source : the age
To submit a letter to The Age, email letters@theage.com.au. Please include your home address and telephone number below your letter. No attachments. See here for our rules and tips on getting your letter published.
NATIONALISM
The Coalition is proposing to make burning the Australian flag a criminal offence. (″Angus Taylor wants to criminalise flag burning″, 6/9). Back in the Vietnam days, people asked why we protestors didn’t burn the Australian flag like our American counterparts. The answer was that ″no one could care less about the Australian flag″. For many of us that is probably still true.
Reg Murray, Glen Iris
No limit to politicians’ silliness
Clearly, silliness has no limits in politics. Angus Taylor wants to criminalise the ″desecration″ of the Australian flag. But, what constitutes an Australian flag? If I make a flag that wholly mimics the Australian one, but omit (for example) the tip of one of the rays on the Federation Star, and then publicly burn my creation, have I desecrated the Australian flag, potentially earning a 12-months’ jail sentence?
At the very least, the law would need to specify – in some exact detail – what constitutes an Australian flag. If I publicly burned such a legally defined flag, I need only ask the prosecutor (or prosecution witness) if they can swear with absolute certainty that my flag had no modifications (such as a missing ray point); in other words, that it met the legal description.
And they would need to explain the basis of that certainty. Absent such sworn certainty, and appropriate supporting evidence, the case would necessarily have to be dismissed.
Dennis Dodd, Shepparton
Maybe start with kindness and fairness first
I really struggle to fall for the false flag of Australian nationalism being promoted by One Nation and the Coalition. What is there to celebrate when one in six of us live in poverty?
Neither of the above two parties has suggested that kindness and fairness are Australian values. I would gladly set the Australian flag alight if I thought it might reduce poverty. I am sure stopping poverty is the last thing on their nationalistic agenda.
And, with a pathetic Labor government so full of its self-induced dismality, it wouldn’t try. The Australian flag stays safe in the interim.
John Rome, Mount Lawley, WA
In the US, size always matters
It’s no surprise that the USA (alone) has rejected the suggestion that world maps be changed to reflect more realistic comparative sizes of countries with respect to one another (″Australia and Africa expand, North America and Europe shrink: UN adopts new world map″, 6/9). The Trump administration’s negative knee jerk reaction to the attempt by the rest of the world to fix the problem caused in 1569 when cartographer Gerardus Mercator converted the world global spherical map to the familiar rectangular flat version, is driven by the same childish mentality behind the USA’s decision to change the names of the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Ontario to the Gulf of America and Lake America respectively.
Russell Brims, Bentleigh East
An icosahedron shows Earth at its best
In 1954, the inventor Buckminster Fuller produced his Dymaxion Air-Ocean World Map in which the spherical Earth was projected on to a 20 triangular-faced surface (icosahedron), which could be arranged in different ways on a flat surface to give a representation of the Earth with minimal distortion everywhere.
Depending on where the icosahedron is placed with respect to the globe, maps can be made showing all the land surfaces in a connected way or all the oceans.
The map can be folded into an icosahedron, which can be viewed from any direction. Why did the UN (6/9 ) not promote this map for general use, as there can be no politicisation of it, and it would provide a more accurate, unbiased understanding of our world?
Don Jordan, Mount Waverley
THE FORUM
Unengaged boys
Columnist Sean Kelly suggests it is illogical for the Nationals leader, Matt Canavan, to blame Respectful Relationships programs in schools for boys’ lack of interest in pursuing respectful relationships (″As Labor leaves an opening, Coalition takes the wrong path″, 7/9).
However, Kelly reveals little insight into the minds of adolescent boys and young men. He expects them to respond as he, a mature adult man, would on hearing the key messages of Respectful Relationships. He would give credit to those trying very hard to tackle misogyny.
Meanwhile, back in the school program, some boys have stopped listening and are looking out the window, wishing they were outside kicking the footy or are thinking about lunch. But some are more engaged. They have listened to the message delivered by boring, overly earnest people, and decided to think pretty much the opposite to what they are being told. Matt Canavan understands this.
Rod Wise, Surry Hills
Listen, Tim Wilson
I listened to Tim Wilson on community radio yesterday, and while I find One Nation erratic and devoid of substance, his disparaging remarks about Pauline Hanson only adds fuel to the fire of her support base.
It’s this type of elitism that has alienated their own base for many years and has led to this rise in inequality, among many other sociological factors.
Please listen to the frustrations of ordinary Aussies. They are angry and deserve your respect, not a sneering attitude.
Jenny Smith, East Melbourne
Jess Wilson’s pledge
Such a relief in the week of the death of feminist icon Gloria Steinem to see Jess Wilson say “abortion law will not change under a Liberal and Nationals government”. This right to free, accessible and shame-free abortion has only ever been threatened by the religious right wing of LNP governments, so it’s a pretty unconvincing ‴promise”.
Hopefully, in her next press puff piece, she will also enshrine the right of women to be educated, vote, get a housing loan, own property, retain their own name and work after marriage.
Belinda Burke, Hawthorn
Fasten your seatbelts
Years ago, when the road toll was at crisis levels, seatbelts in cars were made compulsory. Each belt is a precaution, in case there is an accident. It is a hedge against a much greater potential cost.
There were objections, outcries of infringements to liberty, but the government held fast. If we could use that approach to today’s climate crisis, imagine what future damage, and cost, we could avoid.
Barbara Darvall, Caulfield North
Bottom-line rules
Your correspondent (Letters 5/9) describing $5.50 daily charge for an aged care resident to watch TV in her room, appropriately asks, ″What have we become?” On the next page, Gabriel Sherman’s opinion article about Rupert Murdoch’s profit-driven lies (“How Sun King sold out the planet”) illuminates “how” and “why” we have become this.
For decades, our governments embraced the particularly amoral, rapacious version of capitalism unencumbered by social conscience proudly championed by the US – endless pursuit of infinite profits by a privileged, powerful and insatiable few, regardless of cost to individual, society, natural environment, and future generations’ life quality or survival.
Successive governments’ failure to govern and regulate in public interest abetted widespread corporate exploitation of their citizens. Even now, government is still pussy-footing around effective controls for gambling and toxic social media content/algorithms and their “Tech Bro” masters. Albanese’s concept of “right balance” is wrong when dealing with these societal poisons.
Other exploitation examples include unreasonable surcharges, price gouging, fraudulent charges for little or no service, important services eroded by understaffing or outsourcing, everyday time-wasting frustrations e.g. deliberately obstructing personal communication to force it online etc.
Bottom-line rules! Selfishness, is not how human tribes survived for thousands of years – nor how football teams succeed.
Joe Di Stefano, Geelong
Uni is for thinking
The report (“Inside Melbourne universities’ plans to future-proof degrees and jobs”. 7/9) that universities in Melbourne are going to establish their own businesses and train their students within them in order to make them “job-ready” is problematic and undermines the traditional role of university education.
It is true that most Australian universities are run top-down like corporations, but even so, they have managed to retain their role as teaching students to think critically, especially about the world around them and the veracity of the subjects they are being taught.
However, the push to introduce students very early on to working in a business environment and to make considerable use of AI could easily lead to a collapse in the kind of critical thinking universities have traditionally been adept at fostering. We can only hope that this will be maintained even with the greater commercialisation of universities.
Greg Bailey, St Andrews
Pothole quick fix
Re “Victoria’s Deepening Pothole Crisis” 5/9. As an engineer with 40 years’ experience working in road maintenance, construction design and testing, I have seen this pothole situation develop over the past 20 years
The issue not canvassed in the article was “why is it that the roads in the 1990s and 2000s did not suffer the same pothole problem?“
There are two items that are different in the management of the roadways now – privatised maintenance by contract (at the lowest price), and neglect of resealing of aggregate seal pavements as a cost-saving measure.
The lack of rapid response to repair potholes can be squarely laid at the feet of the contractors, and probably poorly written contracts. Large potholes sufficient to damage tyres and wheels do not happen overnight. Rapid response is essential to prevent small holes from becoming wheel busting holes.
The neglect of resealing of bitumen seal pavements over many years has compromised the waterproofness of our sealed roads. What is not apparently appreciated by those who should know, is that bitumen hardens usually within six to 10 years. When the bitumen loses its ductility the surface will crack, water then penetrates the underlying material leading to potholing.
Unfortunately, penny-pinching has been carried out without thought of the cost to the road user. It will be some years before this neglect can be corrected.
Norman Butler, former VicRoads regional manager, Traralgon
NGV Gandel protest
Your correspondent (Letters 7/9) in discussing the demonstrations outside the NGV that targeted John and Pauline Gandel is highly disingenuous. He claims they targeted the Gandels’ support for Israel, not their Jewish identity.
But the fact that the Gandels are major Australian philanthropists of the NGV and that’s where these demonstrations took place makes it difficult not to see the demonstrations as focusing on them as wealthy Jews, a classic antisemitic trope.
The Gandels’ philanthropic support for the NGV had nothing to do with events in the Middle East, and demonstrating against them contributes nothing to the pursuit of peace in Gaza or promoting political rights for Palestinians.
The whole point of the royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion was to recognise the distinction. Simplistic, reductive arguments about Jewish complicity abroad, and outright attacks on prominent Jewish Australians are themselves threats to social cohesion.
We hope the royal commission will expose them as such.
Rabbi Fred Morgan, Melbourne
Finding leaks
The article ″Dozens of military staff subjected to polygraph tests in major leak hunt″ (7/9) reports the US government is testing personnel to determine whether they disclosed classified information.
One wonders why the citizenry of that country doesn’t insist on the same for its politicians. They are public employees too, and rather more prone to leaking than the average staff sergeant.
A regular polygraph regime could perhaps neatly catch any divulgence of ″classified information” — to the press, foreign nationals, business cronies, or family members.
Other democracies may wish to take note.
Martin Hunt, East Malvern
Swans’ on-field form
Apropos Jake Niall’s assessment ″Embattled Swan’s produce one of their finest wins″, 7/9), it looks like the Sydney Swans are on a path to redemption.
Their unexpected and convincing win over the Brisbane Lions went some of the way to redeeming the team in the conspicuous absence of the five players who were banned, and also redeemed the aspirations of the club after the disappointments of the recent grand final losses in 2016, 2022 and 2024.
Time will tell in 2026. But the question remains, what to do with the five players in 2027?
Nick Toovey, Beaumaris
Grown boys are men
Your letter writer (7/9) inadvertently highlights one of the issues in sport, writing “Given the Swans’ emphatic win over the Lions, the club now can dispose of its dropped boys without worrying about the finals or the future”.
The people who play professionally are not boys – they are men. No excuses for their behaviour due to age. The sooner we stop referring to 20 and 30 year olds as boys, the better.
Stephanie Howell, Brunswick
AND ANOTHER THING
Flag burning
It is clear that the Coalition and One Nation’s opposition to regulating social media algorithms is not based on free speech. If they truly believed in free speech, they would not, at the same time, be proposing the outlawing of flag burning.
Denny Meadows, Hawthorn
It’s embarrassing the bereft federal opposition have flag burning as their current best national issue to tackle.
Ian Macdonald, Traralgon
Algorithms
Thankfully, my local librarian is not an algorithm. If so, I’d have to carry home dozens of books instead of one.
Geoff Allen, Parkdale
Do commentators (Letters, 7/9) realise how silly it sounds to talk about ″algorithm-free social media″? An algorithm is just like a cake recipe, so do they want to ban the media recipes? I doubt it.
Barbara Lynch, South Yarra
Furthermore
″Australia passes EV tipping point” (7/9) and there’s lots of chat about chargers. Meanwhile, bike riders, the heavy lifters, when it comes to cutting carbon emissions, are waiting for just 5 per cent of the billions spent on transport infrastructure in Victoria each year to be spent on Strategic Cycling Corridors.
Lesley Walker, Northcote
Finally, Melbourne Airport is making policy in recognition of the climate crisis (7/9). Making the airport less appealing — now that’s climate action.
Christine Harris, Spotswood
It is revealing that Pete Hegseth hasn’t denied reports of US depleted missile stocks during the Iranian war, but instead instituted a witch hunt via polygraph tests to find who spilled the beans.
Alan Inchley, Frankston
The irony of the Crown/Salvation Army Red Shield Appeal full page ad (7/9): how many Salvo recipients were former customers of Crown? It’s well past time for more effective gambling legislation.
Steve Earley, Gisborne
Finally
It seems noteworthy that all five mainland states of Australia remain represented in the AFL flag race.
Brian Kidd, Mt Waverley
The opinion newsletter is a weekly wrap of views that will challenge, champion and inform your own. Sign up here.
