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In relation to the article ″⁣PM challenged on climate as Pacific leaders meet″⁣ (14/7), one wonders if China was not pursuing the Pacific Islands into its sphere of influence, as opposed to the impact of climate change, how would Australia be responding to their need for survival? Previous governments, particularly Liberal governments, have ignored the known consequences of the changing climate and the vulnerability of these island states. There has always been arrogance and racism towards our Pacific neighbours. However the Labor government in seeking to ″⁣sell a climate package″⁣ seems contradictory if we do not increase our emissions reduction. The new government needs to be honest on the impact that the climate crisis is revealing.
Judith Morrison, Nunawading

Much to patch up, but let’s not overreact
While some, mostly Coalition politicians, criticise Anthony Albanese for spending too much time overseas, it’s clear that it was needed in the Pacific (“PM challenged on climate as Pacific leaders meet”, 14/7). There was much to patch up: weak climate policy, poor taste jokes, and ministerial neglect to name but a few. Having said that, Australia must not overreact when it comes to security and the US alliance. Are billions spent on nuclear subs the best solution? Our focus should be on peaceful activities that protect the culture of the Pacific while improving living standards. The world needs harmony, not war. We should lift foreign aid from 0.2 per cent of GDP to the UN’s recommended 0.7 per cent. We should stay out of the South and East China seas unless requested and use our naval resources in other ways such as providing COVID vaccinations and other resources to the many remote islands that have had supply chains weakened. The government has started well – let’s keep it going.
Ray Peck, Hawthorn

A progression in the right direction
Once we had a government keen to exploit cheap Pacific islander labour to prop up National Party interests, to lecture, and to snigger, along with senior right-wing ministers who cracked “hilarious” jokes about islander lifestyles and islander futures. Now we have a progressive government, keen to engage, embrace and encourage our Pacific friends. How refreshing. How positive. How neighbourly. How Australian.
David Allen, Bayswater Nth

Support for Taiwan has to remain strong
Your correspondent (Letters, 13/7) queries Australia’s (and many other nations’) stance on the sovereignty of Taiwan. To describe its being taken by China – in the same way Russia is trying to take Ukraine – as ″⁣one lot of Chinese replacing another″⁣ is simplistic.
The PRC has long wanted to assimilate Taiwan by 2049, the 100th anniversary of its foundation. The 50-year transition set up for Hong Kong prior to 1997 was designed to demonstrate to the people of Taiwan that such a merger could be peaceful and beneficial. Indeed, relations between the CCP and Taiwan government thawed to the extent that flights and commercial arrangements were sanctioned between Taipei and the mainland.
Then came Xi Jinping and the draconian tightening of democratic, commercial and individual freedoms in China. HK has unfortunately provided sufficient proof to Taiwan that the CCP cannot be trusted. The threat to an enduringly successful East Asian democracy and the crushing of its entrepreneurial people must be an anathema to any Australian. Taiwan is an industrial manufacturing powerhouse, providing the West with essential technology – without which it would be beholden to China. It is also strategically located in the South China Sea, and its annexing and that of its satellite islands by China would infringe on rights of nautical and aviation passage by other nations. Our best policy must remain to give staunch support for Taiwan, whatever else we are willing to horse-trade with our largest trading partner, China.
Caroline Leslie, Hawthorn

FORUM

Fighting complacency
Experts are calling for better communication and education on the benefits of masks, additional boosters and other mitigating behaviours, as hospitalisations rise and people continue to die each day. But at the same time there is more COVID in the community than ever – around 60,000 active cases yesterday, and that is only counting those who actually test and report their positive results. At this point, almost everybody has either had COVID and recovered, or knows people who have had COVID and recovered. Comparatively few know any of the unfortunate minority who have been hospitalised or died.
The everyday practical experience of an overwhelming majority is therefore that COVID has become just another disease circulating within the community, little different from the flu. In the face of this reality, it is easy to understand how many people have become complacent, and hard to imagine what kind of communication might now be effective in convincing them otherwise.
Mark Summerfield, Northcote

Freedom’s variants
Why do people have to be told to wear masks and after all the fuss about “our freedoms”. Surely we all have the freedom to wear a mask if we have a concern about catching flu or COVID. Strangely we still even have the freedom to be vaccinated or to move away if we have a concern about someone near us.
What is wrong with people?
Pamela Bores, Eltham North

Logic out the window
The initial response to COVID-19 by several Australian governments was to act on expert advice in order to limit the pandemic. Now, as the number of cases continues to surge, all logic has gone out the window by granting the public a personal choice concerning the wearing of masks. While we are about this, why don’t we allow personal choice when it comes to wearing seat belts or motorbike helmets? After all, these safety measures are designed to protect the individuals who wear them, but not the community at large.
Masks, especially N95s, protect everyone and should be mandatory when the risks of exposure to COVID-19 are high. As with seat belts and helmets, non-compliance with this requirement should be subject to penalties.
Professor Roy Robins-Browne,
University of Melbourne, Parkville

Personal not enough
The tone of government responses to COVID in 2022 appears to mirror many responses to climate change. Personal responsibility is the mantra. Addressing these urgent, complex challenges has resulted in simplistic suggestions to “pop on a mask” and “get off the gas”. For personal responsibility to be effective it must sit within policy and practice frameworks that provide structure and support at the broader level. Personal responsibility cannot prevent the impacts of COVID or climate change. It is the job of government to prosecute policies that do.
Karen Campbell, Geelong

No point to mandates
I am a strong advocate of mask wearing, and my mask is not coming off any time soon. I wish everyone would be sensible and mask up, physically distance, stay home if they have even a tiny sniffle, but I can see little point in the government mandating anything. There would be widespread non-compliance – by the end of the 2021 lockdown there were many people flouting the rules. Rules that worked for two years no longer have wide public support, so better a strong recommendation than mandates which turn half the population into lawbreakers. We all must make our own decisions.
Louise Kloot, Doncaster

There is a light
Every day we are reminded of the disastrous effects of COVID. The numbers of daily cases and deaths is distressing. However I have seen and experienced how people have adapted and pushed forward. One example is that a neighbour established a street Whatsapp platform to keep us in touch and to help the more vulnerable neighbours. I am in iso after testing positive. I have been overwhelmed by the thoughts, kindness and generosity of family, friends and neighbours concerned about my wellbeing. I have received delicious meals, soups, cakes, books to read and other distractions and even a takeaway hot flat white. Thank you all. We will get through this by all working together for each other.
Kay Gregory, Glenhuntly

Close the lobby
While lobbying is part of our democratic political process, can anyone tell me why we have paid political lobbyists? Surely as soon as we start paying either, a professional lobbyist, or a party for an audience with our politicians, we are corrupting our democratic system.
Mick Leeming, Pigeon Ponds

The power of irony
How ironic is it that past governments sold off public utilities, such as electricity, to private companies and now present-day governments are offering taxpayers a $250 rebate to navigate their way through the myriad price offerings of these companies to find the deal that does not rip them off.
Ian Harvey, Barwon Heads

Training the youth
I fully support Julie Szego (Comment, 14/7) in reviving the idea of a life training program for teenagers, giving them opportunities for personal growth. My experience of military national service training in the 1950s was generally positive in fostering a sense of discipline and responsibility as well as relating to those from different backgrounds. Forms of adventure groups such as scouts and guides have also been notably able to provide training in life skills. Many people I have spoken with have agreed that, while not now supporting military service, nevertheless a form of community service, including learning skills for adult life, would be desirable training for young people.
Peter Le Get, Heathmont

Caught in the headlights
How wonderful to see the intricately patterned Plains Wanderer atop the leading letters column (14/7). Recent reports (″⁣Tiny feet poking out: Breeding boom for rare plains wanderer″⁣, 9/7) suggest a hopeful increase in breeding but the species remains critically endangered.
Unfortunately it resembles quail, especially in poor light. There are no tests to check whether quail shooters can distinguish species or even fire accurately. Anecdotal reports suggest hunters are increasingly targeting quail rather than ducks, to evade wildlife campaigners and government officials.
Until recently, former agriculture minister Mary-Anne Thomas presided over this destruction. I have seen her look like a rabbit caught in the headlights when questioned over hunting. As our new Health Minister, she exudes a similar aura when quizzed over our COVID health response.
Joan Reilly, Surrey Hills

Nuances of diversity
Osman Faruqi (Comment, 14/7) adds some much-needed nuance to the goal of achieving greater diversity in representative bodies such as parliament. It is naïve to assume that someone who looks like you will share your views or advocate on your behalf. A person’s ideological and political beliefs are produced by many influences which extend well beyond their race, gender or sexuality. For instance, two 50-year-old white men in well-cut suits can hold vastly different worldviews. It’s impossible to detect that from looking at them.
Obtaining genuine diversity requires more than ticking a box to ensure a requisite number of representatives from a prescribed range of groups. Diversity of opinion is far more important than diversity of appearance.
Rod Wise, Surrey Hills

Sands of time
One of the most fascinating aspects of the NASA photos is that when looking back in time the universe was much smaller. And to conceptualise what we’re looking at, you need to think of the universe just when it came into existence, when there was no time nor space nor anything. So, everything that’s in the universe now, including time and space, and ourselves, was contained in what was then like a grain of sand. And that’s the only way that it makes sense.
Henry Herzog, St Kilda East

Stamp of approval
In a previous life I shared a house in London with several mates, one of whom got a letter from Australia every Thursday. It was posted in Adelaide on Sunday afternoon and if delayed, as it occasionally was, would be delivered on Friday. Every now and again it would actually arrive on Wednesday.
Sixty years later that regular delivery pattern looks like an entry in the Guinness Book of Records. I recently airmailed a book to a friend in Wellington, New Zealand. It took four weeks to get there and thanks to Australia Post tracking Iwas able to follow its daily progress with mounting amusement. A weekly magazine Isubscribe to from the UK is delivered anything from nine to 23days later. Interstate letters often take a week or more to reach their destination.
Despite this poor performance by various postal authorities there is one constant: my local Australia Post franchise remains a friendly place, invariably helpful.
John Tidey, Middle Park

Bring back the whistle
Now that Australia Post is migrating to environmentally friendly electric bikes, we have lost that little rush of excitement that came from hearing the postie nearby. As children we knew the postie, on a bicycle, was on the way because they would blow their whistle as they popped things in neighbouring letterboxes. For the past several decades, we knew that postie was coming because we heard the buzz of the motorbike. Having gone full “cycle”, can our posties please be issued with whistles again?
Claire Merry, Wantirna

AND ANOTHER THING

COVID
Are some of us trying to wash our hands of any responsibility in trying to defeat the COVID virus in preference to washing our hands meticulously?
Elinor Morison, Box Hill South

There’s an old gag among mushroom gatherers: ″⁣All fungi are edible. Just a lot of them only once.″⁣ Masks stop you getting deadly stuff in your nose and mouth. Your choice, your odds, your Russian roulette.
Chris Waters, Ormond

Universe
Spot on Myra Fisher (14/7). Billions of dollars obscenely squandered on indulgent space travel while millions face starvation and homelessness right here on our own planet.
Tris Raouf, Hadfield

As we look back in time to the birth of the universe, I’m reminded of the hymn How Great Thou Art.
Doug Whitbourn, Kilmore

I hope every school student is taught the significance of the James Webb telescope. This really is the ″⁣moon landing″⁣ moment for the current young generation.
Mark Cherny, Caulfield

Furthermore
How can the US pursue Julian Assange and not Donald Trump?
Gary Sayer, Warrnambool

The task of mending international relationships left by Scott Morrison was huge. Anthony Albanese and Penny Wong have made great inroads.
John Walsh, Watsonia

Is Pacific islands influence for sale to the highest bidder?
Malcolm McDonald, Burwood

Sri Lankan citizens removed a corrupt regime, without using weapons or violence: the swimming pool and gym were enjoyed. What happens next is another huge challenge.
Mary Cole, Richmond

Finally
A Bunnings sausage with onions, still cheap on Saturday mornings at $3.50.
Reg Murray, Glen Iris

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