Credit:Illustration: Andrew Dyson
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Books
If Roald Dahl was alive today and the same age he was when he wrote Charlie and the Chocolate Factory he would never denigrate a child for being “fat” (“Editing classics”, Letters, 21/2). The whole point of the book was he was against bullies and for the victimised. And if Salman Rushdie was his younger self he would be with Dahl (“Erasing history or keeping up with times? The great Dahl debate”, 21/2).
So would Dave Chappelle, Ricky Gervais and all the other ageing commenters who were for change when they were younger but seem to only want change to consistently occur from the start of time right up to the date they turned 45, and decided that they felt comfortable and “that will do”.
Brett Byrne, Melbourne
Sacred texts are tweaked too
Andy Griffiths states that “children’s books are not sacred texts” (not sure I agree with that, but that’s a different argument), and that it’s OK to tweak them if they have “outlived the times in which they were written” (“Gloop is not fat — he’s enormous”, 21/2). It’s worth pointing out that sacred texts have been repeatedly tweaked and should always be read considering the context of the time, culture and the society in which they were written.
Fiona Connell, Aspendale Gardens
A bunch of grobblesquirts
I am “biffsquiggled” at those who support the sanitising of Roald Dahl’s wonderfully ridiculous, jaw-dropping, engagingly imaginative stories, loved for decades by children and their parents alike.
What a lot of thin skinned “grobblesquirts”!
On the other hand, take a “mintick” to focus on Agatha Christie’s stories, many a “catasterous disastrophe”, which are alive with numerous unacceptable racist passages. (With apologies to Roald Dahl and The BFG.)
Helen Clements, Lorne
Give children credit
The revision of some of Dahl’s characters is illogical. It does a disservice to the capabilities of children to understand nuance (or is it laziness of parents/teachers?). It presumes children are not capable of understanding the simple logic that, for example, if all witches are bald it does not mean that all those who are bald are witches.
Vicki Jordan, Lower Plenty
The value of strange
My favourite children’s book was Struwwelpeter by Dr Heinrich Hoffmann. It is full of cautionary tales for children and is so politically incorrect that I’m sure you can’t buy it now. But oh, what a marvellous book, whose mad drawings and poems filled my mind with wonderful imaginings. Two of my favourites were the story of the little boy who wouldn’t eat and finally died, and the boy who sucked his thumbs, until they were chopped off.
If we censor anything that is too scary for kids or too honest, we are not giving them a chance to think about the issues.
Margaret Collings, Anglesea
Don’t hobble our time machine
I have no problem with rewriting the work of Enid Blyton (po-faced), Mary Grant Bruce (racist), etc, as these books were insufferable to a young child even in the ’60s. But please leave Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons alone.
Are we going to ban old films in which glamorous people and emancipated women smoked and drank? Goodbye Casablanca, The Big Sleep, Nosferatu (oh, dear, foreign vampires), The Great Gatsby (marital infidelity) … Jane Austen and the Brontes are in danger too. I could go on to Confessions of an Opium Eater, My Secret Life and Krafft-Ebing – but will leave it to common sense to decide whether we can accept that “The past is another country, they do things differently there”.
Don’t deny readers the experience of what must surely be the cheapest and best form of travelling in space and time.
R McIntosh, Camberwell
THE FORUM
Concessions given
The Coalition believes people should be allowed to access their superannuation to help purchase a home. They say it’s your money so we should be able to do that. However, they conveniently overlook that the taxpayer has funded tax concessions for superannuation.
These concessions are offered to encourage people to plan for their retirement and not to be used for other discretionary spending. If the Coalition is so worried about housing affordability then it should support the abolition of negative gearing where investors and speculators are competing in the housing market with genuine home buyers.
Ian Bennett, Jan Juc
Inflating house prices
The former Coalition government’s scheme allowing access to superannuation was another Band-Aid solution to the housing crisis from yet another government afraid to take a hard decision about a basic social need and home security.
Subsidies, stamp duty refunds, cash handouts and tax incentives have all contributed to developers’ profits and investors growing portfolios rather than addressing the problem.
The Super Home Buyer Scheme is nothing more than “buy now, pay later”. Fine, you may get your home, but bricks and mortar won’t pay your bills when your super runs out. We should grandfather existing tax incentives and subsidies and replace them with a 10-year period of tax-deductible home loan interest (not for investment properties). This does not increase borrowing capacity or throw tax money at developers – it builds equity. You get a house and also get to keep your super for when you need it.
Stephen Farrelly, Donvale
We have a limit
How out of touch can Peter Dutton and the Coalition get? We were told (“Dutton slams super overhaul”, 21/2) the Coalition is concerned the government could start taxing multimillion-dollar deposits at a higher (than 15 per cent) rate. Dutton was also quoted saying: “I suspect we’ll see more and more taxes at a time when Australians can afford it less and less.”
Remember, the deposits have been pumped up with taxpayer funds (via tax concessions), and tax is only paid on the income the deposits earn. Taxpayers should not be funding multimillion-dollar super accounts.
Andrew Taylor, Canterbury
Cap is in hand
People holding excessively large balances in their superannuation accounts have again become the subject of some commentary. However, this is largely a legacy issue from the time Peter Costello was treasurer. The rules now place an annual cap on amounts that can be contributed into superannuation, and if your total super balance exceeds the super transfer balance cap of $1.7 million (at June 30, 2022), you are not permitted to make any further non-concessional contributions.
Garry Meller, Bentleigh
History repeating
Matthew Guy said before last year’s state election that the radical conservative views of his party’s candidate for top spot in the upper house seat of the Western Metropolitan Region, Moira Deeming, were in the past.
He was wrong. Deeming’s inaugural speech (“New Liberal MP uses first speech to slam equality ‘taken to extremes’,” 22/2), reiterating the same radical views that she held in the past, could have been written for her by the former member for this electorate, Bernie Finn, who was expelled by the Liberal Party for his extreme views. It seems the Liberal Party has not learned from its mistakes.
John Togno, Mandurang
Unappealing to voters
The Liberal Party is mistaken if it thinks standing more women for parliament will get it elected. What it needs is more female voters. Moira Deeming’s first speech to state parliament shows how a Liberal woman criticising all and sundry can be just as unappealing to female voters as her male predecessor doing the same. Women don’t vote for women just because they’re women. Perhaps a whole-of-party change to more progressive, caring politics is in order.
Julia Thornton, Surrey Hills
Ministerial conflict
Victorian Assistant Treasurer Danny Pearson “signed off” on a briefing note regarding Treasury’s award of multimillion-dollar contracts to three banks including, apparently absent-mindedly, to one he has shares in. It shouldn’t have happened, but seems a forgivable oversight (“Minister apologises for share conflict”, 22/1).
The circumstances of federal Communications Minister Michelle Rowland are different. Before becoming minister, she accepted about $19,000 from a gambling company, regulated within the communications portfolio. The amount is below the donation disclosure threshold and she didn’t disclose it. The situation created an immediate conflict of interest for Rowland as an MP, that increased significantly upon her appointment as minister.
Her promise now not to accept any more money from gambling firms is irrelevant (“Rowland
says she will refuse bet firm donations”, 22/1). She cannot be allowed to remain responsible for gambling regulation.
Lawrie Bradly, Surrey Hills
Personal safety lacking
The link between tobacco smoking and lung cancer was established decades ago and yet cigarettes are still able to be purchased readily over the counter. Compare this with the current situation and the strident calls for engineering stone to be banned (The Age, 21/1). This stems from the increasing number of workers being diagnosed with silicosis, following exposure to dust when the stone is cut.
In many workplaces, responsibility for personal safety is sadly lacking.
Recently, I observed two workers out on a footpath cutting a stone benchtop. Neither of them wore any protective equipment and they were shrouded in a thick cloud of dust. Similar materials such as tiles are safely cut on site, using water to prevent dust. There is no call for these products to be banned.
Bruce Chisholm, Camberwell
Inspiring story
I’ve been involved in education for 46 years. The story of how 16 of the top 20 schools results under NAPLAN testing were government schools (“State schools dominate list of NAPLAN high achievers”, 22/2) was perhaps one of the best stories I have read in all that time. It tells you everything about education. About dedication and aspirations and teachers who understand the needs of their children. All the schools featured were confident. All of them faced significant challenges but overcame them. Above all, it says something about the human spirit.
So much of what I have read about funding and facilities, the great advantages of this and that school, this or that approach, or the slick marketing we’re all fed – the notion of chequebook education – melts away.
Bring together young people from anywhere in this world, from any background, put them with trained people who really care, give them the resources, and something special, almost magical, will happen. Congratulations to all.
John Kilner, Castlemaine
Free speech has limits
Adelaide Writers Week director Louise Adler says she is “surprised and disappointed” by law firm MinterEllison’s decision to remove its presence from the festival because they are advocates for free speech (“Law firm boycotts festival over inclusion of Palestinian authors”, 22/2).
The Writers Week has now been widely condemned for featuring at least two guests who have made several anti-Semitic statements. As well as her offensive comments about Ukraine, Susan Abulhawa calls Israelis Nazis and Israel an abomination that must be destroyed. As well as the tweets mentioned in the article, Mohammed El-Kurd has written in one poem about Israelis harvesting Palestinians’ organs.
Contrary to those who claim that slurs against Israelis can’t be anti-Semitic, calling Israelis Nazis, calling the Jewish state an abomination that must be destroyed or substituting the word “Israelis” for “Jews” in blood libels is very much anti-Semitism. MinterEllison’s decision shows they understand the difference between free speech and racism. It’s a shame Adler can’t.
Jamie Hyams, senior policy analyst, Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council, South Melbourne
Writers smeared
Palestinian writers Susan Abulhawa and Mohammed El-Kurd have been falsely defamed for alleged “anti-Semitism” and “hate speech” for criticising the century-long genocidal abuse of indigenous Palestinians by Zionists. Anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism.
Gideon Polya, Macleod
Courageous stand
Louise Adler must be congratulated for not caving into pressure to ban two Palestinian authors from the Adelaide Writers Week. She will no doubt come under much criticism as a result of her fair-mindedness. It is a shame she could not have an impact over the unjust changes being transacted through the Israeli parliament at present.
Rob Park, Surrey Hills
Blind to the reality
The owners of Lime/Neuron (“E-scooter pledge over dodgy riders”, 22/2) must live in a different world to the citizens of Carlton. Here, the e-bikes are typically raced then abandoned on footpaths – I have to move about six each day.
Mark Cleary, Carlton
Absurd situation
It is illegal to ride privately owned e-scooters on public roads, bike lanes and, of course, on footpaths. But where else can you ride them? Who has any private property expansive enough, and smoothly surfaced enough, for meaningful e-scooter riding?
It is absurd that those things can be legally sold and owned while their only realistic use is illegal.
Ralph Böhmer, St Kilda West
And another thing
Credit:Illustration: Andrew Dyson
Roald Dahl edited
What next? Rewriting Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar because it may encourage children to overeat?
Lisa Bishop, Macleod
Are we also getting rid of “wicked stepmothers” from stories, considering we have so many blended families these days? That’s going to muck up Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty.
Robyn Westwood, Heidelberg Heights
Updated language will not change history. Anyway, history is for remembering.
Dawn Evans, Geelong
Politics
The views espoused in new Liberal MP Moira Deeming’s maiden speech reinforced that the state Coalition will be sitting on the opposition benches for years to come.
Mark Hulls, Sandringham
Albo everywhere … except Hawaii.
Peter Campbell, Newport
Superannuation is meant to provide for a secure retirement, not be a vehicle for wealth creation. Reforms definitely needed.
Peter Heffernan, Balaclava
Furthermore
“Groundbreaking research has confirmed Earth has five internal layers, not four”. Brilliant.
Rod Watson, Brighton East
The parliamentary inquiry into the October floods promises to investigate … “whether corporate interests influence decision-making”. Is the Pope a Catholic?
Ross Ogilvie, Woodend
Three loud cheers for state schools and their teachers who battle on with insufficient resources and little recognition or thanks for their diligence.
Jane Ross, San Remo
Sponsorship of literary events should be unconditional, trusting the organiser’s wisdom and skills. The line between boycott and censorship is wafer thin.
Mary Cole, Richmond
The only way forward to resolve the packaging issue is to enforce retailers to accept back packaging from the products they sell.
Steve Flounders, Kyneton
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