LETTERS
The Age
Wednesday February 9, 2011
BUDGET CUTS A political choice we don't needSANITY and the voice of reason prevail. I congratulate Julie Bishop for having the foresight and courage to speak some sense in this debate and stand up for election promises, in this case to lift foreign aid to 0.5 per cent of gross national income by 2015 ("Lib row on budget cuts", The Age, 8/2).What is in question is our $200 million aid program to Africa. This money saves thousands of lives every year. In Ethiopia midwives are trained so that fewer women die in childbirth, and in Malawi clean water is available so that children don't contract deadly infectious diseases, to name only a couple of the life-saving programs.The proposed cuts would mean an end to all of this and more. It's a blatant attempt to score cheap political points by pitting the world's most disadvantaged and poor against the real need for reconstruction in Queensland.Tony Abbott wants to make a choice between supporting flood-ravaged Queensland and providing life-saving support to the world's poor in Africa. This is a false choice. We can rebuild flood-ravaged Queensland and support the world's poor.Aldo King, WarranwoodPlenty of fat in AustraliaANDREW Robb suggests cutting aid to Africa to raise funds for rebuilding Australia, post flood.Australia sits at No. 3 out of the 183 countries that the United Nations monitors for standard of living, education attainment and access to healthcare, among other measures. It is well placed to cover the cost of (all) the recent internal disasters and has plenty of "fat" for helping others who have had their living standards decimated by years of colonial pillage, drought, flood, internal strife, corruption and the effects of the global financial crisis.Australia has not yet lived up to its commitment, made years ago to the UN, of giving 0.7 per cent of annual gross domestic product in foreign aid. A suggestion that we cut our current "generosity" is mean-spirited, selfish and short-sighted.It may not be long before you face another election, Mr Robb. Think carefully about the image you paint of the Liberal Party's approach to disaster mitigation such an inward focus will lose you many friends.Helen Dalton, PortarlingtonLeave Afghanistan and saveHERE is a brilliant way to save taxpayer dollars and win support from unexpected quarters, without cutting Australia's too-small foreign aid budget and annoying New Guinea, Indonesia and the Pacific Island countries that are the biggest beneficiaries of our foreign aid.Pull Australian troops out of Afghanistan. If the US did the same, American taxpayers would get a break and Barack Obama could focus on job creation. Some investments are necessary and some aren't. Investment in a costly and fruitless war of occupation is the worst investment. Quit Afghanistan now.Red Bingham, East St KildaAbbott's ambitions firstTONY Abbott's cynicism knows no bounds. Placating "shock jock" radio land by suggesting cuts in foreign aid to the poorest regions in the world, knowing full well his party would reject it, means he can still get kudos from this audience by pandering to their controversial view of the world.What is apparent is that the welfare of our fellow Australians affected by terrible floods appears to be a much lower priority to Mr Abbott than his political ambitions.Phil Alexander, ElthamWhat would Jesus do?A MAN of Tony Abbott's education should know that it is ultimately in our own interest to assist other nations to raise the living standards of the world's poorest people. Improving such people's health and education results in smaller family sizes and, therefore, a more prosperous and stable homeland.A potential leader of this nation should have the stature to explain this is the best way to "stop the boats". A man of Abbott's religion should ask himself: "What would Jesus do?"Ralph Judd, Blackburn NorthLess meat means more food for allPAUL Krugman (Comment, 8/2) writes of the strong link between soaring food prices and disruption to agricultural production in Australia from the "severe weather events" experienced in this country recently.Information and statistics from respected bodies such as the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation and CSIRO indisputably show the large contribution made to global warming by animal industries, not only from the methane emitted by grazing animals but also from the energy (mostly derived from dirty fossil fuels such as coal) used in the slaughter, processing, refrigeration and transport of meat and dairy products.So much of Australia's agricultural food production follows the illogical pattern of growing crops to feed animals to produce increasingly expensive meat and dairy for tables in rich First World countries such as our own, while so many in the Third World go hungry. Surely, it would be more logical, efficient and ethical for Australia to reduce its reliance on meat production and instead grow more food crops for direct human consumption.Jean Jordan, ElthamSetting standardsONE of America's major supermarkets, Whole Foods Market, has launched an animal welfare rating program for its meat departments to help shoppers know more about the meat they purchase. The highest ranking signifies no crates, caging or crowding. Whole Foods Market already requires that all meat it sells is sourced from animals raised on a vegetarian diet with no antibiotics or added growth hormones.Meanwhile, many supermarket chains in Europe and Britain sell only free-range eggs and baked and processed products made from free-range eggs. If they can do all this in Europe and the US, why can't our butchers, bakers and supermarkets follow? Better yet, why don't they lead?David Hancocks, CarltonFined in absentiaTED Baillieu's proposal to fine unruly MPs is a good idea, but doesn't go far enough.As a taxpayer I am embarrassed and angered by scenes of an almost empty sitting chamber. The rest of us cannot just choose to attend our place of employment as we see fit, why should it be any different for politicians?There are few enough actual sitting days as it is. They should attend unless they have a genuine reason (such as illness) for being absent. If they haven't got a valid excuse, then they should have their pay docked. That is what would happen to any other member of the community.Ross Hudson, CamberwellWhen age mattersHERE'S an idea. What about a national referendum on whether Australia should, within a reasonable time frame to be decided by a panel of experts, achieve a state of zero carbon emissions? It would be a referendum with a difference, in that votes would be weighted according to age.We over-60s, who have put a lot of the gunk up there in the first place, and who will be tucked in our graves before the worst impacts of climate change hit, would get one vote.At the other end, 20-year-olds, who, if real changes aren't made in eliminating carbon emissions will face a horrendous world by the time they are 60, would get five votes. What could be fairer than that?Mike Puleston, BrunswickSorry, say what?CHRIS Engert (Letters, 8/2) misses the point about mobile phone use in vehicles. It is not the use of the hands that is the problem, nor conversing with people in the car. Rather, the problem is that talking on a phone (whether in a car, walking along a footpath, or sitting at home) requires distraction. How many of us can continue a phone conversation in the office or home, and cope with interruptions at the same time?Research has consistently shown that awareness is reduced enough to significantly increase reaction times, and decrease perception of what is about to happen. Just watch the behaviour of some pedestrians using mobiles approaching street corners in the city, oblivious to the red light.Dr Ray Brindle, Editor, Road and Transport Research, MalmsburyFor safer drivingIF MOBILES in cars are banned, then we should also ban the more distracting and much more dangerous:Street directories large and small. Allowed only in the boot in future.Kids in the back seat, babies. Only allowed if sedated and sleeping, as well as silent.Spouses after parties, while awake arguments are distracting. Cars to have their front passenger seat removed and soundproof screens between front and back.GPS navigation aids see street directory.All roadside advertising within two kilometres of any road, including oddly placed billboards advertising road safety.A certain amount of distraction and risk when driving is inevitable. What are the downsides of this ridiculous proposal, and who is protecting us from these academics?Better driver education, better signs, safer roads, more appropriate speed limits and better roadwork procedures these will make a difference.James White, Eden ParkPoints of propertyI WAS surprised to read the Simonds spokesman say that a house counted for 28 out of 150 points towards permanent residency ("Developers court overseas buyers", The Age, 7/2). As an experienced immigration practitioner, neither of those figures have any meaning to me.There are two popular points tests in immigration use, one a general skilled test where points are allocated for things like language ability. The pass mark is 120 and no points are allocated for property ownership in Australia.There is also a business skills points test, where some points are available for assets, including property. Sometimes visa applicants prefer to nominate assets in Australia because their value is more easily assessed. The maximum points available for combined assets is 15, with a total value of at least $2.5 million.It's a grave concern that property agents are providing incorrect immigration advice to visa applicants who may relay on that advice to their detriment.David Stratton, MelbourneMangled migrationMARIKA Dobbin's article on courting overseas property buyers quotes Mark Vujovich, of Simonds Homes, as having 23 agents in China seeking investors. The article suggests that this apparently frenzied activity is actively supported by government.What society has ever allowed private entrepreneurs to manage a substantial alteration to the mix of a nation's people, with no calling to account by paid or elected officials? I cannot think of any case in history of traders planning the immigration of a moneyed elite from overseas, let alone 23 agents' worth. One dreads the long-term effects.George Zhang says that Australia, "is paradise . . . for small-business people" and "it is easy to recruit because there's a lot of students who want to work part-time". That does not seem to be of much value to the whole community in the long run.Paul McGann, Glen WaverleyA levy for the leveeTHE repeated spelling mistake in your article "Flood victims seek action from desal plant firms" (The Age, 8/2) deserves to be highlighted. The words "levy" and "levies" are used repeatedly instead of "levee" and "levees".A levy implies the action of raising a sum of money. A levee is an embankment to prevent the overflow of a river.Anne Latreille, South YarraCounting deaths? That's rightTHANK you, Dr Rodney Syme, for your courage and dedication (The Zone, 7/2). Many Australian opponents of physician-assisted dying (a more accurate term than voluntary euthanasia) make misleading statements about what happens in other places where dying with dignity legislation has been enacted.According to the Oregon Public Health Division's 2010 annual report, 65 known deaths occurred last year from ingesting medications prescribed under the Death with Dignity Act (drugs issued to terminally ill patients only after thorough assessment, and the patients were sent home to use them at a time and place of their choosing).This corresponded to approximately 21 such deaths per 10,000 total deaths in Oregon. Since the law was passed in 1997, a mere 525 patients have died using its provisions.I do not find these statistics disquieting. It is human nature to fight for life until life is no longer bearable, at which point compassionate assistance should be our right.Anne Riddell, Melbourne
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