Canberra affairs show need for integrity commission

Instead of ‘‘doing a Trump’’ and being in self-denial and waging lawsuits, Christian Porter needs to know his continued displays of entitlement and the ‘‘pity party’’ he and his mates are running are anathema to the majority of the voting public. How about putting the ‘‘big boy’’ pants on and changing your ways? Wendy Atkins, Cooks Hill

Illustration: John Shakespeare Credit:

‘‘Extreme and unrelenting’’ political pressure was applied to the ABC not to air the story regarding the toxic culture of Parliament House and the sexist and hypocritical behaviour of federal ministers Christian Porter and Alan Tudge. Congratulations for standing strong. Elisabeth Goodsall, Wahroonga

So, a couple of entitled, sexist, misogynistic MPs thought they were safe inside the Canberra bubble to behave inappropriately with vulnerable junior female staff members and not upset the Canberra chapter of the Sisterhood. Big mistake. Huge! Trevor Nayler, Ermington

After watching Four Corners, I see it’s obvious why the proposed federal ICAC legislation is toothless. Dermot Perry, Mt Keira

Good to hear Christian Porter is considering his legal options. As I recall, resignation is perfectly legal. Peter Skinner, Beecroft

It is never about the sex but always about the hypocrisy. Cabinet ministers who actively propagate Christian and family values while secretly having affairs or acting in homophobic, sexist or misogynistic ways will always arouse the community’s ire. Josie McSkimming, Coogee

I bet Porter wouldn’t refer himself to his own integrity commission. Janice McLeod, Gymea

Biden’s win will hopefully reset our climate debate

Scott Morrison is on notice (‘‘Self-isolated in the new global climate’’, November 10). Now that the US has elected a president committed to strong action on global warming, the pressure is on Morrison to show some mettle. He can no longer just talk about cutting emissions. If he doesn’t make a genuine commit-ment to dealing with climate change, Australia will be left behind morally and economically. Failure to act could lose him the next election as well. He needs to stop governing for his party and start governing forAustralia. Graham Lum, North Rocks

I guess our Prime Minister won’t be sending a lump of coal to the US President-elect as a White House warming present. Peter Miniutti, Ashbury

Steven Hamilton is right: Prime Minister Morrison must follow the lead of US President-elect Joe Biden and take decisive action on climate change. Current Coalition policy is shamefully inadequate and Mr Morrison’s intention to use carry-over credits from the Kyoto Protocol to achieve it is an international embarrassment. The PM also joins Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in refusing to commit to net-zero emissions by 2050. Mr Morrison has instead stated that his government will aim for net-zero emissions in the second half of the century — that is, by 2100. This seems a shameful and dangerous strategy when 73 other countries, including several of our most important trading partners, have made the net-zero emissions by 2050 (or by 2060 in the case of China) commitment.
Douglas Mackenzie, Deakin (ACT)

Zali Steggall’s decisive win last year was a plea from the people to return Australia to sensible climate change discussions. I dearly hope Joe Biden’s win is what it finally takes to reset our political climate enough to persuade Scott Morrison to change the rhetoric and take realaction. Charmain Brinks, Newcastle

Zali Steggall is a member of Parliament because she defeated Tony Abbott in the 2019 election. Her success was due, in part, to her clear message that Abbott’s stance on climate change was out of touch with community expectations. Although members of the federal Coalition government have so far prevented any bipartisan approach to climate action, recent history does suggest the cabinet can be brought to accept the inevitable. One small step would be to vote for the Climate Change Bill presented on Monday this week as a private member’s bill by Ms Steggall. As public pressure for climate action continues to grow, it is not too late for the Coalition parties to finally play catch-up. Grahame Hackett, Bowral

Free tutors questionable solution

Free tutors (‘‘Free tutors for pupils in public schools’’, November 10) by the Berejiklian government is to be applauded. However, the question to be asked is, will the extra 5500 staff also help disadvantaged students as was previously determined in NAPLAN results? If not, why not? Frank Tweedie, Morpeth

Another Band-Aid fix to help struggling students? Surely it would be better to allocate the money to schools and allow principals to employ casuals who know their school and pupils and select a model best suited to that particular school. One model, such as small group teaching, may not be the best option. Denis Suttling, Newport Beach

Fumbling with NSW education continues. Public schools were disadvantaged in the race to get online lessons going during the pandemic, with no support from their minister, with barely a mask or bottle of hand sanitiser to be found, while private schools, with a wealth of resources, had been prepared for over a year experimenting with online teaching. A slap in the face wage offer is now followed by a tutoring scheme where the odds of any one student receiving help is about one in 500. The Howard sleight of hand, give with the right hand and take with the left, rolls along, as an election looms. Vanessa Tennent, Oatley

Twice a loser

Were the US opinion polls really wrong (‘‘Opinion polls recover from dire forecasts’’, November 10)? Donald Trump and his fans continue to call for recounts but they should be careful which cans of worms they open. No one knows more about lying and cheating than Trump and if he accused the Democrats of cheating, you can be sure his followers did. He’s been indirectly urging them to for months. The places to look are where the polls are most different from the count – maybe the Supreme Court should start with Florida? Ben Bridges, Maryville

I do hope Donald Trump goes ahead and challenges as many of the election results as possible – I’d love to see him lose twice. John Greenway, Wentworth Falls

It should come as no surprise that Donald Trump cannot accept he has lost and instead of enabling a smooth transition acts like a petulant schoolboy bully. This has been his signature behaviour for most of his life, but the failure of the Republicans to call out his actions is worrying for the incoming Biden administration and subsequently the American people. Hopefully, they will come to their senses and act responsibly. Max Redmayne, Russell Lea

Now that Donald Trump has gone full mad emperor, he’s bound to appoint a horse as his next defence secretary (‘‘Donald Trump says on Twitter he has fired Defence Secretary Mark Esper’’ smh.com.au, November10). Isabel Robinson, Alexandria

Mental challenge

Carmel Tebbutt raises some important questions about the lack of non-hospital services in NSW for people with a mental illness (‘‘A sea of need in long-term mental health sector’’, November 10).
This issue is not new. In the mid-1980s, I worked in mental health services in Orange where an innovative satellite housing project, the SHIPS program, was established to provide step-up/step-down services for this group of people. It was very successful in providing an alternative to acute hospital admission (step-up) and supported housing (step-down) for hundreds of people with long-term mental illness in the Central West for more than 25 years. Sadly, the funding for the program has been cut by successive administrations and it no longer exists in its original form. I agree with Ms Tebbutt, how we apply these flexible approaches across the whole system is the great challenge for mental health services. Gordon Lambert, Kiama Downs

Jilted student revenge

In no way should we be surprised about the drop in international students when we reflect on the shameful way we abandoned them when the COVID-19 chips were down (‘‘Quick study of an economy in textbook fall’’, November 10). Ideally, we should have shown humanity; out of self-interest, we could have remembered that what goes around comes around. Ultimately, we were both inhumane and stupid. Anne Ring, Coogee

Let’s face the facts. International students were never an export industry. They were eagerly brought to Australia to underpin economic policy. They were used to justify massive reductions in government expenditure on education. They were used as a source of cheap labour for businesses. They were used to drive down Australian wages and conditions. Let’s not pretend now that we cared about them. Cheap coffee, home-delivered pizza and cheap fruit and vegetables were much more important to us. Stephen Broderick, Avalon

Diesel v green power

Australia is critically dependent on supplies of diesel for transport and agriculture and even with recent planned additions to storage in Australia the nation is still only weeks away from collapse if supplies are interrupted. The Attack class submarines, presumably designed to protect our diesel supplies among other things, will cost a cool $50 billion and not be operational until the 2030s. But what would it cost to convert our trucks, trains and farm machinery to green hydrogen/electric power over the same time period? A lot less than $50 billion over 10 years, I suspect. And by eliminating our dependence on diesel it would effectively add another line of defence – as well as reduce our carbon footprint to internationally acceptable levels. Norman Carter, Roseville Chase

Double bubble

Howard Charles (Letters, November 10), a better location, surely, is Gumly Gumly via Wagga Wagga? Des Carmody, Bourkelands

I am happy in Hornsby but I can’t help wondering if my letters would be more appealing if I relocated to Sans Souci, Strathfield South or Stokers Siding. Simon Squires, Hornsby

Many moons ago, I worked with Dave Norman, of Norman Avenue, Normanhurst.
Nick Walker, Erskineville

Petal fret

After reading about the tourists and wedding photographers descending onKirribilli, I now look at myjacaranda tree in fear (‘‘Bride and joy: more jacarandas for lilac lovers’ lane’’, November 10). Paul Doyle, Glenbrook

Never too old

Is there a seat for Paul Keating at the next election? He’s only 76. William Tanner, Turramurra

Springfield day

Lisa Simpson is still eight years old (Letters, November 10); I don’t think she would meet the age qualifications. Anyway, I think the American people would be more likely to elect Homer than Lisa. Peter Jones, Rathmines