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Secret ministries
A key principle of integrity in public office is transparency. This is what the former prime minister Scott Morrison and Governor-General David Hurley should have known (“No defence for keeping nation in the dark”, Editorial, 17/8). Any government leader who fails to comprehend the optics of a decision is destined to eventually embroil themselves in something that may appear much grubbier.
Yet the simple question of “how might this look?” never seemed to cross the minds of Morrison or Hurley. Whether hubris, misunderstanding or deliberate misleading, we may never know. These revelations call into question the judgment of both men.
Charles Reis, Flinders
What is the governor-general for?
Legal expert Greg Craven says it would have been a bigger scandal if the Queen’s representative did not accept the advice of the government (“MPs question Hurley’s role in Morrison ministry saga”, 17/8). If advice cannot be ignored it ceases to be advice and is a directive. If the governor-general’s job is redundant the position should be replaced by an entry-level public servant. This would be an enormous saving.
Adrian Tabor, Point Lonsdale
Case strengthens need for a republic
I wonder how many of the people now criticising David Hurley for acting on the advice of the Morrison government were critical of Sir John Kerr for doing the opposite in 1975? The two events bolster the case for a republic. The ultimate solution would be an Australian head of state with clearly codified roles and responsibilities, including transparency.
Mark Summerfield, Northcote
Deputies were ready
Morrison says he swore himself in to these five portfolios in case of emergency. Wouldn’t it be more logical for the next in charge within the portfolio to do the job if the need arose?
Julie Conquest, Brighton
Were the briefings secret?
It is astonishing Morrison thought he could be across the detail of those portfolios for which he had assumed joint responsibility. It begs the question of what departmental briefing process was in place that kept the relevant ministers in the dark that they were sharing portfolios.
Anne Lyon, Camberwell
Precautions are easy to mock
If you were prime minister in the early days of the pandemic, I imagine you’d feel anxious not knowing who might fall to the virus. Scott Morrison may suddenly have needed to step in. Knowing it may never happen, he might have thought there’s no point in making a public display of alarm. It’s easy to mock cautions once the fright has passed.
Philip O’Carroll, Fitzroy
Power over integrity
Former prime minister John Howard has said Morrison should not resign, because that would entail a byelection – “the last thing the Liberal Party needs”. That says it all: political power is more important than integrity in politics.
Bronwen Bryant, St Kilda West
Leadership skills lacking
It looks as though Scott Morrison has failed on many fronts on principles of good leadership: it is never about you but team recognition; be flexible; communicate; involve the team in decision-making, to name a few. And for a man who has urged people to put faith in God, not governments, which God does he believe in? Narcissism is not one of the Christian values.
Julie Ottobre, Forest Hill
Ignore the complainers
Whatever you run (especially a whole country), planning is vital. Morrison was ready to step in if any minister suffered with COVID. The then health minister Greg Hunt was admitted to hospital. Well done, Morrison, ignore the hobby complainers.
Lance Ross, Kooyong
THE FORUM
Health fix no trivial task
Matthew Guy’s policy to scrap the Suburban Rail Loop in favour of more health spending (“Matthew Guy says Coalition will shelve ‘dreamt up’ Suburban Rail Loop”, 17/8) sounds good but fails on numerous counts. The numbers do not stack up – some of the money has already been spent, about one third of the money is federal funding and unlikely to be repurposed. But more money won’t fix the health system.
There are already regional hospitals unable to offer services not because of lack of funding or infrastructure, but inability to attract staff. Prospective staff cannot find places to live – so fix the housing crisis. Australia-wide there are simply not enough staff to fill vacant positions – so train more doctors, nurses and paramedics, a long-term proposition. Provide some scholarships for full-fee students so universities will offer more places. Fix the visa system so overseas medical professionals can come here. Fix the Medicare system and general practice, making it more attractive to doctors, so patients don’t use hospital emergency rooms if unnecessary. Fix the NDIS so that participants can go into specialised housing and not fill up hospital beds.
Our health system can only be fixed by addressing a range of problems at federal level – building more understaffed hospitals won’t.
Louise Kloot, Doncaster
Rail loop ‘unfair’
There are many flaws with the plans of the Suburban Rail Loop. I have concerns about accessibility and justice. Is it fair that connectivity between the existing Metro stations and the loop stations is extremely poor, requiring passengers to walk up to half a kilometre between lines or to exit one station before descending to another? Or that the new station at Monash University will be 900 metres from the loop station to the main campus with efficient connections still to be investigated? Or that the new Burwood station will require passengers to cross a long pedestrian overpass to access Deakin University on the opposite side of the road? Or that much of our existing public transport is still not compliant for disabled users?
Is it fair that many residents in the western suburbs, outer suburbs and regional Victoria don’t have access to good public transport? It is Victoria’s largest infrastructure project and equivalent to a generation’s worth of spending, yet the premier still won’t send it to Infrastructure Australia for rigorous assessment. For a lot less money we could make public transport accessible to a lot more people.
Yvonne Bowyer, Surrey Hills
Lack of vision
Isn’t it just typical of the complete lack of vision of the Liberal Party and their leaders, but particularly Matthew Guy, with statements they will scrap the rail tunnel project with the result being a continuous disconnect of our public transport network. It is probably the most inspiring development of the public transport system to emerge since the first railway lines were laid over 150 years ago. Liberal governments never think beyond the next election cycle and scare campaigns on the cost of projects that will build this state well into the century.
Stephen Carpenter, Blackburn
Project sceptics
You have to admire the state opposition’s consistency. Having not built a single major infrastructure project when last in government they now want to kibosh the Suburban Rail Loop should they win the next election.
Phil Alexander, Eltham
Contract cash
The Andrews government ought to provide contractors for the Suburban Rail Loop with a billion-dollar plus break fee that would come into effect should the Liberals win the next state election and cancel the project. Then again, giving contractors such a watertight undertaking just months before the election would be somewhat irresponsible wouldn’t it?
Garry Meller, Bentleigh
Go deeper than teal
While it is great to see so many Independents running in the next state election, following on from the successful teal independents campaigns federally (“Teal candidate to take on Libs in Caulfield”, The Age, 17/8), they seem to have only a handful of general position statements. I congratulate Nomi Kaltmann on her decision to run in Caulfield and hope she wins.
But there are many other independents who will run but not styled teal or any other colour for that matter. Independents and minor parties will have to put forward good policy positions and must address, for example, our failing health system, education issues and general cost of living and energy issues. The teals have action on climate, integrity in government and gender equality as their main issues but there are many other and equally important policy issues that need to be addressed as well. Voters should look deeper into all independents’ policies.
Peter Allan, Blackburn
Looking beyond identity
Julie Szego goes right to the core of what’s wrong with cancel culture (“Writer shows what courage looks like”, Comment, 17/8). It is inherently contradictory to silence the voice of someone just because your voice has been silenced for a long time. It often replicates the same methods it condemns.
However, rational and consistent behaviour is not the main objective of many people trying to stifle free speech. Their determination to achieve justice for their identity group is often so strong they continue that struggle without recognising the progress they have made and the power that they now possess.
Rod Wise, Surrey Hills
The value of free speech
Richard Flanagan (“Rushdie, violence and cancel culture”, Comment, 17/8), speaks to truth that “any argument that demands silence achieved by violence is not an argument worthy of the name”. Flanagan makes us reflect on something mostly hidden: around the world there are many writers in prison for whom their right to freedom of expression, to tell a truth, can lead to death, long-term imprisonment, often being tortured or lacking due legal processes. If we lose the power of literature to seek truth, we lose ourselves.
Judith Morrison, Nunawading
Protect the left
What an insightful and timely column by Richard Flanagan. Critical opinion has been stifled by cancel culture and “woke” culture. We on the centre left are struggling to find common ground, as the progressive, or “loony” left gain ascendancy. Critical debate has been drowned out in a chorus of outraged and offended voices, leaving the extreme right fertile ground. Charlie Hedbo and Salman Rushdie are dire warnings of the price of not defending free speech.
David Mitchell, Moe
Attempts to divide
I am an Anglican. When the ordination of women was debated, several bishops made offensive remarks about women, but I stayed in the church. When I discovered that some bishops had covered up horrific abuse against children, I stayed, despite my profound disgust. My current bishop has views on consenting adult same-sex relationships with which I strongly disagree, but I stay. I stay because I wish to worship in my local community as part of the Anglican Communion. I will not, as Bishop Davies suggests (“Same-sex marriage splits Anglicans”, The Age, 17/8), move to another diocese because I disagree with my bishop.
Now my bishop, among others, has worked to form the Diocese of the Southern Cross, designed to further split the Anglican Communion. These bishops, and those Anglicans who have joined them, do so because they object to the blessing of same-sex marriages, therefore “stray[ing] from the teachings of the Bible”. This is the same Bible that supports slavery.
Like other members of the Anglican Communion, I can only watch this from afar, hugely disappointed.
Robyn Reaburn, Prospect Vale, Tas
Another monster’s tale
Science be damned. It’s a moral issue. (“Project aims to raise thylacine from dead”, The Age, 17/8). Save our remaining species and have a green arm-band day for those we’ve destroyed. And what’s the plan again? Create some poor sterile creature to be poked and prodded or hunted to death? Ye gods, Mary Shelley has already written this story.
Lawrence Pope, North Carlton
Battery switch
In your business pages there’s a reminder of how unsuitable electric car charging stations are for a country the size and population of Australia (“Big trucks shifting gear to electric”, 17/8). The plans by Australia’s Janus Electric for a quick-change battery network for big fully electric trucks are visionary. So why not, in the infancy of the electric car, change from those inconvenient charging stations to a system based on the same principles as the “swap and go” gas cylinders we use for our barbecues? We just need to make Elon Musk, Toyota, etc change their whole system…
Greg Malcher, Hepburn
Heat where needed
The World Health Organisation says tenant’s houses should be 18 degrees throughout (“Rentals more likely to give you the winter shivers”, The Age, 16/8). Certainly they should have good heating in one or two rooms, but we (in our owned home) have three reverse cycle heater/coolers, one in the living/kitchen area and one in each of our studies.
Since the electricity price hike, we have kept just the living/kitchen one going (except when in bed) and have moved there with our laptops. We only turn it on in summer in the midst of a heatwave – three or four days a year usually. Heated bedrooms and bathrooms are totally unnecessary and we have an open fire in the parlour, which we light when we have visitors. We have lived here relatively healthily for almost 50 years.
Virginia Lowe, Ormond
And another thing
Illustration: Matt GoldingCredit:
Scott Morrison
Well Scott Morrison said “don’t trust governments” and he certainly didn’t.
Des Files, Brunswick
It’s like an episode of yes minister, yes minister, yes minister…
Matthew Hamilton, Kew
Having been introduced to the concept of strategic ambiguity over China and Taiwan, Morrison applied it to his own cabinet.
Greg Curtin, Blackburn South
Morrison’s form at the crease: federal ICAC failure – stumped. Secret ministries – caught. The electorate’s patience – run out. No wonder.
Brian Marshall, Ashburton
Morrison found out in 2020 what we already knew: his team wasn’t up to it. What he subsequently found out was that neither was he.
Lawry Mahon, Port Fairy
It appears Morrison is also a fan of it being better to ask forgiveness than permission.
Mary Wise, Ringwood
Finally we know who TISM were under those masks: This Is Scott Morrison.
Halo Jones, Brunswick West
What is the point of a head of state if they are not willing to stand up for parliamentary democracy? Hurley should go.
Dan Drummond, Leongatha
It’s time Malcolm Turnbull left the Liberal Party. He didn’t need to sink the slipper.
Kevin Rugg, Sandringham
State politics
I can’t see I’ll have any use for the Suburban Rail Loop, that is if I last that long to see it built, but I certainly will need a functioning health system.
Tony O’Brien, South Melbourne
Matt Guy is eight years behind as he copies Dan’s playbook. Daily I thank Labor as I drive over or under rail lines without delays.
George Reed, Wheelers Hill
Furthermore
The race is on. Which will we see first in Tasmania – a genetically reconstructed thylacine, or an AFL franchise? Both long anticipated, theoretically possible but in practice elusive.
Mark Cherny, Caulfield North
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