RETURNING Indigenous World War I veterans had more battles to face. Good enough to die in service to their country, they were back to being black as non-citizens in their country. As a non-citizen, they were not entitled to vote. They returned to the era of the racist White Australia policy.
Returning servicemen were able to apply for land grants to assist them adjusting back to peacetime. Many Diggers took advantage of the offer. However Indigenous diggers were denied these land grants, despite their service. Lest we forget.
Paul Sutcliffe, Fern Bay
Help may cost first home buyers
I FEEL for the people trying to get into the housing market, and the struggle to save for the deposit. I'm sure they welcome the announcement by the prime minister that the deposit needed to buy a house for up to $900,000 will only be two per cent. The thing that worries me is that interest rates can't go any lower, but they can and will rise, regardless of who gets elected in May. The interest on 98 per cent of $900,000 will be quite substantial, even a small increase will significantly increase the repayments on the mortgage. If my memory serves me right, the global financial crisis was started by something of this nature in the United States under the leadership of the Bush administration. Be very careful what you sign up for if you're trying to get into your first home.
Fred McInerney, Karuah
Deves 'debate' hurting vulnerable
MATT Ophir shows no understanding of the issues around transgender inclusion, or involvement in sport. His claim that Ms Deves is "being called unfit for office because she believes males shouldn't be allowed to compete against females in sport" does not address the issue, and, shamefully, demeans the transgender community.
It is not about opinion: Katherine Deves should be sidelined because her tweets have been offensive, her comments have been inflammatory, and her posturing has been totally insensitive and inappropriate.
The Sex Discrimination Act already allows sport "to discriminate on the ground of sex, gender identity or intersex status by excluding persons from participation in any competitive sporting activity in which the strength, stamina or physique of competitors is relevant".
Morrison is trying to make women's sport an issue when it is already resolved. Deves as a "captain's pick" is another poor attempt to find relevance in a community that is losing confidence in him, his candidates and his attitudes towards vulnerable minorities.
Warren Dean, Newcastle East
I can't take campaign any more
I'VE been a political tragic for about 50 years. I voted for Gough, thrice, one of the first in my family to move to the dark side. I voted for Hawke and Keating and cursed "the lying rodent" for 11 long years. More recently, I joined the March4Justice in 2021, with my daughter and granddaughter. And now, in 2022, I can't do it any more.
Four days into the latest campaign and I'm already sick of the lies, the gotchas, the half-truths, exaggerations, the refusal to engage with policies, the pork barrelling, the waste, the cheering by some media, all in the name of re-electing what is in my opinion the most rotten, dangerous and incompetent government I've known.
I don't need six weeks of more lies or more propaganda to know who I'm voting for. I believe anyone who needs these next six weeks to decide how to vote doesn't deserve to be able to vote. So I'm turning off the crap, the photo ops, the "analysis", the cheering cheer squads, the environmental vandals, the fossil fools fooling the fools, the despicable "Christians", the grifters, the leaners, the parasites. My vote will go to the parties most likely to do something about global warming, a real ICAC, accountability in government, improving the lot of women and girls. I hope Australians wake up on May 22 feeling good about themselves and their country, like I used to.
Dave Brown, Wollombi
Aged care is election frontrunner
THE story in your article ('$6b 'needed' for aged care', Herald 20/4) is being repeated around the country with three aged care facilities closing in the Eden Monaro area for the same reason, and most aged care homes are suffering the same problems of staff shortages. The Royal Commission into Aged Care made clear that staffing was at the heart of giving patients dignified and compassionate care, and made a plea for the government to raise wages to attract workers. Now that the PM boasts there is low unemployment, it makes getting staff much more difficult as workers can get much more stacking shelves at any supermarket. Watching the leaders debate, the PM boasted he had made available an extra $10 a day to help change the food but failed to tell us that he changed the law to allow the operators to spend this extra $70 a week any way they choose. I believe this is completely contrary to the recommendations of the royal commission, which said transparency must be regulated before extra money is given.
The Hunter and Paterson electorates are rapidly becoming the biggest over-55s estates in the country, and Paterson has some 75,000 people over 55 years old living in the electorate. The reform of the aged care industry, as recommended by the royal commission, is in my opinion the most serious issue in this election. The Morrison government has had the commission's report for years and every older person (I am 93 as of the 14th) would like to know if his government will pledge to match Anthony Albanese's promise to completely reform the care industry as the inquiry set out.
Frank Ward, Shoal Bay
Climate literacy is lacking
IT is a monumental failure of the education system that the fundamentals of human induced climate change is so poorly understood in the public. Several marketing labels have been tried, in vain - greenhouse effect; global warming; climate change.
The mistake has been trying to bring the citizens along with science. Talk of carbon dioxide "equivalents", relating to units of heat absorption, was dumbed down to "carbon dioxide is the enemy". It was like talking of nuclear weapons in terms of dynamite equivalents, megatons.
Yes Richard Devon ('Carbon dioxide's dirty name', Letters, 21/4), CO2 is natural, but studies of plants grown in atmospheres of enhanced CO2 have shown that the plants use the extra resources to build defences against being eaten. This is undesirable because we want to do the eating and do not wish ourselves poisoned, unless you value heat unit equivalents.
John Cooper (Short Takes, 20/4), the offending gases are from burps (ruminating and fermenting vegetation) not farts, of cows. Adding charcoal to the diets is one approach. I refer you to ABC TV's Catalyst, the episode where they put a flock of sheep in a tent and monitored the atmosphere composition.
Andrew Spannenberg, Mayfield
SHORT TAKES
I WISH they would have the election the weekend after it's called and spare us the charade of the PM running around the country in a hard hat and hi-vis like he is some sort of worker's friend, promising money to industries his government has spent nearly the last decade ripping money out of. Then you have an opposition plucking facts and figures out of the air, fringe parties spruiking the usual inane garble, plus the media looking for a gotcha moment. I believe most Australians know how they are going to vote, so please just put the long-suffering population out of our collective misery.
Bob Watson, Swansea
WHILE we are told that unemployment is now around 4 per cent, which is the lowest since the 1970s, it's still not the 2 per cent we once enjoyed when we had a manufacturing industry. When this industry was replaced we lost employment choices, leaving many in low paid, mind-dulling employment which helped leave 4.15 million in insecure employment and almost 870,000 working multiple jobs. Both the government and opposition have claimed higher job creation, but the real battle will be around employment of those made redundant by the closure of the coal industry.
Don Owers, Dudley
IN April, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres reported "we are firmly on track toward an unlivable world". Strong words indeed. But he also indicated that if we can urgently take appropriate action on climate change there is still a narrow opportunity for some hope. Australians have an opportunity to vote with huge ramifications on this front, in particular on Australia's extra large involvement with coal.
Brian Measday, Myrtle Bank
SURELY Singleton council has better things to worry about than an Australian flag being painted/installed on a pub roof ('Rally over 'Cali' flag status', Herald 21/4)? What is this country becoming? A complete fiasco.
Graeme Bennett, Warners Bay
FAMILIES, care is available in your home so you can work shift work or odd days. Don't give up working, and don't feel like it's hopeless. In-home care has been available since 2001 for you. Have you noticed the absence of talk in the budget or campaigns? It is too small for them to care about and all that is promised for child care has happened or will in July. This doesn't help our nurses/police etc who do shift work. I want to show them we are underutilised because they don't care. Well, I do and so do my carers.
Amanda Johnstone, Mayfield
DARRYL Tuckwell (Letters, 12/4), you and I seem to favour Labor for the same reasons. I have always been highly critical of the Liberal Party philosophy which appears to be that if you're rich, you deserve to be so we're going to reward you. Many are born into money and, while many may have worked hard I don't understand the mentality of only helping those who already have the means to help themselves. It hardly falls in line with the Australian way of looking out for the little guy, and in my opinion, has no place whatsoever in governing our nation.
