Treaty is the path to the future in Victoria
Economics 101
Millie Muroi’s plea for economics to be a bigger part of education (Commentary, 1/11) raises the question of what the role of education is. Is it about being exposed to the beginnings of a lifelong interest in free human dialogue, critical thinking, and learning? Or is a school merely a monument to the god of economic benefit? The Federal Reserve bulletin he quotes offers a standard brand of argument that diversity (i.e. female students and poorer students) can change society for the better. But the truth is that pure economics is no match for 21st century ideology, business and politics.
Anders Ross, Heidelberg
Definition of terrorism 1
I think terrorism depends on where you are, not who you are. An Israeli citizen killed by Hamas is certainly an act of terrorism, but what does an Israeli bomb killing Palestinians in retaliation mean? Isn’t this an act of terrorism in their eyes? I think terrorism is just that, the act of being terrorized and based on who is being terrorized at a particular time. Just because Western nations choose to call attacks on Muslims terrorism does not mean that attacks on Muslims are non-terrorism. I am not a fan of Hamas, nor am I a fan of the Israeli government. I hate all ugly forms of terrorism.
John Roma, Mt Lawley, WA
Definition of terrorism 2
Your correspondent (Letter, 1/11) asks the question of what a terrorist is. From another perspective, it is to ask what is the difference between a terrorist and a freedom fighter. The simple wisdom is that a freedom fighter is on our side, not a terrorist.
Andrew Twining, Reservoir
Watch this space
Columnist Nick Bryant makes an interesting point; Our national insensitivity is our strongest asset (Comment, 1/11). So what gave us this lucky feature? The answer to a question I ask many people who speak with an Australian accent but came here at primary school age or a little older always surprises me. When asked what impressed them most when starting their new life, they always say space: both personal and physical space. They had room to grow and develop, and perhaps that’s the luckiest thing about this country: we have a room to live in. Maybe this is the Australian Dream and we live it every day. The danger comes when this dream is shattered, and unfortunately, I see that those who march with neo-Nazis are also shattering this dream.
John Mosig, Kew
care at birth
As a doula and healthcare administrator, I read with interest “Save mothers and babies from influencers” (10/30) and “Crackdown on ‘dangerous’ free births flagged” (10/31) regarding the tragic death of Stacey Warnecke.
Thank you for making the important distinction in the following article between free birth and home birth under the care of a registered midwife, which is a safe option for many women.
As a doula, I do not agree with free births, I primarily support women giving birth in hospitals. Doulas fill the “gap” of emotional continuity that is not routinely found in standard public birth care, where women see a different provider at each appointment.
The decision to free birth is rarely a woman’s primary choice, but is often a result of previous experiences of birth trauma and lack of access to relationship-based care. Lack of continuity of care is one of the contributing factors to preventable birth trauma, and Victoria lags other states in terms of access to continuity models such as midwifery group practice.
Regulation of doulas will not prevent women from choosing free birth. The solution lies in increasing access to a continuum of caregiver options and addressing preventable factors that contribute to birth trauma. Women don’t need rescuing from influencers. They just need access to respectful, relationship-based birth care.
Jess Larkin, Ocean Grove
Destruction of assets
Overseas, post-war housing estates resembling Melbourne’s public housing towers have been updated and redeveloped (“Fitzroy’s ‘magic’ lives on despite wrangling for its soul”, 1/11). Residents were even able to stay put while improvements were made.
But here in Victoria the government and its housing agency want to remove these assets while refusing to produce reports or documents explaining why 10,000 residents’ homes must be demolished in the midst of a housing crisis.
Construction and architecture professionals have found savings in capital costs (25-30 percent), carbon (34-36 percent) and construction time (15-20 percent) can be achieved through retrofitting compared to the construction of equivalent new buildings.
Don’t we deserve to know exactly why these homes and communities are made this way?
was it destroyed?
Lesley Walker, Northcote
dialectical argument
″Sacre Bleu! You’re all pronouncing Louvre wrong″ (10/31) raises an important question: Who decides what the correct pronunciation is?
Moving from NSW to Victoria as a seven-year-old, I was surprised to discover that ″car-sels″ had become ″cas-sels″. (Casts are important to seven-year-olds.) Traveling in Britain introduced me to a maze of English pronunciation. Of course, France has its own regional differences, and I would like to note that the pronunciation of French-speaking Canadians in Quebec differs significantly from those encountered in France.
Dennis Dodd, Shepparton
A charitable question
Starting World War III is undoubtedly one way to make your name go down in history, but please, Donald Trump, consider another way. How about making the biggest donation ever to charity?
John Walsh, Watsonia
Lower the covers
″Andrew was evicted and lost his title″ (1/11) but remains eighth in line to the throne. So by some freak accident or a palace coup, we may soon have Mr. Battenburg (English name Mountbatten) as King of Australia, just like before the First World War.
Kishor Dabke, Mount Waverley
Work? my god
Will Andrew have to get a real job and work to get by? Destroy the thought.
Laurie Miller, Yeppoon, Qld
towards the tower
Where’s the Tower of London tradition when you need it?
Doug Hopkins, Aspendale Gardens
