This seems more like a sieve than a system

In Victoria masks are coming off, hospitality numbers are increasing, hotel quarantine is recommencing, and all at a time when international arrival ‘‘systems’’ more often resemble sieves.
Claire Merry, Wantirna

House the travellers at the old Peter Mac
Why do we need ‘‘hot’’ hotels when we spent $30 million doing up the old Peter Mac to cater for the influx of cases, which, thankfully did not arise.

If all positive returned travellers were housed at Peter Mac, they would be where the facilities were if they deteriorated, thus avoiding having to transport them and their virus to our presently COVID-free hospitals.
Liz Harvey, Mount Eliza

Admission debunks generally accepted view
The stunning admission by the Australian Defence Force that it was not able to undertake any security-type work in the revamped hotel quarantine program debunks the generally accepted view that the refusal of the Andrews government to accept ADF assistance played a large part in Victoria’s second wave of coronavirus infections
Garry Meller, Bentleigh

A small win for Daniel Andrews
The decision by federal authorities to reduce the number of Australian Defence Force personnel (‘‘International arrivals the next test for quarantine’’, The Age, 5/12) and limit their responsibilities in so-called ‘‘hot’’ hotels calls into question the idea that the ADF is a hotel quarantine management panacea.

If, all along, we shouldn’t have expected the army to be fully engaged at the forefront of containing the virus, why have we spent so much public energy in outrage at the previous choice of private security? This is a small win for Daniel Andrews.
Kirk Weeden, Frankston

A recipe for repeat disasters
Placing returning travellers in quarantine in inner-city hotels seems to me to be a recipe for disaster – again, and again and again. It is apparent that there will always be some people who simply cannot be trusted to do the right thing by everyone else.

Since the world is currently awash with unused cruise liners, why not charter one or two and anchor them in Port Phillip Bay? Rooms with balconies and water views, on-board catering and entertainment and even pools and gyms if they are allowed. Ban boats from approaching within 500 metres and you will make them close to escape-proof – unless there is a marathon swimmer on board. Staff can be housed on a separate ship so there is no chance of ‘‘second jobs’’.

No one returns to shore until they have a negative test. Maybe the federal government can run it – they love to brag about how good they are with ‘‘boat people’’.
David Jones, Clifton Hill

How can this happen?
How can overseas passengers on an inbound flight not know they are currently required to quarantine on arrival? It’s usually hard enough to transfer between terminals at Sydney Airport: how can overseas arrivals just ‘‘slip through’’ and end up in Melbourne with no checks?

Where is Border Force when we actually need it?
Jenifer Nicholls, Armadale

THE FORUM

Lessons from the year
If this year has taught us anything it has taught us to focus on what we can do rather than obsessing about what we can’t.

COVID-19 has shown us that collective action and personal empowerment can make a difference when combined with clear and decisive leadership. Wear a mask; wash your hands and socially distance from others. This simple triad gave each individual the power to make a difference while our collective morale was supported by a consistent message – follow the rules, stay the course and we will prevail.

Whether we are in the eye of the storm or on its periphery we now know that as a community we can dig deep and change outcomes. Hopefully among the lessons learnt from this will be a greater focus on our collective strengths rather than our weaknesses; a celebration of quiet, determined action over loud self-righteous fury and a belief that kindness and community will triumph over blame and rampant self-interest.
Lyn Clearihan, Sorrento

Filling the gap
Even with the government’s labour incentive scheme, it looks like our farmers will be 26,000 workers short of what is required to achieve a successful harvest.

Refugees working in Nhill, Swan Hill and Bendigo have shown their willingness to live and work hard in rural Victoria. There are thousands of refugees and asylum seekers who do not have work rights. Many of these people are in detention. There’s no doubt that they would welcome the opportunity to work – whenever and wherever needed.

Common sense says to give them a go at contributing to our economy. The government would save millions on detaining them and our farmers won’t face financial ruin with unharvested crops.
Decisive action now might save the day. David Littleproud, are you listening?
Bill Wiglesworth, Castlemaine

Change your focus
If Scott Morrison genuinely had the national interest at heart he would be working overtime behind the scenes restoring our relationship with China in order to safeguard Australia’s exports to our major trading partner instead of getting on his high horse over a tweet by a minor Chinese official in an attempt to score some cheap political points on the home front.
Phil Alexander, Eltham

Unintended consequences
When Education Minister Dan Tehan introduced sweeping changes to the fees students will pay for their university courses, he exempted foreign languages from the sharp increases for courses in other humanities. One personal reason given for this was his regret he had not studied a foreign language himself and that he now wanted to encourage students to do so.

Of course, one consequence of his decision to make languages (as well as STEM subjects) more attractive for students by making them much cheaper to study is universities will receive much less for teaching them.

Swinburne University is now proposing to scrap the teaching of all foreign languages (The Age, 5/12). La Trobe University is considering the closing of Hindi, Indonesian and modern Greek programs (The Age, 12/11). There may soon be just one university in Australia teaching Hindi.
Good language teaching is expensive. The answer to keeping small but important language programs alive lies in direct government subsidy for this designated ‘‘national priority’’ area, not in cutting the student fee income universities receive for teaching them.

Has there been a more perverse educational reform than Minister Tehan’s, both in its crude attempt to marginalise the humanities and in its contradictory outcomes for supposed support for foreign languages?
Peter McPhee, Abbotsford

It amounts to torture
People should be free to practise their religion provided that they never harm other people (‘‘Conversion laws ‘threat’ to religious freedoms’’, The Sunday Age, 6/12).
The notion that LGBTQI+ are ‘‘broken’’ or ‘‘disordered’’ reveals a fundamental ignorance of human sexuality. ‘‘Conversion’’ practices amount to cruel torture of same-sex attracted people and can result in profound suffering and suicide. When conducted on minors, these practices represent child abuse.

The bill to outlaw gay conversion practices should be thoroughly supported. It strikes the right balance between protecting LGBTQI+ people and respecting freedom of speech and religion.
Richard Knafelc, Surrey Hills

Freedoms not at stake
The proposed new bill to criminalise gay conversion practices would not threaten religious freedoms, but it would threaten the power of religious groups to control other people’s lives.
It is a similar situation to where religious groups have tried to take away the choice of how people want to die, by opposing voluntary assisted dying.

A person’s religious beliefs should not be used to control the lives of others. The new bill would help to mitigate the adverse effects of religious dogma on gender issues.
Leigh Ackland, Deepdene

Tragedy and farce
The political twists and turns in Australia’s climate action saga over the past 30 years are an extraordinary mix of tragedy and farce.

The latest example is from Angus Taylor as he explains the government’s plan to help emissions reducing companies track and prove their reductions (‘‘Government to track emission goals’’, The Age, 5/12). This minimalism is at the same time as the Morrison government still refuses to agree with the de facto net zero national target of 2050.

It’s clearly time this government (or an alternative political grouping) follows the science and takes the real, transformational steps for overall target, renewables, EVs, no new fossil fuels, new jobs for displaced workers, and so on.

I’m sure Grant Howard, Bowen Basin coal miner and climate activist (The Drum, 4/12), would agree.
Barbara Fraser, Burwood

They’ll come roaring back
It would appear that Australia will not use its carry-over emissions towards our 2030 target as we can now reach it without their use.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is proud that his policies are working, but I believe the lower emissions are all due to the pandemic and loss of economic activity. Certainly in Victoria, where we were restricted to a 5-kilometre bubble, the use of cars, buses, planes etc had a great impact. I remember my daily walks down to the beach and looking towards the city and noting the lack of smog on the city skyline.

If this 2020 blip has allowed us to reach our targets without cheating, great, but I think the volume of our emissions will come roaring back without positive climate change policies.
Alan Inchley, Frankston

Commuter compliance
I won’t be encouraged to take public transport even if there is a 30 per cent discount for using my myki during off-peak times. Not if people are refusing to wear masks.

On Saturday, three people sitting close to me on the number 6 tram were maskless. One man had his disposable hanging from his wrist while chomping on food, coughing up the crumbs and speaking loudly on his phone. The man near him just sat there with his cloth mask resting on his leg.

I thought the woman in front of me may not be wearing a mask because of a medical condition. But like the others she was just being childish. As she waited for the front door to open to get off the tram, she held up her mask to her face. It was obvious she didn’t want the driver to catch her without a mask.

Why are people being so selfish and irresponsible? And, please, Yarra Trams, put up posters on trams telling passengers that masks are mandatory.
Erica Cervini, Prahran

Make them sit a test
Doris LeRoy (Letters, 5/12) rightly reminds us that too many parliamentarians are ‘‘undertrained’’ for their roles. It seems to go back to the preselection process, which lacks rigour and clear intention.

Before you obtain a driver’s licence you take a test to demonstrate your understanding of the serious responsibility you are taking on. Before you can enrol in a medical degree you sit the UMAT/UCAT test covering verbal reasoning, decision making, quantitative reasoning, abstract reasoning and situational judgment. Add in a component of personal and public ethics, and a person who could ‘‘pass’’ such a test might have a reasonable basis for becoming a valuable contributor to public life.

The pass level need not be unduly high, as we need a diversity of life experience sitting in the chambers.
Jim Spithill, Ashburton

No coal? No iron ore
Surely if China relies on Australia for 60 per cent of its iron ore we are in a position to say that when the ships filled with coal sitting at Chinese ports have delivered their cargo and are on their way home we will resume shipping iron ore to China.

Until then no iron ore shipments will be dispatched from Australia.
Dianne Powell, Ivanhoe

This is a bad idea
The upcoming film about the perpetrator of the Port Arthur massacre has driven polarised opinions. The most pertinent question is why? Why do we need to recreate one of the darkest days in our history?

It is a story that has been told through documentary already and all our questions have been answered. Given that it is only 24 years since the event, this will inevitably bring to the surface memories best forgotten for the survivors of the massacre and the families of victims who are still with us. I am sure they have been through enough and want to live their lives free of publicity and conjecture about the day.

This is an easy story to dramatise and commercialise, and the very premise of the concept is wrong and one we should not accept.
Julian Roberts, Burwood

Retire the saying
If it is said that ‘‘insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result’’, using this once amusing but now tired phrase over and over again and expecting a result other than a predictable ho-hum response is sort of crazy.

We need a fresh apophthegm for this concept. Any suggestions?
Peter Barry, Marysville

AND ANOTHER THING

Emissions targets
Angus Taylor says ‘‘making the commitment [to a target] is the easy part’’ (‘‘Government to track emission goals’’, The Age, 5/12). So if it’s that easy, what’s stopping us?
Ray Peck, Hawthorn

Is Scott Morrison’s change of position on using carry-over credits a policy ‘‘reset’’ or a ‘‘backflip’’.
Margaret Ludowyk, Brunswick

Trade dispute
If we want China to take notice, perhaps Scott Morrison might suggest the NT government threaten to cancel the lease on Darwin Port.
Bruce Dudon, Woodend

Politics
Hear, hear, Di Cousens (Letters, 5/12), Tanya Plibersek for leader of the Labor Party.
Geoff Combe, Cheltenham

In saying the US is a nation in which elections are ‘‘rigged’’ Donald Trump has wounded America more than its enemies have managed in 50 years. There must be a word for it.
Lawrence Pope, Carlton North

The pandemic
With the risks so obviously high, the quarantine system must be an isolated, self-contained operation that includes the quarantine workers themselves.
Andrew Remington, Travancore

Gladys Berejiklian’s halo and the Morrison-allocated gold standard have disappeared.
Arthur Pritchard, Ascot Vale

Labor values
Labor’s core values took me from having a job to having a career and gave me choices; because I had superannuation these core values will serve my children and my grandchildren.
Liz Heritage, Airport West

Finally
Legislation to ban gay conversion practices does not pose any threat to religious freedom, however, it does threaten the ability to impose religion on others.
James Proctor, Strathdale

What do the churches possibly have to fear from laws banning gay conversion therapy?
Reg Murray, Glen Iris