The ‘‘Call to arms’’ (February 19, p14) on the recent arms fair in Abu Dhabi, rightly draws the link between weapons sold at the fair and the appalling humanitarian situation in Yemen perpetrated by the UAE, Saudi Arabia and others.
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The Australian government is among those doing their utmost to increase our own weapons sales to these same human rights abusers.
Unlike a number of European countries, Australia has refused to stop military exports to those perpetrating crimes in Yemen.
Australia will also have its own arms fair, beginning next week at Avalon in Victoria. Like the arms fair in UAE, the Avalon event will begin with a military display, the Avalon air show.
While civilian as well as military aircraft are on display, the promotion of the event is heavily skewed towards the excitement of killing machines, ‘‘the awesome power of military aviation’’, and ‘‘the roar of attack helicopters’’.
The people of Yemen, or multiple other modern war zones, might not find the roar of air attack quite so exciting.
And meanwhile, while military wares are on plain view at such arms fairs, Australian citizens are consistently denied information on what weapons our country is selling, and to whom.
Suddenly it becomes a matter of ‘‘commercial-in-confidence’’ or that other excuse for opacity, ‘‘national security’’. A more likely reason is that our government’s attempts to sell weapons to some of the most oppressive regimes in the world are so offensive that they demand secrecy.
Avalon will further whitewash our complicity.
Dr Sue Wareham, president, Medical Association for Prevention of War, Cook
Help others suffering
Many sick Australians need the assistance of MPs.
Judging by the photos of crossbench MPs Kerryn Phelps, Julia Banks and Rebekha Sharkie, hugging and smiling after the asylum seeker transfers bill passed Parliament, they are very passionate about ensuring that sick people have access to medical treatment when they need it.
Their passion and drive must give immense hope to the tens of thousands of Australians who have chronic illnesses but can’t afford the treatment they need, the drug addicts and alcoholics who can’t get the assistance they need to break their habits, the Indigenous Australians who live in third world conditions and have limited access to medical facilities and the people on long waiting lists for life-changing elective surgery.
These people don’t have high-profile access to the public forum and don’t seemingly warrant the attention, support, care or assistance they deserve and are entitled to.
I hope that moving forward our MPs remain as passionate, driven and committed to helping all of these people as they are about helping asylum seekers.
Jeff Rose, Mildura, Vic
Climate policy crucial
Climate change will easily trump asylum seeker policy as an Australian election winner.
While politicians become hysterical about the possible arrival of more refugee boats, most of us are much more alarmed about human-induced climate change and other associated threats to the survival of our children.
This must be, above all, a climate change election.
Our Prime Minister is still addicted to coal and the Opposition has not yet adequately recanted on it. The science is crystal clear. Continued burning of fossil fuels is a massive threat that dwarfs border security and nearly everything else.
Australia should, and could, be leading the world on clean energy and low emissions. Instead we are lagging badly.
Thank goodness for those crossbenchers, who understand the seriousness of the climate challenge.
The electorate certainly does, and if the Labor Party wants to succeed, it must quickly commit to making
Australia a world leader in the application of its renewable energy technology.
Bob Douglas, Bruce
Refugee hypocrisy
Scott Morrison has announced that, rather than bringing to Australia refugees with medical conditions that cannot be treated on Nauru or Manus Island, his government will send them to Christmas Island.
However, Gordon Thomson, president of the Christmas Island local council, told Leigh Sales on the ABC’s 7.30 program of February 19 that the island does not have sufficient medical facilities or suitably qualified doctors to treat serious health problems. Refugees with such problems will still have to be brought to the Australian mainland.
Mr Morrison wants to attract asylum seekers to Christmas Island (which is Australian territory) so that he can accuse Labor of ‘‘going soft’’ on border security. At the same time, he seems desperate to prevent genuine refugees on Nauru and Manus Island from getting to mainland Australia.
It seems that Mr Morrison will have to think of a new angle on the asylum seeker issue.
Douglas Mackenzie, Deakin
Change stance on drugs
There must be a state election round the corner. In the nearby NSW seat of Monaro, we hear promises from the ALP and the Coalition about more police so we can have more ‘‘law and order’’.
Rather than receiving our compassion, drug addicts are treated as criminals, and those with mental health issues are doubly punished.
All efforts to get them into rehab are thwarted by a discriminating and victimising system that seems more interested in disadvantaging those who cannot afford to get proper legal assistance.
It is a revolving door system that makes it more difficult for these ‘‘criminals’’ to get out of jail permanently and into one of the great facilities that can actually help them get off drugs permanently.
Instead, the families of addicts are torn apart watching their children, imprisoned in jails where drugs are easily accessible, turn into hardened criminals with even stronger addictions.
Come on people. It’s not that hard. It’s time to acknowledge that ‘‘just say no’’ is unrealistic and isn’t working.
If we want to create a safer, healthier and more compassionate society let’s get serious about pill testing and decriminalising drug use and addiction as part of a holistic, long-term approach to drugs in our society.
Catherine Moore, Braidwood, NSW
Finance paper failures
Our Finance Minister does not check his credit card statement yet he governs our country’s finances.
Then he says it’s all OK, he has paid for the plane fares now.
Not only did he not pay at the time, he called the director to book the tickets.
If Senator Cormann does not check his own credit card statements, what other finance papers does he fail to give due diligence to in his ministerial capacity?
Penny Goyne, Giralang
Dumbing down services
I recently ran into a friend who also happens to be a bus driver and I asked if he was enjoying his day off as he looked like he had just left the gym or his garden.
The driver replied that he was actually working and what he was wearing was a very cheap and nasty example of what passes as a uniform these days.
I was embarrassed for him and we talked at length about ‘‘the old days’’ when drivers wore a uniform which could include a tie if they were so pleased.
This had a twofold effect as it made the drivers look smart and made them feel proud to be ambassadors for their city.
I am truly saddened by what appears to be a deliberate dumbing down of our services, drivers and city and as a born and bred Canberran it hurts to see a place with so much potential looking old, cheap and tired.
Heaven forbid that some of the more cynical among us may think those terms could apply to our fearless leaders.
Joseph Italiano, Red Hill
Beware apartments
Why would anyone who is not extremely wealthy risk downsizing to a new Canberra apartment?
They are now not only urged to spend much time trying to investigate the track record of the builders and developers of existing and proposed apartment complexes (‘‘ ‘Understaffed’ ACT govt can’t police building quality: housing group’’, canberratimes.com.au February 19) but are also more aware that they may spend much of the first few years of their new life scouring and analysing their building complex for defects. This would be in order not to miss the relatively short eligibility period for making significant claims to rectify building defects.
It would seem to many that the ACT government’s ‘‘highly regulated consumer protection service’’ that was set up in 2002 to assist claims against poor building construction is now inadequate for dealing with the financially draining situations that are facing many apartment owners.
Sue Dyer, Downer
Light rail v cars
The Gungahlin to Canberra city light rail line is expected to start running from April 27, after originally being due for construction completion in late December.
Stage One from Gungahlin will be initially popular.
This is likely to be short-lived once the inevitable realisation of catching a connecting bus in Civic to travel to Russell, Barton, Woden, Belconnen and every other Canberra destination becomes apparent.
Network integration is crucial if transfers are to work. This means passengers should be able to transfer easily.
Canberra has been found lacking in this area for many years as evidenced by the poor performance of Civic Interchange.
The reality of using public transport soon becomes a chore when patrons are left stranded due to poor connectivity in a cold Canberra winter.
If Canberra light rail is going to work it needs to transport patrons directly from where they live to where they work, shop and educate themselves. And it needs to do this as conveniently as they experience in their private cars.
That is a daunting challenge.
Light Rail Stage Two must be built as quickly as possible in the right location. To suggest that it should run around State Circle, remote from the employment centres of Canberra, is nonsense. Light Rail Stage One risks becoming a ‘‘white elephant’’. It will not succeed unless Canberrans can be convinced to ditch their cars for the convenience and reliability of mass transit.
Peter Moore, Barton
Leigh’s argument flawed
Is the shadow treasurer, Andrew Leigh’s, doctorate in voodoo economics? (Letters, February 15).
His argument ‘‘Australia is the only country in the world with a system of refundable franking credits’’ is totally irrelevant to what we do here.
His claims that ‘‘refundable credits introduced by John Howard results in zero taxation of corporate profits’’ and ‘‘if every shareholder was eligible for refundable franking credits every dollar of tax raised through the corporate tax system would be refunded through the personal tax system’’ have to be complete nonsense. Readers should treat his letter as politically motivated rubbish.
M. Flint, Erindale
Independent? Not quite
One of the more curious aspects of the alleged cyber-security attacks on Australia is the role played by so-called ‘‘independent’’ voices used by the media to allegedly help the public understand the issue (‘‘China key suspect in pre-election hack against major parties’’, canberratimes.com.au, February 18). One such voice routinely used to amplify concerns is the Australian Strategic Policy Institute which, in reality, is a government-funded entity that also enjoys significant support from foreign private sector defence contractors.
How is it possible to have a genuine, informed public debate on such issues when some voices informing that debate appear to be conflicted?
John Richardson, Wallagoot, NSW
Let’s be fair
I have no difficulty with Labor’s proposed changes to the treatment of franking dividends. The problem arises when this approach is applied to self-managed super funds which were designed to provide for tax-free income.
Removing tax free status from franked dividends inside these funds would be inconsistent with the continued tax free treatment of other income sources, such as from overseas investments, property trusts and bank interest.
I can understand Labor wanting to get at the generous super arrangements of the relatively well off. A couple with a well-structured self-managed super fund of $1.6million each, could generate a combined tax free income of $160,000.
In effect, the current self-managed super arrangements are a huge gift to the better-off simply because they have more to put into them. That is a regressive taxation system instigated by Labor in the first instance.
The little guys with modest self-managed super funds who are not formally ‘pensioners’ will be collateral damage in this battle. Labor should also be fixing the tax free status of superannuation schemes.
Geoff Rohan, Kambah
TO THE POINT
VICIOUS CYCLE
The federal government says it will spend billions of dollars to support weapons industry exports from Australia. How can we complain about refugees on our doorstep while we spend huge sums supporting weapons manufacturers whose business model drives people from their homes?
Gerry Gillespie, Rural Australians for Refugees, Queanbeyan, NSW
FOR PETE’S SAKE
Poor old ScoMo, but he has saved us from Potato Head.
Cynthia Moloney, Yarralumla
SEIZE THE MOMENT
By trumpeting, very loudly and often, about new weaknesses to border security allegedly caused by Bill Shorten, Scott Morrison has issued a gold-plated invitation to the people smugglers to send boats to breach our security (providing of course they do it before the election).
Tom Collins, Palmerston
RIGHT ANTIDOTE
The idea of deporting criminals or revoking citizenship in some instances is a superior counter-step to crimes and terrorism.
I salute whoever came up with this idea.
Mokhles K Sidden, Strathfield, Sydney
OTHER WAY AROUND
If the Catholic Church is unlikely to comply with new child protection laws that would force them to break the seal of confession to report sexual abuse allegations, am I to conclude our jails could become full of priests and our churches full of child sexual abusers?
John Milne, Chapman
CAPITAL GAIN
The Capitals’ WNBL season would be incomplete without acknowledging the role played by The Canberra Times in covering women’s basketball. Our Canberra Times has the best coverage of this sport in Australia, and this year has pushed the bar higher. Well done.
Peter Baskett, Murrumbateman, NSW
TIME FOR CHANGE
The ACT government’s failures on health and education are enough to warrant it being turfed out. It has also dropped the ball on urban planning, building quality control, maintaining our urban forest, public transport, prison drug management, community consultation, dog attack control, nuisance drone management, lawn mowing and probably more. And now we have a reported $100m spike in debt.
Peter Sesterka, Hawker
MY POT PLANT RULES
Is it a coincidence that at this point in time, where nearly everyone has had their sense of reality knocked out by bad television and the like that somebody like backbencher Michael Pettersson can come along, promote the legalisation of drugs, and still be taken seriously? I doubt it very much.
Vasily Martin, Queanbeyan, NSW
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