog – toxic leaded fuel pollution. Trees, shade and constructing buildings close so together that the sun does not reach ground level are urban responses developed long ago by humanity for hot climates. If western Sydney was not close to eastern Sydney it would probably be a national park. As demonstrated by Australia’s high-growth areas, we want to live mainly along the coast with its comfortable climate. Wherever we choose for people to live, we need intercity motorways and medium-speed railways to link our urban areas so the necessary health and other services can be provided to everybody. Sydney needs a fleet of bigger tunnel-boring machines to escape our basin trap. The inner-city Labor Party now in government must lead the way out. Peter Egan, Mosman
Infrared image showing the heat on playground equipment. Credit: Sebastian Pfautsch
In 2021, the then planning minister in the NSW Coalition government, Rob Stokes, announced that the NSW Department of Planning would mandate white roofs in this state to mitigate the urban heat island effect, expected to accelerate due to climate change. He pretty soon stepped down and was replaced by Anthony Roberts, who abandoned the plan. Stokes left politics very soon afterwards. The importance of planning for climate change is clear but who will listen? Perhaps the people of Western Sydney would do better with independents, hopefully less amenable to special interests. Norman Carter, Roseville Chase
Today’s article relating to the problems of western Sydney is required reading for the Minns government. Overdevelopment in the west as a short-term answer to overcrowding has produced the issues identified in this piece. The lessons were there to heed but were disregarded as more and more trees were uprooted and concrete poured. The government is pushing to extend the errors and lessons of the west into areas currently cooler and with surviving grass and trees. Stop, look back and learn before forcing inner suburban councils to create more heat. David Warren, Mona Vale
The date featured in your article – January 4, 2020, when the temperature reached 48.9 at Penrith – is certainly a day we remember well in our family, as it was the day of my eldest grandson’s wedding. The afternoon ceremony in a church in Rooty Hill was relatively comfortable. The bridal party endured the heat for outdoor photos near Penrith Lake. The air-conditioning in the newly opened reception venue close to Penrith only just coped to maintain a temperature of close to 30 degrees – hot but bearable. People were happy and united in our awareness that we were, at the time, the hottest place on the planet. It is a record we are, however, hoping to keep. Heather Johnson, West Pennant Hills
Shocking story today about how hot our playgrounds are (“As the heat soars, dangers mount in Sydney’s parks and playgrounds”, December 17). Not only are young children being exposed to high heat and potential burns, but the surfaces used can cause even more damage. Plastic grass and rubber fill exposes kids to PFAS and microplastics. Plastic grass can double the temperature of the playing area and suffocates all living creatures in the soil under it. Time to bring in natural turf playing fields with tougher new-generation grasses. Janet France, Northbridge
Westmead Childrens’ Hospital published a newsletter in March 2012 cautioning readers that playground surfaces can burn a toddler’s feet. Today’s article measured a Parramatta playground at 98 degrees. Since 2012, hundreds of playgrounds, childcare centres, parks and schools have installed heat-retaining plastic and rubber surfaces. Rarely is heat mentioned in cautionary signage in parks and playgrounds. Our standards are failing us as there are no standards, except for hardness, when installing this product in public spaces. We advocate for natural play spaces; as this is what children need for development, not heat-retaining chemical surfaces. Catriona Carver, Banksia
Dutton’s power play
There is evidence that almost everywhere, renewables trump nuclear as the lowest-cost technology (“Duttons reactors will hit economy”, December 17) Even in nations investing in nuclear, investment in renewables predominates. For example, China installed 1GW of nuclear last year, compared to 300GW of solar and wind. Given current technology, the ongoing need for inflexible baseload generation such as coal or nuclear is another Coalition myth. In addition to the time-shifting of renewable generation, frequency and voltage control can be provided by a fleet of large-scale batteries together with hydroelectric generation and synchronous condensers. Garry White, Lindfield
Push factors.Credit: Cathy Wilcox
Perhaps we’ve been misreading Peter Dutton all along. Far from being a free-market liberal, he’s proposing a state-run project to build nuclear power stations; far from promoting economic growth he wants to shrink the economy. Suddenly he’s revealed himself to be a green socialist who wants to run a centralised zero-growth economy. Neil Ormerod, Kingsgrove
The cost of high-powered solar panels is so cheap that it is now possible to run a whole house electrically, plus charging your EV from sunlight. Many are already doing it. This is revolutionary stuff; Australians are on the cusp of running their houses, including vehicles, with zero carbon emissions and no bills whatsoever. Dutton and his mate O’Brien are proposing to steal this future from every Australian household. They can contort their figures as much as they like, but they cannot beat zero emissions and zero bills. Yet in their madness this is what they are doing – shame on them. Tony Lewis, Mount Victoria
The debate on nuclear versus renewables appears to be focused solely on cost. It overlooks the fact that renewables hold the hope of spawning a growing, scalable industry for Australia, whereas nuclear promises only a massive transfer of our sovereign wealth to the overseas suppliers and a further dependence on foreign allies. It’s time we charted a path to a more independent future. John Richards, Turramurra
It’s interesting that the Coalition’s nuclear plan does not include costings for storage and guarding of the nuclear fuel waste, which remains toxic and dangerous for 10,000 years. According to US data, on-site nuclear fuel rod storage cost is currently at $50 billion and rising. The cost of decommissioning the UK’s 17 nuclear plants is estimated at not less than £14 billion each. But the reality shows this could easily double, as the Trawsfynydd plant in Wales, which closed in 1993 and will not be finally decommissioned until 2071, is estimated to cost the British taxpayer $25 billion to clean up. That’s potentially $175 billion missing from the LNP costings, by my account. Mark Walker, West Kempsey
So economic modelling for nuclear is basically the same as modelling on the couture catwalk: walk out something completely impractical we can’t afford which won’t work in the real world, like it’s completely normal, look extremely miserable doing it, and remember it’s mostly about the photo opportunity and flogging your brand. Peter Fyfe, Enmore
Dutton’s nuclear attack on renewables would inevitably discourage investment in the sector. Worse, it will impose a savage curtailment of grid feed from existing renewable installations, including rooftop solar panel owners. What will he do, then, if we vote with our feet and go off-grid? Battery prices continue to plummet. Several EVs offer the capacity to switch to supplying households after dark. Perhaps Dutton will follow Alabama and Florida by levying outrageously high fixed charges on owners of rooftop solar. Even if he doesn’t, it’s not hard to imagine households en masse chopping themselves off from the grid, sending generators, grid operators, and retailers broke. What a great achievement for the business-friendly side of politics. Ronald Watts, Newcastle
The Coalition’s nuclear policy relies on customers being connected to the grid. I have had solar panels since 2009, which provide all my daytime power. I don’t have a battery but if the feed in tariff falls any lower, I will get a battery or electric car and come off the grid. My connection fee to the grid is currently covered by the electricity I sell to the grid. It is almost economically viable to leave the grid now. Depending on usage one can be off the grid for about $20,000 or $10,000 and an electric car. As Ross Gittins points out, commercial users of power are being subsidised by retail users. A policy that reduces household solar benefits will lead to many households leaving the grid. They are the most profitable customers for service providers who will recover their losses from those left on the grid. David Addington, Queenscliff
Unsightly seawall
Like many others, we went to Nielsen Park to celebrate the long-awaited reopening of this iconic Sydney swimming spot (“After three years and two long summers, Nielsen Park returns as a people’s playground”, December 13). However, we were shocked to be greeted by a monumental concrete structure which would have been more suited to the Normandy coast to repel the D-Day landings. The only thing missing was the pillboxes for the machine guns. Another case of major overengineering and a total lack of aesthetic design.
Simon Bromage, Burwood
Democracy under attack
Could it be that the global democratic recession Nick Bryant refers to is because even in countries such as Australia, we see gradual erosion of that democracy (“Was 2024 democracy’s annus horribilis? Actually, that may be yet to come”, December 17)? At grassroots level, we see favoured candidates parachuted in to represent an electorate, not actual representatives of that electorate. At a higher level, we see lack of transparency, undue influence of lobbyists, a lack of representative conscience votes and much more. All this erodes our faith. Mark Tietjen, Redfern
Year of voter rage tests democracyCredit: Illustration: Joe Benke
Riley Brown has the wrong reading of history (Letters, December 17). Turnbull didn’t lose those 14 seats; they were the electorate’s rebuke for the immediately preceding madness and misogyny of the Abbott years. Turnbull had saved the Coalition from utter annihilation but then made the fatal mistake of trying to appease the Coalition’s hard right. Notably by handing Dutton the home affairs portfolio. Jeffrey Mellefont, Coogee
Riley Brown conveniently cuts off his potted history of conservative Coalition success stories before the most recent election, in which Scott Morrison suffered a thumping defeat and lost 18 seats, including several seats which had been in Coalition hands since their very inception. Lloyd Swanton, Wentworth Falls
George Brandis would do well to consider that Burkean or Menzian liberalism is impotent in the face of an increasingly right-wing populist National Party which the Liberals are shackled to by the Coalition agreement. Liberalism is dead in Queensland by virtue of the merger of the two parties into the LNP, dragging the party even further to the right. Nicholas Triggs, Katoomba
Still on the boil
Loving your new “Bye Terry, Stay Jill” series (Letters, December 17)! Terry is still floating after all the great messages and thanks from his readers, and also from the very chefs he has been reviewing for so long. No doubt he will do the odd pop-up for Good Food and stories for Traveller as well as his regular column in Good Weekend. Me, I’m not going anywhere! Cheers and thanks a mill, Jill Dupleix, Potts Point
Terry and Jill Credit: Nikki To
Heritage hindered
Heritage is only about one thing – significance (“‘Not a museum’: The Sydney apartment owners fighting heritage protection”, December 17). Listing modernist buildings in Potts Point has been mooted for more than a decade but council has been dragging its feet. Heritage listing doesn’t preserve items in aspic; it conserves them so changes can be made without compromising their significance for future generations. Andrew Woodhouse, Potts Point
ABC chief mis-step
Well done, Kim Williams and the ABC board, appointing the same guy to run the ABC who organised a Liberal Party fundraiser at Nine, among other tell-tale warnings about his suitability for replacing David Anderson as managing director (”New ABC boss says Nine’s culture problems never raised with him“, December 17). Now the handover to the ABC’s IPA/Murdoch executioners to dismember the body of our beloved national broadcaster speeds towards brazen completion. Truly heartbreaking. Susan Anthony, Cammeray
Bali Nine mystery
I have never understood why there was no investigation into the AFP for allowing the Bali Nine to enter Indonesia having been tipped off by a father’s desperate bid to save his son (Letters, December 17). No one condones drug trafficking, but to send them to a country with the death penalty is inhumane. They could well have been tried here and served their sentences without a death threat over their heads. I am haunted to this day by grief and outrage at the execution of Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan. Sukumaran’s grandmother’s voice as she pleaded for mercy in Martin Place before the execution will never leave me. Karin Viles, Annandale
Trees jolly good
Hats off to Sydneysiders for your stunning Christmas decorations, including several spectacular trees in the CBD, traditional and Indigenous. Martin Place market was a delight – a huge credit to Sydney City Council and to imaginative, civic-minded corporates. Angela Munro, Carlton North (Vic)
The Martin Place Christmas tree is 24 metres high.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
We must back Israel
It was refreshing to read Mike Kelly’s thorough and forthright commentary on the Israel/Gaza conflict (Letters, December 17). Unsurprising were the letters in response ranging from complementary to scathing criticism. Acts of terrorism involving rape, mutilation and murder of innocent civilians is never acceptable. This fragile and vulnerable democracy in the Middle East, home to Christians, Muslims, Jews and others, needs our wholehearted support. Karen McEwen, North Turramurra
You could say that Mike Kelly’s article ignores the history of occupation of Palestine by Israel since 1948. You can also say that this was a result of the adoption of the UN Resolution 181 of November 1947 to divide Palestine into independent Arab and Jewish states and a special international regime for Jerusalem.
You can also say that Israel has blockaded and laid siege to Gaza since 2007, but also say that Ariel Sharon decided to withdraw all Israeli settlement since 1967 from Gaza in 2005, leaving Gazans to choose their own path. The history is complex and complicated. Regardless of whether you favour any group, or how far back you inquire, you can’t disagree that there has been too much war, death and destruction. Therese Weiss, Maroubra
Penny Wong has supported the previous bipartisan position of a two-state solution and publicly declared Israel’s right to self-defence. She has also denounced antisemitism and Islamophobia. She has voted with 124 other countries in the UN General Assembly to call for an unconditional ceasefire. Only 14 countries opposed the resolution. Antisemitism, like all racial or religious bigotries, requires intolerance, fear, inequality and divisiveness. As clearly demonstrated in the Voice referendum, Peter Dutton and the Coalition have utilised these traits for political advantage. So unlike your correspondent, I will certainly not be voting for the Coalition and I know many who support Penny Wong on her position in the Middle East. From China and the South Pacific, and now her position on the Gaza war, I think we have had an astute, considered and brilliant foreign minister. Rowan Godwin, Rozelle
I consider myself an average Australian and the recent decision by Penny Wong in the UN Assembly certainly does sit well with me. Not only with me – there are many others who consider themselves as average Australians, with whom I mix, and who are also in full support of our foreign minister’s stance. Our one misgiving is that such a stance should have been declared much earlier than now. John Boutagy, Mosman
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