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Badiucao<\/span>Credit: <\/span>.<\/cite><\/p>\n To submit a letter to The Age<\/em>, email letters@theage.com.au. Please include your home address and telephone number. No attachments, please include your letter in the body of the email. See here for our rules and tips on getting your letter published.<\/strong><\/p>\n The North East Link blowing out by a massive $10 billion simply shouldn\u2019t be accepted by Victorians. With state debt now forecast to reach a nation-leading $177 billion in 2027, serious action needs to be taken to pull out of the debt dive. Premier Jacinta Allan saying there are \u201cissues\u201d, \u201cchallenges\u201d and \u201cextra investments\u201d, simply seeks to hide monumental mismanagement for which we are all going to pay dearly. With many suburban and regional roads falling into disrepair, there is little point building new ones when we cannot maintain the ones we have. Let alone providing adequate funds for other areas of government expenditure. Victoria is at the financial crossroads; the Allan government should choose a different path. Ways to solve housing crisis<\/strong> The car is not the vehicle to the future<\/strong> Ditch the wetlands proposal<\/strong> We need to get out of this Loop<\/strong> Ripples of war<\/strong> Glimmer of hope<\/strong> Apartheid judgments<\/strong> Chained malady<\/strong> Not so captive audience<\/strong> Blot on the landscape<\/strong> Fountains of joy<\/strong> A precious right<\/strong> Roman in the gloaming<\/strong> All things in moderation<\/strong> Legislate the truth in ads<\/strong> And now some good news<\/strong> Respect for asylum<\/strong> Subtract the multiples<\/strong> Christmas<\/strong> I usually find Leunig a bit preachy, a bit wishy-washy, but yesterday he could not have been more spot on with his ode to the \u2033\u2063little baby Palestinian Jew\u2033\u2063. A friend rightly suggested Leunig\u2019s Away in a Manger cartoon should be published on the front page of every national newspaper. Words<\/strong> It\u2019s a locals\u2019 thing. Nothink (sic) tricky about Cans. It\u2019s how Queenslanders pronounce the unofficial capital of FNQ just as Malbun is Victoria\u2019s capital.
Mathew Knight, Malvern East<\/strong><\/p>\n
I disagree that freeing up more land is a solution to the housing crisis (\u2033\u2063NAB boss warns on housing affordability\u2033\u2063, 16\/12). As The Age has reported, approved housing projects are sat on by developers. We must all finally accept that Australian home prices are unsustainably out of line with wages, and social housing inadequate \u2013 then make some drastic changes. Eliminate tax incentives so residential investment is less attractive to reduce competition for genuine home buyers. Police vacant properties by sharing data with utilities companies, and invalidate home insurance if unoccupied more than three months. Escalate repairs of social housing to re-rent them. Enable older social housing tenants to occupy smaller properties in the same community, freeing larger homes for desperate low-income families and victims of family violence.
How can we boast of being one of the world\u2019s most liveable cities, when so many are barely surviving by couch-surfing or sacrificing meals and medical care to support huge mortgages and rents?
Caroline Leslie, Hawthorn<\/strong><\/p>\n
With the North East Link estimated to cost $26 billion, would that money be better spent on Doncaster rail, and possibly electrification to Melton. Why in 2023 do we continue to adopt 1960s car-related transport policies? Phillip Jeeves, Aspendale Gardens<\/strong><\/p>\n
In light of massive cost overruns for the North East Link project, some things need to be clipped. The first to go should be the planned \u201ccultural wetlands\u201d on the site of the old Bulleen drive-in cinema.
Until recently, this land had been vacant for decades and was a favourite free range for the local kangaroos. Rather than go to the expense of an artificial lake with all the trimmings, just restore that area back to native woodland, which many locals would prefer anyway, while also saving taxpayers\u2019 money.
Graeme Daniels, Balwyn North<\/strong><\/p>\n
I agree with the article, \u201cPromises, promises, now time to get real\u201d (16\/12), With regards to the Suburban Rail Loop, the Victorian ombudsman, the Auditor-General\u2019s Office, the Parliamentary Budget Office, the Grattan Institute and many other experts have raised concerns surrounding this project. Furthermore, it has not been rigorously assessed by Infrastructure Australia, and the federal government is yet to commit to fund one-third of the project as is hoped by the state government.
It\u2019s unacceptable to say SRL has been taken to the electorate twice and with Labor winning both elections, the project should go ahead. It\u2019s not fair to put the voting population in this position. It is the responsibility of government to spend the public purse wisely. In the present economic environment and with major infrastructure projects such as North East Link experiencing significant cost blowouts, transparency matters. As taxpayers, we have the right to know how the SRL will be funded.
It will cost a significant amount of money \u2013 a generation\u2019s worth of spending \u2013 and as many have said, other important projects risk being cancelled because of this one mega project.
Yvonne Bowyer, Surrey Hills<\/strong><\/p>\nFORUM<\/strong><\/h3>\n
The article \u2033\u2063How the Israel-Gaza war is tearing Melbourne apart\u2033\u2063 (17\/12) makes interesting reading.
It rightly points out the divide between the supporters on the opposite sides of the conflict and states, \u2033\u2063The war in Gaza has not killed anyone here\u2033\u2063, but the thousands of deaths in Gaza from thirst, starvation, lack of shelter or medicine have deeply touched Melburnians whose hearts weep at the terrible trauma, particularly of the children. It is heartening to see thousands of pro-Palestinian Jews who speak up over the dehumanising and brutal treatment of the Palestinians by Israel. There needs to be an awakening of the sense of justice that seems to have died in those who still support Israeli Zionist policies.
Tasneem Yousuff, Glen Waverley<\/strong><\/p>\n
The article (17\/12) promised a much-needed perspective on Australia\u2019s handling of the situation in Gaza. Paradoxically, it clearly demonstrates why this has been impossible. Much of the article is devoted to the difficulties Jewish people in Australia are facing, describing the scale of antisemitism. This \u201cantisemitism\u201d is exemplified by various forms of protest, including the journalists\u2019 letter, referred to as demanding \u201ca prescribed pro-Palestinian context\u201d, the wearing of keffiyehs and the use of the word \u2033\u2063genocide\u2033\u2063 to describe what is happening. A glimmer of hope is in a few paragraphs at the end raising a more thoughtful Jewish perspective: I hope we hear more from Sarah Schwartz, and less from Deborah Conway. The grief and hurt of Australian Jews is as important as the despair and horror experienced by anyone who cares about Palestine. I strongly protest the continuing death and destruction in Palestine and I emphatically deny that this makes me antisemitic.
Jo Thomson, Northcote<\/strong><\/p>\n
In response to Deborah Conway saying in the article that the progressive left \u201csee Israel … as an apartheid state\u201d. It is actually Human Rights Watch, Amnesty and even the Israeli B\u2019Tselem (the Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories) that have labelled the Israeli actions towards Palestinians as \u2033\u2063apartheid\u2033\u2063, not the \u2033\u2063left\u2033\u2063.
Dechlan Brennan, Fitzroy North<\/strong><\/p>\n
While your correspondent (Letters, 17\/12) may well believe in the fundamental value of equal rights of men and women as quoted in the preamble to the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, one cannot help but think that Rousseau\u2019s observation from the 18th century is more accurate: \u201cMan is born free but everywhere he is in chains.\u2033\u2063
Moya Dickson, Hawthorn<\/strong><\/p>\n
Columnist Jacqueline Maley (Comment, 17\/12), in writing in the context of a Chekhov play \u2013 a writer who\u2019s abiding art reminds us humans are a perplexing lot who dream, fumble, stumble through life in a mix of comedic antics and tragic choices, often self inflicted \u2013 may have missed Chekhov\u2019s subtleties. Chekhov is not a \u201crealist\u201d but a \u201cnaturalist\u201d.
Maley does make some very good points especially regarding the flexibility of the phrase \u201cfreedom of speech\u201d, which may be used by some conveniently. However, as a citizen, atheist and former high school history teacher, who has a Chekhovian view of his former students and their parents, I object to any protest by any actor in the confines of a theatre where I am captive and paid much money for Chekhovian and other wisdom.
Freedom of speech is not the issue. And at the performance I attended, I left at interval, and cancelled my subscription.
Ian Muldoon, St Kilda<\/strong><\/p>\n
Why won\u2019t VicRoads deal with graffiti on the freeways? Despite numerous requests the sound walls along Eastern Freeway are covered in brightly painted hieroglyphics, both on the road side and the back, which abuts beautiful bushland. It\u2019s a safety issue and an eyesore. Remove it early and often.
Natasha Sinclair, Nunawading<\/p>\n
What a joy to read Robert Gott\u2019s article (Good Weekend, 16\/12). I was transported back in time, to my school days in the 1950s and
\u201960s, when fountain pens were de rigeur writing implements.
It was a world of Parker, Sheaffer, Waterman and Mont Blanc fountain pens \u2013 and Quink ink!
One could always guarantee that along with book tokens as gifts, there\u2019d be fountain pens in lovely little boxes for special birthdays and milestone life events.
My late husband loved to write with a treasured Mont Blanc fountain pen that I\u2019d given him early in our marriage. My father used a Parker pen all his life, using turquoise Quink ink, and closed letters with his gloriously flowing, unintelligible signature.
Gott is correct when he writes that one cannot form a bond with a Biro. Long live the fountain pen and all the paraphernalia that goes with it.
Caroline Heard, Glen Huntly<\/strong><\/p>\n
Freedom of speech is a precious and hard-won right in a democratic society. Those who abuse, vilify, throw eggs or try to silence anyone who disagrees with their personal world view degrade themselves and endanger the very freedoms they allegedly espouse.
April Baragwanath, Geelong<\/strong><\/p>\n
Let\u2019s not get hung up about whether or not the word Christmas is included in festive decorations and greetings. Whether it\u2019s merry Christmas, happy holidays, happy Hanukkah or seasons greetings, can we just let everyone enjoy this time of year in their own way?
In the meantime, I wish everyone a happy Saturnalia, the Roman harvest festival, which was replaced by Christmas by the Roman Emperor Constantine.
James Proctor, Maiden Gully<\/strong><\/p>\n
The Resolve survey (17\/12) shows two-thirds of Australians plan to spend less this Christmas. This was portrayed as a negative outcome of a cost-of-living squeeze. Couldn\u2019t we also see this as a positive trend away from the year-on-year expansion in consumer purchasing, from food to clothing to alcohol? Moderating our buying can be a good thing.
Peter Allan, Brunswick West<\/strong><\/p>\n
A new paper from the John Curtin Research Centre has drawn attention to the risk of disillusioned young \u2033\u2063working-class\u2033\u2063 voters deserting the Labor Party (\u2033\u2063Youth support for far right a threat to PM\u2033\u2063, 17\/12 ). Currently, in liberal democracies worldwide, increasing numbers of Gen X, Y and Z ers are voting for far-right populist parties.
The drivers for this trend have been years in the making, neo-liberal policies prioritising profit over maintaining and improving public services. Add to this \u2033\u2063post-truth\u2033\u2063 social media, and a wicked problem threatens social cohesion within our liberal democracies.
One step federal Labor could take to preserve its vote would be to legislate similar laws as exist in South Australia and the ACT that require truth in political advertising. Without such laws, populist parties and scare campaigns can flourish. If far-right populist MPs are elected, the result could be increased inequality in society, leaving younger voters even more disillusioned and angry.
Jenny Smithers, Ashburton<\/strong><\/p>\n
When we read so many tragic stories in the news, it\u2019s refreshing to read a good news story (\u2033\u2063A prodigal son returns to the fold\u2033\u2063, 17\/12). Reading about grace in action in the Jensen home was encouraging enough. But Dave Jensen\u2019s testimony isn\u2019t worthy of publication because of his father or connection with Sydney Anglicans, but because it\u2019s a real-life prodigal son story.
Jesus hasn\u2019t disappeared from Australia, but in thousands of Daves around the country, people are being convinced, \u201cBut I\u2019m also safe in the knowledge that God both forgives me and also used the very things I did that I regret to bring me to myself.\u201c
Murray Campbell, senior pastor <\/strong>
Mentone Baptist Church, Cheltenham<\/strong><\/p>\n
The article \u2033\u2063It\u2019s been painful: Hopes death of detainees can bring lasting changes\u2033\u2063 (17\/12) is yet another indictment of the brutality of the treatment of so many people who sought asylum here. We need to be reminded that whatever made individuals\/families flee, many had endured enormous suffering, thus they sought refuge. What is reprehensible is that companies are paid millions of dollars to provide services, yet there seems to be little accountability. One hopes the government is making changes that will ensure that what happened to Moses Kellie does not happen again and that the main premise is to ensure that a humane approach and respect for human rights is paramount.
Judith Morrison, Nunawading<\/strong><\/p>\n
Incredible is not the only overworked word. Multiple is now used whenever \u201cmore than one\u201d is intended. Some, several, many, a few, an actual number (say, four) are rarely used. Let\u2019s have more variety while we are reaching out to others (multiple people).
John Edwards, Mt Waverley<\/strong><\/p>\nAND ANOTHER THING<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Let\u2019s do away with Christmas trees all together and replace them with olive trees.
Ruth Davis, Melbourne<\/strong><\/p>\n
Michelle Goldsmith, Eaglehawk<\/strong><\/p>\n
Brian Fuller, West Launceston<\/strong><\/p>\n
No, in relation to your correspondent (Letters, 16\/12), surely the most overused word to the point it has lost it\u2019s worth is \u201cawesome\u201d.
Andrew Dunne, Chewton<\/strong><\/p>\n
Sue McKenzie, Belmont<\/strong><\/p>\n