Abul Rizvi ("Leaky logic used in battle of boats", February 21) rightly noted that the number of people seeking refugee status is well over 100,000. Most have arrived by plane, far outweighing the number of people who arrive on boats. And yet the focus has been on those poor, sad individuals who arrive on the barely habitable north west coast of West Australia and think that they can walk to Sydney from there.
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Yes, Australia does need to maintain border security though it would be awful to turn back those who have a genuine fear of persecution under the 1951 Refugee Convention. Many asylum seekers, however, are simply seeking "a better life" and have no right to automatic entry. We have to distinguish the genuine from others; somehow, somewhere and quickly so no-one languishes for years in detention. Three months should be the limit.
All this needs to be put in the context of a changing climate and Australia's capacity to take in thousands of people. In a hotter and drier climate, we may not even be able to feed the number of people we have.
A population policy built on the principles of environmental limits is long overdue.
Jenny Goldie, Cooma
Self-fulfilling prophecy
Abul Rizvi's article "Leaky logic used in battle of boats" (February 21) confirms Opposition Leader Peter Dutton's scare campaign about "illegal boat arrivals" has served only as self-fulfilling prophesy.
His words encourage asylum seekers from countries suffering disasters caused by climate change and overpopulation, such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and parts of India, to be recognised as refugees in a country they likely see as sparsely populated, peaceful, wealthy, and little-affected by climate change.
Dr Douglas Mackenzie, Deakin
Time for a change
I notice that when the Labor-Greens government promises something or a local issue is finally addressed, the informed public's reaction is frequently, "it must be an election year".
It is time for a change of government so that we can move on from this justly expressed cynicism.
Yuri Shukost, Isabella Plains
Queensland has problems too
Steven Miles' contempt for Canberra is his prerogative, but I wonder if he's actually spent much time here enjoying the city itself, or just conflates the place with his working experiences here (as so many politicians do). In any case, his loss and I'd rather he not come back with that attitude.
Incidentally, his state of Queensland isn't so thrilling either. Yes, it's got amazing tropical rainforests and utterly breath-taking coral reefs (for now at least given climate change), but it's also the home of racist One Nation, only recently discovered the benefits of fluoridated drinking water (although 28 per cent apparently still haven't) and perplexingly can't figure out daylight savings. Maybe not the smartest banana in the bunch?
Gary Fan, Reid
Stop the kangaroo cull
Only 4 per cent of all mammals left on Earth are wild animals. What does this terrifying statistic mean?
The mammal species are now overwhelmingly humans, livestock and pets. The remaining wild mammals are precious. Despite this knowledge, the Labor-Greens ACT government slaughters wild kangaroos and grazes cattle on our nature reserves. 2024 is high time for change.
Robyn Soxsmith, Kambah
Freedom is at risk
Well I agree the West is largely free (Letters, February 23).
But it is not setting a good example to the global south with its lack of action in stopping Israel slaughtering Palestinians and failure to give enough support to the real global concerns of inequality and environmental destruction.
No wonder the authoritarian bloc of countries, referred to by Ian, go from strength to strength.
Brazil's Foreign Minister rightly referred to this issue at the recent G20 Foreign Ministers Conference in Brazil.
But was our representative, Katy Gallagher, listening?
