LETTERS
The Age
Friday March 25, 2011
Gillard lumps all in the 'extreme' basketIN CALLING for the rejection of extremists, Julia Gillard tries to create a single negative category including not only the ilk of Wednesday's ignorant and offensive rally against a carbon tax, but also those who urge stronger science-based action to achieve a safe climate (Comment, 24/3).A valid critique of Australia's present weak emissions reduction targets does not render the holders of such a view extreme. They base their case on the same science referenced by Professor Garnaut in his climate review for the federal government. Perhaps Ms Gillard would like to explain her government's more than $12 billion in annual subsidies for the fossil fuel industry, or the recent approval of the largest open-cut coal mine in the southern hemisphere at Wandoan in Queensland?It is just those kinds of actions that will work against household and industry assistance to choose low-emissions alternatives. This debate shouldn't be about some "fine Australian" calling the Prime Minister a "witch", or worse.Darren Lewin-Hill, NorthcoteAiding the pollutersTONY Abbott should be asking himself as no doubt others in his party are asking why the latest poll shows that less than one third of Australians would prefer him as prime minister.His constant ducking and weaving on climate science and his refusal to do what economists suggest put a price on carbon is losing him hearts and, particularly, minds. Who benefits from not putting a tax on carbon, the thoughtful ask themselves. Surely not Mr and Mrs Jo Blow, who will save energy, pocket a tax cut andgive their children and grandchildren a future. Could it be Abbott's great big powerful friends the polluters?Lynne Holroyd, East HawthornFool on the hillIT IS interesting to go to the motivation for the slanging match on a carbon tax: for no personal benefit, the Prime Minister is seeking to rein inthe devastation that global warming will bring. For immense personal benefit, the Leader of the Opposition is seeking to win the next election. It's all a matter of the Light on the Hill versus the Fool on the Hill.Ken Marriott, WilliamstownSolar's true potentialIT MAKES me angry when I keep coming across the old crock that solar can't provide baseload 24-hour-a-day power (Letters, 24/3). This line is so simplistic it is almost beyond belief. The only reason solar is not used more widely is because of vested political and corporate interests.Molten salt storage, hydrogen fuel cells and pumped water storage are but three methods that are being used or could be used to extend the power of solar beyond the fall of darkness.Oil and gas will eventually run out, coal will never be clean, but energy will keep falling out of the sky, and that's before you even start looking at geothermal, wind or wave/tide power.Mark Lowick, EmeraldLong-lasting effectsERIC Knight suggests two questions should guide our judgments on nuclear power: the probability of a serious accident and a risk/benefit analysis (Comment, 24/3). He overlooked two more: the magnitude of the consequences of an "accident" and their duration.Unlike airline crashes or industrial accidents, the consequences of "serious" nuclear accidents can potentially span generations, involve cross-continental populations and render unusable large areas of scarce fertile land and water.Many areas of human activity need to be substituted for less dangerous alternatives. Fortunately, we can stop burning coal. We can use less electricity and move away from notions of greed and consumer desire.Unfortunately, our eminent scientific nuclear lobbyists have still not found a way to permanently remove radioactive contaminants. And why would they? The publicly underwritten industry is worth billions to a few big shareholders.Hundreds of years from now the inhabitants of regions near Chernobyl and many areas of Europe may beg to differ with Knight's view. For them it will not be a matter of statistical analyses but rather a single-cell mutation that caused a cross-generational birth defect in their families.Nicholas Goodwin, Wheelers HillBurden of alcoholYOUR editorial rightly deplores the supermarket duopoly (The Age, 24/3). But the bigger issue is the huge burden alcohol creates. Binge and excess drinking is linked to so much that damages our society diseases, families destroyed by alcoholism, violence on the street, domestic violence, child abuse and so on.We need to stop alcohol advertising and promotion. We did it with cigarettes and saved enormous amounts of misery and health costs.Dr Margaret Beavis, BrightonPredatory pricingAM I missing something? Didn't the federal government, so concerned with alcohol abuse, raise the price of alcopops to discourage drunkenness? So why aren't we hearing an outcry against Coles and Woolworths' predatory pricing from the same federal government and civic leaders on that score now?John Mosig, KewLet them fight it outTHE big brewers would like nothing more than a public health backlash to fight the fight for them, but are we really going to create a situation where a behemoth such as Foster's gets protection from the discounting of its product even when it's not the one taking the loss?It also might be useful to ask why a country such as Germany, where beer is cheaper than bottled water, manages to avoid many of the ills that seem to plague our society.Justin Buckley, HuntingdaleSunday's day for REIN 1872 the Victorian Education Act prescribed free secular education. Religious instruction by volunteers was only allowed outside regular school hours.The updated Education Act 2006 reaffirmed the government's commitment to secular education but allowed "special religious instruction" (not religious education) during school hours.Access Ministries' Evonne Paddison says their volunteers are "carefully trained" not to convert children ("Religious study contested", The Age, 24/3). Their website, however, publicly proclaims their mission to "transform this nation for God".Enough of this creeping evangelism. If parents want religious instruction, there's a whole day for it Sunday.Dr Meredith Doig, Rationalist Society of Australia, East St KildaNo supervisionIT'S time for a reality check in relation to Access Ministriesand their provision of Christian religious education (CRE) in Victorian primary schools.The "careful" training that their chief executive claims is given to their volunteers lasts for only two days. Volunteers are not directly supervised by either Access or the schools in which these programs are conducted. While the regular teachers remain in classrooms during CRE, this is a legal requirement in relation to child safety. Scrutinising the activities of the volunteers is not part of a teacher's role. Therefore I don't see how the Access chief executive can provide a blanket assurance that the volunteers don't spruik for their religion.I can relate from my own children's experience a number of instances when they have been taunted by other kids in the playground that they would certainly go to hell if they didn't believe in God. Who put these ideas into their heads? I think the answer is obvious.Bronwyn Benn, BurwoodQuick to get moneyHAVING paid my six-month registration fee in December, I finally received my official practising certificate about two weeks ago ("Delays on nurses pose threat", The Age, 23/3). I was somewhat surprised to receive an email from the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency this week informing me that my registration renewal is due again on May 31, and that I may therefore wish to pay early.It would seem AHPRA's ineptitude extends only to their ability to provide the documentation essential to my continued employment, not their ability to collect my money.Michelle Goldsmith, EaglehawkBest to stay awayIT IS drawing a long bow to compare Sri Lanka and Libya (Letters, 23/3). Libya has been at peace for about 42 years, albeit under a dictator, whereas the Tamils have been gun toting for decades. Sri Lanka could be better compared with Ireland. Sometimes we have to stay away.Margaret Raffle, Keilor East
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