Dictation test returns

For refugees to ''form a queue'' in places where they risk death or imprisonment even for doing so assumes that there is a place to do so and would be futile even if it were possible.

Telling people to fill in forms in a foreign alphabet is simply another form of the infamous dictation test of the 1950s and 1960s. How many of the people formulating such policies could fill out a form in Arabic script?

The debate of ''economic migration'' needs clarification also. Politicians and the public need to remember that being middle class is not a guarantee for avoiding persecution.

Indeed people who are articulate enough to speak out against injustice are particularly liable to persecution. Nelson Mandela was not alone in this.

People fleeing persecution very often have no idea where they are fleeing to - what they are seeking is safety.

Australia could indeed afford to take in irregular boat arrivals who prove to be true refugees without reducing its intake from refugee camps.

Indeed it would save billions by doing so.

These people ask nothing more than to be able to work, to contribute to the country that saved them. Instead we squander squillions on locking them up, sending them mad and flying them back to be slaughtered.

Dr Juliet Flesch, Kew, NSW

I must admit to being a little confused by Kevin Rudd's comments to the people smugglers in Indonesia that their ''business plan/ model'' has been ''destroyed''. All these criminals ever did was put enough fuel in the boats to get to Christmas Island and collect the fares. As Rudd and his government are the mugs who are going to pick up and carry any illegal arrivals to Manus Island, what's actually changed for the people smugglers? The ''people smuggling'' criminal activity will only cease when Australia demonstrates to the world that it is serious about enforcing sovereignty over its territorial borders and trespassers are treated as illegal entries onto Australian territory and will be dealt with accordingly.

Michael Doyle, Fraser

There has been lots of discussion about the Coalition's three-star general policy and extra resources. Sounds a bit like a public service planning day. No one seems to have asked the obvious question, of how the policy will actually stop or slow the boats.

It seems to me that this is like the bureaucrat dealing with the street-wise people smuggler. With the three-star general marshalling resources as three-star generals do and a boat is intercepted, I assume the three-star general will, with great authority, refer to orders to turn boats around when safe to do so.

What is the three-star general going to do when the people smuggler sinks the boat and leaves men women and children in the water? Will there be a team meeting and a call to the immigration minister? The advice will surely be that it is now an emergency at sea; you are obliged to save them.

With the passengers safely aboard the three-star general's nice new boat, where to take them? Well, it must be a processing centre because they have no papers and it isn't clear where they came from. The lawyers and advocates are circling, waiting for their chance to do good, the media is desperate to report and the people smuggler is laughing all the way to the bank. All the current debate in Australia about whether the PNG solution will work can only encourage people smugglers to continue their evil trade until this country finally gets its act together and gets behind a workable solution.

How about a unified approach to send a clear message to people smugglers. Sadly I don't think it's possible in Australian politics or the media, and people will continue to die at sea.

Geoff Gillett, Chapman

''A cat may look at a king'', but can a citizen comment on a judge? Probably not, but here goes. Why am I not surprised to see Justice Richard Refshauge's name crop up (again) in the article ''Call for action on legal case backlog'', (July 29, p.1)?

If his decisions after the Royal Canberra Hospital implosion inquest are anything to go by, I'm definitely not surprised. He effectively quashed any further public appeal on that tragic case, in which, many say, an operative was made to take the blame for the apparent irresponsibility of the government.

I know I'm not the only one concerned about the performance of this judge.

Jack Kershaw, Kambah

Brave effort by Megan Doherty to soften the image of jack of all trades Jorian Gardner (''Gardner hits back at detractors'', July 27, p3) but further research in Canberra's arts community would have told her that the controversy his reappointment ignited was fuelled not only because it was not put to tender (I guess that was the minister's prerogative) but also because of his thirst for stirring the pot for the sake of it, often without artistic merit to support it.

I hope he thinks twice before bringing disrepute to what is Canberra's premier event, the Multicultural Festival.

Forewarned is forearmed!

Frank Madrid, Turner

The article ''The trackie's back'' (July 27, p8) had John Howard's tracksuit being ''one of the most iconic representations of green and gold for many Australians''. The article ''Double reason for Hyatt celebrations'' (July 27, p10) had ''Parliament House wasn't the only iconic building celebrating its 25th anniversary this year''. The front page of Panorama (July 27) had the heading ''Building Australia - Canberra's iconic homes''. And the article ''Wildcard returns to the fringe'' (Panorama, July 27, pp6-7), had Jorian Gardner being ''an icon of Canberra''. Is there anything that isn't iconic? Come on, Canberra Times. Please have your writers lick their pencils, have a think, and give it a rest!

Bronis Dudek, Calwell

I think that it might be time to remind the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition about some of the globally accepted principles of representative democracy. Widely acknowledged in many countries is Edmund Burke's message in his victory speech to the electors of Bristol in November 1774: ''Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion … ''

The French are reminding themselves of his message at the moment. The Egyptians probably have never heard of it.

Their situation shows what, in an age of mass communication, can happen if the message is ignored. Our Prime Minister, in particular, should eschew silly messages on Twitter and return to seeking to govern, based on his judgment, and not on the opinions of his constituents. Now that would require real leadership, wouldn't it?

Peter Rusbridge, Kambah

It's pleasing the Voluntary Euthanasia Party has brought the issue to the forefront (''Porter puts findings on euthanasia to good use'', July 27, p3) . We should all have an end-of-life plan, look at the options and decide what is right for us.

Options include nursing home, palliative care, and level of medical treatment if terminally ill in hospital. When the time comes, those who prefer a quick, peaceful death over a lingering one should have the option of doctor-assisted suicide. But, as long as the federal government can overrule legislation passed by the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory, territorians remain second-class citizens.

Susan MacDougall, Scullin

It is ironic that Labor MLA Mary Porter is planning to put ''findings on euthanasia to good use''.

The irony is illustrated with the court report (''Suicide pact partner guilty'', July 27, p8) that the jury declared a Canberra man ''guilty for aiding and abetting the suicide of his girlfriend''. Euthanasia is a fancy word for assisted killing.

Bev Cains, Garran

Mary Porter's comment on her experience in getting ''requests from other older people in the community to address the issue of death and dying'' reflects the growing trend where people are seeing euthanasia as an answer to their fear of growing old and of losing their autonomy.

Should euthanasia be the solution to an ageing population? I think not, because euthanasia will not only erode the trust relationships between patients and doctors/nurses but will also corrupt the medical and nursing professions.

Already, overseas evidence demonstrates the unacceptably high rate of involuntary euthanasia. Thirty-two per cent of all assisted deaths under the euthanasia law in the Flanders region of Belgium were committed without patients' requests. The absence of prosecutions proves that voluntary euthanasia inevitably leads to involuntary euthanasia - which is impossible to regulate. Far from increasing choices at the end of life for individuals, it is the doctors and nurses who are handed the ''options'' to decide on matters of death, not the individuals. Legalised euthanasia cannot be a solution to an ageing population just as suicide is not an answer to pain.

Clara Curtis, Tuggeranong

Another young woman in the prime of her life has been taken by that painful and fatal Lyme disease in Western Australia.

This disease is still not recognised in Australia and so-called experts say that the Australian tick cannot be the cause. How many more have to die of this creeping menace before someone extracts their finger and realises what is happening? I have seen a very young child in absolute agony with this disease.

Once again our government is so busy arguing about overseas matters, that it has forgotten about its own people.

Peter Burrows, Franklin

The enthusiasm of the editorial, ''Defence sexism getting the boot'' (Times2, July 25, p2) is difficult to understand.

The establishment of the Sexual Misconduct Prevention and Response Office (SeMPRO) within Defence is just another action in the war of words subsequent to the ADFA Skype incident. The resultant cascade of disclosures has yet to produce any convincing resolution.

According to the Chief of the Defence Force, General David Hurley, SeMPRO will allow ''the victim, not the system, [to] decide if and when to report a matter for investigation''.

It would seem that this new ''victim focused'' approach will initiate investigation of alleged crimes (likely through ADF Investigative Services, not the police) if the victim insists (after supportive counselling).

This is not convincing victim empowerment. The only empowerment I can detect in the entire SeMPRO exercise is the acknowledgement, at the top of its Defence website, that ''Any member of Defence who has been affected by a sexual offence can, at any time, contact their local state/territory police or ring 000 in an emergency.''

The cost of such contact is not disclosed. Likewise there is no specific resolution of conflicting requirements under various military and public service legislations and regulations.

Gary J. Wilson, MacGregor

I've lately noticed the withering of the tops of the Commonwealth Avenue cypresses. For the benefit of the younger generation who have just been exhorted to celebrate National Tree Day, could the government tell us what plans it has to replace the early 1920s plantings that have reached the end of their safe life?

Alan Christie, Phillip

Congratulations to Crispin Hull, (''Going in to bat for science and weather news'' July 27, Forum, p2), for expressing what many feel, that sport has an excessive amount of space in the media and it needs to be greatly trimmed.

He suggests that the weather report should come first and then the many who have no interest in sport can switch off.

What about a regular segment on news in science?

Why do we have to put up with so much of what broadcaster Clive Robinson once called ''Thugby footbrawl'' in every news?

Like the man pushing the wheelbarrow, Crispin has the job in front of him.

Some Australians are convinced that those who do not have a footy team or passionately follow cricket are beneath contempt.

While I was buying my Saturday paper at the newsagent I joked that I would be putting the sport section in the recycling bin.

An outraged customer heard me and said :''That's the best part of the paper! What are you, unAustralian?'' If I am, then so are many others.

Robert Willson, Deakin

Yes, Crispin Hull , no doubt the University of Queensland's petition for more science news is bound to fail, but fear not, I have a 'win-win' solution for both science and media news directors!

Why not news about the science behind sports cheating? Sports doping, spot fixing or even the infinitesimally small, mathematical odds that the sporting media pack will actually see through the spinmeisters' attempts to try and distract or cover up a scandal?

To get the ball running, here's a report on the use of game theory analyses of sports doping to explain why no sports authority really wants a truly thorough drug inspection regime - in case it reveals near-universal cheating.

Berno Beuchel of the University of Hamburg and his colleagues have done that, as reported in The Economist online (July 20, 2013, ''The Athlete's Dilemma'').

Could it be that ''the guilty parties in sports doping are not those who actually take the drugs, but those who create a situation where only a fool would not''?

Michael Crowe, Hawker

CHANGE IS COMING

One good thing about the forthcoming election - either Abbott or Rudd will lose and hopefully be replaced as a party leader. Bring it on!

A. Wilkinson, Gowrie

SHORT MEMORIES

The hullabaloo about illegal boat arrivals generates a lot of hot air - most of it to do with our particular political system, which brooks no bi-partisan approach.

We seem to have forgotten our ill-gotten entrance to this continent in the 18th century: boats, boats and more boats!

Johannes Esman, Braidwood, NSW

WISE WORDS

On being asked by a journalist during his visit to London in the 1960s what he thought of Western civilisation, Mahatma Gandhi replied after a moment's reflection: ''Yes, that's a very good idea.'' The same question asked today in the context of Australia's attitude to refugees might have elicited the same response.

Bryan Furnass, Garran

HISTORY REPEATS

Bruno Yvanovich (Letters, July 29) has a point when he compares Christmas Island with other battlegrounds in our history.

Our collective attitude to asylum seekers contains a large dollop of fear and loathing of people who seem different from us, the same fear and loathing that fired us up against Muslims and Orientals in past conflicts. And some of these battles have been fought at home; I would add ''Cronulla riots 2005'' to Mr Yvanovich's list.

David Stephens, Bruce

THE GREAT UNKNOWN

Greg O'Regan (Letters, July 29) accuses Vic Adams (Letters, July 24) of being asleep because he cannot recall any policies of the Coalition. Perhaps media reporting wouldn't be so ''scarce'', as you say, if in fact the Coalition's policies (I use the word policies loosely) consisted of more than three words! So, if you would be so kind to all of us who are, along with Vic Adams, apparently ''asleep'', enlighten us on what exactly the Coalition's ''policies'' are.

S. Redston, Chisholm

RINGS A BELL

Joan Stivala (Letters, July 26) rightly condemns the grammatical solecism of ''the bells … toll for he''.

In defence of The Canberra Times, I believe this may have been a play on words (misguided and a tad smarty-pants perhaps) on the quotation from John Donne (Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions, Meditation 17), which goes ''… never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.''

E. Smith, Page

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