Super Saturday: Results show taunts do not resonate with voters

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Super Saturday: Results show taunts do not resonate with voters

To submit a letter to The Age, email letters@theage.com.au. Please include your home address and telephone number.

Malcolm Turnbull's taunts that "Bill Shorten lies and lies and lies" obviously didn't resonate with voters in Saturday's byelections. How edifying to read of Shorten acknowledging that "the people of Australia are sick and tired of me and Turnbull being in a Punch and Judy show. They want better from us." If Shorten can rise above the bear-pit fray in Parliament, he'll probably increase Labor's vote when the long-suffering public gets the chance to give their verdict at the next election.

Pat Campbell

Pat Campbell

Phyllis Vespucci, Reservoir

People are disaffected with the parties

Alexander Downer's miserable comment on the Mayo byelection result, evidently unwittingly, encapsulates voters' disaffection with the major parties, all out of touch with the ideals, needs and aspirations of ordinary folk. There will be more Rebekha Sharkies and Cathy McGowans elected to the parliaments of this country, and one day soon such clear thinkers will be in a position to form a government of independents and minor parties. The Tasmanian election system in particular lends itself to such an outcome.

James Ogilvie, Kew

Government needs to reassess its agenda

Perhaps the government will undertake some navel gazing after these results. They might then realise that we in the "centre" are increasingly disconnected from their agenda.

The electorate wants ambitious targets on renewable energy, want environmental protection brought to the top of the agenda, want the ABC protected and funded, and does not care about corporate tax cuts, knowing that other than the banks, no major corporation pays anything like 30 per cent tax. We are prepared to pay appropriate personal taxes to ensure government services are effective and beneficial, and do not see the sense in flattening the income tax scales.

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My son is a teacher who has a maximum salary of $99,000 but in six years will pay the same rate of tax as a person on almost $200,000. We do not see the national benefit in continuing negative gearing tax breaks to the 11 per cent of the population who can afford to own more than one property.

If Malcolm Turnbull wants to remain Prime Minister, he should stop mouthing meaningless platitudes, start acting statesmanlike, and start connecting with we "in the middle".

William Wallace, Ascot Park, SA

Alexander the ingrate on losing

Alexander Downer's reaction to jibes against his daughter first evinced a chortle from me: "Diddums", I thought. But then I went on to think about his role in denying East Timor's rightful share of resource revenue; his role in Tampa and establishing a culture of fear and loathing towards refugees; and his shockingly awful jibe about "the things that batter".

The people of Mayo have spoken, and they have said, "No thanks" to the Downers. Whether it's to their genuinely self-sacrificial sense of noblesse oblige or to their expectation that successive generations have a birthright to suckle from the public teat, it's just plain "No".

Indra Liepins, Glenroy

A born-to-rule mentality no more

Alexander Downer says his family has been "nation builders". Sort of sums up the born-to-rule mentality displayed by the LNP. There is a total lack of connection with the needs and aspirations of the average Australian.

John Taylor, Cobram

Whistling in the dark

It appears that the dog-whistling by Turnbull, Dutton, Howard etc. was all to no avail.

Robin Parkinson, Geelong

FORUM

Raise this flag

Yes, Jack Burchall (Letters, 28/7), it's long past time for a new Australian flag. The Indigenous flag must surely be one of the finest anywhere in the world.

I suggest that Australia should adopt a flag with the same basic design, a sun on the horizon, but should use a bright blue Australian sky, gum-tree green grass, and a golden yellow sun, so giving a nod to our current use of green and gold as sporting colours while honouring our Indigenous people and creating something distinctive.

Anna Sumerfield, Bendigo

Why I opted out

I am sorry for Helen Pitt's loss and respect her reasons for supporting My Health Record (Comment, 28/7). But her assumption that "people who oppose My Health Record ... have never walked with a loved one on the difficult path of a terminal illness" are wrong and hurtful. I oppose MHR precisely because of such an experience.

My mother died from a rare genetic condition, which at that stage was unidentified. At least six other family members died of the same illness, and several others who survived were badly harmed. My mother was keen to assist in any research that could help understand what was afflicting our family. But she understood that disclosure of this information could be harmful to her or to us, and she was emphatic that her information should only be disclosed as and when she permitted. I have no doubt that she would have opted out of MHR.

I am grateful to the doctors and other researchers who eventually solved our family riddle. But I don't need every GP to have access to that information, let alone random law enforcement agencies, so I have also opted out.

By all means make the case for the potential benefits of MHR, but not at the expense of others who have also experienced loss.

Name and address supplied

Unfair funding ...

I despair at the inequity and unjust school funding in the education system. Despite assurances of needs-based funding, the Turnbull government has allowed some of Victoria's richest private schools to have their federal funding increased, due to transitional and capital funding. This is in stark contrast to state schools who struggle to find the money to maintain their buildings to a satisfactory standard.

This year alone, as a teacher in a state school, I have dealt with flooding of classrooms, mould damage, holes in walls and ceilings and damaged carpet. The cheapest carpet tiles replaced the carpet and yet a private school plans to build an Olympic-sized swimming pool, with a movable floor to accommodate water polo matches. Inequality seems to be entrenched in the system. The government should be closing the gap, not widening it.

Diane Wheeler, Balnarring

... And ad this to it

A half-page ad for a primary school assistant principal on page 3 of Saturday's Age. If we needed more evidence that private schools do not need additional public funds, surely this is it.

Russell Ogden, Inverloch

Watch out, Joe

What a great achievement, Joe Deng ("The sweet timing of track champ Joe Deng", The Age, 28/7). A record broken after almost half a century. Be careful, though, by politely pointing out Peter Dutton's negativity and racism, you might be courting deportation as an "undesirable". He does that.

David Allen, Bayswater North

The long run

Men still have a way to go with their attitudes towards women. Seven kilometres, in fact. We were at the three-kilometre mark in a fun run recently when a bloke at the back of our group must have seen the two female runners at the front and decided to call out, "Bit of talent back here!"

I was stunned. It's 2018 and we're still heckling women with sexist comments. Not only that, but not one man had the courage to stand up to him. And I, to my shame, was one of them. Why did I keep quiet? Was I a coward in that moment? Was I out of breath? Or just lost for words? Anyway, here's my belated reply, "Mate, we respect women here."

Grant Morgan, Hurstbridge

The away strip

When the line-ups are announced for the November election, will the Victorian Labor Party's support team be wearing their now famous home game Red Shirts, or opt for "away" tops, maybe seasick yellow and puce?

Ian Angus, Middle Park

Dump this law

The byelections are over and all MPs in breach of section 44 have been returned to office, their constituencies apparently having concluded that lingering British heritage doesn't make somebody a traitorous Manchurian candidate after all. We need to scrap this ridiculous law.

Mitchell Edgeworth, St Kilda

Nation building

Alexander Downer, I also come from a proud nation-building family. My great-grandfather was a railway engineer who helped design and build railway bridges. He was a passionate unionist and was active in supporting and setting up mechanics institutes as he believed in educating working-class people. My father fought in Papua New Guinea in World WarII. My siblings and their children continue to be upright, hard-working members of our country. Members of my extended family come from from far-off countries, including Africa and Asia. We are all proud nation builders.

Anne Maki, Alphington

It doesn't work

John Howard sent out fridge magnets in an attempt to spread fear in the community. Any truth to the rumour that Peter Dutton is going to post out dog whistles. Pointless really, they won't work either.

Garry Brannan, Bendigo

What a goal

All players with the intention of kicking a football drop or throw the ball at their preferred foot. Richmond's Jack Higgins did exactly the same, albeit the ball and foot connected above his head and the oncoming Pies defender.

The "throw" was never intended to advantage another player other than to place the ball in a favourable position (in front of the goal post) to complete the act of kicking.

Nevertheless, the acrobatic, quick-thinking Tiger planted the ball in front of the goal post, ran around the post and kicked an overhead goal of the year. It was a perfectly executed smart goal.

Jacob Friedman, Glen Waverley

Majestic heights

Jane Sullivan (Turning Pages, 28/7) is right to say that "Emily Bronte and Wuthering Heights are seen as almost synonymous", but it is equally true that the author and Wuthering Heights (the place, not the novel) are inseparable. The novel's majesty derives from that location and what happens there. Bronte's writing is extraordinarily inspired as she brings it and its key characters and their vital doings into focus up until that critical moment when Cathy rejects Heathcliff and he goes away.

Nothing of the same psychic force went into the creation of Thrushcross Grange and the Lintons; and the later part of the novel undoubtedly suffers from a loss of depth, insight and direction after that unforgettable opening.

Nigel Jackson, Belgrave

Please, focus

ABC radio and television ("Aunty's waves of trouble", The Age, 28/7) are going through great changes, exciting and precarious: a tightrope act, outcomes unknown. Television has made a start. Is radio being held back by long-term broadcasters who dismiss change as "dumbing down"? Focus and pragmatism may help achieve balance.

Mary Cole, Richmond

Good news

Two very good things happened together in Victoria recently. First, the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Lily D'Ambrosio, and Gunai traditional owner Aunty Doris Paton jointly declared the creation of the Brataualung Forest Park in the Strzelecki Ranges – Brataualung being name of one of five clans of the Gunai tribe.

The second was that the formal announcement was made in partnership with a Gunai traditional owner of the land, indicating the minister and her department had worked closely with the Aboriginal community, and in so doing acknowledged their respect for that community's knowledge, care and custodianship of the land for more than 60,000 years.

Bobbie Holmes, Hawthorn

Leather jacket hooked

Malcolm Turnbull's petty-minded decision to hold the byelections on Labor's national conference day didn't work. What next? A more expensive leather jacket?

John Walsh, Watsonia

Forget the silo

Despite Julia Baird's good advice that we should be prepared to listen to those with whom we do not agree (Comment, 28/7), many people will continue to occupy their own silos of ideas. Clearly, some people object so strongly to opposing views they cannot even tolerate hearing or reading them. The Age should resist any temptation to become a silo of ideas.

Being "independent always" does not simply mean balancing the more conservative views seen in other news organisations but providing a range of views for readers to consider. For instance, sometimes I agree with Amanda Vanstone, sometimes I do not, but I always want to read what she says. I like her precisely because I am never sure what she is going to say. The Opinion page should present content that challenges readers. It should wake readers up, not merely massage their existing views.

Rod Wise, Surrey Hills

Age of enlightenment

Nine reasons for The Age: 1.Independent. 2. Reliable. 3.Trustworthy. 4. Responsible. 5.Authoritative. 6Comprehensive. 7. Diverse. 8.Contemporary. 9. Positive.

Tony Lenten, Glen Waverley

AND ANOTHER THING

Immigration

"Difficult to integrate," says Tony Abbott of African immigration. Indigenous Australians could say the same about British and European immigrants.

Michael Smith, Essendon West

Politics

Bill Shorten should not take all the credit. He needs to thank Peter Dutton, Eric Abetz and their extreme-right colleagues for the byelection results.

John Bye, Elwood

Statesman-like comment by Malcolm? "Labor should have done better."

Les Aisen, Elsternwick

What was Malcolm saying on Friday? "Bill's missing." Well it certainly wasn't Bill who was missing on Saturday night.

Judith Dunn, Bentleigh East

No surprise here. Malcolm assured us that Labor should win.

Jon Smith, Leongatha

Downer and out in South Australia.

Les Field, Blackburn South

One Nation's vote increased in Longman while Pauline Hanson was away on holidays. A message?

Les Anderson, Woodend

Malcolm, is that the sharpening of knives I hear on the backbench?

Graeme Lee, Fitzroy

Perhaps we should have a new class of visa "Sudanese Cave Diver" to neutralise the dog-whistling.

Rex Niven, Eltham

Peter Dutton's done and dusted in Dickson. A swing of just 2 per cent will do him in.

Sally Mizrahi, Hawthorn

Red shirts, red faces.

Noel Howard, Heathmont

Furthermore

Closing Pine Gap would be a step towards peace.

John Bowman, Ocean Grove

Saving the ABC is sufficient reason to remove the Turnbull government.

Michael Staindl, Hawthorn

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