With street protests, which tools do police need?
Insensitive preventive maintenance outages
We all understand the need for budget restraint in Victoria. However, I was horrified to read the article “Pocket cuts create fear for foster children” (21/10) which reported that foster carers’ allowances have been severely cut, with some being downgraded from Severity Category 4 to Category 1.
Almost half of children in care have a disability that is physical, mental or both, and it is very rare for a child entering care to not have some psychological problem. Establishing and maintaining a bond is essential for healthy development. Caring for these children requires a lot of time, patience and skill. Going to a professional appointment is also time consuming and tiring. Foster carers, kinship carers and permanent carers do all this on the lowest foster care allowances in the country. It is often the case that one parent works less.
By cutting allowances, many foster parents will be forced out of the system, possibly resulting in young children being placed in group homes without a permanent caregiver to whom they can bond. This will lead to a significant number of cases entering the juvenile justice system and then into the adult justice systems.
Please do not cut back on the care of the most vulnerable.
I urge anyone who believes these cuts are wrong to write to their state legislator, regardless of party. Let’s work to build a partisan lobby to protect this valuable fund and good foster homes.
Charlotte Brewer, Shepparton
make KENKEN
My experience with Wordle lasted only one day in February 2022. I found there wasn’t much point to the exercise, but I still enjoyed observing the competition in daily Wordle battles between friends and family.
So what’s next for columnist Ali Berg (View, 22/10)? I don’t see much point in trying to fit the numbers 1 through 9 into every row and column in Sudokus, but KENKEN, that’s another topic. Fitting numbers 1-6 into each row and column based on mathematical operations to produce the target number. How good is this?
It’s my first port of call every morning while reading Yash KENKEN, followed by Letters, Sports, Opinions and then page 1. So Ali Berg, it doesn’t matter what your reading order is, just try KENKEN.
Paul Gooley, Ringwood East
Ukraine to Mexico
Donald Trump seems determined that Ukraine cede its territory to Russia to end the war. Does this mean that in the unlikely event of a war between Mexico and the United States, it would be ready to return Texas, California, New Mexico and the rest of the territory that was previously part of Mexico, given a similar situation?
Jeff Harrison, Bundoora
Wilcox reality check
Most commentators conclude that Anthony Albanese’s meeting with Donald Trump went very well. Given Trump’s character, our history, and our bipartisan approach to many aspects of the U.S. alliance, this is a fair outcome. But illustrator Cathy Wilcox (10/22) provides a reality check. We have an excellent hand in the supply of critical minerals and rare earth elements. It would be prudent to consider ways to play this hand that do not require US financing or be so dependent on the US/Australian supply chain. Experts concerned about high levels of government investment in unproven businesses may also direct their concerns to the nearly $400 billion proposed investment in the AUKUS submarine project.
Norman Huon, Port of Melbourne
Biden was also late
Your reporter thinks the media should press the president on why he still hasn’t appointed an ambassador to Australia since the previous appointee left office, rather than investigating Kevin Rudd’s past comments about Donald Trump (Letters, 22/10).
We seem to have forgotten that President Joe Biden announced his intention to nominate Caroline Kennedy as US Ambassador to Australia on December 15, 2021, 11 months after his inauguration. And his term began on July 25, 2022, seven months later. It is commonplace that the US chargé d’affaires here has been in store for much longer than now: It is not Trump who pays little attention, but the entire country.
Peter Price, Southbank
Do we need to fly there?
There will always be conflict between China and Australia in the South China Seas. My question is: why do Australian planes fly there? It’s a long way from Australia.
Of course, we can obtain information about China’s movements from other nearby countries without risking our own personnel.
John Roma, Mt Lawley, WA
Terrible science outages
I was stunned to read about the federal government’s plans to shut down instruments at both ANSTO’s Melbourne Synchrotron and the Lucas Heights reactor (″Scientists face budget cuts that threaten valuable jobs″, 10/22).
This comes just days after the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was announced to Australian scientist Richard Robson for his groundbreaking work on metal-organic-framework (MOF) materials.
Before retiring from my career as a research scientist at CSIRO, I had the privilege of working briefly with Professor Matthew Hill’s team, then at CSIRO, on developing high-throughput analysis instrumentation for MOF syntheses. This focused on using both laboratory and synchrotron-based tools to analyze MOF structures.
The structural nature of MOFs creates some of the most surprising chemistries I have encountered in my science career, and playing a small role in this work was particularly exciting.
It is frustrating to now read that the tools used for this type of research will be restricted due to government money crunches.
The Prime Minister returns from the United States, having negotiated an important agreement for the supply of rare earth materials. Of course, this is the wrong time to announce major cuts to Australia’s core scientific efforts.
Dr David Hay, Greensborough
Reestablish the social contract
The Age is to be congratulated for its series on life in the western suburbs, a subject largely ignored in the past (“Rethinking the West and the Idea of Melbourne”, 22/10). The article summarizes many of the region’s disadvantages and suggests some solutions. It is useful to make a connection between this inequality and the increasing crime rate there.
The idea of the “social contract” came to the fore in a book written by Jean-Jacques Rousseau in 1762. This theory outlines the idea that individuals agree, explicitly or not, to give up some of their freedoms and be governed by an authority in exchange for some form of protection.
Given the inequality in the West, many residents will feel excluded and powerless. The social contract has been broken. Some, especially young people, will be tempted to take the law into their own hands and take into their own hands what was denied them. This attempts to understand the crime wave, not excuse it.
Providing the measures outlined in your editorial, followed by some measures, would go a long way towards peace and prosperity in the West.
Jan Marshall, Brighton
bring the gang
Since we follow most of the trends in America, I’m looking forward to this week’s protest march led by Humphrey B. Bear and Fat Cat with strong support from Bananas in Pajamas.
Bryan Fraser, St Kilda West
Credit: Matt Golding
AND SOMETHING ELSE
Robbery
Isn’t it obvious? Master thief Lupine steals the Louvre jewels.
Les Cooper, Anglesea
Is it a crime for someone to steal the Elgin Marbles from the British Museum?
Jenny Smith, East Melbourne
Besides
Keep Kevin Rudd as Australia’s ambassador to the US. Donald Trump needs to be reminded that Australia does not appreciate his autocratic actions and policies.
Tom Danby, North Coburg
It’s a proud Australian badge of honor that Donald Trump doesn’t like you.
Rosslyn Jennings, North Melbourne
What are the chances that Trump’s AUKUS “full steam ahead” statement is little more than hot air?
Bernd Rieve, Brighton
Albo invited Trump to Australia. I’m not happy, Jan!
David Cayzer, Clifton Hill
Until an Australian journalist asked Trump if he was aware of Rudd’s comment about him years ago. This was a lost opportunity to ask a more important question.
Maree Williams, Kew
Maybe Sussan Ley can sort out some of the word-of-mouth issues in her own party before going after Kevin Rudd.
Ian Holton, Yarraville
The Liberals and Nationals cannot show diplomacy in their own party rooms. I don’t think they are in a position to advise the Prime Minister or the ambassador.
Ken Connor, Brighton
Against whom exactly is Australia spending zillions of dollars to protect ourselves? Is there a threat to our national security that I’m missing? Or is the threat, if any, a consequence of the international company we have?
Tony Haydon, Springvale
Sorry Ali Berg, but Wordle is not ″really KAPUT″ (Comment, 22/10). First thing every morning, I meet up with my Spokesperson friends around the world to jump-start my day.
Wendy Brennan, Bendigo
