Credit:Illustration: Megan Herbert

To submit a letter to The Age, email [email protected]. Please include your home address and telephone number. No attachments, please include your letter in the body of the email.

Labor leadership

Thank you for the riveting story about why Tanya Plibersek didn’t stand for the Labor Party leadership in 2019 (Good Weekend, 4/3). I remember, at the time, saying to all who would listen, that Plibersek would be a great leader who would surely become an even greater prime minister. She seemed so right for the job.

Now, I understand the dilemma she was facing. As a testament to her strong and caring character, she made the only decision open to her. For the protection and importance of supporting her daughter and family through this crisis, she put her political ambitions on the back burner.
Thank you for this gentle, touching, and insightful piece of writing, which gives me some understanding of how difficult this time was for Plibersek and her family. My thoughts and best wishes go to all victims of manipulation and abuse, and I hope they can become positive and supportive role models for others.
Wendy Poulier, Ferntree Gully

Damaging her own prospects
Tanya Plibersek’s assertion that she would have won the Labor leadership had she contested it does not go down well. Apart from the arrogance, she has now demonstrated a concerning lack of decency towards Albanese and a lack of political sensibility. She has kicked an own-goal for Dutton who will no doubt claim Albanese is only the default leader of his party.
As someone whom I have always admired I have now written her off my list as a future leader. Poor judgment indeed.
Geoff Warren, Anglesea

Comments overstated
How did Tanya Plibersek’s comment out of a sensitive interview about her daughter suddenly become a headline that she and Anthony Albanese have to defend as though there is about to be a leadership spill? Kudos to Plibersek for putting her children first, as one hopes that any male politician would also do.
Fiona White, Alfredton

Undermining the leader
Tanya Plibersek has joined Peter Costello and Josh Frydenberg as wannabe leaders. Faithful deputies not willing or brave enough to take the next step. Are we fortunate that she didn’t stand?
So far she has been the invisible minister in the Albanese government. A few announcements but nothing solid for Labor to lay its environment credentials on. To present this biography now smacks of disloyalty.
Hans Pieterse, Narre Warren North

Factional fight looms
While your piece on Tanya Plibersek’s upcoming biography was excellent, the decision to place her claim that “If I had run, I would have won” at centre stage was regrettable to say the least. A wave of predictable and rather unedifying factional recrimination now threatens to drown out the message of the importance of family, and overshadow Anna Plibersek’s extraordinary strength and bravery.
Had the emphasis simply been on the “family pain behind Plibersek’s leadership call”, we may have been left with an important story unblemished by petty political infighting.
Alec Barber, Glen Iris

A woman’s free decision
The moving story of Tanya Plibersek’s decision not to stand for the party leadership in 2019 (“The thought of not being there for her was too much”, 4/3) should put a stop to the continual search to “close the gender gap”. As the article demonstrates, she made that decision for several reasons, based on her role as a mother.

And here’s the important bit: she made her decisions freely. She was not restricted because of others’ sexist views, she did not suffer sex discrimination. A well-qualified woman made her decision because she valued her role as a mother at that time above other work-related roles.
Pam Cupper, Dimboola

THE FORUM

Train to fix talent drain
A perennial goal of our governments has been to lower unemployment, and they have often said that their priorities are jobs, jobs, jobs. It is therefore odd, if not illogical, that now the apparent problem is the opposite: there are not enough workers to fill the jobs created (“Rethink on migration urged to halt the talent drain”, 5/3). The businesses complaining are either unprepared to train their employees or pay enough to attract them. This is not a problem that warrants government support through importing workers, as the business lobby is demanding.

However, it is evident some public institutions such as hospitals are also short of skilled staff. The remedies must include lifting pay rates and educating more doctors and nurses locally. Admittedly the latter measure will not help in the short term, but the policy response to attract trained health professionals from overseas and provide them with “pathways to permanent residence” is worrying. Many of the targeted immigrants are from less wealthy countries and this policy is the antithesis of foreign aid.
Ian Penrose, Kew

Share the cost
If employers wish to bring in workers from overseas without first advertising the position in Australia they should then pay the full costs that society has to bear, including additional infrastructure, environmental costs, and especially housing. For too long it has been a case of socialise the costs and privatise the benefits.

Only when business has to pay the costs of a big Australia will they put in the funding and long-term planning to develop the skills they need within Australia.
Barry Lizmore, Ocean Grove

Pay the price
Stuart Robert freely admits to making false statements and that he knew the robo-debt recovery scheme was unlawful. Perhaps the perks of office were too much for him to sacrifice for the sake of integrity. His extra salary from the time he knew that robo-debt was unlawful should be forfeited – along with a suitable fine to deter others from making similar choices.
Alan Inchley, Frankston

Loyal to his mates
We have heard lots of negative comment about the former minister for government services, Stuart Robert. But is it fair? Not dobbing in one’s mates, has been seen since time immemorial as the quintessential Australian virtue. Perhaps we could note, also, the authenticity of his stance. He doesn’t claim to be other than he is: he made false statements to protect his mates – so be it.
Claude Miller, Castlemaine

Brave truth-tellers
As shown by The Age front page (“Neglect and cover-up claims in jail healthcare”, 4/3) we can be thankful to the brave people we call “whistleblowers” who make known the injustices and unfairness in our society, often at great personal sacrifice. And thank goodness also for the investigative journalists who expose these injustices.
Glenise Michaelson, Montmorency

Neglect of inmates
Reading about the neglect and indifference to the welfare of vulnerable people inside our prisons reminded me of my own experience in the 1990s. For five years I worked voluntarily once a week at Sydney’s Mulawa maximum security women’s prison, teaching the inmates meditation and exercises in developing mental, emotional and physical relaxation. Those who attended loved being able to find ways to help alleviate their constant stress.

But every week, once it was time to meditate and the group had settled into a calm and peaceful silence, the prison warders would barge into the room, yelling and laughing at us, deliberately ruining the experience. Although I complained to authorities, nothing was done to stop this from happening and each week when I arrived, the prison warders would laugh and say, “Look out! Here comes the ‘medication’ teacher!”

However, despite the constant setbacks, the group members persevered and many positive results were achieved despite the cruelty of the prison warders.
Jo Buchanan, Northcote

Toxic dump questions
Credit to the EPA teams that have done an amazing job cleaning up the “Lemon springs” toxic waste disaster (“A poisoned land”, 4/3). But how did this happen in the first place? Are we yet again seeing the results of privatisation and “light touch” regulation? Where were the regulators and inspectors while the problem was occurring? Did no one question where these massive amounts of waste were going?

A properly funded and staffed certification, inspection and enforcement regime could have prevented what is now a massive cost to the state. Better still, a state-run toxic waste disposal instrumentality would have done the work properly, while charging commensurate fees to the businesses using it.
Richard Barnes, Canterbury

Ultimate sacrifice
Unlike Parnell Palme McGuinness (“Spare us the cakes”, 5/3) I like to honour and celebrate International Women’s Day for the women who sacrificed so much to enable millions of other women to have greater control over their lives.

It is also a day to reflect on the millions of women around the world who today still struggle for many human rights: many women continue to demonstrate great courage in fighting the forces of authoritarianism, patriarchy, racism, gender inequality, poverty, war and violence.

Let us also reflect on the many women around the world who still languish in prison for speaking out or are denied freedom of expression for their writings e.g. in Iran.
Judith Morrison, Nunawading

Unfair shift
A stickler for what’s fair, I feel the federal government changing the tax rate on super accounts with $3 million pulls out the rug from under people who’ve spent a lifetime investing, topping up, not wanting to be a burden on the government. What percentage of the 80,000 affected by this change of tax are average Australians who’ve spent decades saving, but had the bad luck to invest solely in super?

This tax is meant to only affect the super rich but they will find avenues to circumvent this change anyway.

Since the Hawke government people have been encouraged to “top up”. For those who listened, come July 1, 2025, they’ll be hard done by. What might Labor try next?
Julie Vulin, Moonee Ponds

Time for a laugh
With reference to Archbishop Fisher declaring war on Channel Ten’s The Project, I suggest he doth protest too much. Host Waleed Aly sincerely apologised for the arguably poor taste joke so I suggest the Archbishop save his ammunition for more significant battles. We clerics have to recognise that we live in a secular humanist society and be realistic enough to appreciate that we are no longer entitled to pretend that we occupy privileged status in a supposedly Christian nation.

I’m sure Jesus would have had endless opportunities for a hearty laugh given his motley mob of apostles. Even God smiles.
Fr Kevin Burke, Sandringham

Humanity overstated
Miles Pattenden writes that “Renaissance portraits of Christ on the cross often show him with an erect penis – a theological point to emphasise his humanity” (“Jesus jokes are no threat to salvation” 4/3). “Often”? Really?

Even in the most apparent cases, it’s a matter of whether it’s a knot in the loincloth, or some other interpretation.
Deborah Morrison, Malvern East

Wild possibilities
Kudos to the City of Melbourne for proposing powerful emissions reductions policies with its planning reforms (“Goodbye gas, hello solar for high-rises” 4/3). Among many excellent policies, the push to drive a green roof revolution is exciting. Imagine as an apartment dweller, spending the dollars saved on your enforced gas connection, on supporting an apartment-wide gardener to produce roof-top food and flowers for residents. Let your bucolic imaginations run wild City of Melbourne.

Ensure infrastructure that supports small orchards and vegetable gardens, bee hives and flowering plants. All make for easy pickings for our health, our community and the environment.
Karen Campbell, Geelong

Pull the plug
As a tween parent, I congratulate those who have brought the new Gandel Gondwana Garden at the Melbourne Museum to life (“Museum garden a growth area for tweens”, 3/3). A bold, interesting garden exhibit is a wonderful way to engage kids with science, history, and the natural world.
However, the requirement for “digital enhancement” is disappointing. The best learning comes from connecting with others and the world around us, not from plugging in to more digitalised information. The benefits from spending time in nature are profound. Why can’t the garden speak for itself?
Amy Hiller, Kew

Fashion without attitude
Melbourne Fashion Festival chief executive Caroline Ralphsmith is right that Melbourne will never be able to compete with Milan or Paris. However, there are women in this city who do have that style and panache that you sadly won’t see at our fashion festival (“Red is my favourite passion for fashion”, 3/3). The festival has become pretentious and overpriced with tickets to parade shows exceeding prices for other cultural events, which also lack the judgmental attitude of patrons.
I’ll be flying over to Europe soon and will sit in a cafe to people watch and have a more enjoyable and fun experience without all the attitudes I’ve experienced at past festivals here.
Mel Smith, Brighton

And another thing

Seeking affirmation
Jacqueline Maley (“Watch out people, addiction to affirmation is getting dangerous”, 5/3) quotes a claim in The New York Times that Rupert Murdoch’s Fox “appears to have knowingly sacrificed its integrity to maintain its market share”. Was this fact checked? For that to be true, Fox must once have had integrity.
Lawrie Bradly, Surrey Hills

Your headline “Biden fit for duty after procedure” (Sunday Age, 5/3) was good news. We look forward to something similar about Donald Trump. Any news yet on the upcoming brain transplant?
David Allen, Bayswater North

Federal politics
Does cabinet solidarity, as described by ex-minister Stuart Robert at the robo-debt royal commission, trump his oath of allegiance to the Australian public?
Robert Servadei, Malvern East

The deficit and a trillion dollar debt loom large over any Coalition plan to cut taxes or suspend super savings.
Greg Curtin, Blackburn South

I would suspect that quite a number of people would not object to paying some extra tax should they be fortunate enough to have $3 million or more in their super fund.
David Lyall, Mt Eliza

My admiration for Linda Burney has no bounds (Sunday life, 5/3). A magnificent Australian woman. Keep on fighting for the Voice Linda, many of us are fighting with you.
Nola Cormick, Albert Park

Furthermore
If Jan and John Faine were “nearly scammed” what chance do little old ladies (like me) and tough old blokes stand! Almost every day someone calls, mainly at dinner time, both on my landline and mobile phone. How do they know all this info?
Myra Fisher, Brighton East

From the world’s most liveable city to the heir apparent graffiti capital. This blight is everywhere.
Arthur Pritchard, Ascot Vale

Patrick Elligett sends an exclusive newsletter to subscribers each week. Sign up to receive his Note from the Editor.

Most Viewed in National

From our partners

Source: Read Full Article