The Nuclear Energy Institute estimates that one nuclear reactor needs billions of litres of water per year for cooling, and “all of this water requires filtering somehow” (“Dutton reveals locations for seven nuclear power plants under Coalition plan”, smh.com.au, June 19). As nuclear reactors need to be operational 24/7 and can’t be switched on and off at short notice to cover peak demand times, where does Dutton suggest this water will come from for his chosen sites? Dam and river supplies will not suffice in times of drought, and the tritium and other radioactive substances released from nuclear plants are not suitable to be released into rivers that supply downstream towns and agricultural areas. Does his timeframe also include the decommissioning and deconstruction of the current coal-fired power plants, or does he propose to plonk them on top or next to the current power plants? And any plan for dealing with the radioactive nuclear waste produced that will remain radioactive for tens of thousands of years? Alan Marel, North Curl Curl
Peter Dutton wants nuclear power for Australia.Credit: John Shakespeare
Countries around the world have indicated they will impose trade barriers on other countries that are not pulling their weight in reducing their carbon emissions. It seems like the warning of Lee Kuan Yew in 1980, of Australia becoming the poor white trash of Asia, is part of Dutton’s election policy. Bob Dillon, Bathurst
The Coalition intends to build up to seven nuclear power plants. I can’t imagine there would be a skilled workforce large enough to build all of these simultaneously. If using an optimistic 15-year time span to build one reactor, we could anticipate the last one being completed in 2129. I assume the Coalition would be burning coal up to that point. Hopefully, the rest of the world doesn’t have a Coalition timeline for addressing climate change. Unless we take strong climate action and burn a lot less fossil fuels, people in the future may be wearing gum boots while they sip coffee at Circular Quay cafes. Dennis O’Hara, Wanniassa (ACT)
Nuclear energy is disregarded by voters who are thoughtful, rational, logical, contemplative, reflective, intelligent. They believe the scientists from the CSIRO, who state that nuclear is more expensive than renewable energy and would take many years to build for the climate change that is happening now. I suggest that his plan for nuclear energy includes all nuclear waste to be dumped outside his home. Bea Hodgson, Gerringong
If Labor offers to subsidise batteries for homes and businesses for half the amount seven nuclear plants will cost, then Dutton will be done like slow-cooked mutton at the next election. Miles Lane, Manilla
The opposition’s nuclear power fixation on top of the government’s nuclear submarine plan reminds me of the old East German joke about the fellow ordering a new car. When told it will be delivered on 1 January 2040, he replies: Can you make it the afternoon, as I am having the power connected in the morning? Clay O’Brien, Mosman
Coalition releases genius plan to make real estate more affordable, disguised as an energy policy. But never fear, as with the previous energy policies over their previous tenure, everyone knows this will never amount to anything. Chris Gresham, Upper Lansdowne
Any thoughtful consideration of the Coalition’s move towards nuclear as our future power source clarifies it is a scam, a lie and a diversion away from the inevitable. Promoted purely to appease their masters in the top end of town and the buffoons of the Nationals. It is only a debate from the conservative side because under Dyson Dutton, the policy vacuum, there is no policy, simply stalling, slogans, division and fearmongering. Peter Snowden, Orange
I am speechless. Uncosted pipe dreams, packaged up with incredible arrogance that the electorate will buy this fantasy. Peter Kamenyitzky, Castle Hill
Practice of due-by dates on the nose
It should come as no surprise that the new intercity trains will cost far more than estimated and be running later than predicted (“Cost of delayed intercity tops $4b”, June 19). In his book Thinking, Fast and Slow, Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman discusses the “planning fallacy”. He argues that planners tend to select an unrealistically close to best-case scenario (an inside view) and fail to look at relevant statistics, plus be prepared for the unknown unknowns (an outside view). A relevant example was a 2005 study of rail projects worldwide between 1969 and 1998, which found that the average cost overrun was 45 per cent. (At home, we know that the Sydney Opera House cost 14 times more and took 10 years longer to build than was predicted.) Kahneman proposed that organisations should reward planners for accurate predictions and penalise them for failing to build in allowances for the unknown unknowns. Self-serving optimism needs to be balanced by community-minded realism. Paul Casey, Callala Bay
One of the new intercity trains at Kangy Angy on the Central Coast.Credit: Tom Rabe
It seems hard to believe that the cost blowout of the new intercity train fleet has exceeded $4 billion. This is not pocket money and Coalition transport spokeswoman Natalie Ward is correct to say “enough is enough”. I constantly travel to the city and look longingly at these modern-looking carriages sitting on the side tracks waiting for another test run or a kiss of life. Meanwhile, the old fleet we live with now trundles along every day without any Wi-Fi in certain journey sections, no device recharge facilities, no luggage storage space, antiquated toilets and none of the upgrades promised on the new carriages. It must be five years since hopes were high as the new upgraded trains were delivered. Maybe these carriages will need to be “restored” as well, as time marches on without any movement to their working parts. If living away from the city was made more comfortably accessible on a daily commute, then cramming more houses into Sydney would not be such a high priority. Greg Vale, Kiama
On a recent visit to Brooklyn, I saw one of the new intercity train sets pass by on the Central Coast rail line. The paintwork was gleaming, the windows shining and the seats still wrapped in plastic. A wonderful sight to behold, except that the train was being towed behind an ageing diesel locomotive. Is this the future of intercity travel in NSW? Peter Cooper-Southam, Frenchs Forest
Kean was a rare sort of Liberal
It may seem odd for someone who’s never voted for the Coalition to express sadness at the departure of a Liberal MP, but Matt Kean’s retirement from the NSW parliament is a genuine loss (“Former treasurer Kean to quit parliament after 13 years”, June 19). It will be felt by the Liberal Party in particular, as Kean seemed to appreciate the reality of the climate crisis, unlike many of his former Coalition colleagues. Colin Hesse, Nowra
State politics is losing a person of integrity and empathy, with that rare attribute of an open mind. Thank you, Matt Kean, for the work you’ve done for NSW. Meredith Williams, Baulkham Hills
Is it mere coincidence that Matt Kean has announced his retirement at a time when the federal Coalition, led by the Nationals, is hellbent on derailing the transition to renewable energy? Kean grasped what needed to be done in NSW to ensure energy security while shifting away from ageing coal-fired power. But his approach has been repudiated by Dutton and reckless Nationals. Their antipathy toward renewable energy is a recipe for prolonged and heightened policy uncertainty, diminished energy affordability and security, and more climate inaction. Jim Allen, Panorama (SA)
Former treasurer Matt Kean is swapping politics for a career in the energy and climate change industry.Credit: Flavio Brancaleone
School merger
Margery Evans’ letter always reminds us of the impossibility of the public school system accommodating all the students in private schools, if that system were to be closed down (Letters, June 19). I don’t think there would be a problem, as they could just rent the hundreds of purpose-built vacant school buildings from whatever business entity actually owns them. Staffing wouldn’t be a problem, with thousands of unemployed teachers queuing at the dole office. And it would be an orderly transition, unless the private schools did an unethical dump of all students on one day, and they wouldn’t do that, would they? Except they did, in Goulburn, in 1962, when 2000 Catholic kids turned up one day to enrol in the local public school – a political stunt to force the Menzies government to give them money.
The extra costs would be largely offset by the ending of tax deductions for school building funds. At least then, the parents of Mt Druitt Public School students won’t be subsidising the third heated Olympic pool, or the Gothic-style library, at some eastern suburbs private school. Stein Boddington, St Clair
Gas bagging
I understand the passion Virginia Jones puts into her cause to rid us all of gas cooktops (Letters, June 19). However, this is only applicable to locations where prompt correction of electricity outages can be made. In many regional and rural areas, if you don’t have a gas source of some kind, there’s no hot water or cooked food after disasters. After the 2019/2020 bushfires in the Eurobodalla, it was more than three weeks before our electricity was reconnected. We had a gas cooktop, so we could stay in our home for that time. People without gas had to be evacuated. So please, when such sweeping reforms are considered, remember to include everyone in your plans. It’s not just about how hot your wok can be heated. Lynda Gilfeather, Surf Beach
Tax travesty
Now the rubber hits the road (“NSW points finger at Canberra as the state faces a decade of budgets in the red”, June 19). At the same time, NSW is allocated only 87¢ in GST revenue for every $1 spent by NSW taxpayers (down from 92¢), the state government has to fund services for a rapidly expanding population, with the shortfall also contributing to the state’s deteriorating debt profile. If NSW loses its premium credit rating, costs to the state will increase even further. Time for that 13 per cent we give to other states to be scaled back – GST to GSB (Give Some Back!) Doug Walker, Baulkham Hills
Scandal starved
The departure of the Coalition government has created a black hole for your opinion writers. No more robo-debt abominations, multiple grants rorts, ministerial scandals with staffers, Back in Black failures, prayer room antics, minister’s desk and couch revelations, au pairs, water lapping at your door comments, a PM with multiple secret portfolios, dodgy contracts to dodgy businesses in detention centres, or an immigration system rorted by people traffickers leading to sex slavery and other stuff-ups. These all provided rich pickings for opinion writers, but now all they have left to do is snipe at the PM for not having the right knee-jerk response to the actions of Chinese minders during a press conference. It must be hard to serve up a hearty meal when the cupboard is so bare. Graeme Finn, Earlwood
Beat bullying
As a retired teacher and principal in Catholic schools, I would love to have worked alongside Elise Christian, whose actions speak volumes of her desire to make a difference in the lives of her LGBTQI students (Letters, June 19). I find it disturbing that your correspondent, herself a former teacher, sees no role for teachers and teacher assistants in dealing with the issue of bullying. Students seeking support for such issues will frequently confide in a particular staff member with whom they have built a close relationship. That person might be a teacher, a teacher assistant, a principal, a member of the administrative staff, a counsellor or a chaplain, all of whom have a duty of care towards every student. These people play a critical role in the pastoral care of students. In my experience, counsellors and chaplains were frequently assigned to a school for only one day per week. Addressing bullying behaviour often requires an urgent response that cannot be left until the counsellor’s next rostered workday. Peter Green, Norah Head
Fine lines
In early May, my daughter and I were fortunate enough to be visiting Geneva, Switzerland. The city council had installed a display of the work of the world’s best cartoonists along the western edge of the lake. We quickly discovered examples of Cathy Wilcox’s work; we are blessed, indeed, to have Wilcox’s always insightful cartoons to view each day. Ken Webb, Epping
Relax, the kids will pay for itCredit: Cathy Wilcox
In character
It is common knowledge that Sir Ian McKellen, the renowned English actor, is famed for totally involving himself in every part he plays (“Actor Ian McKellen, 85, is in ‘good spirits’ and expected to recover from stage fall”, June 19). But perhaps playing the part of Falstaff while falling off the stage is taking things a bit far. Al Clark, Belrose
Worthy winner
The best film of the Sydney Film Festival was certainly a worthy winner (“‘Bigger than Barbie’ Italian movie wins Sydney Film Festival competition”, June 17). There’s Still Tomorrow is not only a beautifully crafted film depicting the style of De Sica and Fellini’s early work, it sends a powerful message that women need not tolerate abusive relationships. Steven Baker, Engadine
Orwell was right
For someone like myself, born during WW2 and feeling quite depressed at the growing enthusiasm for totalitarian styles of governance in today’s world, 84 is the new 1984 (Letters, June 19). Max Edwards, Kanahooka
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