Sensitive exposé of insensitive behaviour

Jacqueline Maley’s sensitive article on Priya’s Bill, the loss of unborn children and parental leave rights, rightly criticises the “remarkable (and for many women, offensive) … spectacle of men attempting to police matters that are the business of women, their partners and their doctors” (“Baby Priya brought compassion to the parliament. Then four men hijacked the debate”, November 2). The (almost exclusively male) clergy has been doing this for centuries and persists today, particularly in this area. It is indeed offensive, but so far it has proven to be an intractable problem. Joyce, Hastie et al are merely handmaidens to this behaviour. Wayne Duncombe, Lilyfield

Baby Priya’s mother holds a picture of her daughter.Credit: Getty Images

Jacqueline Maley treats this sensitive issue well. Unfortunately, the four male Coalition members who took on the role of the morality police showed no sensitivity or decorum. Apparently, the mindset that brought us robo-debt is alive and well in the dark recesses of the right. How do you judge the further damage wrought by their words and actions? Cheap political points that simply damage the credibility of those trying to score them. Geoff Nilon, Mascot

Think before you speak

Parnell McGuinness writes that “politicians do sometimes get terrible advice from immature partisan hacks in their office” (“Sussan Ley must say ‘sorry’ – and not just about T-shirtgate”, November 2). There are obvious questions about employing immature people who give bad advice, but the answers are fairly simple; if someone, anyone, not just immature partisan hacks, gives you advice, think deeply before you open your mouth. Peter Butler, Wyongah

Sussan Ley is fast gaining a reputation for poor judgement. The Rudd and Joy Division T-shirt jibes went down like lead balloons. However, instead of learning from these gaffes, she went for the trifecta. She accused Labor of preventing her tour of the Tomago aluminium smelter, and is starting to sound paranoid. Her party is in disarray and her leadership under threat from Andrew Hastie and Angus Taylor. She might as well quit now and let them take the blame for the inevitable drubbing in 2028. Graham Lum, North Rocks

Parnell, do I detect a mea culpa as you project your own much-needed apologies on to Sussan Ley’s need for a new approach? I have often disagreed with your defence of the Coalition, but this article is one of refreshingly impartial balance. Peter Kamenyitzky, Copacabana

Direct train to learning

As Professor George Williams says, the $47 daily youth allowance for students who can’t live at home and attend university is miserly (“Of the things that go wrong at universities, this issue rarely makes the headlines”, November 2). Across the world, students are encouraged to move home while they attend university. However, we should not make it hard for students who are willing and able to live with their parents. Sydney’s two main research universities are in the inner west and eastern suburbs – far from most of the Sydney metropolitan area in terms of travel time. Both the Universities of Sydney and New South Wales need direct rail access if they are to adequately serve the students and the economy. It has long been planned that the Eastern Suburbs Rail Line be extended the 3.5 kilometres to UNSW and Prince of Wales Hospital. Sydney University, rejected for Sydney Metro services, should be added to the Inner West Line by way of a 3.5-kilometre diversion to underground platforms at Newtown and the University, with reconnection near Cleveland Street. Regional centre Newtown can then get platforms on the Western Line. Peter Egan, Fairview Park (SA)

Lack of action not an achievement

Correspondent Riley Brown suggests that Tony Abbott’s achievement was that he “saved Australia from the shambles that was the dysfunctional Rudd/Gillard/Rudd governments” (Letters, November 2). But it wasn’t Abbott’s achievement. It was that of the electorate who chose not to persist with the Labor government. Unfortunately, Abbott made promises to the voters which he wasn’t prepared to keep. His own party soon realised their folly. And his election ushered in nine years of “do-nothing” Coalition rule. So, which is worse: dysfunction or doing nothing? Ideally, we need leaders who will act in our interest with competence. David Rush, Lawson

The claim by inveterate Liberal Party supporter Riley Brown that Tony Abbott “saved Australia” sits uneasily with the record of the subsequent coalition governments. History will be far kinder to the Rudd and Gillard governments, which steered the country through the global financial crisis, than it will be to the Abbott/Turnbull/Morrison governments which, sadly, achieved little during almost nine years in office. Maurice Critchley, Mangrove Mountain

Your correspondent waxes lyrical about the accomplishments of Tony Abbott, but neglects to mention a couple more: not only did Tonesy lose his job as party leader due to declining public support, but also lost his own seat to an independent. That’s quite an achievement. Dave Horsfall, North Gosford

Polar opposites

How ironic that the investigation into Andrew Tate and his neo-Nazis should be on the same page as an excerpt from Peter FitzSimons’ book on the life of Weary Dunlop (“The moment war hero Weary Dunlop snapped”, November 2). Without doubt, the characters of the former article do not have the honour, character or resilience of the latter. Christine Tiley, Albany Creek (Qld)

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