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A national scandal
Peter Hartcher says it all (″Gambling law’s biggest winners″, 22/8) It is a national scandal that we have a Prime Minister who defies basic Labor principles in supporting an industry that actively grooms children to become gamblers. “Gambling advertising is grooming children and young people to gamble” stated the 2023 parliamentary inquiry. An Australian study analysing free-to-air TV audience data found children were the highest consumers of gambling ads of any age group in the world. How can a PM who claims he listens to the people ignore the overwhelming majority who want gambling advertising banned altogether? And what a missed opportunity this presented to a beleaguered opposition to assert clear moral leadership, and support Australians who continue to call for an end to gambling ads.
By stepping forward as the decisive force for reform, the Coalition would have received wide community acclaim in responding to public consensus, but along with the government they succumbed to political donation and have treated the people with contempt.Bryan Long, Balwyn
Labor tweak-kneed
The concluding statement “you win some, you lose more” from Peter Hartcher in his insightful analysis of the changes to gambling legislation which were passed in the parliament last week is most apposite. The Labor government might count the passing of the legislation as a win, but by not going harder on the reforms, especially to online advertising, it may have lost more voters than it thinks. Same with its action on climate. Tweaking around the edges isn’t cutting it.Nick Toovey, Beaumaris
Swans aftermath for fan
Though I had no choice in the matter, born into a passionate South Melbourne tribe, I have always taken inordinate pride in supporting my football team, the Swans. I have ridden the highs and lows but no matter the outcome of a game have held onto the fact that the team stood for something, the “bloods culture” and proudly spouted the “no dickheads policy”. As a woman, last week my football team has made me feel things that I never thought possible; disgust, despair and fear. That the actions of these players so casually allegedly disregarded the rights of the women, the feelings of their partners, their mothers, their sisters and female club mates should not be as surprising to me as it is. It’s an attitude pervasive in society, and if these are the actions of the role models to our young men it is unlikely to change without serious and sustained action from the AFL and policy makers more broadly.Jane McMahon, Collingwood
Save green wedges
Across Victoria, our green wedges are under growing pressure from developments that do not belong in sensitive rural landscapes.
Here on the peninsula, we are fighting to protect our green wedge, and now residents in Doreen face a proposal for a massive lithium-ion Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) in their green wedge, directly beneath high-voltage transmission lines and in a bushfire-prone zone (″Turnbull battery proposal sparks bushfire fears″, 22/8).
Grid-scale batteries have their place, but not on environmentally significant land. A BESS of this size carries well-documented risks, including thermal runaway, fire, and toxic gas release. Its scale is industrial, regardless of how much electricity it can provide to the community.
Green wedges safeguard biodiversity, landscape character, and public safety. Once industrialised, they are lost forever. Victoria must stop treating these protected areas as expendable.Anne Kruger, Rye
Howard’s legacy
Shane Wright (″A 20-year climb to $1 trillion in debt″, 22/8) gives kudos to John Howard for claiming the nation’s finances had never been in better condition under Howard’s stewardship. The reason the budget was healthy when the electorate sacked Howard and his government was largely due to selling off government assets such as Telstra and the mining boom that saw immense revenue flow to government.
The windfall of the boom was largely squandered. In his time in office there was no plan for the economic future and I’m reminded that as treasurer in the Fraser government he left a sizeable budget deficit for the Hawke government to deal with.Phil Alexander, Eltham
Forgiving analysis
Shane Wright is remarkably forgiving about 20-plus years of federal financial mismanagement and its consequences. John Howard gave us buckets of middle class welfare and tax cuts then sold Telstra cheaply only to have an intransigent CEO refuse to build the broadband network necessitating more public debt.
Kevin Rudd propped up the economy during the US-induced meltdown only for his successors to let the debt languish. Julia Gillard gave us a privatised honeypot NDIS then successors ignored the rorting. The Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull years saw squandering, tax cuts and deficits with neither purpose nor legacy. COVID hit and Scott Morrison initially gave billions to those who didn’t need it then refused to claw back any from those who weren’t properly entitled. All the while leaving responsibility for thousands of smaller hospitality businesses to the states. Albanese has not the inclination to either boost revenue from mining nor rein in scandalous military procurement boondoggles.
Just on the finances measure alone, is it any wonder the public have decisively turned away from our incompetent duopoly.Mark Freeman, Macleod
Meaningful action?
When the Israeli military killed Zomi Frankcom, her fellow aid workers and their driver, the prime minister called for “full accountability” for her death. Full accountability amounted to an Israeli inquiry that cleared the soldiers involved. Now they have been cleared again.
Why would we expect anything different? We huff and we puff and our “fury” is evident, but more than two years later we are still too scared to take any meaningful action.Shane McCartin, Macleod
Rising cynicism
Your correspondent (Letters, 22/8) appropriately notes the Albanese government’s failure to respond to public opinion on crucial issues such as gambling reform, gas exports and coal and gas approvals. The common element underpinning the government’s stance on each of these areas is protection of big business interests.
Maintaining profits for the gambling and fossil fuel industries is far more important than listening and responding to its constituents. The cynical process of siding with either the Greens or the LNP to achieve its agenda creates cynicism that adds to the voter alienation driving the rise of populist parties and threatening our democracy.Peter Cook, Essendon
Not a super solution
Superannuation exists to future-proof retirement. Liberal and One Nation representatives are no visionaries. Neither party acknowledges that lower superannuation balances at retirement mean the government ends up footing the bill for the age pension because the people dipping into their super now for a home deposit will be the ones asking the government to cover the shortfall, assuming the age pension still exists by the time they reach eligibility age.Sandra Fordyce-Voorham, Black Rock
No Trump, wonderful
What a wonderful read was Saturday’s Age : scams, modern slavery and the Swans, but not one article about Donald Trump!Tom Stafford, Wheelers Hill
Now, Tony, the memoir
Following Tony Wright’s wonderful valedictory piece (″The time of my life in halls of power″, 22/8), I look forward to a memoir.Joe Wilder, Caulfield North