Letters to the Editor: Justification for visa changes misses the ‘real issue’

Likewise, the manipulation of red tape that allows employers to hire overseas applicants for low or semi-skilled work is not the important point.

The real issue, not mentioned by the PM nor by many of the commentators I've read, is the maltreatment of an army of low-wage workers, including 457 visa holders.

This is a national disgrace and is surely illegal, yet we hear of no serious attempts by the government to protect workers' wages and conditions, but rather the reverse.

It appears to be much harder to make the employer class follow the law than it is to attack those who rely on penalty rates or social services.

We shouldn't be surprised. Our Tories have been hell-bent on stripping away workers rights, including wage justice, by destroying unions since forever.

They are slaves to their selfish ideology as much as any doctrinaire communist was in the old USSR.

Steve Ellis, Hackett

The most disappointing thing about Malcolm Turnbull's desperate "Australian jobs for Australians first" is that it is so out of touch with the reality of modern Australia.

Who are these "Australians" that our PM suddenly cares so much about. Are they the bronze Anglo-Celtic lifesafers who were seen on posters outside Sydney hotels in the 1930s? Look around, Malcolm, that Australia (if it ever existed) has long gone.

Walk down the streets of Bankstown or Civic and count how many people of southern European, Asian, and African heritage populate our cities.

These people are just as much Australian as those who can trace their ancestry back to a convict or squatter in the nineteenth century.

Just like Pauline Hanson's call to ban Muslims, the Australians first rhetoric only serves to divide and weaken us.

Mike Reddy, Curtin

Mr Modi must be really miffed. The Indian PM requested a lowering of the immigration bar, particularly for temporary workers, and Malcolm Turnbull moves to restrict 457 visa eligibility and change the name of the scheme.

It remains to be seen just how significant the changes are. For instance nurses and cooks "will remain eligible for a visa under the new scheme". ("Malcolm Turnbull to abolish 457 immigration work visas", canberratimes.com.au, April 18).

Both jobs are chronically understaffed and have been for decades. That's because the pay is so lousy. A kitchen hand can take home more than a chef but only because it takes longer to clean up after service has closed. A student nurse had to work two double shifts a week to make a liveable wage.

I see no evidence that things have really changed.

Gary J. Wilson, Macgregor

In attempting to destroy Professor Gareth Evans, Dr Zankin (letters, April 17) shows his own ignorance of nuclear matters, and thereby destroys his own argument.

I suggest he learns the difference between nuclear propulsion and nuclear weapons.

Professor Evans was supporting the construction of nuclear powered (propulsion) submarines for Australia – they have nothing to do with nuclear non-proliferation unless they also carry nuclear weapons, and being Australian that would not be likely.

The advantage of nuclear powered submarines is that they can stay underwater forlonger than the diesel counterparts. So Professor Evans is quite right to support the construction of nuclear powered submarines while also supporting the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.

There is no conflict between the two stances.

Alan Parkinson, Weetangera

Instead of giving a billion dollar soft loan for the development of Carmichael Coal Mine project in Queensland, the Australian government could invest that amount in a nuclear powered power station in India by supplying free the first billion dollar worth of uranium.

The project should be fully installed, run and supervised by the International Atomic Energy Commission. In this way we can reduce global warming and save Australia to combat the harmful effects of open cut coal mining.

It would be a good investment for Australia for a long time to come.

Sankar Kumar Chatterjee, Evatt

The problem with so-called democracies is that the populace cannot be relied upon to believe in their own ability to choose.

They would rather believe in a strong man who can make decisions for them. They are willing to set aside safeguards against tyranny in order to secure "stability".

Turkey is a prime example of how so-called democracy can deliver tyranny. It shrieks of the fallacy of our Western systems – that democracy is our protector against fascism.

The election of Donald Trump is another example of where so-called democracy has failed to deliver the goods.

Here is a man who is willing to use unprovoked aggression to secure his version of stability even though he pledged his non-interventionist stance prior to the election.

The Western press is so happy to forget these pledges because they support the use of pre-emptive strikes against nations which do not fall into line with their version of reasonable behaviour.

The old adage of live and let live is a thing of the past.

Erdogan and Trump are peas out of the same pod.

The greatest shame is that so-called democracy gave them false legitimacy.

Adam Bonner, Brogo NSW

It has been alleged Donald Trump owns shares in the company that manufactures Tomahawk missiles, the ones he used recently in Syria. He's apparently aiming missiles from the same company at North Korea. It would be a grave conflict of interest for a president to use global instability for personal profit. Should defence industries be removed from the stock market?

Laurelle Atkinson, St.Helens, Tasmania

State-supported doping regimes have no place in sport; neither does the use of sportspeople as political pawns. The Malcolm Fraser driven boycott denying the right of our Olympians to compete in the 1980 Moscow-held Olympic Games has scarred Australian sport to this day.

All this is relevant to the ongoing battle to secure the prestigious position of President of the Australian Olympic Committee next month.

Incumbent Coates has successfully spearheaded the importance of independence from successive governments to avoid the repeat of 1980 while at the same time spearheading global anti-doping efforts.

Challenger Roche has had her own successes as an Olympian and many consider her a welcome addition to the presidential race. The pinnacle of her success was Olympic Gold in Atlanta in 1996, a feat not possible in 1980.

She would be wise to distance herself from the glowing orchestrated support of prime ministers and politicians past and present lest she be viewed a political puppet by those she aspires to represent.

Stephen Haynes, Jerrabomberra NSW

The violence perpetrated by local citizens on Manus Island against detainees and guards illustrates the desperate situation faced by refugees there.

Bullet holes in the rooms of refugees bear witness to the violence.

The resentment expressed by local residents reveals an intolerable situation.

It is probable that not all of the refugees will ultimately be accepted by the USA and certainly not by Australia.

One wonders what solution the Australian government hopes to offer to those rejected for resettlement elsewhere.

The government is responsible for the safety of those incarcerated.

While Mr Dutton has boasted of the success of his policy of turning back the boats, clearly no solution has been found for the dilemma.

The government seems unaware that the Australian public is increasingly ashamed of the living conditions provided for the refugees.

In a recent Morgan Poll of 1800 Australians, 50 per cent supported the call to "Bring them here".

In the ACT 74 per cent supported this call. It is time the Australian government listened.

Helen Reid, New Acton South

More than a century and a half ago the "great thinker, writer, scholar" and friend of Charles Dickens, English historian Henry Thomas Buckle, wrote: "They may talk as they will about reforms which Government has introduced and improvements to be expected from legislation, but whoever will take a wider and more commanding view of human affairs, will soon discover that such hopes are chimerical. They will learn that lawgivers are nearly always the obstructors of society instead of its helpers, and that in the extremely few cases where their measures have turned out well their success has been owing to the fact that, contrary to their usual custom, they have implicitly obeyed the spirit of their time, and have been — as they always should be — the mere servants of the people, to whose wishes they are bound to give a public and legal sanction..."

It could have been written yesterday, particularly about politicians from the major governing parties who continue to preside over the transfer of public wealth, land, systems, and resources into private hands for far less than their true worth.

Jon Stirzaker, Latham

At least banks allow customers to cross-transact with most rival ATMs in a variety of locations in the nation, albeit with varying fees to do so. Why can't telcos "piggy back" in areas where one or more have a signal where a competitor does not? Perhaps a small fee might apply to customers to utilise their service? The major player may kick and scream, but it used to be owned by all Australians.

Greg Simmons, Lyons

Re: "Public servants given scripts" (April 19, p3) and the double speak provided by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority.

I would suggest the following commentary: "I lost my job because of Barnaby's pork barrelling", "The government's own cost/benefit analysis showed the net cost of the move", "Your jobs could be next if the narrowly based representative group Regional Australia's recommendations are accepted".

Unfortunately, this sort of amateur Orwellian scripting was also in use during various unsuccessful enterprise bargaining in the APS more broadly.

Rohan Goyne, Evatt

Earth Day is on this Saturday, and we should feel ashamed about the way we treat our natural world.

Logging of old-growth forests, soil salinity and acidity, invasive species and weeds, air pollution in cities, pesticide and herbicide over-use, species extinction, erosion, overgrazing, and climate change are combining to cause catastrophic degradation.

And now the Great Barrier Reef is dying. This is the second mass bleaching in a row, following the devastating mass bleaching last year. The reef needs about 10 years between mass bleaching events to recover, so this puts the reef in its terminal stage.

It's listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, along with the Tasmanian Wilderness and Kakadu National Park.

Are they going to be next to start dying?

The leaders of today and yesterday should explain to the upcoming generation why too little too late was the path they chose to follow.

Stuart Walkley, Lyneham

I hear Malcolm Turnbull talk about "Australian values" in relation to the abolition of 457 visas and I immediately think of Manus and Nauru. Please explain?

Jeff Bradley, Isaacs

Australian workers vote, 457 visa holders don't.

Glenys Hammer, Narrabundah

In April, May called a June election.

J. Beeay, Canberra

See you up there, Ken. ("There is no point hiding – they know exactly where to find us", letters, April 18). I suppose they've got a nice bar?

Barrie Smillie, Duffy

Anti-government forces in Syria killed more than 120 people being evacuated from al-Foua and Kfraya into government-controlled areas. Why was this abhorrent attack not a "line crossing" event and why did it not prompt an international outcry condemning these anti-government forces? Double standards anyone?

Khizar Rana, Walkerville, SA

Robert Frost wrote a great poem, The Road Not Taken, which ends with the lines: "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less travelled by, And that has made all the difference."

It is not surprising that this poem's title is regularly misquoted as The Road Not Travelled (Bernice Chen, letters, April 18), or The Road Less Travelled.

Michael McCarthy, Deakin

Unlike John Blount (letters, April 15) I would find it most surprising if Jack Palmer would be both uninterested and disinterested in the increase in property values and rents on the light rail corridor and the advantages of a subsidised (by the rest of the ACT) tram system passing in proximity to the suburb he lives in.

Ric Hingee, Duffy

I am sorry Anne Prendergast and Rosemary De Bear (letters, April 18) were offended by Pope's "Easter Spirit" cartoon. I have two genuine questions. Do they believe in freedom of the press? Are they equally offended by anti-Islam cartoons?

Eric Hunter, Cook

Given the parlous state of world affairs I compare the actions of Donald Trump and Theresa May to Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher all over again. Dumb and even dumber with much more at stake. If the Soviets and China don't play ball this time we are in deep strife.

Linus Cole, Palmerston

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