Politicians are notoriously shortsighted.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Their vision limited by the closeness of the next election, and their belief most voters will react negatively to proposed solutions to long-term problems because opportunistic opposing politicians will, probably successfully, have convinced them the long-term view is "alarmist".
Their current money-throwing exercise to "drought-proof" farmers in a more drought-prone future is an example.
People should read the article by UNSW's Richard Kingsford ("Why Barnaby Joyce and Andrew Forrest have got it wrong on the drought", canberratimes.com.au, October 26).
An extract from it "Many politicians jump straight to developing more supply, instead of improved management of demand ... " is significant.
There's only so much water. For the reduced quantum in drought times to be successfully "managed", demand must not exceed supply.
Australia's human population has grown since 2000 by about 5.7 million. During the then millennium drought the Murray Darling basin system was in crisis.
If this current drought persists, how can anyone expect the basin to cope with the extra demand imposed by those of the 5.7 million either directly or indirectly consuming its water?
Food grown with basin water is eaten by many living outside the basin.
Whilst individual farming efficiencies are desirable and may temporarily reduce agricultural demand, continuing high population growth policies of about 400,000 pa, and predictions of a 40 or 50 million population in a few years' time (with no mention of stopping there), can only increase longer-term general demand and basin water stress.
Vince Patulny, Kambah
Politicians let us down
Our politicians seem to blunder their way through parliamentary sessions and public appearances like buffoons playing a dangerous adult game.
They are content to dice with people's lives and fail to comprehend the meaning of humanity.
Their sleight of hand neither convinces or impresses, and what is more contemptible is the fact that they treat the voting Australian public like uninformed idiots.
V. Saunders, Weetangera
Our $1b tram track
James Mahoney (Letters, October 24) fails to add that Northbourne Ave now has a concrete tram track at considerable expense. Probably over $1 billion? Will we ever know?
I am sure the removal of trees and dressing up the area could have been done at much less of a cost and purchased more buses.
RIP light rail stage two before the world ends!
Brian Hale, Wanniassa
Light rail too slow
I have read that the journey time currently by bus to Woden from Civic is 15 minutes and if constructed, the light rail journey time will be 40 minutes.
I have not read any comments by the Barr government to challenge this fact, so why on earth does it think people want to spend more time travelling to work?
People will only get into their cars.
Could a member of the government explain the logic in what appears to be a gross waste of money?
Gail McAlpine, Griffith
5G may be dangerous
I write re the article "Telstra unveils ACT's first 5G tower, four more coming" (October 25, p8), suggesting people can watch the Raiders live on their devices "without buffering" and promising a "seamless experience" for overseas travellers.
Yet more than 200 scientists and doctors from 36 countries (expert in fields such as oncology, biophysics, and environmental health), recommended in 2017 a moratorium on the roll-out of 5G for telecommunication until potential hazards for human health and the environment have been fully investigated by scientists independent from industry. Already Israeli scientists have found that higher-millimetre frequencies intended for 5G use are preferentially absorbed into the sweat duct at much higher rates than other organ tissues, with potential adverse health effects.
I recall in an analogous way that chlorofluorocarbons were discovered in 1928 and later put into industrial use as refrigerants.
Only decades later it was discovered in the 1980s that there was a huge hole in the ozone layer over the South Pole, presenting a danger to the environment and the public at large. How smart was that?
Murray May, Cook
Shortwave mistake
Nicholas Stuart's article "Shooting shortwave was shortsighted" (canberratimes.con.au, October 24) reminds me of an occasion 18 years ago when I was working in Jakarta and approached on the street by a middle-aged Indonesian man who asked me where I was from.
When he heard I was from Australia he expressed profuse thanks for the Radio Australia shortwave service.
He explained that through the service's English-language training programs, he had been able to become proficient in English and this had transformed his life, lifting him from comparative poverty in an isolated village by allowing him to pursue a much better paid career in the city.
Stuart is spot on, Radio Australia on shortwave was an invaluable and trusted service to the millions in south-east Asia and the Pacific still trapped in poverty and unable to access the internet.
It is still undoubtedly one of the best investments in soft power Australia could make, furthermore technological advances mean these days such services can provide better listening at much lower cost, benefits other powers interested in this region are rapidly exploiting.
That Indonesian fellow learned well, his English was excellent with just a hint of Aussie accent.
Jim Graham, Carwoola, NSW
Canberra Times' power
On the strength of my letter re power bills published in The Canberra Times on October 14, I not only received a phone call from ActewAGL but a letter offering me a 12 per cent discount on future gas and electricity usage.
Judith-Ann Sjostedt, Higgins
Glib Morrison
For those struggling to find just the right adjective to describe our current Prime Minister, may I suggest the word "glib"?
Gordon Fyfe, Kambah
Bring on the election
Please, please, bring on the election. This lot don't have enough time left in office to have a hope of doing any good for the country. The trouble is, given the toxic nature of some of the personalities involved, they could do a lot of harm on the way out the door.
M. Moore, Bonython
Schools report unfair
Are ACT schools really performing badly?
Grattan Institute researchers ("Our kids are falling behind", canberratimes.com.au, October 18) come to this conclusion, but should we accept it?
The most likely explanation for the apparent poor performance of ACT schools is the methodology.
The approach taken by the Grattan Institute is to construct a formula to predict the performance of schools across the country based on available predictors (eg socioeconomic indicators).
The formula is used to compare predicted and actual performance of ACT schools.
The authors' note that their "analysis can't prove the root cause" for the "ACT's poor performance", but their commentary presumes the differences not explained by the formula are attributable to the individual schools or to the school systems in the various states.
It is more likely that the source of the ACT's "under-performance" lies in the formula, the assumptions that underpin it, and/or in the interpretation of the findings.
Rather than the ACT NAPLAN scores being too low, it is the formula-based predictions that are too high.
Here are some of the reasons this may be the case.
First, it is assumed that it is possible to use a formula to adequately "adjust" for socioeconomic differences.
Given the available data is limited, adjustment can only be limited.
Moreover, it is assumed that these limited predictor variables have the same impact in all localities — from rural areas, to leafy Sydney suburbs and socially mixed Canberra suburbs. This is a big assumption! And almost certainly not correct.
Second, the areas at the extremes (in this case very high or low on socioeconomic indicators) will be the most likely to be misrepresented by the formula.
As the authors state, the ACT is extreme, and is thus susceptible to this effect.
A systematic difference in the ACT probably means that the formula is wrong — and does not capture how socioeconomic factors affect NAPLAN results in the ACT.
Third, highly advantaged schools (accounting for one third of ACT students) are excluded from the study.
The selective nature of these schools is just the sort of ACT-specific condition that would cast doubt on the assumption that the national formula is valid in the ACT.
The results of the Grattan Institute study should not be taken as established fact.
Dr George Preston, O'Connor
US as bad as Saudi Arabia
There has been a lot of reporting about how US President Donald Trump has reacted to news of what now seems to be a calculated assassination of Jamal Khashoggi by agents of the Saudi Arabian government.
People seem to be interested in whether President Trump is concerned and whether the US will take any action.
I'm totally puzzled by this interest.
Why should anybody expect an American to be concerned?
Americans have routinely killed people by the thousand by means of drone strikes in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen.
There has been no pretence of legal proceedings or public proof of crime. These are simply assassinations at the whim of the US government.
And of course on top of that an unknown number of people have been illegally kidnapped and detained by the US government's "extraordinary rendition" activities.
Given the scale and continuing nature of the US government's own assassinations, why on earth would we think the US would care about or even notice the assassination of one person by the Saudis?
Gordon Soames, Curtin
Who do the Saudis fear?
Two questions are raised by the Saudi war against its neighbour Yemen, which the United Nations has dubbed the "worst humanitarian crisis in the world", and by the murder of journalist and US resident Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
The first question, currently under consideration here, is: should Australia suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia?
In the US, Donald Trump has ruled out an arms ban, and Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said his government would go ahead with a Saudi armoured vehicle contract.
In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel has decided that the country would suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia, telling reporters that, "arms exports can't take place in the current circumstances".
The second question is, why is Saudi Arabia such a wonderful customer for the arms trade? This country with an indigenous population of only 12.6 million, has signed an arms deal with the US worth $110 billion over 10 years.
Not far behind is Britain.
The Al-Yamamah (the dove) contract for the supply of Tornado fighter jets and other military equipment could be worth even more than the US deal to BAE Systems.
In fact, Campaign Against the Arms Trade in UK reports that from 1992-94 the UK's arms sales to Saudi Arabia were 75 per cent of its total arms exports, referencing a 1999 House of Commons Defence Committee report.
Why is Saudi spending its oil revenue so lavishly on what is usually termed defence? Where is the enemy?
Harry Davis, Campbell
Parliament open to all
Murray Upton wrote (Letters, October 25) that "there is no place in our Parliament for used-car salesmen".
I would point out that there is every right for used-car salesmen to sit in Parliament if their electorates, in their infinite wisdom, so choose.
Ed Highley, Kambah
Housing hypocrisy
The hypocrisy of Gordon Ramsay's proposal to limit rent increases to little more than the consumer price index ignores the prime reason for rent increases; his government's continual gouging through rates and land tax.
From September 2013 to June 2018 the CPI increased by about 7 per cent.
A recent article in The Canberra Times reported that over the same period, a one bedroom unit in Manuka was subject to a rates rise of 75 per cent, while land tax rose by 167per cent.
If Mr Ramsay is serious about stabilising rents he should ensure increases in rates and land tax are reasonable. How about limiting them to the CPI?
J. Sever, Higgins
TO THE POINT
WENTWORTH REASONS
I see the local barrow-pushers are at it again (Letters, October 23-24) claiming Wentworth fell because of issues such as climate change, asylum seekers, gay rights and Malcolm Turnbull. Only the latter is relevant: Wentworth is not Australia, the nation's jury is still out.
Greg Cornwell, Yarralumla
THE WAY IT'S DONE
Maybe the parents of the young girl in Queensland who refused to stand for our national anthem could learn a thing or two from the Tongan crowd in New Zealand for the rugby league international between Tonga and Australia, who after singing their national anthem, stayed standing and gladly sang Australia's as well; more than 25,000 of them. Truly outstanding.
Ian Pilsner, Weston
TWO-EDGED SWORD
Enterprise bargaining has proved itself a two-edged sword. It has been used by predatory supermarkets and franchisers in conjunction with duplicitous unions to undercut awards.
Now it is allegedly and quite credibly being used by the CFMEU to play off employers against each other to establish a blanket wage across the industry in excess of awards ("Employers warn housing costs will be pushed up if 'pattern bargaining' is allowed", canberratimes.com.au, October 24).
The point is that laws often have unintended consequences whether or not they were well intentioned in the first place.
G. Wilson, Macgregor
LOSING RELEVANCE
The Liberals fear losing donations from coal, oil and natural gas companies.
Hence they dare not admit that burning fossil fuels causes global warming.
The Liberals dwell in a world of their own.
Why won't Liberals ever recover? None so blind as those who will not see.
Tony Abbot and Barnaby Joyce suffer relevance deprivation disorder.
Graham Macafee, Latham
FUNDING ISSUE
Why are taxpayers funding connections to Sky News for the benefit of politicians and government departments. There is a publicly funded 24-hour ABC news channel that's free to air.
The age of entitlement is over isn't it?
Peter Harris, Belconnen
BANQUO'S GHOST
I offer the executioners in the fractious Coalition a different perspective on why it was better for them that the most recently deposed PM did not campaign in Wentworth. The margin of loss may have been far greater if constituents had witnessed, in the flesh, their Macbeth-like tragic hero brooding on the battlements.
A Whiddett, Forrest
Email: letters.editor@canberratimes.com.au. Send from the message field, not as an attached file. Fax: 6280 2282. Mail: Letters to the Editor, The Canberra Times, PO Box 7155, Canberra Mail Centre, ACT 2610.
Keep your letter to 250 words or less. References to Canberra Times reports should include date and page number. Letters may be edited. Provide phone number and full home address (suburb only published).