By a coincidence, we’ve just spent a fascinating weekend at Q Station, the revamped and historic Sydney Quarantine Station on North Head that functioned as a quarantine station from the 1830s until 1984. It was built on land of now acknowledged and immense significance for its original local Indigenous population (“Doctors push for camps, not hotels”, January 24).
While it has had a checkered history of class distinctions, in concept it evolved into exactly what the doctors are now ordering: with plenty of opportunities for its healthy visitors to have fresh air and exercise in its prime location and with an on-site hospital for those who were ill. Its hugely informative museum recounting the history of epidemics and pandemics worldwide and in Australia, and the engrossing history tour were especially relevant now, while putting our present pandemic in perspective. And it’s certainly an endorsement for purpose-built or revamped quarantine accommodation, and well worth the time of the powers that be to trek out to and learn from. Anne Ring, Coogee
Sydney’s North Head Quarantine Station was and is the perfect place to quarantine overseas arrivals. Because of its recent use as a tourist hotel, it would be a simple matter to prepare the station to safely quarantine overseas arrivals. Like the elephant in the room that nobody sees, our Quarantine Station should be appreciated for what it is and be put back into use as soon as possible. Graham Tucker, Kiama
Both sides now
If, as Parnell Palme McGuinness claims, both sides of the political spectrum hold the potential for authoritarianism: why is it that when such a threat actually emerges in Western societies it is from the right (“Beware ideologues let or right”, January 24)? The biggest problem facing democratic, pluralist societies is the populist and reactionary perversion of conservatism since the 1980s. Self-indulgent “both-sidesism” prevents the right from truly facing this scourge, which it alone has the responsibility to do. Michael Hinchey, New Lambton
