source : the age
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STATE POLITICS
There’s no need for sexist billboards. Our prolific potholes are a reminder of the Allan government’s financial mismanagement. Reports of arson, knife crime and home invasion are a reminder of escalating male violence.
Premier Jacinta Allan has repeatedly eschewed expert advice and capitulated to militant construction unions and the gun lobby. IBAC remains impotent, duck hunting continues with taxpayer support, deer hunting is allowed in national parks, there is no cap on firearm ownership, guns and knives are displayed at “family-friendly” hunting shows, the long-awaited Great Forest National Park has been vetoed, and promised reviews of last century’s wildlife and cruelty legislation have stalled.
A change of leader will make little difference without a radical policy review.
Joan Reilly, Surrey Hills
Influence of sexist language on next generation
It’s a sorry state of affairs when disagreements with politicians mean a 15-year old trope, “Ditch the Witch”, is resurrected and plastered on a truck and billboard.
Obviously, those who did this has not considered the consequences, or maybe they do not care.
Undoubtedly, the language is sexist, misogynistic and disrespectful, and I doubt any female activist would put up a pithy three-word slogan around warlocks in the same manner.
Yet, here we are again, and another female politician is bearing the brunt of this attack.
Rightfully, the language has been denounced. But the underlying causes and consequences are yet to be properly addressed.
Having taught in secondary schools for many years, I have watched shifts in behaviour among male students.
Much changes in a generation, however, and the teenage boys who are in school now have influences pulling at their attitudes from all sides. I worry that having the trope, “Ditch the Witch”, re-enter lexicon will empower malleable minds to use it against more females.
Erasing disrespectful language and behaviour will not be an easy task. However, if you disagree with someone, it is not too hard to say, “I respectfully disagree with you”.
Jeremy de Korte, Newington
Return of Abbott’s slogans
Looks like we’re in for a re-run of Tony Abbott’s greatest hits (“Brothel owner among funders of ‘Ditch the Witch’ billboards”, 9/6). What’s next? Stop The Subs, No New Taxbreaks?
Tim Durbridge, Brunswick
We can do better than this
It was moving to witness the best of what people are capable of achieving over the long weekend. The Australian honours showcased dedicated community members who exemplify goodness and care every day.
The recent loss of two great men, Neale Daniher and Richard Scolyer, show what kindness and courage really look like.
So too, the unforgettable image of a sea of blue beanies at the MCG. Contrast this with appalling behaviour recently directed at the premier in the name of political messaging.
Reminiscent of the standard of campaigning that the people of Goldstein were subjected to during the 2025 federal election, we can only hope that the upcoming state election campaign will be conducted more in line with the values of those inspiring people recently celebrated.
Judy Williams, Beaumaris
THE FORUM
Voter despair
Of course. It’s obvious now that Angus points it out. It’s Labor’s fault that Liberal stocks are so low (“Budget to blame for Coalition ills, Hanson surge, says Taylor”, 9/6). Its recent (cautious) tax changes to address long-standing inequities in society have “further eroded trust in the political system”.
The LNP has been in government for 20 of the last 30 years, propagating its “superior” economic management of looking after business and the wealthy with the promise that some crumbs will trickle down to the workers – those Aussies with apparently no aspiration other than to put food on the table.
That, and its continual resistance to every attempt by Labor to level the playing field, is what has eroded trust in our political system and why, in frustration, voters may choose to self-immolate as they have done in the US.
Peter Thomson, Brunswick
Liberals’ economic record
It was interesting to read Angus Taylor’s comment that the Liberal Party’s economic credentials were its strength. For the party behind Robodebt and the firm belief that nuclear power is cheaper than renewables, it makes it perfectly clear why it is dying. Its other policies must be truly dreadful.
Laurie Comerford, Chelsea
Deliver renewable energy
The renewables transformation is well under way as households and businesses adopt batteries and go all electric. Now we expect our bills to drop. (″Big batteries shield nation from power price shock″, 9/6).
The Liberals claim they are better economic managers and want to understand voters’ anxiety (“Budget helped Hanson: Taylor”, 9/6)
Then time to stop blaming others, leave the fossil fuels behind and follow voters and business to support cheaper, reliable energy with renewables.
Jenny Kashyap, Bentleigh
Safe seat injustice
To your correspondent’s (Letters, ″Small towns struggle″, 9/6) dismay at neglect by government of rural Victoria, including his much-loved Cobden, I should add that there is further injustice in country areas. Those with the misfortune to live in a so-called safe seat get even more neglect than other country areas.
They can expect nothing in the coming hand-out session known as the state election campaign. Decay of roads and bridges, failure to replace emergency service vehicles, and delays to school repairs will all attract pledges in marginal electorates, both urban and rural. Police stations and hospitals will surely get a mention.
The National Party holds the seat of Euroa with a very comfortable majority. Since the damaging floods of October 2022, the people at Nagambie and the nearby settlement of Kirwans Bridge have been without their bridge over the Goulburn River, closed to all but pedestrians due to flood damage. No farming vehicles. No emergency service vehicles. No escape if bushfire takes hold on the west side of the river. No tourism access.
Locals, ignored for so long, can expect further silence on their vital bridge. No party will pledge a dollar in a seat where the voting outcome is already assured.
Alan McLean, Queenscliff
Price of citizenship
High immigration in Australia relative to the OECD and even Canada and New Zealand has had bipartisan support for decades. Its impact has now mobilised grassroots opposition. Ironically, citizens have become collateral damage in the attempt to reverse gear.
My son and his wife are a case in point. Having met at Harvard in the US where he was a post-doc and she a paediatrician undertaking a doctorate in epidemiology, they married and have lived in several countries for 16 years.
Wishing to live in Australia, they applied for a partner visa last June. The process has cost more than $11,000 so far, including advice from a migration agent and acquisition and translation of police checks from relevant countries.
These checks are now expiring and must be renewed annually, with no indication of when permission may be granted to settle in the land of his birth and for his wife to have the right to work.
A migration agent recently interviewed on ABC Radio National reported that the process may take up to five years. Do they need to spend another $11,000 challenging the government’s failure to abide by Section 87 of the Migration Act which prevents the capping of visas applied for on the grounds that the applicant is the spouse or de facto partner of an Australian citizen.
Angela Munro, Carlton North
To HAL and back
The prescient science-fiction movie of Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, 2001: A Space Odyssey, was released in 1968. In the story, the autonomous computer, the HAL 9000 was in control of the spaceship Discovery One, but, lacking moral values it became murderous, and it was subsequently disabled.
In the year 2026, we are now faced with autonomous AI algorithms, prone to both “hallucinations” and illegal and criminal advice. So to whom do we turn to seek legal redress? Who is the legal entity who can be sued in a court of law? It seems that the creation of Kubrick and Clarke has come to pass – and it is now past the time to regulate this out-of-control industry.
James Reiss, Abbotsford
Listen to the experts
It is worrying to read Mark Zirnsak, social justice advocate of the Uniting Church describe the federal government’s new AI Safety Institute as “a pale shadow of its UK equivalent” (Letters, 7/6). The back story of the government’s decision raises serious doubts over whether our nation will have the necessary safeguards against significant harms alluded to by Dario Amodei of Anthropic. In particular, the issue surrounding mandatory regulations, which is known to be opposed by big business which favours self regulation.
In 2024 after a lengthy search, the federal government formed a “temporary” independent advisory panel of 12 experts. They recommended Australia legislate a European Union-style artificial intelligence act which would frame new legislative regulations to address fresh harms.
However, Australia not only bucked international trends by dissolving this panel (which had expected to be permanent) but rejected their advice, deciding existing legislation could adequately deal with AI harm. The AI Institute is not independent of government as it is embedded within the Department of Industry, Science and Resources. Our nation is already lagging the world leaders in AI. We, our children and grandchildren deserve a government that listens to the expertise it appoints.
Diana Yallop, Surrey Hills
Cars must face music
As a lifelong car lover, I agree with Dorina Pojani (″I’ve come up with a solution for our parking woes. Not everyone will like it″, 8/6), despite going to libraries as a teenager to borrow magazines reviewing and comparing the contemporary Commodore with its Falcon rival, among many others.
A little later in life, I saw nothing unusual in our share house, in congested inner-city Elwood, collectively running four vehicles between as many householders.
However, in more recent years, the insanity of each citizen solely occupying their own transport weighing many times as much as themselves has finally hit home. That these cars are increasing in size and power just compounds the problem.
In our otherwise leafy Ormond street, adjacent to the station, we suffer a rotating cavalcade of strangers’ cars in front of our house every day, not to mention the constant roar of traffic along nearby North Road.
Across my lifetime, I’ve seen many changes for the better, from the banning of indoor smoking to restricting cat ownership. Shouldn’t it now be cars that have to face the music?
Marish Mackowiak, Ormond
Very big numbers
Thank you, Adam Spencer for your enlightening piece on the beauty of numbers (″Terence Tao’s groundbreaking maths formula is so simple, anyone can follow it″, (9/6), particularly on the concept of really, really, big numbers; as in, approaching infinity.
But, infinity remains a mystery and an obstacle in describing physical nature. The English invented cricket to get a better understanding of the concept, while a more realistic example is the frog jumping half the distance of its previous jump, never reaching the end.
Henry Herzog, St Kilda East
MND age inequities
Australians diagnosed with motor neurone disease after age 65 face a stark reality: they are excluded from the NDIS and instead enter the aged care system, despite having the same progressive and terminal illness as those diagnosed a few months earlier.
My stepfather, Shane Lewis, was diagnosed with bulbar onset MND in 2024 and recently passed away after a two-year battle with the disease. During that time, he was approved for the highest-level home care package available. Yet, our family repeatedly struggled to access carers trained to assist with essential tasks such as PEG feeding and medication administration. Funding existed on paper, but care often did not.
This issue extends beyond one family. MND Victoria and MND Australia have repeatedly highlighted the inequity faced by older Australians with MND, who can receive vastly different levels of support depending solely on their age at diagnosis.
The question is not whether aged care or the NDIS should receive more funding. It is whether people living with rapidly progressive neurological diseases should have access to support based on their needs rather than an arbitrary age threshold.
Nicole Answer, Alexandra
AND ANOTHER THING
Politics
“Green energy is shielding Australia from a global power price shock″ (8/6) should be compulsory reading for all Australians, but particularly Joyce, Hanson, Abbott, Taylor, Canavan and Rinehart.
Tim Douglas, Blairgowrie
Breakfast with The Age was once relaxing, now it’s complex. Angus Taylor blames the Labor budget for the Coalition ills and the Hanson surge (“Budget to blame for Coalition ills, Hanson surge, says Taylor”, 9/6). He blames the Liberals for nothing? Please explain!
Malcolm Cameron, Camberwell
Before Israel’s latest retaliation in Iran, Donald Trump insisted, “I call all the shots. He (Netanyahu) doesn’t call the shots.” Netanyahu has clearly defied him, reminding the world that it’s Israel and Iran actually calling the shots.
Kevin Burke, Sandringham
In my phone news feed today: “Both Israel and Iran seem to be outsmarting Trump.″ Who’d have thought?
Andrew Norris, Sunbury
Sport
″It’s the worst combination of bloody-mindedness and self-harm you can imagine″ (9/6). The AFL’s support is right behind the Devil that is the gambling industry – not the Tassie Devils – and they have no regard for the debt Tasmanian taxpayers will be left with.
Belinda Burke, Hawthorn
With all the angst surrounding the BBL, the new Victorian side must be named the Victoria Bitters.
John Rawson, Mernda
Furthermore
If “witch” is not a misogynistic slur, then please tell me what the exclusively male equivalent is, and when was the last time it was brandished on placards or paraded around the city on the sides of a truck?
Mark Summerfield, Northcote
″Ditch the Witch” – surely as Australians we are better than this.
Julie Baker, Geelong
I propose a billboard: ″Tony, scrap the Speedos.″
Julie Conquest, Brighton
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