Birmingham bows out

The resignation of the last leading Liberal moderate, Simon Birmingham, means that it is definitely a case of asking Simon to turn off the lights in the house when he leaves (“Simon Birmingham announces exit from politics”, November 28). This will help alleviate the current power shortage, especially as the coal-fired generators are breaking down, nuclear is far too expensive and would not be ready for years, and renewables are supposed to be killing the birds and whales. Malcolm Freak, Armidale

So sad to see one of the Coalition’s most decent people exit the parliament. Simon Birmingham always maintained a civilised, measured demeanour in a chamber that has very recently become a theatre of war. He will be sorely missed. Donna Wiemann, Balmain

The news that Simon Birmingham is resigning from parliament is pregnant with speculation. Is it because he wants to spend more time with his family, or is it because he can no longer support the current direction of the Liberal Party? Birmingham has been a faithful mouthpiece of the party, always supporting the party line even when one got the impression that his heart wasn’t in it. Many people on all sides of politics will wish him well. Ian Adair, Hunters Hill

I couldn’t help noticing that Simon Birmingham, as opposition foreign minister, couldn’t hold the party line to find fault in every government decision on foreign affairs, which has been bipartisan for decades, like defence. You could feel he was uncomfortable with the pressure from the Liberal Party strategists to go hard on the government. Unfortunately, the Liberal Party has lost one more moderate voice that it desperately needs. He is only young and had a lot to contribute. Hopefully, his words about not going the Trumpian way would be listened to by his party and save Australians from further polarisation. Mukul Desai, Hunters Hill

Simon Birmingham is leaving the world of politics and handing the leadership of the Senate over to Michaelia Cash. That will wake up the Senate, used to the measured tones of the former leader, when Michaelia launches herself in full throttle even more than previously, enunciating each syllable with relish. Joan Brown, Orange

Did Simon Birmingham’s valedictory speech remind anyone else of Anne Boleyn’s final words? Dieter Werner, Lennox Head

Sad to see the honorable Simon Birmingham throwing in the towel. The Trumpification of the Liberal party continues apace as the moderate middle get bulldozed by Dutton’s warriors. Peter Hull, Katoomba

Wow – Simon Birmingham, in his valedictory speech, decrying “populism” in politics! After loyally being part of Tony Abbott’s and Scott Morrison’s governments and Peter Dutton’s opposition, all notorious for their political opportunism and lowest-common-denominator voter pursuit.
Alex Mattea, Sydney

Uncomfortable truths

I don’t imagine Senator Lidia Thorpe gives two hoots about playing by the rules and being respectful in parliament (Letters, November 29). She is a disruptor, which seems to be a successful strategy if you’re a wealthy white male – at least in the US – but not in Australia if you’re a black, sovereign, proud First Nations woman. Kate Lumley, Hurlstone Park

Since 1788 violence has been inflicted upon Aboriginal people, from cruel dispossession of land and resources to the barbarity of massacres, the inhumane removal of Aboriginal children from their families and communities, and Aboriginal deaths in custody. Lidia Thorpe constantly reminds us of the truth of colonisation. The fact that we are uncomfortable with this truth tells a story more about us than her. Graham Fazio, Cootamundra

I might not agree with Lidia Thorpe’s opinions but as a voter, watching our parliament ignore tax reform, sidestep gambling advertising bans and offer inadequate policies on climate change and social housing, I want to stand up and shout from the galleries too! Rowan Godwin, Rozelle

Enough is enough. How much longer do taxpayers have to put up with paying $260,000 of our money a year to Lidia “Look At Me” Thorpe? She’s an embarrassment to our country, a disgrace to the Senate, and shows the maturity of a five-year-old. If she had a real job she would have been sacked years ago. Matt Petersen, Randwick

I value politicians who remain loyal to the outfit that originally got them their place in the Australian parliament. Senator Pauline Hanson was first elected on the Liberal ticket but took her seat as an independent at the 1996 election. Independent senators Lidia Thorpe and Fatima Payman owe their places to the Greens and Labor respectively. Each senator pushes a particular image of the victim: white Australia, the Palestinians, Indigenous people. Each needs to learn another side of the very laudable practice of championing those we see as innocent: that it is just as easy to scapegoat those who oppose our view as it is to side with victims. And scapegoating has an awful tendency to backfire, including on the cause originally championed. Susan Connelly, Lakemba

It is said that we get the politicians we deserve. I’m certain we don’t deserve Lidia Thorpe and a growing list of ratbags who seem to get elected, often by people voting for a party rather than a person. After being elected and ensconced with all the privileges pollies get, they go rogue and set their own agenda – not one on which they were elected. Party hoppers and newly “independent” party leavers should vacate their seats and hold elections for replacements.
Chris Robinson, Valla Beach

As King Charles recently discovered, Lidia Thorpe can be a royal pain in the butt, but I reckon our reluctant monarch might’ve had some sympathy for the rogue senator, given he is on record wondering why Australia hasn’t become a republic. Phil Bradshaw, Naremburn

IVF cuts cruellest

When many young women are delaying having children due to their difficult, unfair economic circumstances, they may face the need for IVF services (“Cut to IVF rebate a ‘significant step backwards for reproductive health’”, November 29). That women forced to delay having children may face this after working so hard to get their heads above water is contemptuous behaviour by politicians. Further, if single women, heterosexual or same-sex couples are earning over $116,000, this reflects their productivity and capacity to raise a child or a family. This demographic should be respected and supported equally, given the financial and emotional costs can be extreme, unpredictable and unimaginable. Perhaps the real issue that warrants review and possibly some regulatory intervention is the excessive costs and profits of the IVF industry. Robyn Dalziell, Kellyville

Spilling the tea

I adore your witty, clever and laugh-out-loud articles, Michelle Cazzulino (“Sure, ban this lot from social media, but veto this lot too”, November 29). However, I wait until my breakfast cup of tea is finished before commencing to read your articles. Previous attempts to do both simultaneously have been ugly and dangerous. Pauline McGinley, Drummoyne

Low English standards detrimental to unis

Lax language standards at universities are creating prejudice (“Degrees will be worthless if we can’t arrest AI’s march”, November 28). Group work can determine 80 per cent of a final mark for certain subjects. If you’re lumped into a group with non-English speakers, you can kiss your good grades goodbye. I attend Sydney University, where group-work-language-barrier horror stories are abundant. I had one this semester, in which two international students submitted sections of entirely unusable AI-drivel in two group assignments. While one might laud AI at this juncture for busting our language barrier, remember that ChatGPT will happily hallucinate and randomly regurgitate falsehoods and is not translation software. I rewrote their sections, as they expected, because we would all receive the same mark for the assignments. And headaches like these cause domestic students to subconsciously swerve away from those in classrooms who don’t look like them, for fear of being forced to squeeze a decent mark out of someone who stares at you blankly when you ask them their name. One should not blame the students – they applied for a place at uni and got it, fair and square. But the university sacrificed due diligence for dollars and, rather than fostering co-operation as overseas students once did so effectively, they’re cultivating prejudice in places where it had once waned. Will Nicholas, Northbridge

Education targets

Genius (“Education report card stripped of key targets”, November 29)! How to make a huge improvement in future reporting is simply to leave out all the key performance areas. This could be applied to all businesses, not just education. Margaret Grove, Concord

Let me assure everyone that all teachers and public schools have targets for their students, every day, every year. The publication of complicated percentiles or numbers representing statewide targets has little effect on what committed, professional and passionate teachers do for their students. As for explicit teaching; good teachers have always applied this pedagogy. What our public schools need is more funding, full stop. Lisa Williams, Dulwich Hill

Dismal science

There is something brutally disconcerting about an economic theory that requires 75,000 more workers to lose their employment before the RBA is willing to reduce interest rates (“For interest rates to fall, 75,000 more people will be out of work,” November 28). Continuation of a high-interest rate policy will likely achieve this as businesses fail. Meanwhile, inflation has fallen considerably and appears to sit within the RBA target band of 2-3 per cent. But according to the RBA formula, employment is too strong and tens of thousands must have their lives ruined to justify an interest rate decrease. The theory smacks of unreasonableness to the point of madness. No wonder economics is regarded as the “dismal science”. Geoff Harding, Chatswood

If this is how our economy truly works, there is something deeply wrong with our economy and society. Surely there is a better way. Lisa Dixon, Croydon

Anti-social media

The drug laws in Australia, where about a third of the population use something illegal and the drug with the most consequences – alcohol – is legal, teach teenagers and young people that the law is an ass (“Australia banned children from social media and the world was watching – very closely”, smh.com.au, November 29). The new media laws will teach that to children. Keith Binns, Goulburn

Dependence on social media is surely a symptom of boredom or loneliness. Unless the government has a remedy for this, efforts at control are bound to fail. Compulsive letter-writing to the Herald or contributions to Column 8 should also be discouraged. There are a few such people who need treatment. John Flint, Australia

It is interesting that the Coalition opposed the Voice on the grounds that there was not enough detail and it would be left to the government to decide how it would work. Yet they have supported the social media ban, which is asking for the same trust in the government’s ability to deliver a workable solution. Philip Cooney, Wentworth Falls

Hung parliament

It is becoming clear that progressive reforms such as the EPA, fairer taxation and significantly increased social welfare payments to reduce poverty will not be delivered by this Labor government (“Labor dismay at PM’s environmental watchdog call”, November 29). A hung parliament is not only likely but arguably necessary for a protected environment and a more equitable Australia. The probability of a hung parliament has been increased by the recent compromises by the Greens in passing a tsunami of legislation on the last sitting day of parliament, suggesting they have indeed arrived in “the land of common sense” and consequently should poll more strongly in the imminent election. Geoff Harding, Chatswood

Police pressures

Having been associated with police most of my career, I can say that they are often called out to impossibly complex situations (“Taser death a ‘different’ case: judge”, November 29). Often they encounter violence, sometimes they pay with their lives. They are often confronted with situations where they have to make instant judgments. If a psychotic individual is running amok, screaming abuse and wielding a knife, does the police officer shoot, taser, or physically overpower him? Kristian White had to make a decision and he acted. Why should this police officer, who made a wrong call, pay with his career and face a term of imprisonment? And how many police officers in the future are going to restrain themselves for fear of similar punishment? Malcolm Brown, Ermington

I agree with your correspondent who points out that gaps in the aged care system failed Clare Nowland (Letters, November 29). The medical system failed to diagnose and treat her, the care facility used insufficient resources to keep her and others safe, but the police officer whose actions were unquestionably inappropriate is held to be solely responsible for her demise. This tragic event should trigger a deeper inquiry into the systematic deficiencies which occurred before the police were called to resolve the problem. Catherine Turner, Cremorne

Drama must stay on the stage

The attempt by the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) to remove group performances from drama and to vastly curtail the range of topics accessible to music students is nothing more than a money saving exercise (“‘Please, I beg you’: Celebrities fight bureaucrats to save these HSC exams”, November 29). Both drama and music performances are currently marked by teams of trained markers travelling to schools in all parts of the state. This involves travel expenses, overnight accommodation in the case of rural schools and the employment of casual teachers to replace those on rural marking duties. NESA would very much like to see all HSC marking reduced to an on-line process as it is significantly less expensive to manage. The losers are all of those creative students whose talents can only be appreciated by performances. You only have to attend the HSC drama or music nights to understand the passion and talent that would be stifled by the actions of a few untalented bureaucrats.
Peter Cooper-Southam, Frenchs Forest

Moral imperative

We can hardly point the finger at St Andrew’s for their reluctance to fully and transparently acknowledge the harm done by abusive teachers (“Private school wanted a warts-and-all history. But now, it’s canned”, November 29). One of the main reasons we couldn’t stomach an Aboriginal Voice to Parliament is that we couldn’t bear to hear, or refused to believe, the abuse heaped on Aboriginal Australians for over a century. It’s all part of the same moral cowardice. Colin Stokes, Camperdown

Don’t stop the music

One of the first sessions I ever ran as a fully qualified music therapist was with Gemma, a young woman in her 20s with epilepsy, in addition to physical and intellectual disabilities (“Music therapy slashed from NDIS funding”, November 26). I played and sang “Stand by Me”, a song I was told was one of her favourites, and she began to smile. As I continued to play, my music therapy training supported me to improvise and adjust my playing based on Gemma’s physiological responses, and after a few minutes, she began to laugh.

Gemma’s mother told me that this had been the first time she had seen her laugh without that laughter developing into a seizure. Music therapy was able to provide Gemma with something she had never experienced before – joy without consequence.

There is a difference between playing music for someone and music therapy. This has to be recognized by the NDIS and reflected in legislation. *Gemma’s real name has been changed for privacy reasons.Thomas Hockey, Lutwyche (Qld)

Postscript

There must be a large crossover of ABC listeners and Herald readers, if the response to the dumping of ABC Radio Sydney broadcaster Sarah Macdonald is any guide. When columnist Jenna Price wrote “The ABC doesn’t know its audience”, we had dozens and dozens of letters calling for the decision to be reversed. Nicola Wakefield Evans wrote, “Sarah is an important part of Sydney radio..her perspicacity, intelligence and knowledge of Sydney is extraordinary and she undertakes an enormous amount of work in the community enhancing the ABC brand”.

The other big topic of the week was the mooted return of the five surviving members of the Bali Nine to Australia (The Herald’s View, November 25). Does everyone remember where they were that day in 2015 when Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were executed by firing squad in Indonesia? And seeing their heartbroken families escorting the coffins out of the prison gates?

Bernard Moylan echoed my thoughts. “We all make mistakes, sometimes serious ones, but we all deserve a second chance. Mercy and compassion are too rare a commodity in today’s mean-spirited world.”

However, a few letter writers disagreed. Stephanie Edwards asked, “Why is the government spending so much time and energy on repatriation of criminals from Indonesia? The Bali Nine were caught red-handed smuggling drugs and should therefore be subject to the full force of Indonesian law”.

Readers have also been weighing up the issues surrounding the fatal Tasering of 95-year-old dementia sufferer Clare Nowland by police officer Kristian White, who was found guilty of manslaughter this week. Sydney geriatrician Tuly Rosenfeld wrote, “we should not assume that those providing services to older people are aware of their special needs or trained in how to best manage problems and behaviours associated with their illness. The police (and other services) need training”.

After the story about Sydney’s longest-serving restaurants (“Hats off to the stayers”, November 26), Jeffrey Mellefont pointed out that the Malaya opened in 1963 and its famous massaman curry “is just as good” today. Heading there now.

Margot Saville, letters editor