Does Peter Dutton comprehend the damage of his doubts?

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Voice referendum
Any argument can be defeated by relentlessly casting about with doubt and obfuscation. The complexities of detail need to be set aside by the Yes campaigners for the Voice to parliament referendum and replaced with a simple message that the Voice will provide a pathway to resolve and embed the solutions this country needs to be on good and proper terms with its Indigenous peoples.

The strong arguments in favour of the Voice are apparently not having the expected effect with support waning (“‘Yes’ victory in doubt as support for Voice falls”, 13/6). Without support from both sides of politics this referendum, like some others before it, will fail. Does Peter Dutton realise that “defeat for the proposed establishment of an advisory body means a lasting setback for reconciliation” and does he accept his responsibility to the First Nations people and the reputation of the country if this was to be?
Robert Brown, Camberwell

Reboot and redistribute
Re David Crowe’s excellent analysis (“Grave danger for Yes cause if drastic action is not taken”, 13/6), I believe Anthony Albanese’s best option is to set up the Voice through an act of parliament, which he could do given the numbers in both houses of parliament. This would save a lot of money associated with the referendum, which could immediately be distributed to Indigenous people in remote and very remote areas of Australia. It would also avoid the possibility of the referendum being lost, which would potentially set back “closing the gap” by many years.
Adrian Hassett, Vermont

Ideological opposition
I listened to a Coalition supporter yesterday who perceived the Voice referendum as a political argument between Labor and the Coalition and was wishing to put all those woke lefties back in their box. There lies the problem for this referendum and it reminds me of all those Trump supporters who simply hate the Democrats so much that they are prepared to put up with another four more years of Trump rather than have a rational leftie in charge of the nation.
Alan Inchley, Frankston

Modest proposal at unnecessary risk
Thank you to David Crowe for his analysis on the Voice referendum. Why is the prime minister risking the success of the referendum? Do our parliamentarians read The Age? Sometimes I despair. This is so important. Nothing can make up for the appalling suffering we have caused Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders, but at least we can accept the modest proposals of the Uluru Statement. The First Nations people don’t despair. For 250 years they’ve struggled and waited. If the referendum fails, they’ll keep on going, even though the failure would mean a giant leap backwards for Australia, to say nothing of our reputation internationally.

If the inclusion of the words “and the executive government” is what is confusing some people and definitely disagreed with by others, why not just omit them? Why risk achieving this aim with those additional words that have turned out to be controversial?
Elizabeth Sprigg, Glen Iris

Make it work
Noel Pearson is right, that proponents of constitutional reform should concentrate on recognition. The problem is that the current referendum, which he champions, is not about recognition. We are being asked to impose a permanent and unnecessary framework on future government processes, in the guise of Aboriginal recognition. This divisive proposition was always going to be opposed by the Coalition. We are denied the almost unopposable option of a simple revision of the preamble, as was the plan until 2015.

The Voice could be legislated any time without a referendum. Anthony Albanese has instead handed us a poisoned chalice. Tragically, if the final vote is No, then it will be interpreted by many as a vote against Aboriginal recognition. In this case, I know who I will blame.
Chris Lloyd, Melbourne

THE FORUM

Just another subsidy
Now we know what the “Utopian” $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund (“Labor shifts on housing to help bills”, 13/6) really amounts to. Five hundred million dollars per year to subsidise the development industry to provide “affordable and social housing” from 2024-25. With the aspirational target of 30,000 dwellings that means a subsidy of about $17,000 per dwelling. How can we be sure that the subsidy goes to housing and not to developers’ profits?
Nicholas Low, professorial fellow, Architecture, Building and Planning, The University of Melbourne

A gift that would reward
The Victorian government has promised to give all grade 5 students a fishing rod and tackle (“Free fishing rods out of line: critics”, 13/6) Why? This is a scandalous waste of taxpayers’ money.
If students must be given something, why not free footballs? This would at least encourage vigorous and healthy exercise and – unlike fishing – would not encourage cruelty to animals.
Jenny Moxham, Monbulk

A watching brief
What message does sending out free fishing rods to children give? It tells them it is fine to maim or kill fish for fun. How does this message sit alongside the fact that globally about 1 million plant and animal species face extinction, many within decades, because of human activities, or the fact that in Australia, 90 of our approximately 315 freshwater fish may now be threatened species?

Please send out binoculars or magnifying glasses instead of fishing rods so children can learn to appreciate nature without trying to destroy it.
Leigh Ackland, Deepdene

Read about it
Fishing was a great idea in the time of Huckleberry Finn but honestly I can’t see a boy or girl baiting up, sitting for an hour to catch a fish, cleaning and gutting, then cooking it. Far too many skills for the average child.

I suggest the government present a copy of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer to all grade 5 state schoolchildren and independent schoolchildren can buy their own.
Margaret Skeen, Point Lonsdale

Straight on the scrapheap
Apart from the reckless waste of money, what are time-pressed parents supposed to do with the fishing rods? It takes time and energy to take a child fishing and the inevitable lack of a catch is disappointing. Those who enjoy fishing will take their kids but many children will be disappointed at the sight of the rod and tackle sitting unused. The money would be better used by parents towards school supplies or excursions.
Megan Peniston-Bird, Kew

Wrong priorities
When did it become the role of the Victorian government to hand out “free” fishing rods to schoolchildren? I am far more interested in the Andrews government devoting all its energy to improving core state responsibilities such as hospital waiting lists, improving educational outcomes, and reducing government debt.
David Cowie, Middle Park

Thank those who pay
Re: the debate over taxpayers’ funding of private schools (Letters, 13/6), it is the private school parents that pay the vast amount of income tax in this country. It is their money being spent on their kids’ education.

Maybe we should be thanking them for also subsidising the public education system.
Tim Habben, Hawthorn

Why hesitate?
Scott Morrison’s preference should not have stopped General Angus Campbell from relinquishing his Distinguished Service Cross. Campbell reportedly wanted to do the right thing (“Defence chief failed in his bid to hand back medal”, 13/6). Why didn’t he just go ahead and do it anyway, despite Morrison?
Lawrie Bradly, Surrey Hills

Case spreads fear
While making no comment in terms of anyone’s guilt or innocence, I find the ongoing saga in the courts and media related to the Brittany Higgins case appalling (“Recordings leak referred to police”, 13/6). As someone who has been sexually assaulted I can say that this saga playing out will do nothing to make anyone who has been in my position feel confident about coming forward.
I am not talking about the result of the trial. I am talking about the leaking of phone content and even worse the person’s tapes of her counselling interviews. These are some of the most difficult things I did, and they wonder why women don’t report.
Name withheld on request

What was the plan?
Given Donald Trump’s much publicised reluctance to read so much as a one-page briefing note when he was president, one is prompted to question what he had intended to do with all the files and paperwork he allegedly purloined (“This is the final battle: Trump”, 12/6). To line the bottom of the hamster cage at Mar-a-Lago?
Ross Bardin, Williamstown

Happy on the inside
When I was growing up in the suburbs it was standard practice for people to let their dogs roam. As a cyclist, I became adept at removing my bike’s pump from its holder to defend myself from dog attacks. Today it is almost unthinkable to allow dogs to roam at will. We need a similar change of mindset with cats (“That cuddly, purring cat let loose might be a killer kitty”, 10/6). I’ve had cats all my life and am guilty of having let my cats roam free in the past.

A few years ago we moved to a city with a night-time cat curfew. Our cat adapted very quickly to life indoors and was quite happy to watch birds from inside rather than chase them (or worse).
Today I wouldn’t dream of allowing my cats out of the house or their screened-in outdoor area. I am also spared the vet bills resulting from cat fight injuries.
James Proctor, Maiden Gully

Expansion a good thing
George Brandis writes that we should be concerned at expansion of the Senate as to do so would remove the capability of the two major parties to dominate and may allow people like Pauline Hanson to get elected (“Push for more MPs could backfire”, 12/6).

The major parties in recent decades have not shown they are worthy or capable of being allowed to run the country unfettered by other viewpoints. Independents in parliament force background negotiations into the open, which invariably leads to better legislation.

The parliament is far better for the presence of Jacqui Lambie and her humanity, but would she ever stand a chance of being a major party candidate? It would be far better if Ricky Muir had been re-elected – he came in as a surprise, but tried to act on the evidence in front of him and not on the directions of party hacks.

It has been said that “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely” and this is what has happened with the joint sharing of absolute power between the two major parties since the 1940s.
Laurie Comerford, Chelsea

Tried and failed
The claim (Letters, 13/6) that a referendum was held in 1984 to break the nexus between House of Representatives and Senate numbers is not accurate. That referendum was held in 1967 and, despite being proposed and supported by the conservative government of the day and supported by the opposition, was defeated – a timely reminder that bipartisan support is generally a necessary, but not sufficient condition for the passage of constitutional change in Australia.
Paul Rodan, Malvern East

Helping others
Like Wendy Squires, (“My second chance”, 11/6) I have been told I have cancers all through my liver and the primary is in my lung. As a 42-year-old non-smoker this was indeed a “gulp” moment. However no expensive oncologist ever told me I should never have been told I had cancer. No one had simply read the scan incorrectly.

So I went through the wringer and had IV chemotherapy, a pneumonectomy (removal of my lung) and a craniotomy (brain surgery). Along the way I was in ICU with sepsis and became a proverbial guinea pig when I enrolled in a clinical trial to help me and help cancer research. Being diagnosed stage four means the goal is control, not cure.

So, to help you do whatever you can to support charities offering research and hope to those less fortunate, please donate to or, better still, help us fundraise for the clinical trial DYNAMALK: ALK+ NSCLC.
Juliet Allen, Fitzroy

Let us listen
One of your correspondents (Letters, 13/6) thought that ABC’s great success was demonstrated on ABC Classic, with its top 100 countdown, broadcast over the weekend. I write to disagree.
The whole weekend was a shemozzle. It aped the worst of commercial FM and AM radio, with listeners asked to text in to vote, not only on the most popular performances, but also on what instruments they loved the most. Mission overload, and a confusing listen. The talk-to-music ratio was perhaps even higher than that of commercial radio, with much jolly banter between presenters.

This is all a repetition of the programming faults of the UK’s Classic FM, which ABC Classic tries to copy even though it has lost many listeners in the past two years. It’s all about the music, folks, so shut up and play, ditch the call-ins, and let listeners listen.
Baden Eunson, Brighton

Translation not required
I love the fact that K’gari is no longer called Fraser Island (“Paradise returns: Heritage island reclaims its ancient name”, 9/6), but does K’gari really mean Paradise?

Why do whitefellas always want Aboriginal place names to have a meaning? K’gari may be a paradise, but its ancient name is what it is, and needs no translation.
Andrew Collins, Dromana

AND ANOTHER THING

Credit: Illustration: Matt Golding

Free fishing rods
Is the government so worried about a resurgence of the Shooters and Fishers Party that we need to provide fishing kits for grade 5 students across the state? It’s a long time before they can vote.
Jenny Macmillan, Clifton Hill

Dan Andrews, don’t make a rod for your back. Spend the money on more teachers.
Graham Cadd, Dromana

After a few courageous moments, Daniel Andrews seems to have fallen hook, line and sinker to the power of the private schools lobby.
Joan Segrave, Healesville

Very cunning plan, Dan; give all the kids a fishing rod then hit their families with a fishing licence. That’ll fix your budget problems.
Greg Hardy, Upper Ferntree Gully

Honours
Instead of writing a letter to the editor saying, “Why didn’t AB get an honour?” or “XYZ should have got an honour,” why not put in a nomination?
Samuel McMahon, Parkville

Here in Queensland we recognised and rewarded the life-saving work done by our chief health officer, Jeannette Young, with the role of governor.
Michele Couper, Toowong, QLD

Furthermore
With two horrific incidents in as many months resulting in serious, life-threatening or fatal injuries, is it time to review bus design and safety standards?
Mark Kennedy, Sebastopol

The big four banks in these inflationary times continue to make record profits. Wouldn’t it be nice if they decided to pause mortgage rate increases.
Richard Wilson, Croydon

If the vote for an Indigenous Voice fails, it will be a shameful dishonour, the effects of which will resonate for years. Full marks to those who are working to achieve a place in parliament – Indigenous and Australian alike – for the natural owners of this land.
Dawn Evans, Geelong

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