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Once was enough for me
Tony Wright’s article on the $498million to rebuild the Australian War Memorial highlights the disparity between acknowledging service and caring for survivors of conflict (“Veterans need more than reverent silence”, Insight, 9/7).
One visit was enough for me because the focus was more on the museum aspect rather than the reflective aspect.
The highlight was the beautiful Hall of Memory, but I would never visit again, as the relics of war, the soundtrack of conflict and the lack of acknowledgment of the Frontier Wars have centred the focus predominantly on World War I and World War II and the continuing promulgation of the Anzac myth, while at the same time we know that veterans suffer ongoing physical and mental health issues with minimal and timely support.
Denise Stevens, Healesville
Governments must act
Paranoia is a delusional belief system, usually one of persecution. Your correspondent (“Choosing to ignore paranoia and enjoy life”, Letters, 9/7) appears to believe that COVID-19 is a virus that does not exist or can be ignored by just getting on with living.
Sadly, though, this is not the reality for the 60 or so Australians a day who are dying as a result of this virus.
It is getting much more difficult to believe that state and federal governments are not being delusional in their almost complete lack of any effective response to this ongoing loss of lives, many of which would have been preventable by simple measures such as wearing a mask and being vaccinated.
John Togno, Mandurang
Mask-free carriages
Why can we not have mask-free carriages on trains for those people who cannot or will not wear masks?
Let them be responsible for taking that risk.
Rosemary Johnston, Clarinda
She gets my vote
Your correspondents (Letters, 8/7 and 9/7) have criticised The Drum’s Ellen Fanning, but I find her delightfully engaging, well prepared and knowledgeable and she is certainly not afraid to put up a strong position for discussion.
Who said these people should be “moderators”? The ABC website describes the program as a “leader of conversations that will get the nation talking”. Ellen Fanning has my top vote for presenters on The Drum.
Julie Chandler, Blairgowrie
Meaningful contribution
Darren Kane writes “the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes can be explained; it can’t, however, be accepted” (Comment, online, The Age, 8/7).
War is the total collapse and destruction of every decency, kindness, courtesy, consideration, empathy, virtue and hope and of the very notion of humanity. War is total and existential.
It is not merely a serious social disruptor or an irritating diplomatic rift. It is the annihilation of society itself. War is fought in every arena; on the battlefield, in the streets and towns, in the media, diplomatically, legally, commercially, culturally, religiously, in personal relationships and indeed within every single human activity – including sport.
Wimbledon is making a meaningful contribution to the war effort. It is the right thing to do.
William Hennessy, Clifton Hill
We need to own this
I respectfully disagree with your correspondent (“Weighing pros and cons”, Letters, 3/7), who states: “I realise terrible things have been done in the name of religion at times, but the good done should surely outweigh this.”
We witness similar statements regularly from Christians and church leaders. “Yeah, sure, we’ve done some bad stuff but look at all the good.”
I’m a Christian pastor, and I am horrified by this narrative. On our watch, people have been abused, bullied and shamed. No amount of good work cancels out the pain inflicted on precious people. We need to own it and not minimise it by a sleight of hand trick suggesting people would be better to “look over there.”
In his sermon on the mount, Jesus named a group of people who pointed out all the good they had done. He was unimpressed.
We should be too.
Rob Buckingham, Bayside Church, Cheltenham
Another shoddy rollout
Your article about the victims of e-scooters highlights another shoddy rollout by tech companies and the local councils’ complicity in their lack of oversight (“How a run-in with an e-scooter cost a pedestrian months of pain and $15,000, The Age, 9/7).
Sadly Lime and Neuron, the e-scooter companies, have taken the tech motto of “move fast and break things” too literally and the victims are left broken, and with the bill.
Gabriel Dabscheck, Elsternwick
Future white elephants?
Sadly, I have watched the “leafy east” of Melbourne lose much of its ambience along with a lot of its late-19th century, “Marvellous Melbourne” grandeur to relentless clear-felling to make way for characterless McMansions and apartments that cover almost the entire block.
Your piece “Sustainability is the new luxury” (Domain, 9/7) is, hopefully, a clarion call to the big-is-beautiful status seekers who have been underwriting the profits of the building contractors and material suppliers over the past four decades.
These power-guzzling behemoths are arguably the environmental white elephants of the future and it is hoped that home owners will come to realise that, like the cost of fuel, utilising what the sun and the wind supply for free is cheaper.
John Mosig, Kew
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