Source : the age
Credit: Cathy Wilcox
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This new cash grab by the Victorian government, also known as the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund (ESVF) makes my blood boil (″Deal struck to double fire levy, but at a cost″, 16/5). It seems that those sitting in their very comfortable parliamentary seats have no idea how tough primary producers have it at the moment.
Rural debt is out of control with the costs incurred in running a farm increasing by the week it seems. Making any sort of profit has become a distant memory for many. Given that a large proportion of Victoria is in the grip of a devastating drought, it’s questionable how much extra revenue will be raised if tax exemptions will, in fact, apply. The ultimate irony is that in our area, and I assume many rural locations, it is the cash-strapped, exhausted and stressed farming folk who man these very services that they will be expecting to personally pay for. Oh and while they are at it, they are also feeding our nation for which they receive neither recognition or gratitude. Who’d be a farmer?
Penny McMullin, Yanakie
Don’t play games with education funding
How ironic that, in the same week we are celebrating the AFL’s successful strategy to ensure all clubs have equal access to resources – and, as a result, to success (evidenced by eight of last weekend’s nine games being decided by 14 points or less) – we are also reading about a move in the opposite direction in one of our most important public institutions: education.
As reported in The Age (″Allan’s fantasy over school shortfall″, 15/5 ) the Allan government’s latest funding decision will strip $2.4billion from Victorian government schools, according to the government’s own calculations. This is not just a budgetary adjustment; it is a stark reinforcement of what is already one of the most inequitable education funding systems in the world. This would have to be a world first for the most egregious public education funding decision ever.
At a time when we recognise the value of fairness and equal opportunity in sport, surely we must demand the same for our children’s education.
Kevin Brown, Moonlight Flat
Totally unfair, and the students will pay
The article on the schools funding shortfall (15/5) clearly highlights the consequences of Victoria’s over investment in high-vis infrastructure projects. State school students will now wait three more years before the desperately required Gonski reform funds flow to public schools. This is an educational tragedy and the students of Victoria should not be paying this price; it’s grossly unfair.
Andrew Blyth, Ivanhoe
THE FORUM
The homeless crisis
″Rough sleeping″ is a term from the 1800s for people sleeping in harsh conditions. In 2025, in affluent Australia, people are in this circumstance due to the chronic lack of suitable accommodation, especially supported accommodation for people with complex mental health needs (″Somali refugee was shot by police in Footscray within 11 seconds, court told″, 15/5).
The term ″homeless″ reflects this shameful neglect of the most disadvantaged and voiceless people. They are left to somehow fend for themselves without even basic care.
Homeless is surely the more accurate term as ″rough sleeper″ focuses on the person, conveying some sense of agency and choice between a home and the streets when, for most, potentially all, no choice exists at all.
Barbara Chapman, South Yarra
Liberals need to split
The city v country debate is now shown in the relationship between the Liberals and the Nationals after the election defeat. The Nationals want to beat their chest and argue they are different and will go to any lengths to protect their constituents. The louder and stronger they beat the chest they turn city and suburban voters off the Liberal Party and into the arms of Labor and teals. Given the Nationals want to retain a nuclear-powered electricity policy there is virtually no way that the Liberal Party will do much better in 2028. The Liberals would be mad to stay in the Coalition.
John Rome, Mount Lawley
Patriotism’s hues
It is easy to recoil when a politician appeals to “patriotism”.
We have seen so many instances where such calls are nothing but a cynical ploy to distract and delude. None more evident than Donald Trump inciting his followers to storm the US Capitol in 2021. When Samuel Johnson, in 1775, said “patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel”, he was not thinking about patriotism per se but rather the dishonest and manipulative use of the emotion.
This is why Anthony Albanese was careful to attach the descriptive word “progressive” to his concept of patriotism. This is an altogether different type of patriotism than that used by tyrants and conmen. It is a patriotism that celebrates the best of Australia and its ability to be a constructive example to the world. It is a patriotism that is inclusive and forward-looking. It is a patriotism that echoes the words of JFK, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”.
Patriotism is not a bad thing, the abuse of it is.
Patriotism is one of those ideas that has many meanings, it can be used for both good and evil.
Graeme Henchel, Yarra Glen
Trump’s resort dream
Your correspondent believes that Donald Trump would empathise with the Palestinians if he witnessed first-hand the destruction and devastation of Gaza (Letters, 16/5). Unfortunately, rather than being empathetic, he would merely see it as necessary demolition to clear the way for a resort development.
Edward Combes, Wheelers Hill
Weight is on Hamas
Your correspondents attacking Israel for Gaza’s woes are missing the main point (Letters, 15/5). Israel has offered the Hamas leaders safe passage out of Gaza if they end the war by releasing the hostages and giving up their weapons. Meaning they have choice. This would allow aid to immediately resume, and a new government to start rebuilding.
Hamas is refusing, insisting on keeping those weapons and staying in Gaza so it can wage further wars against Israel when it’s ready. Surely, we should be pressuring the Hamas terrorists who started this war to end it, not Israel. Again Hamas has the choice to release hostages and lay down arms to stop this war.
After all, we rightly demand the Russian aggressors end their war, not Ukraine, don’t we?
Stephen Lazar, Elwood
Stand worth applauding
Simon Tedeschi’s plea for an end to Israel’s remorseless brutality in Gaza (Letters, 16/5) is passionate and powerful. It’s all the more compelling coming from a world-renowned classical musician who treasures his Jewish heritage, believes in Israel’s right to exist and laments the rise in antisemitism. He will be acutely aware of the risk he is taking by speaking out with such bold candour. His defence, if he needs it, is that he is doing nothing but speaking the truth. The words he uses – ″horror, punishment, devastation, cruelty, madness, disgrace″ – constitute a deafening chorus of condemnation. Bravo, for his daring. It deserves a standing ovation.
Tom Knowles, Parkville
Good news for Turkiye
Great news that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party has announced it plans to disband and disarm, thus ending decades of conflict in Turkiye. Hopefully that decision will open the way for modern Turkiye to refind the pathway to peace embraced by its extraordinary former leader and peacemaker Mustaafa Kemal whose dedication and extraordinary leadership made him a hero not only in his own country but the whole world and resulted in his being honoured as ″Atatürk″ (father of the Turks).
Brian Marshall, Ashburton
The weakening root
As an addendum to the article by David Astle (15/5) ″Why rooting means something different to Australian ears″, the usage and associated connotations of the word are weakening. When I started as a maths educator many moons ago, teaching year 10s about square roots always brought about guffaws and sniggers. These days I’ve noticed that the word can be used quite a bit in the classroom and I’ve even heard students, when helping their mates, say the likes of ″just root 100 and you’ll get the answer″ and there’s nary a chortle or raised eyebrow.
Patsy McHugh, Frankston
No debt, no worries
The article “Why paying off your mortgage could cost in the long run” (13/5) warns against paying off your mortgage early. But is accumulation of money the only goal worth achieving? My husband paid off his mortgage early, and was able to: travel for a year; leave an industry that was dying; take five years’ paternity leave; start a small business. There is no stress if the interest rates go up, we get sick or want to change jobs. We don’t live lavishly but if there is something we want to do, we do it. Our super is for retirement, not paying out a mortgage.
While it took sacrifice and overtime to pay the mortgage out early, we were fortunate that we are of an age where housing prices were fairer and didn’t have any HECS debt. We never discount this luck.
But to actively encourage people not to pay off their mortgage and to be burdened with debt only shows one limited way to live.
No debt opens up a world of choices.
Claire Wallder, Mooroolbark
It’s down to the AEC
I was a scrutineer at the election and came away with an increased respect for our world-class electoral process. It is simply incorrect for Tim Wilson to claim that scrutineers “knock out informal votes” (“Signs of panic in Tim Wilson’s WhatsApp group as margin closes in Goldstein”, 15/5). They can only challenge a ballot paper and AEC staff make the call.
Jennifer Davis, St Kilda East
Defining a good sport
Mathew Stokes’ article (14/5) regarding sledging among AFL players goes a long way to explaining the shameful crowd treatment of the Swans’ Adam Goodes. I had the (seemingly) naive expectation that the players of the opposing teams would regard this as extremely bad sportsmanship and would simply play kick to kick with the Swans until the crowd stopped booing Goodes. It seems that sportsmanship is defined in a way I do not recognise.
Geoff Sheahan, Wantirna South
More wrong than right
If, as your correspondent asserts (Letters, 15/5) the adage is true that voters “don’t get it wrong” then how to account for the Whitlam, Rudd, Gillard, Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison governments? Seems to me we get it wrong more often than we get it right.
Greg Hardy, Upper Ferntree Gully
Credit: Matt Golding
AND ANOTHER THING
Politics
I hope the ALP caucus all read Niki Savva’s ″Told to wait, Marles blew things up″ (15/5) and never vote for Richard Marles to lead the party after bringing down two great ministers, Mark Dreyfus and Ed Husic. This voter is angry.
Lisa Phillips, Malvern East
Can the prime minister become a legend by banning corflute use in all election campaigns in Australia?
Sarath Goonawardhana, Chadstone
Memo: Greens, you are an environment party, please stick to that, keep away from the inner-city social issues or the irrelevant carping on foreign affairs. We out here in the real world away from the city need a Greens party that is standing up for our animals, plants, and above all, climate.
Mick Webster, Chiltern
Furthermore
Shouldn’t us city-folk pay a greater proportion of the fire levy as we are dependent on the produce of our farms?
Patricia Rivett, Ferntree Gully
Why are there so many monuments to Captain Cook in Melbourne? His voyage along the east coast of Australia passed more than 400 kilometres away.
James Proctor, Maiden Gully
Recently Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the Justice Department to, in effect, review, identify and thwart state and local efforts to address climate change. Scientists must be at exasperation point.
Brian Measday, Kingswood, SA
I have just watched the NZ-made film Tina. Americans will soon be paying tariffs for imported movies, but they will still be a bargain compared to some of the sterile plastic US productions.
Max Langshaw, Sunbury
The article “Money men behind Dees” (16/5) refers to one benefactor as “a lawyer by trade”. Surely this should be “a lawyer by profession″.
John Guy, Elsternwick
Large, gawdy Federation Square ads are a massive assault-on-the senses fail.
Ian Macdonald, Traralgon
