There seems to be a more important game. Agriculture Minister Murray Watt’s rejection of calls to close Australia’s border with Indonesia to protect our $ 27 billion cattle export trade from foot-and-mouth disease in Indonesia has something to do with it with keeping Indonesia in and out of China’s clutches? “The Indonesian border will remain open,” The Age, 16/7)?
The increasingly competitive environment for loyalty, influence and power in the Indo-Pacific, caused by China’s flexion in its expansionist muscle, has already seen Solomons, despite the “assurances” of the first Minister Manasseh Sogavare, delve deeper into China’s sphere of influence. And recently, the island nation of Kiribati, despite its outrage and that of China at the suggestion, seems increasingly attracted under China’s rule.
It can be said that there is a bigger game than protecting Australia’s multimillion-dollar cattle export industry. Deborah Morrison, Malvern East
We find some new words. Can we remove the use of the word “backflip” from political comments? There are new and ever-changing problems, such as those surrounding COVID, that need to be addressed on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. An ongoing conversation, if you will. Positions will change constantly in these fluid circumstances. People are not doing a “backflipping”.
When an individual or a political party has held a position for a long period of time on an important issue such as same-sex marriage or climate change and drastically changing their views, you may say that “they have taken a step back. “. But even then the word seems too cumbersome to convey the gravity of the change.
The word is effective because it creates a strong visual image. However, this image can be misleading. We find new words. Howard Tankey, Box Hill North
Stop agonizing, shout the lantern of the greens. Surely it is time for the new Labor government to take the environmentalist ox by the horns. Call the Green Lighthouse on legislation that sets targets to control emissions, rather than worrying about possible moves to undermine it again, as recent correspondents have been doing.
Although Labor received only about a third of the vote in the election, another third of voters indicated their strong desire for climate action through independents. How much mandate do you need? It seems like a good working majority to begin with, if you want to rule the whole country.Jenifer Nicholls, Armadale
THE FORUM
Let’s set a proper goal. While “when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine” is overused by opponents of renewables, the adage “the perfect is the enemy of the good” is having a resurgence as Labor attempts to legislate a 43 per cent emissions target for 2030 faces a clash in the next parliament.
Those who throw the adage to Greens and independents arguing for a higher goal should think twice. As Bill Hare, executive director of Climate Analytics, puts it, “the goal is not based on science” and is out of play with the country’s Paris commitment to keep warming below 2 degrees (“experts warn that Labor’s goal for 2030 will be a 2-degree increase. ”, age, 16/7).
In addition, the target is not economically based, according to economist Nicki Hutley, and the price of climate inaction is “higher than the cost of action to reduce emissions.”
That the Labor goal is better than the unfortunate goal of the Coalition is not a reason to defend it. As another saying goes, “A well-established goal has been achieved halfway.” Let us not be afraid to negotiate and work together. Let’s set a proper goal that we can all be proud of. Ray Peck, Hawthorn
Other paths to fitness It is possible that children who had the opportunity to stop team sports during the pandemic have not returned to them because they prefer non-competitive sports (“As children give up sports of equipment for individual activities, the concern for their health grows “, The age, 16/7).
Maybe they don’t like to win and lose and get organized into teams and structures and get them out the door every Saturday morning. Instead, they may prefer to participate in physical activities that are often self-organized and within nature, such as surfing, mountain biking, and skateboarding.
The big “team sports” industry isn’t the only way for kids to be physical. Sam Evans, Thornbury
An inadvisable meeting. A punch for the leader of a country that rejects its critics (“Fist bump for prince signals Saudi Arabia pariah no more”, The Sunday Age, 17/7)?
U.S. President Joe Biden should not have met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi remains a stain for the prince and his country.
Continued attacks on journalists and journalism in general must always be denounced. Governments should protect the freedom of journalists and this begins by condemning these events and certainly avoiding anyone involved or associated with them. Dennis Fitzgerald, Box Hill
Be careful what you plan for. It’s not inevitable that Melbourne will be, or should be, a city of 9 million people by 2050 (“Why we need to build the suburban rail loop now,” comment, 7/15).
“Bigger” is not necessarily “better.” It is possible that Melbourne’s population could stabilize at around 6 million people.
Recent patterns, such as working, studying, or buying goods and services from home, could continue or develop even further. Over the next decade, most private vehicles may have an electronic engine and not contribute significantly to CO2 emissions.
Most transportation movements between the southeastern and eastern suburbs and the western and northwestern suburbs, including the airport, are likely to find more direct, convenient, fast, and cheaper transportation routes instead of travel along an extremely indirect orbital route around the suburbs of Melbourne. . Similarly, more flexible arrangements in movements between our major transport corridors will often prevail.
Many other possible improvements to transportation infrastructure can have a significantly better cost / benefit ratio. Let’s be very careful with what we want and plan for. David Langmore, Traralgon
Language must change Politicians seek power to govern. Therefore, we hold them responsible, both for their desire for power and for their willingness to come forward to exercise it.
Instead of arguing that “we inherited these problems from the previous government,” politicians should be honest and say, “We sought power in the belief that we could solve the problems created by the previous government.”
The language of politics must change, because the problems we all face are too urgent for the game of guilt to continue unchallenged.Laura De Bernardi, Doncaster
Good luck with your research Melbourne Suburbs and Mornington U3A have provided me with education, fun and support to the same extent for over 25 years. Weekly attendance became an essential part of life, meeting friends and finding a stimulating interest in new topics presented by experts in their field, some of them emeritus professors, and all volunteers.
Of course, everything changed when COVID arrived. Our U3A committee faced the challenges of isolation during our prolonged confinement, with support provided to all members to access Zoom classes and have the opportunity to speak and have community with others. We have learned new technological skills and greater self-confidence. We had some structure for the days and weeks and something to look forward to.
U3A provided a social benefit by supporting its members, providing a forum for intellectual stimulation and physical benefit with its yoga classes, exercise classes, reading clubs, film, philosophy, history, follow and follow.
The economic rationalist in me says that perhaps an added benefit were fewer calls to medical resources and mental health services.
Good luck, Melbourne U3A, for your essential service (“Plea for ‘a place to call home'”, The Age, 15/7). Dolly Beaty, Mornington
I, for one, am still amazed. Tony Wright asks if we, in the age of the Internet, have “lost our ability to surprise and maintain simple wonder and fascination beyond the next thought” (“No longer surprises us, we’re really so tired).” , Insight, 16/7).
I still marvel at FaceTime with family members thousands of miles away and reading The Age on an iPad. Joe Wilder, Caulfield North
Get What You Pay Unlike Senator Andrew Bragg (“Senator Criticizes Judges’ Pensions That Cost Millions to Taxpayers, ”The Age, 14/7), I have no problem with judges’ pensions. If we want the best people on the bench, as I’m sure we all do, we need to compensate them properly, but most importantly, they will almost inevitably give up what is most likely to be a lucrative current job.
You can hardly ask someone to take a pay cut of $ 200,000 to $ 500,000 (or more) and expect too many positive responses. This is completely different from the previous situation with the atrocious politicians ’pension plan, where it was possible for an unemployed person or an unqualified and inexperienced person to suddenly take advantage of a high salary and one of the most generous pension plans. Of the world. .
Thank God the mistake was stopped. Neale Meagher, Malvern
We Should Listen Instead of criticizing judges for talking about sentencing laws, we should listen to their comments (“‘ Instruments of Injustice ’: Court Slams Sentence Law,” The Age, 7/15).
Too often, in election time, major parties fall into a bidding war to determine who can be “tougher” with crime rather than considering whether “tough” sentencing laws really work.
While minimum conviction laws may seem appealing, high incarceration rates do not result in low crime rates. The first example of this is the United States, which has the highest incarceration rate in the world, but also has one of the highest crime rates in the Western world. James Proctor, Maiden Gully
A short-sighted attitude