Nation has what it takes to become a green superpower

How encouraging to read Peter Hartcher picking up on economist Ross Garnaut’s theme of Australia as a future energy superpower and provider of green iron (“Australia’s great leap forward”, July 15). I especially rejoice as a retired engineer. This is more than just a technological fix, although I know from personal experience with hydrogen how challenging its use will be. However, I remain confident that our young scientists, engineers, economists and politicians have what it takes. Let’s go for it, but let’s also recognise the sobering challenge of too many egotistical politicians with their fingers close to nuclear buttons. John Court, Denistone

Peter Hartcher should have read Nick O’Malley’s article on the drawbacks of green steel before predicting it’s the answer to the world’s steel production problems (“The PM talked up green steel. But is it even a thing?” July 15). As O’Malley points out, the industrial supply chain to produce green steel is long, complicated and expensive. It’s a great idea, but its time has not yet come. Ian Adair, Hunters Hill

Fortescue executive chairman Andrew Forrest said green steel could help protect jobs.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

Full marks to Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest for pledging to produce green iron in Australia (“Green metals, Australia’s power play”, July 15). While his determination to produce commercially viable green hydrogen has stalled, the electric smelting furnace, which is preferably powered by renewables, has progressed to the pilot stage. The idea of value-adding to our vast iron ore resources is a welcome step away from the “quarry Australia” mentality. Now the crucial challenges of location of smelters, provision of renewable electricity and infrastructure, disposal/utilisation of waste and access to a trained workforce remain. It is certainly encouraging to note that both the WA and federal governments are supporting the transition, presumably as their considerable income stream from mining royalties will remain intact. Roger Epps, Armidale

Envoys for all

Is it sensible to have “envoys” representing some segments of the population while omitting others (“Burke spares Segal from criticism”, July 15)? During the referendum “debate”, the racism was extraordinary as an alarming number of No proponents appeared to enable people to express once taboo but increasingly common slurs and disinformation about Indigenous people. Yet not only did an official First Nations envoy not materialise, but 60 per cent of Australians thought it was fair to deny them a voice. If we are to have envoys, let’s ensure they represent all minorities who are the butt of ignorance and discrimination.
Alison Stewart, Riverview

We certainly should oppose all forms of bigotry and so Minister Tony Burke’s mention of misogyny, an evil as persistent as antisemitism, was welcome. Despite regrettable instances of antisemitism making Jews feel unsafe, it is women who are actually being killed in Australia at an average of one a week. Yet, there is no Special Envoy to Combat Misogyny, and if such an office were created, imagine the furious outcry about “wokeness” and “political correctness”. Caroline Graham, Cromer

Councils run monopoly

Cindy Yin’s article highlights the cost-shifting by state and federal governments onto local councils, who are then forced to seek special rate variations to make up the lost revenues (“The $500 burden every Sydney ratepayer is carrying”, July 15). This issue has been ongoing for more than 30 years and is well known. The federal government has reduced overall funding to councils from 2 per cent of tax receipts to less than 0.5 per cent over the same period. This is largely why there is such a backlog of maintenance and repairs in (especially) regional councils. Still, no one questions the monopoly provider position for council services such as water, sewer and garbage. Ratepayers are forced to pay for services they either do not need or could perhaps get more cheaply from a different provider. As a single-person household, I am required to pay the same annual charge for garbage collection as much larger families, yet my bins only go out every other month. Effectively, I pay $503 for $70 worth of actual garbage collection. Hardly an equitable scenario. An actual usage cost model would definitely help with my cost of living, as it would for every other small household, as we effectively subsidise those who are filling the landfills. Mark Walker, Kempsey

Bradfield folly

So the judge will review cherry-picked votes that the AEC allegedly miscounted, until 26 + 1 are found to be invalid and the result reversed (“Liberals mount court challenge in last ditch bid to reclaim Bradfield”, July 15). Do the Liberals really think this sort of dummy-spit will sway any of the highly reputable judges on the Court of Disputed Returns. Spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to try to reverse one seat makes no real difference to the overall election massacre of the Liberals. The “better economic managers” surely realise that money would be better spent promoting the candidate for the next election in 2028 by door-knocking every one of the 120,000-plus voters. Gisele Kapterian agreeing to this appeal puts her judgment in doubt and suggest the “born to rule” mindset that was just comprehensively rejected by Australian voters. Peter Kamenyitzky, Castle Hill

Gisele Kapterian (left) and Nicolette Boele.Credit: Nine

I am disappointed but not surprised at Gisele Kapterian’s court challenge after her narrow loss in Bradfield. Her opponent, Nicolette Boele, also lost on her first attempt but stayed active and engaged in Bradfield and stood at the next election; the sitting member Paul Fletcher chose to resign, perhaps not relishing another three years in opposition. Now taxpayers’ money is to be squandered on lawyers in the Court of Disputed Returns because this late entrant feels she and her party have a right to rule. I trust Ms Boele is not distracted by this uncertainty and is able to continue to focus on the interests of the constituents she represents. Marjorie Sutcliffe, The Rocks

Liberal diehards appealing against the Bradfield election result is like the dying days of the British Empire – “we can’t believe those peasants want us gone – it’s our right to govern.” Well, a majority of progressive members of the electorate wanted the Liberal Party with its woeful (now non-existent) policies on climate and the environment out of the picture. The fact that Gisele Kapterian, the Liberal candidate, didn’t even turn up for a 200-plus audience of electors representing socially progressive groups spoke volumes. A quiet rebellion has happened and the army of volunteers who supported and funded community independent Nicolette Boele will make sure the Liberals can’t take them for granted ever again. Carolyn Pettigrew, Pymble

Pay tax proudly

I would suggest that rather than talking about tax cuts, Treasurer Jim Chalmers might want to start a campaign to change the electorate’s mindset and educate people of the reasons we pay tax, the benefits everyone receives and to ultimately encourage people to feel pride in paying their share (“To cut taxes we need ways to raise revenue: Chalmers”, July 15). Governments don’t help themselves when they constantly try to seduce us with tax cuts, which, from the top down, instil the overall understanding that paying tax is bad, and any way to reduce tax payments is good. Of course, the other, possibly challenging, aspect is that politicians then have to convince us that the tax revenue collected has been spent wisely. I know, tell me I’m dreaming. Mark Tietjen, Redfern

Puppet show

I’ve been to an afternoon performance in the Paddington Reservoir Gardens, with William Barton on didgeridoo playing with a violinist. It was a wonderful performance and well suited to that venue. I think it’s also a great site for a puppet show (“Other places would be delighted to host Paddington’s puppet show”, July 15). However, the biggest drawback is getting there. It’s either drive (and try to find an elusive parking spot), bus, or a fairly long walk from the light rail. For that reason alone, there may be better site options to draw a crowd from far and wide. Lisa Clarke, Watsons Bay

The show would be held at the Paddington Reservoir Gardens.Credit: City of Sydney Council

How good that the City of Sydney’s Art and About festival threatens “art in any corner of our city, at any time”. But are the Paddington residents with reservations about the four-metre puppet called Fauna, exploring “themes of climate change and deforestation”, equally concerned about reality, which is far scarier? Fauna would be most welcome in Melbourne as a friend of Blinky, a four-metre koala who regularly accompanies climate and forest rallies. As Kermit the Frog said, “Life’s like a movie, write your own ending.” While our ending looks increasingly grim, we are at least still writing it. Fauna and Blinky are part of that story. They make us think. Ray Peck, Hawthorn (Vic)

Fuel for thought

No, David Sayers, it is not “pure folly” to believe that EV trucks will be used in the remote places of Australia (Letters, July 15). It is actually pure progressive thinking. Remote trucking refuelling stations can be set up with solar arrays and batteries alongside other energy alternatives including hydrogen, diesel and petrol. The change away from fossil fuels has to happen because eventually, some time in the future, there will be no oil available for anyone to use. That future may arrive sooner than you think, not because it has all been drilled up, but because of conflict in the oil-rich centres of the world. Neil Quinn, Vincentia

A road train on the highway in the Pilbara Region in Western Australia.

David Sayers claims EV trucks cannot be used in remote areas because there is no grid electricity. Putting aside for a moment the role of solar-generated electricity, the objections to green energy generally are getting to the point where they are jostling for curiosity value with the alleged phenomena of curtains that fade when daylight saving returns. Joe Weller, Mittagong

David Sayers asserts that EV trucks will never be able to work for long hauls. I disagree. Road trains have large roofs that could carry multiple solar panels to charge the vehicle as it drives along. Tom Meakin, Port Macquarie

AUKUS positives

The AUKUS “deal” has two pillars, the first being the nuclear submarines and the second being advanced capabilities (“PM tested on US alliance”, July 14). The second is the one correspondents and the media either gloss over or choose to forget. Pillar two is about collaboration and sharing advanced military technology (AI, computing, cyber technologies, undersea tech, hypersonics, electronic warfare and information sharing). It seems many commentators are too engrossed with the nuclear angle to see beyond the other possible benefits. Michael Cronk, Dubbo

What intelligence?

The implications of superintelligence seem too much for most of us simple humans to deal with (“Mark Zuckerberg’s $150 million job offers are spreading fear”, July 15). Look hard and it’s scary indeed. “The end of human history,” says historian Nassim Nicholas Taleb. Meanwhile, the rest of us concentrate on gossip, celebrities and the State of Origin while Donald Trump tries to recreate the 20th century and our churches expend their energy debating the place of women in worship. It looks like the horse has bolted. Game over. Brian Haisman, Winmalee

Dodgy science

Racism is also a failure to keep up with scientific research which has proven through the human genome project that race is a social construct not a biological phenomenon (Letters, July 15). Given that all living human beings belong to the subspecies homo sapiens, you really can’t help but love your neighbour because any differences that exist are minor cosmetic ones. Sister Sledge didn’t know it, but the group was spot-on with their big hit song We are Family. Genetic essentialism is old hat and dodgy science. Trevor Somerville, Illawong

Lucky after all

I see that the annual Global Liveability Index published by The Economist’s intelligence unit this year has three Australian cities in the world’s top 10 most liveable cities: Melbourne (#4), Sydney (#6) and Adelaide (#9). This index uses an objective quantitative approach to assigning the rankings. No other country has more than one city in the top 10. No US city is in the top 10. For all of our whingeing, we must be doing something right in Australia to have such a result. Enjoy! Dale Bailey, St Leonards

Natural air-con

The solution to cold trains is from cold Europe and is very simple. Each door should have a button to be pressed only if passengers need to open it (Letters, July 15). It also helps in hot summers when the air-conditioning is running. On busy stations, there can be an override when all doors open automatically. Matt Mushalik, Epping

Credit: Cathy Wilcox

Bespoke madness

For cycle commuters, Sydney’s cycle ways don’t offer much help (“The cycleway from hell was paved with good intentions”, July 15). You have to ride on the road to get to them, often negating the most direct way to get to your destination, and they all make you join road traffic again. May as well just stay on the road and hope to God that motorists steer clear of you. Increasing the one-metre car distance rule to two metres could be helpful. Claudia Drevikovsky, Croydon

Just stop already

Recent moves to reduce urban speed limits to 40km/h do not go far enough. It is scientifically proven that to minimise road accidents, injuries and fatalities, the optimum speed limit is zero km/h. This should be applied universally to cars and trucks, bikes, skateboards, prams etc. Doubtless some people will carp about the impact on convenience, economic activity and so on, but human life is priceless. Josh Shrubb, Turramurra

Whey to go

There are much better ways to dispose of or, in my case, transform milk that is past its use-by date (“Is milk bad now? No, but it is contributing to a $12m plumbing problem”, July 15). All milk, old or fresh, when simmered on a stove makes delicious cottage or farm cheese. In fact, you get a tastier result when the milk has already begun to curdle. The old-fashioned “curds and whey” of Miss Muffet fame is simply that – one litre of milk, a teaspoon of salt, in a saucepan and brought to just below boiling point. Turn off the heat, add the juice of half a lemon, wait until the mixture separates, then sieve through a cheese cloth. Hey presto, curds ie farm cheese and whey – the high-protein liquid for further use in cake or breadmaking. Mix the curds with a little cream for a delicious cottage cheese – and have no concerns about clogging up the plumbing. Eva Johnstone, Blackheath

If your milk is going off, make a chocolate cake. The milk will act as a rising agent. Delicious. Irene Thom, Vaucluse

• To submit a letter to the Sydney Morning Herald, email [email protected]. Click here for tips on how to submit letters.
• The Opinion newsletter is a weekly wrap of views that will challenge, champion and inform. Sign up here.