The many questions that Hanson needs to answer
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many questions
Here are some questions I think Pauline Hanson might be asked at her next press conference.
1. Which of Australia’s many existing cultures will be chosen as the culture of the proposed monocultural nation, and how?
2. What practices of this priority culture will Australians need to conform to?
3. How will other existing cultures and their practices be eliminated so that the nation becomes monocultural?
Geoff Thompson, Coburg
stopped making sense
The article ″One Nation leader’s ‘dystopian’ speech″ (19/6) reflects the mood of One Nation leader Pauline Hanson. Hugh de Kretser, chairman of the Australian Human Rights Commission, says: ″It’s either a case of willful ignorance or just an inability to grasp what he’s talking about.″
Maybe both. In any case, we’ve had enough. The more airtime Hanson is offered, the less sense it makes.
Jen Martin, Northcote
No solution offered
Pauline Hanson’s speech at the Press Club was interesting and she was right about some of our contemporary problems; there just seemed to be no concrete solutions offered in terms of policy or proposed action. Successful governments of the past have all been about articulating solutions to the problems we face and taking action to address those problems. Unfortunately, not all other parties pass this test.
James Ogilvie, Kew
Popularity factor
Your correspondent (Letters, 19/6) says he is ″old enough to live in a monocultural Australia″. I was born in the 1940s and I feel that Australia was a much more united and secure country in my formative years than it is today. Since then successive Labor and Liberal governments have presided over rapid declines in the economic well-being of ordinary Australians, who make up a very large percentage of our population. I wonder if other long-lived Australians agree with my experiences and analysis, which may be a factor in Pauline Hanson’s rise in popularity?
Adrian Hassett, Kew
Will time bring change?
While going through my record collection, I came across the album Looking Backwards To Tomorrow by the famous Australian singer Jeannie Lewis. I couldn’t stop thinking about Pauline Hanson’s speech to the National Press Club. (Alternatively it could be a campaign slogan for One Nation.)
David Smith, Cheltenham
Never monoculture
To Your Correspondent (Letters, 19/6) Australia has never been monocultural. Each mafia had its own language and culture.
Dan Drummond, Leongatha
A promise was kept
Donald Trump promised to end the war after unconditional surrender, and he appears to be keeping his word.
Ralph Böhmer, St Kilda West
Take the whole state
I see Gina Rinehart gracing the Queensland islands. Elon Musk, the first trillionaire in history, could probably buy the entire state.
Francis Bainbridge, Fitzroy North
Sell your own land
Gina Rinehart should give away big, green, useful pieces of her property to strangers before she asks us to give away some of our own; for example.
Ludi Servadei, Malvern East
Teachers’ pay inequality
How and why are teachers in Victorian schools paid less than in other states?
Photos of large numbers of red-clad teachers gathered together have become vivid representations of the stupidity of the state Labor government in refusing to equalize their pay.
They highlight the discontent currently felt across Victoria and give the disgruntled reasons to complain loudly and for long.
By regulating their pay and conditions to be on par with Australian teachers in other states, the government will be seen to be fair and impartial, and a large portion of the population will again become influential figures who will support and vote for Labor government practices. The alternative does not bear thinking, but it seems possible in the current atmosphere of anger and resentment.
Geraldine Colson, Mentone
Support support
Victorian teachers and education support staff have rejected the government’s offer, citing a lack of appreciation for angry, tired and exhausted school staff. A pay increase is important, but it doesn’t eliminate overwhelming workloads, overcrowded classrooms, unsafe behavior, underfunded schools or disrespect shown to educational support staff.
The article “The union no longer acts on behalf of us teachers” (20/6) perfectly reflected this mood. The no vote was not unreasonable. It was a warning. Teachers are tired of being told to be grateful for deals that still leave them drowning. Education Minister Ben Carroll holds one of the most important jobs in Victoria. If he is being talked about as one of Labour’s next great hopes, public education is where he needs to prove it.
Educational support staff are the backbone of schools supporting children with their greatest needs. Public education cannot be sustained by good intentions, guilt, and unpaid labor. This is not greed. This is fatigue. This is enough.
Melanie Kuyl, Cobblebank
It’s a complicated problem
For those who think that teachers are focusing only on wages and themselves in this agreement, the situation is much more complicated than that. Educational support staff deserve better.
Workload pressures need to be addressed appropriately. We are also fighting for better funding for our students, especially those with additional needs, in our register of demands. And finally, better facilities in state schools, which are getting worse rather than better – just see the article ″‘Poor’ schools on the rise″ (6/18).
Part of the rejection of this deal has to do with our commitment to supporting not just our bank balances, but our mental health, our schools, our students and our school communities.
Tamara Brown, Croydon North
wrong fight
Teachers are fighting the wrong problem by rejecting the state’s offer of a pay raise. What they need to combat is the obscene funding of private schools rather than the public system.
Rod Cripps, Parkdale
letting workers go
As a retired manager who has had to let go a large number of employees throughout my career, I have never found the restrictions placed on us by the CA laws in the area to be too restrictive, as long as the due process and natural justice framework is followed. In fact, after starting performance management of underperforming staff, nine times out of 10 they fall on the sword and resign anyway.
In my view, any boss who thinks it is impossible to fire staff is probably incompetent. If it were me, I would fire them.
Bob Williamson, Golden Dot
ugly poles
I was stunned when I read the Melbourne Cricket Club master plan (″MCG plan raises secret privatization fears″, 19/6), because I couldn’t find any reference to improving the ugliest view in Melbourne; At least a decade old temporary water-filled orange plastic barriers surround the famous site and unfortunately greet us every time we visit.
Ian Andrews, Kew
