Government of, by and for the people is great – at every level of politics

It’s hardly a surprise that most of us are unhappy to some degree about the way services are delivered and taxes are raised (“Most people think councils do good work – they still want them gone, January 12). Given the trashing by the premier of local government’s role in planning, and that pretty much every local government area in NSW in underfunded, with our roads, parks and other vital infrastructure falling to pieces, it’s equally unsurprising that many are deeply frustrated and wonder about its future. Running all our services from Canberra and Sydney is a dubious proposition at best, as the local community needs to be involved in deciding what decisions are important. What’s clear is that our system of government is failing, and that we need a wide-reaching conversation about how we’re governed, and how our voices are heard. Will that happen? When I moved at my then local Labor Party branch meeting 40 years ago that we abolish state government in Australia, my local Labor MP, a very decent man, said to me: “Colin, you can’t expect me to vote my job out of existence, can you?” Colin Hesse, Nowra

Chris Minns has sought to fast-track development and bypass council delays. Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

Common sense suggests that we could be better governed. Shane Wright’s concluding comment that we would face “insurmountable constitutional hurdles” in attempting to change the system is the killer for any commonsense reform. Not the least would be the mother of all scare campaigns from those vested interests who stand to lose. Remember the Voice debacle? Micheal Traynor, Bellambi

A man asked his son what he wanted for Christmas. The answer was a cowboy outfit, so he brought him the local council. Ian Adair, Hunters Hill

Post-Bondi politics

Sean Kelly has written a poignant and thought-provoking opinion piece (“After Bondi our leaders needed to draw breath. Now, so do we all”, January 12). Irrespective of politics and its voracious hunger for feeding the daily news cycle, the dialogue, debate and focus of the weeks that followed the Bondi tragedy have demeaned us all. Scant time has been granted to allow people to respectfully and collectively grieve, which is just as important to an individual as it is to a community and, in this case, a nation. The immediate politicisation of the tragedy (both here and abroad) was indeed “opportunistic and ugly”. Compare this with the political bipartisanship shown in the immediate wake of Port Arthur. The race to apportion blame has divided us, not brought us together. Sometimes respectful silence, together with honest human contact, counts above everything else. Cleveland Rose, Dee Why

A man mourns during a menorah lighting ceremony at the floral memorial for victims of the Bondi Beach attack.Credit: AP

Sean Kelly’s discussion on the political class and its responses to the Bondi tragedy just highlights what political debate in this country and around the world is all about. Every moral, social and economic issue is viewed through the lens of being “left” or “right”. Politicians and the media thrive on this. Whatever integrity our politicians might have when they enter parliament is quickly swallowed up by the party machines, which take any and every opportunity to criticise their opponents. If bipartisanship were the norm instead of the rare exception, we would be more easily able to find solutions to many of the issues that beset our society. Phil Peak, Dubbo

Sean Kelly is right that all parties needed to pause, take stock and then react to the grief of the Bondi tragedy. It’s when we are faced with the greatest tragedies that clarity and patience are in the shortest of supply. We can rely on statesmen and stateswomen during such times only once they decide to opt out of political point-scoring. Manbir Singh Kohli, Pemulwuy

Apology not needed

I thought the apology for Cathy Wilcox’s cartoon was unnecessary (“Wilcox cartoon was divisive – and we apologise for the hurt it has caused”, January 12). It undermined the finest cartoonist in Australia and took some shine away from the Herald’s “Independent. Always” ethos. Your independence and quality journalism is why I subscribe. It stands almost alone above a sea of mediocre and outright dishonest journalism. As a former Herald journalist and a retired newspaper editor, I implore you to hold your nerve. Russell Eldridge, Brunswick Heads

If I didn’t laugh, I would cry. On Monday, the Herald published what was, at best, a lukewarm apology for Cathy Wilcox’s cartoon published last week. In the same paper, Sean Kelly has been allowed to do exactly the same thing Wilcox did – emit a heartfelt dog whistle. “The Coalition and its allies have caused much of the [rapid back-and-forth]” over the response to the Bondi massacre. Could Mr Kelly please explain which allies he is referring to – the Murdoch media, the “Jewish lobby” or the Israeli government? Some clarity would be helpful. Robert Buist, Randwick

Rather than apologising for Cathy Wilcox’s cartoon, it might be better to be explaining the clear difference between criticism of Israel and antisemitism. Rob Mills, Riverview

I’m disappointed. Cathy’s cartoon did what all good political cartoons do, and always have, both succinctly and compellingly. If you’re going to be editorially courageous enough to print it, then be editorially courageous enough to defend it, without apology. Damon Ford, Woonona

Credit: Cathy Wilcox

The Bondi massacre was a vile act of terror, but it should never be allowed to suppress debate in a true democracy. Your editorial correctly notes that many commentators and members of the Jewish community do not support the policies of Israel or Netanyahu and should not be silenced. Yet such criticism of Israel has been labelled antisemitic. This is a highly contentious area that needs clearer definition. Dr Abdel-Fattah has been silenced for her criticism of Israel and support of Palestinians. And by a writers festival, no less, whose modus operandi should be robust discussion. Equally, Cathy Wilcox uses sharp satire to illuminate a contentious area. That is her job, which she does brilliantly.

Alison Stewart, Riverview

Thanks for trying to apologise, but when you are sorry only because we are upset, it is not an apology. Miriam Levy, Kensington

Get anti-hate target right

I welcome Premier Chris Minns’ intention to curb genuine hate speech and intimidation. However, the debate around NSW’s proposed anti-hate laws risks reinforcing a serious misconception that deserves clearer public discussion. There is an increasing worldwide tendency to conflate pro-Palestinian protest with antisemitism. This is a false equivalence. Criticism of the Israeli government – including condemnation of its conduct in Gaza and the immense civilian toll – is not hatred of Jewish people. It is political protest, and in a democracy, it must remain protected. At the same time, protest organisers carry responsibility. Legitimate demonstrations lose moral authority when violence, intimidation or hateful symbols are tolerated. Those elements should be unequivocally rejected and addressed, not used to discredit peaceful dissent as a whole. If anti-hate legislation is to succeed, it must target genuine hatred while safeguarding lawful political expression. Anything less risks deepening division, rather than reducing it. Dieter Gartelmann, Findon (SA)

NSW Premier Chris Minns announced stronger powers for local councils to shut down prayer halls accused of hosting hate preachers.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

Coalition derailed Voice

While I agree that the prime minister stubbornly sticks to his views well past the point where they need to change, I’d suggest to correspondent Brian Barrett that the Voice referendum was not an example of this (Letters, January 12). Polling before the referendum was called showed a majority of public support for Indigenous inclusion. The reversal came about when the Nationals and then the Liberals chose divisiveness over justice, and they embraced the anti-democratic “if you don’t know, vote no” tactic. Jeffrey Mellefont, Coogee

Bring back bush trains

Out here, west of the Blue Mountains, we look with sadness and envy at what is being spent on Sydney’s metro (“Alarm as cost of Metro stop in CBD set to rise further”, January 12). Regional train lines started being closed down, sold off and allowed to rot in the 1960s. Since then, it’s been downhill all the way. Our current services are just an insult. Impractical timetables and seriously tired old XPTs that struggle to not break down. Has no politician in this state the wit to see that fast rail services to the regions would not only enable development here, but would take pressure off Sydney? Peter Thompson, Grenfell

Paying for pollution

Amanda McKenzie, chief executive of the Climate Council, draws attention to consequences of temperature extremes resulting from fossil fuel emissions, including the rising number of heat-related deaths, the impact on children, and escalating climate-related costs to society (“The data doesn’t lie: it’s getting hotter and fossil fuels are fanning the flames”, January 12). She accepts that our nation is progressing with the transition away from fossil fuels to renewables, although not with sufficient alacrity. However, climate change stems largely from the carbon dioxide emissions from coal and gas use at a global scale, and in this regard, Australia is a major contributor through its exports. While it is acknowledged that the fossil fuel producers contribute royalties, they also receive subsidies from governments. It would seem only equitable that these should be directed towards ameliorating the impacts of global warming, rather than being directed to corporations causing the predicament. Roger Epps, Armidale

US is completely shot

Dictatorships assign their military to domestic areas to “keep order”. Masked, heavily armed ICE employees are roaming many US cities, abducting and shooting people, seemingly with complete immunity (“Huge protests in US cities over fatal ICE shooting”, January 12). They would not be out of place dressed in brown shirts. Trump is simultaneously threatening Iran with military strikes if it continues to kill protesters. Has anyone forgotten Trump’s alleged orders to General Mark Milley in 2020, in Lafayette Square, as protesters blocked his access to a historic church for a photo op holding a Bible? “Just shoot them!” When General Milley and Attorney General William Barr opposed this order, Trump replied: “well, shoot them in the leg, or maybe the foot. But be hard on them.” America’s slide into fascism is gathering pace, and we would be wise to carefully evaluate all of our military and intelligence ties with them under this presidency. Alan Marel, North Curl Curl

The lying of the Trump administration has entered the realm of the surreal since the killing of Renee Nicole Good by ICE officers in Minneapolis. The pre-investigation verdicts of President Trump and Homeland Security head Kristi Noem are in direct contradiction to eyewitnesses and multiple sources of video evidence. The labelling of Ms Good as a “domestic terrorist” is a cruel lie as well as being absurd, but there are many Trump supporters and enablers who are committed to denying what they can see with their own eyes. When a “post-truth era” has been embraced and objective reality abandoned, it is impossible not to think of the brainwashed citizens of Orwell’s 1984 : “It appeared that there had even been demonstrations to thank Big Brother for raising the chocolate ration to twenty grams a week. And only yesterday […] it had been announced that the ration was to be reduced to twenty grams a week. Was it possible that they could swallow that, after only twenty-four hours? Yes, they swallowed it.” Steve Ellis, Hackett (ACT)

Pro-Iranian democracy protesters demonstrate in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.Credit: AP

While the scale of protest and response is not the same, it is hard to reconcile Donald Trump’s desire to protect the right of Iran’s citizens to oppose their government, while condemning those in his own country for doing the same (“Fashion student ‘shot in back of the head’ among hundreds killed in Iran”, January 12). Philip Cooney, Wentworth Falls

Why am I not feeling reassured when the spokesperson for the Australian Submarine Agency insists that the AUKUS nuclear submarine development program is meeting key milestones and “remains full steam ahead”? (“Warning of AUKUS subs deal collapse”, January 12, 2026). Paul McShane, Burradoo

Bushfire economics

I’m a volunteer firefighter over the age of 55 (“RFS numbers revealed”, January 10). At my age it’s difficult to find full-time employment in the area that I live, so I volunteered to work 17 hours a fortnight, hoping to fulfil the requirements to obtain Centrelink Newstart payments. Unfortunately, Centrelink does not recognise RFS as a volunteering organisation. Imagine if they did. Considering the shortage of firefighters, it would certainly increase the number of volunteers and, in turn, save more homes and lives. Name withheld

After the tragic loss of life and property in Victoria, we must also remember that bushfires are an integral part of the ecosystem in Australia and will always be with us (“One dead as Victoria battles 27 bushfires after nearly 400,000 hectares burn”, January 12). The majority of Australian flora needs fire to regenerate itself. Not only does the heat release the seeds from the tops of the gum trees, the ashes also provide nutrients needed for the seeds to sprout when the rains come. We must therefore look at other ways of protecting our rural communities from the scourge of bushfires, which are a necessary evil. The number of homes built in high fire risk areas continues to grow. We must be mindful of the danger this will always present. Rosemary Embery, Dulwich Hill

For years, we have been warned by climate scientists that failure to act on climate change will incur even greater costs in the future. Australia is now experiencing massive floods in the north and catastrophic bushfires in the south. To address its impacts, international co-operation is essential, but the leader of what we once inanely named the free world calls the scientific consensus variously “a hoax”, “a con job” or “a scam” while actively promoting the fossil fuel industry. No wonder the race for space is heating up as we go about recklessly destroying our own planet’s habitability. Bernard Moylan, Bronte

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