These acts harm chances of getting on top of this
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LIFE IN LOCKDOWN
These acts harm chances of getting on top of this
The vision on television on Saturday of angry mobs crowding the streets of Melbourne and Sydney was most distressing. By their selfish actions, they were not only breaking the law but, in the absence of widespread vaccination (the result of a botched rollout program) they are undermining the only chance we have of getting on top of the dangerous outbreak of the Delta strain of the virus.
These scenes are disturbingly reminiscent of what we are used to seeing in cities in America. There, rioting mobs claim their individual liberties are being violated. Members of the mobs in our cities were shouting the same slogans. Putting individual claims in front of collective requirements in a time of crisis is a sure path to anarchy. We must hope that common sense will prevail and we can avoid a breakdown of civil order.
Saturday’s scenes must be a wake-up call for the rest of us.
Bob Malseed, Hawthorn
Glass houses and mirrors come to mind
There has been much justified condemnation of the so-called “freedom marchers” in various media outlets and online over the weekend. And while not wishing to give these people any more oxygen than is absolutely necessary, or justifying their actions, it is important to put their behaviour into some context.
Thousands upon thousands of us have flouted mask-wearing rules, travelled beyond the specified travel limitations, had visitors to our houses, to identify but a small number of non-compliance issues. Why, even the Prime Minister ignored the advice of Australia’s Chief Medical Officer when he was quarantining in Canberra.
The “freedom marchers” have merely taken this non-compliance to a more extreme level. The cult of the individual, where we pick and choose which rules to follow and when to follow them, has never been more apparent than in our latest lockdown. All of these actions come at the expense of a coherent and healthy society. Glass houses and mirrors come to mind.
Graeme Gardner, Reservoir
With rights come responsibilities
The “freedom march” is surely a misnomer. For a large number of the marchers, it appeared to be all about venting.
Due to the huge exposure issues this created, many law-abiding citizens in Victoria and NSW may find not only the early easing from a lockdown jeopardised but also their health and the health of their families compromised. And what the “home schooling” folks would think of an unnecessary extension due to sabotage oesn’t bear thinking about.
With rights come responsibilities. Wake up, it is not about you. You need to learn what living in a community and working as a part of a team is about.
Barb Kingston, Mount Waverley
At least the protesters aren’t rolling over
I’m glad there are people who are prepared to challenge the enforcement of loss of freedom and the consequence of economic and personal hardship.
At least the protesters aren’t rolling over with their paws in the air and are challenging the handling of this pandemic, which has been abysmal.
Lesley Black, Frankston
‘Aussie battlers’ collapsing at the slightest pressure
The people of Afghanistan and Iraq need freedom from violence and extremism. The people of Myanmar need freedom from a brutal military dictatorship. The people of Sydney and Melbourne who can’t handle a few weeks of lockdown need freedom from their own lack of resilience.
How insulting (and probably amusing) it must be to those who are in desperate need of actual freedom to see the privileged people of Australia, the self-proclaimed “Aussie battlers”, collapse under a modicum of pressure.
James O’Keefe, East Melbourne
THE FORUM
This was no accident
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard suggests that NSW’s provision of assistance to other states experiencing a bushfire emergency compels those states and territories to donate vaccine to counter the NSW “national emergency”; he laments the lack of support.
This comparison is vexatious at best. Bushfires are largely “acts of god”, while the situation in NSW is the result of a lack of action that persists even as the situation progresses.
There would be widespread support for providing NSW with vaccine if the situation was an accident and if there was a proportional response. Instead we see an inadequate response that must be corrected before precious vaccines are donated.
Glyn Teale, St Kilda East
Qualified support for NSW
Of course we should help NSW and set the example of being above the political partisan rubbish that we are currently witnessing, but not until it’s justified.
Has the NSW government done enough to get this outbreak under control before other states pitch in some of their vaccine supply at their own expense? These are states who have shown resolute courage and lessons learnt to go straight into hard lockdowns to get outbreaks under control as quickly as possible.
The NSW government cannot expect other states to prop up its lockdown-lite lifestyle approach while they are doing it tough with hard lockdowns to control the outbreak leaks from NSW.
Paul Miller, Box Hill South
Their time has passed
The comedic duo of Paul Hogan and John Cornell as discussed by Duncan Fine (“Strop, the hapless and laconic larrikin”, Comment, 24/7) ertainly defined a commonly accepted attitude that has been evident in humorous entertainment worldwide, and certainly not solely represented in this country alone.
Many of us growing up in the 1950s and 1960s for example, were entertained by sometimes hilarious depictions of Strop-type characters; however my personal view changed some time ago when I met a Strop-type person. The reality of his life was that it was no bed of roses and he was routinely ridiculed by people around him.
The Hogan and Cornell era has passed. And its passing should also be accompanied by any fond memories of these cruel representations.
Graeme Day, Ocean Grove
What are they there for?
Sussan Ley, in her capacity as federal Environment Minister, is appealing against a Federal Court ruling that she has a duty of care to protect Australian children from climate harm caused by the expansion of a coal mine (“No duty to children on climate: minister”, The Age, 22/7).
This denial of a duty of care to Australian citizens appears to be a denial of the basis of the legitimacy of representative government.
A government is only legitimate when individual citizens forfeit their rights to no-holds-barred defence of their individual interests on the understanding that the government will defend them from serious harm and will provide for them those things (roads, public health, law and order, etc) that individuals can’t provide for themselves.
The harm that will be caused to children and to future citizens of Australia by climate change will indeed be a serious harm.
If the minister does not consider that she has a duty of care to today’s and tomorrow’s children to use every measure within her power to prevent that harm, what does she think her government is there for?
Robert Henning, Clifton Hill
A silver lining, perhaps?
I note Japan says it will significantly reduce its use of fossil fuels by 2030 (“Japan’s clean energy push threat to gas, coal”, The Age , 23/7).
On the bright side, does this mean that the surplus Australian gas will instead be recycled into our domestic market at similar price to that formerly offered to the Japanese?
Michael Swan, Greensborough
It’s a small compromise
The small compromise of living with all the great advantages of a democratic society is that occasionally your freedoms will be curtailed by my freedoms, and vice versa.
Please, for all our sakes, wear a mask and get vaccinated.
Patricia Rivett, Ferntree Gully
They deserve better
Last year, Victoria struggled through two lockdowns in order to battle this new virus and a worldwide pandemic.
There was no precedent and we got things wrong, but we learnt from our mistakes. Our state government constantly looked into how to do things better to reduce the chances of transmission and Daniel Andrews made decisions that he knew were going to make him unpopular. The health minister was sacrificed for hotel quarantine mistakes.
We all worked really hard to get it right. NSW has chosen to completely ignore anything Victoria did to combat this pandemic. I could forgive the mistakes made by our politicians last year as it was such a new experience, but there is no excuse for NSW not to learn from our experience.
The people of NSW deserve better than the mixed messages they are getting from their leader.
The rest of Australia will continue to be affected by NSW’s failings until Gladys Berejiklian shows some real leadership and makes the hard, unpopular decisions that are needed.
Marianne Thomson, Northcote
A flock of seagulls
I couldn’t agree more with your correspondent (“A little civility and respect, please, journalists”, Letters, 24/7): 18 months of daily pressers in some jurisdictions and still it’s like a flock of seagulls squawking over dropped chips.
I’d like to see a number system, or an orderly queue at a standing microphone. I also want each reporter to announce their name and employer: the officials might know who’s talking, but we watching at home don’t.
Maxine Hardinge, Clunes
Billionaires in bubbles
Tony Wright (“Seeking the beyond, where an old sled lives”, Insight, 24/7) gently pricks the egoistic bubbles of billionaires Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos, who realise dreams of space flight, while demonstrating callous disregard of present perils facing planet earth.
Thank you, Tony, for the moral philosophy in your brilliant last paragraph. I wept.
Robyn Hewitt, Carlton North
Politics wins the day
So, the World Heritage Committee has wimped out by agreeing to not place the Great Barrier Reef on an “in danger” list for the time being (“Reef’s heritage status safe … for now”, The Sunday Age, 25/7).
This was achieved by Australia’s Environment Minister, Sussan Ley, flying around the world to persuade a small number of countries to vote to hold off on the decision. Her previous occupations of aircraft pilot and taxation officer do not provide her with a basis to deliver environmental advice.
This is an example of science being overridden by politics, and it’s not just the federal government’s approach to climate control – the management of the COVID vaccinations should be based on scientific principles not a political lack of principle.
Visit the Barrier Reef before it goes, but you may have to wait till COVID is finally under control. Good luck with your visit.
Dennis Fitzgerald, Box Hill
We need a new leader
Peter Hartcher (“Morrison’s reckoning has arrived”, Comment, 24/7) posits a way out for a Prime Minister trapped in a self-inflicted COVID vaccination fiasco.
Some of us would suggest, tartly, that, based on long-time Australian political precedents, Mr Morrison has already reached the point of no return. The “I don’t hold a hose” meme is now entrenched and is adapted for purpose as each new bungle arrives. His credibility is shattered.
Most telling of all, Australians are laughing at his expense. We are in “Billy McMahon” territory. The audience has moved on. A new leader is required.
Jon McMillan, Mount Eliza
Democracy is diminished
A former Supreme Court judge calls it corruption. The auditor-general calls it unashamedly targeting Liberal seats (“How the Coalition’s car park promises went off the rails”, The Age, 24/7).
For how much longer must we put up with the unrelenting hypocrisy of our politicians, which breeds cynicism and eats away at the very core of democracy? The Museum of Australian Democracy says if current trends continue, fewer than 10 per cent of Australians will trust their politicians by 2025 – resulting in ineffective and illegitimate government and declining social and economic wellbeing.
Perversely, the most trusted organisation in Australia, the ABC, is the very one that the current government is emasculating. Australia desperately needs a genuine bipartisan corruption watchdog as in other democracies around the world.
Surveys show that increasing numbers of Australians are seeing politics as irrelevant, and a look around the world where authoritarian-populist forms of government are gaining momentum, should awaken Australia to that which ultimately threatens the institution of democracy itself.
The stakes could not be higher
Bryan Long, Balwyn
Stop stoking the fire
Yes, Brad Hazzard, all states help each other in putting out fires and floods. NSW also helped with personnel during 2020.
However, you need to put out your own fires first before you can help others, which is where Victoria is now. Also, the fire started in NSW and spread here.
Stop stoking the fire with analogies that don’t cut it and take responsibility for creating this mess by not locking down early enough.
Susan Simpson, Surrey Hills
They’re upset about this?
At a time when our government is mired in scandals, insists on secret trials against whistleblowers, is increasing surveillance of citizens, is spending taxpayers’ money to stall global climate action, is doing nothing about gender equality or sexual harassment and indefinitely locks up innocent asylum seekers, thousands of people demonstrate against having to wear a mask.
Where is their sense of proportion?
Jenny Herbert, Metung
AND ANOTHER THING
North of the border
Gladys Berejiklian, please implement both a ring of steel and a nightly curfew for Greater Sydney. It is a national emergency and we all need you to succeed.
Michelle Leeder, Trentham
Credit:
Gladys, what a state you’re in.
Graham Cadd, Dromana
If NSW wants assistance with vaccines from Victoria, surely the first thing they should do is apologise for the fact that their stuff-up is the reason Victoria is in lockdown today.
Malcolm Fraser, Oakleigh South
The environment
Our rare Earth is treated as common mud.
Paul Drakeford, Kew
I’m no scientist, but I’m pretty sure Sussan Ley’s hot air is contributing to the problem with the reef.
Julie Conquest, Brighton
How is it good for the environment to use massive amounts of resources to send a few people into space for fun?
Ed Veber, Malvern East
Lockdowns
It is not the lockdown that makes me angry, but the anti-lockdown demonstrators, whose antisocial, potentially super-spreading behaviour threatens to keep us in even longer lockdowns.
Vicki Swinbank, Northcote
The pandemic
We can’t vaccinate our way quickly out of the current COVID outbreak, but it’s the best insurance against the next one.
Denis Fielding, Geelong
Politics
Can Kerryn Phelps stand against Scott Morrison at the next election? How good would that be?
Barry Kranz, Mount Clear
Furthermore
A simple solution to the dearth of Uber Eats drivers … go pick it up yourself (“Eateries, food going cold on Uber”, 25/7).
Ross Ogilvie, Woodend
Finally
After 40 years on the Australian Olympic Committee, it’s time to hang up our Coates.
Angus McLeod, Cremorne
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