Take hope from victory of new NYC mayor
Peter Fagg, Blackburn
Better spent elsewhere
If COP is going to cost $1 billion, please spend it somewhere more useful to reduce living expenses
Lindsay Donahoo, Wattle Glen
Good luck with that, Ley
Columnist Nick Bryant’s analysis of the dilemma facing Sussan Ley and the Liberals (″Liberals trapped in the net zero trap″, 8/11) highlights a problem not faced by the conservative side of politics since Robert Menzies reformed the failed United Australia Party into the modern Liberal Party in the 1940s.
Menzies had the advantage of having a clear philosophy of free enterprise, personal freedom and anti-communism, without the divisive question of “will we or won’t we” on net zero.
The Nationals and conservative Liberals are wrong if they think their climate denial philosophy will attract voters in the suburbs around capitals and that they have no chance of regaining power without winning back seats in the suburbs.
It’s one thing to have huge majorities in rural seats, but it’s another to win seats from Labor, the Turks and the Greens in the suburbs.
Good luck to Sussan Ley as she tries to negotiate the electorally damaging mess the coalition finds itself in.
Graeme Lechte, Pascoe Vale
party of bad choices
By any analysis the federal Liberal Party is in disarray. They’ve made bad choices lately. Peter Dutton was a poor choice to lead the party. The policy proposals presented in the last election were a catalog of bad choices that failed to reflect and engage with voters’ priorities and concerns.
Bad choices continue after the election. Susan Ley was a poor choice to lead the party. A leader is someone who guides, inspires and influences others to achieve a common goal by setting a clear vision. For this purpose, Sussan Ley is not very suitable.
In the previous parliament, Ley’s contribution amounted to churning out idiotic anti-Labor government slogans that had little effect other than diminishing his credibility. This situation continued in the new parliament and he was frequently criticized by his own colleagues. He has no leadership qualities. Thinkers who are the sensitive voices of moderates who understand modern Australia and the challenges it faces are being drowned out by the voices of those who cannot or refuse to grasp these challenges and whose thinking cannot extend them beyond their personal interests.
Ross Brooker, Hobart, Tas
Service not profit
We have allowed governments to outsource too many essential services to the private sector (“The Triple Zero problem is not a private problem″,” 7/11), so I’m not sure why I was so surprised when I realized that not only was Triple Zero not privatized, but there was no ″Triple Zero custodian″ to monitor and control the system. We have opened up early childhood services to for-profit organizations and corporations with little interest in child care or early childhood learning, with little effective oversight and regulation, and we are shocked and sickened by recent findings of child abuse and inadequate care.
The new aged care system now appoints private organizations to assess applicants for home care; There appears to be no oversight over potential conflicts of interest for those who also provide care packages, and wait times for emergencies can stretch to at least eight weeks, while actual care sometimes arrives too late.
Privatization means that profit is often the main focus. There are basic services that should remain in the hands of the state: elderly care, early childhood education and, above all, Triple Zero rank high among them.
Anne Sgro, Coburg North
Growth is unsustainable
The combined effects of adaptation, population peaking, and the use of non-renewable resources may herald the beginning of a world era of sustainability that must be replaced by growth and development. In a closed system like our planet Earth, growth cannot continue forever and one day sustainability will be imposed on us all instead of growth, it is just a matter of when.
John Marks, Werribee
Not the type of book
Your reporter (8/11) asks if anyone told Donald Trump how The Great Gatsby ends. There is no evidence that Trump reads books or believes anyone who does.
Kevin Prince, Trieste, Italy
No cross words here
Note to David Astle.
Yes, I use my (breaking down) dictionary every day. I can’t remember what “important” means at all. You need to check the spelling of Shaden… shaud, shadenfr… And especially when doing a DA puzzle! So please sir, keep the faith that all is not lost for us poor spellers and word junkies.
Myra Fisher, Brighton East
