source : the age
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A fraction difference
Adaptation to a rapidly worsening climate is clearly important. But for many places, the answer to the question ″How are we going to live here?″ (Good Weekend, 8/8) is, sadly but bluntly, ″We’re not.″ Phrases such as ″almost unbearable″ are simply inadequate to describe the future we face. Numerous expert assessments have explained clearly that, within a generation, large parts of northern Australia (and many other parts of the planet) will actually be uninhabitable. No amount of adaptation will change that.
But every fraction of a degree of planetary heating will make a difference. So we must redouble our efforts to be a leader, not a laggard, on the mitigation of climate catastrophe. Beginning with a recognition that the burning of gas and coal shipped overseas from Australia has an enormous and unconscionable impact which cannot be ignored.
Richard Barnes, Fairfield
Home v profit
Home owners are all on the same escalator. Some are ahead of you, some behind. If the escalator slows or even begins to reverse slowly, relative to the market nothing has changed. So those of us fortunate to own our own home are still able to trade up or down, facing the same relativity.
The only people who are disappointed are those who hope to profit by getting on and off the escalator, because they benchmark against not a replacement house but a short-term profit and loss account. As traders they should face the risk of loss as well as the crazy profits we have seen in recent years.
The motive for buying a house should be purely only for accommodation.
Adam Thomson, Collingwood
Two realities
Interesting reading about ″Five of the best homes in Melbourne to enjoy nature″ (Domain, 7/8). It all sounds wonderful, but there is another reality – built-to-last homes with gardens that house birds and insects, sold and bulldozed to then have a McMansion built in its place. This is not progress, it is regress. And so it continues, with the added ″value″ of being overtaken (as if it hasn’t happened) with our councils, or community, not having a say in what happens next. So love your nature, Melbourne, but realise it can be taken away at the whim of government.
Kate Read, Canterbury
Give owner choice
Manningham Council wants to demolish someone’s house, but as in the film The Castle, ″that’s not a house, it’s a home″. If it happens, the owner should be relocated to a bigger and better place of their choice.
Katriona Fahey, Alphington
Rethink policy changes
The article ″Opponents circle Labor over delay to migration cut″ (6/8) on proposed changes to immigration policy refers to “firmer controls of the migration system by stopping people taking advantage of it through manoeuvres such as … using the family system”.
I’m curious as what this refers to, and how Australian citizens applying for family to join them here might be construed as a “manoeuvre” to “take advantage of the family system”?
The report suggests that in response the government is considering “tougher family visa rules”. But there are already extremely tight caps for family reunion visas leading to massive backlogs, with lengthy waiting times for partner visas of up to two years and 14-30 years for aged (67 years and older) parent visas.
Australians with close family overseas should have the right to bring their family to Australia in order to enjoy life together with their families like any other Australian (after security checks of course). The ALP should remember these Australians also vote.
Imposing tighter immigration controls that deny family reunions to Australian families (including the desirable skilled immigrants that we need to attract) is not the way to stop One Nation.
Miriam Faine, Hawthorn
Aim for best we can be
It is hoped the Labor Party will not be panicked into a migration policy by the utterings of One Nation whose rhetoric is both disingenuous and nativist (″Migration overhaul a bulwark for PM in One Nation battle″, 7/8). Proposed changes to work rights and appeal processes for people seeking asylum are alarming. The government is now in a position on migration to not use people as scapegoats for political opportunism. A considered policy that encapsulates the best we can be in the framework of demonstrating an act of humanity should be at the core of any decision-making.
Judith Morrison, Nunawading
Toothless in Victoria
Like so many things in Victoria, the state’s anti-corruption watchdog IBAC does not work effectively due to inadequate funding and legislative restrictions, as demonstrated by the release of IBAC’s eight-year long investigation into the Andrews government’s murky fire union deal which included some anodyne recommendations (“Secret deal exposed”, 6/8).
NSW in stark contrast has ICAC, an effective anti-corruption canine which behaves like an inquisitive, investigative terrier. Victoria has in comparison a sedated, toothless dog tethered inside its kennel.
Dennis Walker, North Melbourne
The banned play on
My main sources of news are The Age, The Guardian and the ABC all of which are banned to attend news conferences by Pauline Hanson. How will I ever survive?
John Walsh, Watsonia
It’s not entertainment
There should be no surprise that the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (″Catholic Church rails against divide over values, migrants″, 7/8) noted that we are facing growing social division involving incendiary language, discrimination and violence. That’s what we see and hear every day on our televisions, radio and other media.
High-rating reality TV shows highlight angry disagreements, abuse and inability to resolve issues in sensible adult ways. Movies with anger and violence are being promoted as must-see events.
While we continue to promote these types of behaviour as “entertainment” we will continue to see such behaviour played out in other aspects of life to the detriment of maintaining a civil society.
The younger generation are being taught that all of this normal. Their living out of such behaviours is not their fault. It’s what we’ve allowed to be promoted as normal and so-called “entertaining”. Political rhetoric re adult crime/adult time is classic “ambulance at the bottom of the cliff” approach. We older generations need to take responsibility that such promoted behaviours are not appropriate or even entertaining.
Frank O’Connor, Albert Park
Pack of memories
Brian Johnston’s Comment piece (2/8) on the demise of the real backpacker rings true. Travelling in the late ’70s across Australia, Asia and up through Europe, our packs contained all our worldly possessions. We lived sometimes literally on $2 a day. In our packs we carried a tent, cooking gear and threadbare clothes. There was no souvenir shopping – if it didn’t fit in the pack, it was left behind.
We slept on beaches and showered in nearby resorts. We picked up cash work wherever possible. Countries were changing then, with the desire for wealthy tourists over travellers. An eviction from Sri Lanka due to lack of funds sealed the deal. I can’t say I miss the backpack but I certainly have some fabulous memories.
Wendy Daniels, Hawthorn
Came to my census
Whew, I filled in the census with the help of a younger neighbour (she is only 90) and posted it off. I didn’t lie about my age or income. I hope we did it to the authorities’ satisfaction.
Myra Fisher, Brighton East
