source : the age
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Come the revolution
The Liberal Party has reached peak introspection by looking back with fondness at the so-called achievements of Tony Abbott’s leadership. His election as president is more an own goal and indictment of the party’s paucity of policy and lack of vision than any bruising parliamentary faux pas could deliver.
No matter the damage it might inflict on national cohesion and credibility, no matter the silliness of self-satisfied catch phrases (″Stop the Toxic Taxes″ – really?) this shallow remnant of a once potent political force continues to confuse self-affirming nostalgia with a national vision.
Healthy democracies deserve a strong contrast of choices with vigorous and intelligent policy discourse. The current levels of economic, social and political disruption are overwhelming and the time has come for a revolution within the Liberal Party before its entropy renders it completely irrelevant to the times.
Adrian Robb, Kyneton
Old days are gone
The ascension of Tony Abbott as Liberal Party president is a clear signal of the approach the party intends to take to the next election. Negativism, opposition for opposition’s sake, empty but catchy three-word slogans and a desire to return to ″the good old days″. It is the task of forward thinking and smart politicians to counter this with considered and evidence-based arguments to ensure Australia can become a world leader in emerging new industries. Add to that a dose of empathy and compassion, and we might just thank Abbott for providing the incentive we need to become a clever country again.
Judy Williams, Beaumaris
Patriot games
Tony Abbott wants to position the Liberals as the “Patriot Party”. I cannot wait to see how he is going to persuade the non-Liberal party members (the rest of Australia) that they are not patriotic.
David Raymond, Doncaster East
This is progress?
Now that the Liberal Party has elected Tony Abbott as president and Alexander Downer as deputy president we can expect some new, progressive policies. They have started well, suggesting the party become “patriotic” and “media tarts”.
Ross Prentice Hutchins, Fitzroy
The core fallback
Anthony Albanese should not worry about Tim Wilson saying that he lied when he promised not to change the GST. He should just use John Howard’s excuse that there are core and non-core promises.
Eric Butcher, Eltham
Not a security risk
I have a BYD Dolphin (“Coalition calls for review of politicians’ use of Chinese electric vehicles”, 30/5). I joke that the Chinese Communist Party knows where I am when I’m driving because its navigation app warns me of congestion in advance and advises me of an alternate route if necessary. Google Earth does something similar. It’s hardly a security risk. It would be if the vehicles were bugged to transmit audio, which would need to be filtered with AI to remove the overwhelming amount of the mundane.
Wayne Robinson, Kingsley, WA
Data is not the end all
A proposed data centre the size of 175 MCGs will use more energy than the output of Loy Yang A (″Mega centre for west″, 30/5). Arguments that these centres will have their own hypothecated power generation simply makes no sense: any power they consume could otherwise feed into the grid and enable a more rapid transition to renewable electricity for the state.
How many people have any idea of what all this AI will actually achieve, beyond vague statements that ″it’s the future″? Do we know if we actually want that future, of tech trillionaires, massive job losses, and the fundamental loss of our shared humanity?
It is utterly inadequate for the state government, on our behalf, to assess such a project through a narrow planning lens. The question is not one of whether it breaks any legal rules, but whether it is so big and so harmful that we, the people of Victoria, simply do not want it.
Richard Barnes, Fairfield
Insanity rises
Why are governments, including our own, competing to host massive AI data centres?
They consume massive amounts of power (which will require huge increases to fossil-fuel generated power plants), huge amounts of our fragile water resources, will deliver virtually no jobs once construction is completed and are incredibly bad for the environment.
The public does not want or need AI, the only beneficiary of this is big-tech billionaires whose enterprises will rob everyone else of their jobs, and increase their own wealth. Why isn’t anyone challenging this insanity?
Phil Bodel, Ocean Grove
Take a deep breath
Are we panicking too soon over AI? Peter Hartcher’s article (Opinion, 30/5) puts me in mind of other events that were driven by technology but have not resulted in apocalypse. The Y2K scare started with a bang but ended in a whimper, the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters did not end nuclear power; if anything, it has grown and is much safer thanks to newer technologies; and climate change, while very real, is being addressed by comprehensive advancements in renewable energy across the world. COVID was the greatest threat to human health in the past 100 years yet even that has been largely negated due to human ingenuity, co-operation and medical technology. Let’s not rush to the bunker just yet.
Greg Hardy, Upper Ferntree Gully
The time to let go
The first letters to the editor in Friday’s Age were on AI, phone v text messages, politics and nihilism, and tax reform, until you got to ″Light through darkness″ and the journey dealing with death and grief. Your letter writer says: ″Life is full of changes and challenges″. Indeed, they are correct. It is a reminder of the story of building a raft, the foundational Buddhist parable of detachment and clinging to old beliefs. It dovetails with the idea that the only constant in life is change and learning to let go when something no longer serves your current situation, whether in education, communication and politics and most importantly when dealing with death. It encourages adaptability, mindfulness, resilience and an openness to new ideas and critical thinking. We need to let go of beliefs that are holding us back in our world.
Gryff Jamieson-Ballard, Castlemaine
Chatter on
I couldn’t agree more with Helen Garner (Letters, 29/5).
Here is a perfect example: during COVID lockdown, a friend rang me to see how I was and for a chat, and chat we did. I suggested that while we were having this conversation we might as well have a drink.
Since then, every Thursday we chat, argue, laugh and discuss various topics. I sometimes have to interrupt him because he does ramble on. We also have a couple of beers.
It is something that I look forward to.
Bob Morrow, Eltham
AFL’s own goals
How often does the AFL make sense? These would suggest otherwise: the abolition of Saturday free-to-air TV, the establishment of a finals top 10, which means teams that finish seventh and eighth now have to win five finals to be premiers; or the establishment of 20 teams thereby reducing all teams’ chances of a premiership.
Commonsense, what’s that?
Michael McKenna, Warragul
The loneliest number
Sorry DA (Crossword, 29/5), but for theoretic reasons one is not a prime number.
Len Armour, Castlemaine
