The Price of a megaphone

1 week ago 3

September 9, 2025 — 7.32pm

The Coalition, and in particular Liberals’ leader Sussan Ley, may have a problem with Senator Jacinta Nampijimpa Price but they should be consoled by the fact the problem will be of limited duration (Letters, September 9). Price was elected as a Country Liberal Party (CLP) member who then jumped ship and joined the Liberal Party. The CLP is hardly likely to endorse her at the next election for such an act of treachery. She will then become a footnote in Australia’s political history. Ross Hudson, Mount Martha (Vic)

Any demands for apologies should be directed to demanding one from Senator Jacinta Price. Not only has she ignorantly demonised immigrants from India, her denials during the referendum campaign of the impact of colonisation on First Nations people is still unaccounted for. For someone who has a public megaphone, it is shameful that she is sowing seeds of division rather than attempting to find commonalities between Australians. Kate Lumley, Hurlstone Park

Oh dear, now we have the Price/Hawke saga. Things are pretty bad in the Liberal Party when the frontbench colleague who rightly challenges you suggests that, instead of owning up to and apologising, even in a small way, for the misinformation you’re spruiking, you simply say, “I never meant to obviously say that.” Will it ever end?
Kerrie Wehbe, Blacktown

So, it seems those who have felt racist barbs for much of their lives, can equally dish out racism to others? What does it all boil down to – intent, interpretation, intransigence, insolubility? Rosemary O’Brien, Ashfield

Justice not cruelty

Erin Patterson has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 33 years (“What life will look like for Erin Patterson now”, September 9). Because of her notoriety, she will likely serve that time in near-total solitary confinement.

Whatever her crimes – and they were horrendous – this sentence is grotesquely out of line with international standards. The United Nations’ Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Mandela Rules), adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015, state in Rule 44 that “prolonged solitary confinement” – more than 15 consecutive days – is prohibited. To impose it for decades is torture, pure and simple.

Australia is now broadcasting to the world that it is willing to cage a woman in conditions worse than death itself. This diminishes not only her humanity but that of every citizen of this country. A civilised nation does not cross this line.

Justice must punish, but it must not annihilate. We must separate justice from cruelty – or risk branding this beautiful nation with shame. Australia’s actions reverberate internationally, staining not only the nation’s reputation but its moral standing in the eyes of the world. Clive Solomon, Palmerston North, New Zealand

The bizarre nature of this saga beggars belief. With due respect and sympathy for her victims and their families, it is also a sad fate for a deeply disturbed woman. As for beef Wellington, I doubt it will ever recover. Meredith Williams, Baulkham Hills

Uncomfortable truth

I have done CPR training a number of times, including after organising the CPR training for the 2000 Olympics and regular updating my skills (Letters, September 9). I still do not feel confident that I will do the right thing in a real emergency. However, in this discussion on females being less likely to receive CPR, I suddenly realised that the CPR dummy torso is invariably male. It may be controversial owing to breast sensitivities, but until there are dummy female torsos I will probably feel less comfortable providing CPR to a full-breasted woman. Robert Hosking, Paddington

Selective consequences, and some suggestions

“Early ripe, early rot” is a phenomenon I learnt when studying the education of gifted children (Letters, September 9). Bright children typically have asynchronous, or uneven, development, being advanced in some respects but not all.

Pushing such children to “early ripe”, beyond the natural pace of their overall development, can lead to burnout and “early rot”. Hence, there is a tendency to over-representation in dropout rates and other detrimental outcomes.

Coaching colleges are essentially providing training in the practice effect. This doesn’t necessarily select the brightest or most suitable candidates, and the cost is a barrier to children from poor backgrounds.

Above all, the intense competition can create anxiety, plus feelings of failure and even mental ill health if the candidates don’t gain entry to their chosen school. I went to a selective high school and I certainly wouldn’t put my child through such a pressure-cooker entry process. Barbara Chapman, South Yarra

The unmitigated disaster that the selective schools system has become could be rectified with the adoption of two simple measures: first, children seeking entry to a selective high school should be permitted to apply for one school only, that being the nearest to their proven place of residence. Second, no more than two-thirds of available places in Year 7 at each selective school should be available for “selective school applicants”; the balance should be open to “ordinary” students at primary schools in a designated catchment area.

These measures would severely reduce the numbers of students who end up attending high schools far away from their neighbourhood and childhood friends and ensure a more diverse mix of students progressing through their high school years. Martyn Yeomans, Sapphire Beach

It’s in the numbers

Interestingly, except in official circumstances (passport, Australian Tax Office etc), I never have to confirm which John Brown I am (Letters, September 9). I just keep a count (7568) of how many times John Brown’s body is mentioned. And in the long ago mention of sex on the desk in Parliament House. THE John Brown, Kianga

Sharing the same name can no doubt be frustrating, but I was once detained at Los Angeles airport because a “fugitive” apparently had a similar passport number to mine. I suggested, to no avail, that if I was in fact a wanted criminal using a fake passport, I would likely make the number as different as possible to my actual one. Two hours and a gruelling interrogation as to my identity later, I was somewhat begrudgingly allowed entry to the mighty US of A. Ross Duncan, Potts Point

Farmers back science

George Brandis is right in thinking that rural people feel somewhat “blighted” by city dwellers, for all sorts of reasons (“Energy can be a winning policy for the Coalition, but not like this”, September 9). We do not however, all believe that climate change is a make-believe fantasy and that net zero is an absurd goal.

Unlike Messrs Joyce and Canavan et al, we are experiencing climate change right now and the future is uncertain and frightening. How these two rural politicians live in rural Australia and don’t appear to notice it is completely unfathomable.

Like many farmers, we trust in the science of agronomy to run our farms to maximum efficiency. We have no reason to distrust climate scientists and their predictions. We all need goals and Albanese is on the money supporting any and all efforts to achieve it. What rural Australia really needs from the National and Liberal Parties is to accept the science unequivocally, put your considerable brains together, join forces with the Labor Party and help ameliorate this potentially, for us in rural Australia, very serious devastating outcome. Juliet McFarlane, Young

Blood sport

As the owner of a grazing property close to a large regional NSW city, I came to dread the weekend (“NSW Liberals split from Nats to oppose ‘NRA-style gun lobby group’”, smh.com.au, September 9). My land adjoined on two sides large pine plantations that provided perfect habitat for feral pigs, foxes, and wild dogs. Weekends saw a procession of 4WD utes roaring around the fire trails, ugly mongrel brutes chained, or not, on the back tray and guns at the ready. The result: constant loud gunshots, dogs jumping my fences killing my sheep, large panels of fencing cut out to extricate bogged vehicles and, to add to the mayhem, a horse being shot. I really don’t buy the specious claim of providing a food source. These “weekend warriors” were just there for the killing. Duncan McRobert, Hawks Nest

Backing investigative journalism

Nick McKenzie’s series of articles over the last week on the construction industry have shown just how bad things continue to be despite the federal government’s appointment of an administrator (“When firebombed houses look like the cost of business, it’s past time for action”, September 8). Now we have evidence of mafia-style intimidation tactics by major construction companies to stall reform of the construction union by decent union officials. That the federal government’s appointed administrator is now under 24/7 police protection because of credible threats to his life indicates that the crooks, corporate and union, are still calling the shots in a direct challenge to federal government authority.

In backing investigative journalism so we can know what’s going on, the Herald is in a fightback against the devastation of Australian journalism by social media, taking over the ads which used to fund Australian papers. Algorithms which preference outrage and lies are no substitute for investigative journalism. We have seen in the US that the crooks have now taken over the government. With investigative journalism and a more robust electoral system we are protected, but we would be kidding ourselves if we thought it was impossible for anything similar to happen here. Gary Barnes, Mosman

Turf out fake grass

A $12.4m artificial oval for West Pymble is madness! (“From $3.3m to $12.4m: How one simple oval has chomped into this Sydney council’s budget”, September 9). I humbly suggest that Ku-ring-gai Council consult Mosman Council, where efforts to improve the viability of both Balmoral and Middle Head ovals with natural turf stood up well during the recent wet extremes. It would seem that employing the correct turf and adequate drainage is the way to go, especially for young footy players, who should not be exposed to the abrasion of plastic surfaces on their youthful knees. And good for the National Parks and Wildlife Service fighting against all those little plastic pellets falling into Lane Cove River. Jeremy Eccles, Clifton Gardens

Koalas protected

In past assessments of plans to expand urbanisation into koala-sensitive areas, I noted a range of measures proposed to make such expansions “koala hospitable” or, at least, “porous” (Letters, September 9). Roadkill, domestic animals and artificial modes of vegetation preservation tended to render such measures ineffective. For example, “koala bridges” across high-traffic roads were just a gift to predators lying in wait at either end. It’s not just logging that threatens koala survival. It’s our insatiable desire for new urban land. May there be more, large koala (and other native species) protection zones. John Court, Denistone

A koala in the Great Koala National Park.

Congratulations to Premier Minns for delivering on his 2023 election promise to establish the Great Koala National Park and permanently protect the estimated 12,000 koalas and 100 other threatened native species living there. By addressing deforestation and protecting large intact ecosystems the Minns government is ensuring that one of our state’s most iconic species survives in its natural habitat. Now future generations of Australians will be able to experience the thrill of walking through the bush and spotting a koala.

Over 90 per cent of harvested timber in Australia already comes from plantations. I now urge Minns to cement this monumental environmental legacy by following in the footsteps of Victoria and ending native forest logging across all NSW for good. This will both protect wildlife and also ensure secure jobs in forest management, restoration and sustainable plantations for regional NSW communities. Rosemary Rouse, Elizabeth Bay

Hats off to the NSW government for creating the Great Koala National Park and protecting another 176,000 hectares from logging. Koalas are Australia’s national symbol and the idea of them going extinct in the wild is simply unthinkable. If Chris Minns does nothing else of substance during his term of office, this will be a worthwhile legacy. Ken Enderby, Concord

Best of Bryant

Personally I can’t get enough of Nick Bryant. No matter what he’s talking/writing about. Wordsmith extraordinaire. Rivals Dylan. Dianne Brims, Morpeth

Suspension rates shock

I am a retired public school teacher and I take exception to the implied failure of public policy in your report on suspension rates (“One in 10 secondary students sent home”, September 9). More than 1000 students were suspended each week from more than 2,200 NSW schools – I am surprised it is so modest. A total of 41,125 students suspended is an average of fewer than 19 students per school in the year. Principals use suspension as a last resort to enable the school and family to plan for the support of the suspended student and all students in the school. The implementation of suspension policy is not taken lightly, and is designed to create learning environments where all students feel valued and safe. Tim Jurd, Hurlstone Park

The 21 per cent increase in secondary school suspensions is very concerning as are the reasons, “threatening or violent behaviour … bullying, discrimination and verbal abuse”. Children are not born bad; these are learnt behaviours and are reflective of our society. Whether it be their cohort, their parents, the media, politicians, influencers or the current increasing social division, therein lies the source of those behaviours and all are magnified and facilitated by social media and its algorithms.

The ban on social media for under-16s is a start, as would be the eSafety Commissioner’s attempts at reform, but there is only so much institutions can do. This is our collective responsibility and starts with our own daily behaviours and attitudes. Smiling and acknowledging strangers, respect, tolerance and appreciation of others and being broadly informed. These children are our future. What will we have taught them? Rowan Godwin, Rozelle

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