Voters hoped for something meaningful, all they got was a bag of sweets

It seems the election will be fought over paltry tax cuts, an ill-conceived temporary fuel excise reduction, vague promises of future energy policies and the usual grab bag of pork-barrel promises to sweeten up the marginal seats (“Albanese visits governor-general at dawn to set May 3 election”, March 28). How about a long-term plan to improve the welfare of all Australians? We sit back and wonder at Scandinavian education and health systems, ponder at what happened to Australian industry and watch in dismay as billions of tax dollars disappear into foreign banks. Start by raising the GST to say 15 per cent or more and compensate low-income earners by raising the lowest income tax threshold to $50,000-plus. Tax corporate mega-profits and the highest income earners who don’t actually need multi-millions to live on. Use the money to really fix education, health and other basic services so they are free for all. Raise social security to a decent standard. Lastly, force Clive Palmer to donate money to charity, instead of wasting it on his own ego. If you don’t like these ideas, move to America, where they will never be contemplated. Peter Cooper-Southam, Frenchs Forest

How can people be so childlike in their excitement over fuel discounts and taxes, rather than overall government plans? The fuel excise pays for roads among other things. As for taxes, what about putting that money towards including dental care in Medicare? A bag of sweets lasts a few moments and you’re left with a stomach ache. Remember that when you vote on who gives you the biggest bag. Rosslyn Jeffery, Castle Hill

I’ll vote for any party that bans chip packets in cinemas. Sally Spurr, Lane Cove

Budget reply

The underlying, unstated tenet of the Coalition’s budget reply is climate change denial. Increasing use of a fossil fuel, namely gas, lowering vehicle emission standards, promoting the use of cars by reducing the petrol excise, threats to the Climate Change Authority to say nothing of the taxpayer- funded nuclear plan. With no vision for the future and by only concentrating on the here and now, it’s an appalling stand for a would-be national government to adopt. Let’s hope Gen Z wakes up and realises it is being offered a very bleak future by the Coalition. Carolyn Pettigrew, Turramurra

Peter Dutton’s budget reply speech offers little to ease the lives of most Australians. Correspondent Ian Morison endorses his plan to cut fuel excise tax and push for nuclear to be funded by the private sector, with little interest in the future of our planet (Letters, March 28). Providing incentives for the purchase of electric vehicles as well as the electrification of homes and businesses is the only option if we are to limit global warming. Encouraging the purchase of large dual-cabs and SUVs by giving tax exemptions and cuts to fuel excise tax is a disaster for all of us. Australia is well placed to be a renewable powerhouse in the near future, completely removed from the destructive fossil fuel industry, due to our abundant wind and solar energy. Why would the private sector invest in a decades-away nuclear plan when profits can be made now by investing in renewables? We need to elect a government with a clear vision for our future. Robyn Thomas, Wahroonga

Here we go again. Witnessing a Coalition strength, playing with the truth, misleading but perhaps not outright lying (“Dutton promises you”ll save $14 a week on fuel. The real number is less than half that”, March 28). Its petrol gift horse does not benefit large swaths of the population – non-drivers, EV owners, train users, for example. It is not climate-friendly; “gas-guzzling” is rewarded, and petrol retailers could choose to retain higher margins where price disparity is rife. Road maintenance funding may be reduced. The Coalition’s discredited proposed nuclear policy was a similar exercise in truth-bending that was quietly moved to the back burner when it became too bent for comfort. Brian Jones, Leura

In his budget reply, the opposition leader repeated three big lies about nuclear power. He said Australia is the only one of the 20 largest economies not using nuclear. There are six of the G20 nations – Germany, Italy, Indonesia, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and Australia – not operating nuclear power stations. He referred to “zero emissions nuclear”, when the building and fuelling one nuclear power station would release about 50,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide. Finally, he repeated the ridiculous claim that replacing the cheapest form of power (solar) with the most expensive form (nuclear) will reduce power bills. Every nuclear power station built in the Western world this century has cost between two and three times the budgeted cost. As well as being illegal under Howard-era laws, the Coalition plan is economically and environmentally irresponsible. Ian Lowe, Griffith University

Dutton delivered admirably, now the question on the lips of anyone else who might be interested is – will Angus Taylor pass the test, or struggle in vain for those presentation skills that so often elude him? If he could nail it, a glimmer of a Coalition victory might jump from the woodwork, but if he’s in duffer Taylor mode, Sarah Ferguson, for one, will hammer him, and the voters will follow. Rosemary O’Brien, Ashfield

Really, Peter Dutton, did this insecurity of Australia’s energy really just become apparent under the first term of the Albanese government? All these approvals of the gas industries’ exports were signed off by the previous Coalition government, and now the realisation is apparent. Don’t take Australians for mugs. Peter Willis, Orange

Peter Dutton is promising us a “Gas Led Recovery MKII”. On the Coalition’s last watch, gas prices spiked from about $4 a gigajoule to more than $30 by the time they left office. When Labor legislated a cap on gas prices, the Coalition opposed it. Graeme Finn, Earlwood

The question for Dutton is, how do you stop fuel distributors pocketing your excise reduction when they next jack up fuel prices by 50¢ a litre? Ian Nicholls, Baulkham Hills

A bit rich for Dutton to disparage the PM’s response to the Chinese ships in “Australian waters”. He was part of the government that allowed the lease of the Darwin port to China for 99 years. Neil Craddock, Wolllongong

Fix tax

Most commentators and voters agree with correspondent Mark Nugent that “what this country needs is real tax reform” (Letters, March 28). However, he mistakenly blames the political parties for this. The politicians know that every time a party has been courageous and has advocated serious and needed tax reform it has lost, most recently Labor at the 2019 election, but also the Coalition that lost 15 seats in 1998 with the GST and which lost the “unlosable” election in 1993. Several higher taxing countries have better overall living standards and more of a “fair go” than Australia has. Yet, it has been built into our belief system that tax and government spending are bad, and indeed this belief is fundamental for the Coalition. As a result, we are worse off, with a combination of relatively low total tax receipts and an inefficient and unfair tax system. Any significant attempt at improvement is comprehensively rejected by the voting public. David Hind, North Sydney

Finger on the button

Incompetent lackeys within the Trump administration are becoming the laughing-stock of not just American but global politics too (“Trump and co’s intransigence over breach sends bad Signal to the world”, March 28). Signalgate in 2025 will resonate with American voters just as Watergate did in 1972, when large swaths of American voters lost faith in government and demanded greater transparency in politics. Eric Palm, Gympie (Qld)

There has been much speculation, mostly by himself, about Donald Trump deserving a Nobel Peace Prize for what he asserts is the best-ever effort bringing peace to the Ukraine and Gaza. But given the way he has gone about it, and the lives lost while he tries to benefit from making transactions, he shouldn’t even be considered for an Ig-Nobel Peace Prize. He loves hearing his name and thrives on publicity even if it is negative, and would claim it as the greatest achievement ever. Merilyn McClung, Forestville

Apparently there are competing claims as to the source of the quote that America is the first empire to pass from barbarism to decadence without having achieved civilisation in between – which I always felt was a bit unfair. But the Americans have surpassed that in electing a president who has gone from infancy to senility without reaching maturity in between. David Lloyd, Surry Hills

Never mind Signalgate, I just got an errant Truth Social message with the nuclear launch codes. Col Burns, Lugarno

Information overlords

Correspondent Neville Turbit is wrong to underestimate the role of librarians (Letters, March 28). My years as a teacher librarian were spent teaching students how to navigate their way through masses of information and how to analyse what they found. Those skills have become paramount in today’s world among the prevalence of mis- and disinformation. Perhaps the rise of the idiocracy is unfortunately linked to the dearth of professional librarians and indeed teacher librarians, especially in the US, where they are now being sacked for performing their job. Sharon McGuinness, Thirroul

If your correspondent had qualified in librarianship, he would have learnt to think deeply and analyse thoroughly. It is facile to “learn about things”. It is much more challenging to develop the skills to assess the veracity and value of information and knowledge and to identify its source and alternative interpretations. We need those skills across the nation in the face of a tsunami of misinformation and disinformation, propaganda and invective. Alex Byrne, Forest Lodge

Time served

I was relieved to read that Kristian White received a non-custodial sentence for his role in Clare Nowland’s death in a nursing home (“Ex-cop avoids jail time for deadly tasering of 95-year-old”, March 28). He was found guilty of manslaughter after making a judgment call in a situation involving a knife. He has lost his vocation, and I’m sure he has lost many friends. I’m also sure he has replayed that incident over and over and wished he had behaved differently. It benefits no one for him to be jailed as well. Brian Barrett, Padstow

Health and wealth

The announcement about the end of the public-private partnership of hospitals underscores the fact that only the state can really be trusted to deliver health divorced from wealth (“The law change that will end the Northern Beaches Hospital model”, March 28.) In the US, generally speaking, if you have a life-threatening illness and you are not wealthy, you will either die or become bankrupt. Is this a system we want in this country? Pasquale Vartuli, Wahroonga

Regarding the potential state government purchase of the privately run Northern Beaches Hospital and the new Joe’s Law in NSW banning any new privately run public hospitals, Anthony Albanese could pick up a few votes by buying it outright now and handing it back to NSW Health to run. It’s a festering issue on the peninsula. Luke Connery, Manly Vale

How appalling is it that it took the tragic death of two-year-old Joe Massa to realise the folly in outsourcing operations of hospitals to the private sector. Anyone could see that private companies’ main goal is to maximise profits, to the detriment of services. Essential functions such as roads, transport, health and education ought to be under government control. Peter Terrey, Castle Cove

Artful members

Perhaps correspondent Todd Hillsley, who wrote about the price of entering the Museum of Contemporary Art, should consider buying an MCA membership (Letters, March 28). Annual individual membership is $90 (concession $70) and gives members free entry to all MCA exhibitions, invitations to members-only events and a discount at the cafe and gift shop. The ground floor cafe has pleasant casual dining that is suitable for families. Given the MCA has to raise 85 per cent of its revenue from donations, ticketing and commercial activities, buying a membership seems like a win-win. Carol Horton, North Sydney

Trout and about

Jeffrey Mellefont’s letter to Coral Button, advising her to take fish oil tablets rather than consuming salmon, is all well and good, but what type of oil is in the tablets (Letters, March 28)? Probably salmon, as it is high in the good oils. Another letter advises her to eat salmon, but not from Tasmania. As a former salmon consumer, I can say that it is almost impossible to find any salmon in our supermarkets other than those from Tasmania. An alternative, Tasmanian trout, which I had changed to, has disappeared from the shelves. It’s a sad situation for us salmon/trout lovers. Dorothy Gliksman, Cedar Brush Creek

First a lump of coal, then a whole salmon (“Angry senator pulls ‘extinction’s salmon’ stunt”, March 27). Now, if someone representing the Australian steel industry could bring in a hot plate we might actually be able to put them to some use, have a nosh up and get on with running the country. Most importantly, voters could decide who’s better at wielding the tongs. George Manojlovic, Mangerton

Postscript

The budget speeches this week were a letdown for many readers, who had hoped for bolder measures to tackle Australia’s problems, particularly regarding the environment. Mark Nugent summed it up: “Labor is offering very modest tax cuts, the Liberals are offering temporary fuel excise cuts. Our major parties are dull and lazy and have no meaningful policy fixes for our future. We deserve better.”

Climate change is at the front of many voters’ minds. “Dutton’s proposal to cut fuel excise will encourage more monster cars/trucks ... at a time when we should be aiming to reduce emissions,” wrote Martin Frohlich.

Emissions aren’t the only election sticking point. Labor’s amendment to conservation laws that protects commercial salmon farming in Tasmania drew criticism. “The changes enable the salmon farms to keep killing off the endangered Maugean skate and other native fish, all to protect a couple of Tasmanian seats. More likely, the consequences will be that marginal Labor seats go to a pro-environment candidate,” wrote Elizabeth Elenius.

Coral Button, however, has more personal priorities. “I have shed 10kg and improved my health by eating a daily meal of salmon and six vegetables. I don’t intend to give it up, I’m just going to stop reading articles about it,” she said. Keep up the good work, Coral.

The Trump Show rolls on, and this week’s episode was a real cracker, with the US president’s inner circle inadvertently inviting a magazine journalist to join their group discussion on bombing Yemen. Readers were shocked.

Bruce Hyland spoke for many. “We cannot rely on the US to preserve sensitive information that we provide them,” he wrote. “We need them out of the Five Eyes alliance now, before they cause us serious harm.”

It wasn’t just the US security bungle that alarmed readers. Trump’s bookkeepers have questioned CSIRO researchers about diversity, gender and ideology as they tighten the screws on scientific funding.

“Parties heading into the election must announce clear policies for protecting the integrity of the CSIRO if the US aims to continue funding in exchange for capitulation on matters of climate change, vaccination and diversity,” wrote Lorraine Hickey.

Ivan Hemens, letters desk

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