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Regardless of the outcome, I hope that the federal government for the following three years isn’t decided by the politician who has placed on the very best efficiency within the six-week election circus. Please let it come right down to insurance policies, honesty and integrity. Eric Sekula, Turramurra
Shark assault
Your correspondent suggests if issues don’t go properly for the bulldozer immediately, a brand new profession awaits as tackling coach for the Cronulla Sharks (Letters, Could 20). Quite the opposite, we true lifelong Sharkies will probably be celebrating his return to Randwick as he re-joins his beloved rah-rah rugby neighborhood.
Tony Ramsay, Armidale
Position enjoying
Operation Mincemeat is at present screening in cinemas. Albo and ScoMo have main roles. Helen Moran, Woollahra
Inventive genius
The highlights of the election marketing campaign for me, and little question many different Herald readers, have been the excellent cartoons produced by Cathy Wilcox, Shakespeare and different good wits. An enormous thanks for preserving us sane. Margot Vaccari, Berowra
Morrison missing in legacy? What larger legacy can there be than saving the nation throughout its darkest days since WWII? Just like the warfare, lives have been misplaced, however nowhere close to the numbers sustained by different international locations. Let’s pray the incoming prime minister throughout his brief keep within the Lodge isn’t confronted by the identical grave choices that have been addressed by his predecessor. George Fishman, Vaucluse
It’s solely pure: loss of life isn’t an enemy
Finally, our rulers have taken a primary step in the direction of assisted dying, to a society the place an individual can finish their life on the time of their selecting, alone or within the firm of family members (“Supporters welcome ‘the day compassion gained’“, Could 20). And with out the necessity for medical doctors, legal professionals or clergymen. A society the place loss of life isn’t seen as an enemy, to be fought to the final breath, however embraced because the pure and inevitable finish of life. Ross Carlton, Wyoming
Thanks to everybody concerned in making voluntary assisted dying occur in NSW. My spouse died an terrible loss of life from motor neurone illness and she or he deserved the selection. And therein lies the crux of the problem – alternative. To those who campaigned and voted towards assisted dying, you continue to have your alternative. You will have misplaced nothing. Iain Muir, Engadine
The passage of the VAD invoice is a victory for frequent sense. After all, there are all the time those that would search to stop individuals from being allowed to regulate their very own lives. Every time laws of this type is adopted, they predict horrifying penalties. When same-sex marriage was accepted by the Australian neighborhood, these identical individuals warned that the sky would fall in. Regardless of their hysteria, nothing untoward occurred. So it will likely be with VAD, and we will probably be a extra caring neighborhood due to it. Derrick Mason, Boorowa
After witnessing the insupportable ache and struggling my aged mom went via earlier than her loss of life from pancreatic most cancers, I applaud the NSW state parliament determination to make VAD lawful. Nobody ought to need to expertise the trauma of a beloved one dying in such an undignified and horrible method. No quantity of counselling can put together you for the expertise. Folks ought to die with dignity. Rajend Naidu, Glenfield
The passing of the VAD invoice will open a Pandora’s field. By lifting the lid on the invoice, we is not going to be spared its inexhaustible, evil permutations. It’s a false hope that legalising individuals to be assisted in ending their life will make our society extra humane. Advocates have forgotten why hope was left in Pandora’s field. Lynette Osborn, Marrickville
Thanks, Alex Greenwich and Andrew Denton. Ben Dryza, Newtown
COVID a missed alternative for unis to recast themselves
The brand new UNSW vice chancellor believes the pandemic gave the sector “an opportunity to reset; to forged off outdated habits and develop higher methods of working” (“NSW’s universities emerge from pandemic extra united”, Could 20). Many within the sector in the course of the pandemic, together with “exhausted lecturers and alienated college students from campus” mightn’t agree.
The sector, below the questionable excuse that it “was excluded from the federal authorities’s JobKeeper subsidy”, has arguably used the pandemic as a chance for mass shedding of 1000’s of “exhausted lecturers” who’ve made long-term contributions to the sector, imposing a number of questionable restructures and redundancies, and sustaining insecure employees casualisation and fixed-term contracts. To college students – our youngest daughter has struggled via two years of her diploma in whole “on-line” isolation, whereas accumulating the identical HECS money owed for distant research financed and supported by our non-public assets and infrastructure.
Vice chancellors ought to have organised a “reinvigorated co-operation” between themselves method earlier than the pandemic to struggle the sustained failure of governments to fund them correctly, which has diverted their focus to worldwide scholar income and made them extra akin to personal companies than public pillars of upper studying. Robyn Dalziell, Kellyville
Present some care
Aged care is again on the agenda (“Sector in disaster: 60,000 vacancies nationwide”, Could 20). Extra money and better wages could be good. However aged care residents know that what is required is rather more nuanced. Extra care hours would assist, however what is required relies on the composition of the residents. Some want rather more consideration than others; and this adjustments over time. One dimension doesn’t match all. The necessities have to be assessed regularly, say month-to-month, and the funding of care hours adjusted accordingly. Scheduling is crucial. Some durations demand larger assets than others. Late within the night, for instance, there’s an awesome demand for help. This means the necessity for subsidised transport for late-night employees. Expenditure on meals is beneficial, but it surely’s what is definitely eaten that issues. There’s a lot waste in care properties. What we’d like is a authorities that understands the actual state of affairs and doesn’t conveniently pigeonhole aged care.
Alex Fleck, Surry Hills
The value is unsuitable
The failure to do something to restrict the absurd will increase in home costs is a monumental coverage failure that’s destroying individuals’s lives (“Falling home costs imply carnage … so why would
politicians resolve housing affordability?”, Could 20). Tons of of 1000’s of Australians are
consistently anxious about their capability to pay the mortgage or the hire. Many renters see their state of affairs as lifelong. Homelessness is rising. On the opposite aspect, the wealth of many dwelling homeowners has grown dramatically. Housing has grow to be the important thing division in Australia and the destructive penalties are manifold. Alan Morris, Eastlakes
Is progress good?
You elevate an vital subject (“Why nobody is speaking about migration in the course of the election marketing campaign”, Could 20). A motive is that migration is the main reason for inhabitants progress and that this imposes massive prices. These contain infrastructure upgrades, city congestion, housing demand, air pollution and, importantly, environmental degradation. We have to realise that our socioeconomic system is barely a subset of the ecological atmosphere that gives our life help and should due to this fact be protected as the highest precedence if future generations are to outlive and flourish. This dependency challenges the unquestioned “progress is sweet” mantra that has warped our considering however ought to have handed its use-by date way back, if sustainability is paramount. Alan Jones, Narraweena
Two sides to Dahl’s story
What a feast of magical literature your correspondent’s household have missed in not being uncovered to Roald Dahl’s magnificent oeuvre (Letters, Could 20). He was not merciless. Quite the opposite, his sense of justice was all the time on the coronary heart of his tales.
The odd, the opposite, the poor have been all the time victorious. The merciless, the heartless have been trounced, the meek and sort have been vindicated. My sons, reluctant readers at first, grew to become eager readers when launched to Dahl. My grandchildren love studying his tales and they’re nonetheless bedtime favourites – “Are you able to learn The BFG once more and do the humorous voices?”
Youngsters have all the time picked their noses and loved fart jokes; studying Dahl’s tales is not going to additional kids’s-slide into so-called vulgarity. Kate Elderton, Toronto
Roald Dahl not solely regarded himself as “anti-Israel, not anti-Jew” but in addition acknowledged his antisemitism in an article in The Impartial in 1990 (“Racist bully? A lot-loved writer? The conundrum of Roald Dahl”, Could 19).
It’s troublesome to argue in any other case within the face of his quite a few offensive statements, such because the time he informed The New Statesman, “There’s a trait within the Jewish character that does provoke animosity … Even a stinker like Hitler didn’t simply decide on them for no motive”; his reference to “nice Jewish monetary establishments” purportedly controlling the US authorities; and his appalling slur that in his service in WWII, Jewish troopers have been troublesome to search out.
In December 2020, his descendants revealed an apology on the official Roald Dahl web site for “the lasting and comprehensible damage brought on by Roald Dahl’s antisemitic statements. These prejudiced remarks are incomprehensible to us and stand in marked distinction to the person we knew.“
There isn’t a ambiguity – not in Dahl’s thoughts or for anybody accustomed to Dahl’s writings and musings.
Jeremy Jones, Director of Neighborhood and of Worldwide Affairs, Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council
Redundant and reviled
Your correspondent asks if readers can assemble a sentence utilizing “truly” (Letters, Could 19). For emphasis – he truly anticipated individuals to jot down their responses, so I’ve. Tom Meakin, Port Macquarie
Are you able to assemble a sentence the place “truly” provides which means? Properly, truly, I can’t. Jim Hyndman, Fillans
Truly, the pointless companion phrase to “truly” is “actually”. It, too, is misused so as to add emphasis, fairly actually. Matthew Gibbs, Leichhardt
“Mainly” isn’t solely a redundant adverb however on one notable event led to downright confusion (Letters, Could 20). Dwelling in Germany, one among our colleagues was requested by a perplexed German why everybody appeared obsessive about “bicycles”. It didn’t take lengthy to grasp that pleonasm and the Aussie accent have been at play. Elizabeth Maher, Bangor
Starting sentences with “now” and punctuating a story with extreme use of “like” are each principally, and completely, pointless. Robert Caraian, Crows Nest
I usually revile redundant phrases after I’m travelling in a southbound path. Meredith Williams, Northmead
And by way of ineffective phrases and phrases, what about “by way of”? John Burman, Port Macquarie
Postscript
“Congratulations to the Sydney Morning Herald for its goal however understated editorial in Friday’s version. The explanations it beneficial a change in authorities have been forthright and properly reasoned. The newspaper has proven it’s nonetheless unbiased and a newspaper of integrity,” wrote Terry Hannan of Bowral, echoing the phrases of lots of of correspondents.
As all the time, a number of did have some criticism: the editorial was “meek” in its help of Anthony Albanese. “Labor deserved higher than the Herald’s grudging endorsement. For these not paying consideration, Labor’s marketing campaign was all about imaginative and prescient, integrity, inclusiveness and compassion. Hopefully, Australia will vote for a return to decency. Integrity is the cornerstone of fine management and with out it we can’t succeed,” wrote Graham Lum of North Rocks. A small variety of letter writers additionally believed we have been backing the unsuitable social gathering.
As a former editor defined after an enormous reader backlash to an editorial supporting the Coalition at a state election, the Herald has been endorsing one aspect or one other for greater than 100 years, since main political events first got here into existence. Within the first six a long time following federation, it all the time supported the election of a conservative authorities. The Herald has solely endorsed the federal Labor Social gathering for election six occasions beforehand – 1961 (Calwell), 1984 and 1987 (Hawke), 2007 (Rudd), 2010 (Gillard) and 2019 (Shorten).
However whereas correspondents could disagree with editorial path, I’m positive most, if not all, are pleased the marketing campaign is over, regardless of the end result will probably be. As Eddy Lange of Ashfield wrote: “No extra faux hair washing, faux truck driving, uncooked curries and bulldozers knocking over kids. All of us deserve higher than this nonsense.” Pat Stringa, letters editor
- To submit a letter to The Sydney Morning Herald, e-mail [email protected]. Click on right here for recommendations on learn how to submit letters.
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