I have been a refugee and multicultural worker for 25 years. The Cambodian refugee camps in Thailand were terrible and chaos reigned. The Rwandan genocide was shocking because the international community ignored it – and a million people died. These were civil wars and people sought refuge, which the United Nations asserts is a fundamental human right.
But the Australian governments of both political parties have prevented people from reaching refuge, and allowed terrible situations to develop on Manus Island and Nauru. Paying compensation now does not obliterate our guilt as a nation. Offshore internees cost $1 million per head per year. This week it is $90 million. Is this the most incompetent refugee policy in the world, as well as the most unjust?
Illustration: Jim Pavlidis
Alan Nichols, Fitzroy North
Paying the money, but denying all claims
A settlement of $70 million, plus $20 million in legal costs, to avoid a court case that would have exposed the brutality inflicted in our name – with billions of dollars of our taxes – on people who fled horrors. They came here, asking for asylum, and instead were sent to Manus Island with dire consequences. And still Immigration Minister Peter Dutton says the government, "strongly refutes and denies the claims made in these proceedings". Come on, pull the other leg.
Joan Lynn, Williamstown
Impossible to compensate for the suffering
No amount of money could ever cover the price of: deprivation of the ability to work and earn an income for four years; denial of the opportunity to study and gain qualifications; not being able to share precious moments with families and loved ones; not being able to make day-to-day decisions; constant character assassination through false accusations and unjust labels; slow destruction of physical and mental health; deliberate crushing of dignity and hope; and theft of irreplaceable youth. If Peter Dutton did not want to pay compensation to the men detained on Manus Island, then he should not have presided over the human rights abuses inflicted upon them.
Linda Cusworth, Bannockburn
End the finger-pointing and blame game
Peter Dutton claims that the Labor government's actions caused, or allowed, the Manus detainees to win a compensation claim. If the Coalition government knew there was a weakness at law, then it, and particularly Mr Dutton, are grossly negligent and, by inference, incompetent, in not moving swiftly to deal with the situation. Right from when it (Tony Abbott and latterly Malcolm Turnbull) gained power. For heaven's sake, can everyone stop posturing and finger-pointing and just get on with doing what is needed?
Chris Waters, Ormond
Why pay $90m if there's nothing to hide?
It appears that the fearless warriors of our government – and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton – would rather spend $90 million than risk the emergence of the truth regarding Australia's immoral offshore detention program. Why? Surely they have nothing to hide or to fear.
Eric Kennelly, Ballarat Central
And why pay it if the detention is legal?
The Australian government is paying compensation to the Manus Island refugees for the damage it has caused to them. How then can the government maintain the fiction that the refugees are being detained legally?
Reg Murray, Glen Iris
THE FORUM
An avoidable disaster
After all these years, the British still have not got the message about the danger of aluminium in a fire. This was spectacularly demonstrated in the Falklands War when ships with aluminium superstructure were burnt with a terrible loss of life. Britain's Admiralty may have got the message but it does not appear to have been passed on to the civil authorities. It is also odd that residents of London's Grenfell Tower had been attending meetings about safety issues while the "experts" blundered on regardless. Heads should roll.
John Coffey, Fitzroy North
Act on deadly cladding
My union, the oft-demonised Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union, has been warning of the danger posed by flammable cladding for at least two years. Will the many buildings with non-compliant cladding be retrofitted with safe cladding – at a substantial cost to the owners and/or government departments that approved the use of the faulty products? Or will we wait for deadly fires of our own before doing anything about it? Can we at least not build any more buildings using this stuff?
Zane Alcorn, Coburg North
The terror at home
The focus, and massive spending, on anti-terrorism measures seems misdirected when governments around the world allow the building industry to expose tens of thousands of citizens to intense horror, and put their lives at risk, all as a result of cost-cutting and profit making.
Sue Dyer, Downer, ACT
Self-punishing shame
I agree with the psychologist and author of The New Manhood, Steve Biddulph, that the experience of toxic shame is the pivotal factor in the disintegration of men's lives ("Radicalism or simply horrible acts by pathetic men?", Comment, 14/6).
However, I do not believe that he has presented sound evidence to suggest that this is the primary source of the acts of terrorism that we are witnessing, more recently in Western democracies. These are despicable acts of outward aggression. I think that toxic shame is something that we as males turn inwards on ourselves. Hence, it is self-punishing in its effect. The ultimate evidence of this is the shockingly high male suicide rate.
Rick Mann, St Kilda
The forgotten lawyers
Professor Rosalind Croucher, who is tipped to replace Gillian Triggs as head of the Australian Human Rights Commission, is "well regarded within the legal fraternity" (The Age, 15/6). I wonder if she is also well regarded within the legal sorority.
Jill Rosenberg, Caulfield South
Ensuring a balance
The solution to the gender imbalance in the awarding of Honours is to provide that, for each category, regardless of the number of nominations, the number of male recipients should not exceed the number of female recipients. Far too simple, I suppose.
Tim Freer, Torquay
Prejudice, ignorance
So three government ministers will be hauled before the Supreme Court of Victoria to explain why they should not be charged with contempt after accusing the judiciary of advocating softer sentences for terrorists (The Age, 15/6). Comments by populist, pot-stirring MPs on the courts and their processes and decisions show why politicians are held in low regard. Their remarks reflect on them and their ideologies, and highlight their own prejudices and ignorance.
Andrew Moloney, Frankston
Our right to speak out
It is appalling abuse of the powers of the courts that three MPs have been requested to appear before the Victorian Supreme Court. All they did was comment on the making and implementation of laws. The High Court has ruled that the constitution provides citizens with a right to participate in democracy, including speaking out.
Those who are concerned about separation of powers should not be criticising the MPs but the court for interfering with parliament-related activities. The notion that the MPs were trying to influence the court could have any validity only if there were a non-zero prospect that it might be so influenced. The court's action seems to be an admission that it is capable of being influenced. To my mind, the court has scored an own goal, disrespecting itself and inviting further disrespect.
Ross Drynan, Lindfield, NSW
Living in the Dark Ages
The Coalition is hampered by an ideological fixation in the past. Scientists have been warning for more than two decades that the world must reduce carbon emissions if we are to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Fortunately, developments in solar and wind technologies have resulted in prices falling so much that these are now cheaper than new coal-based generation.
BP has reported that global coal production dropped by a record amount in 2016, largely as a result of China and the United States burning less black stuff. Meanwhile, our government seems hell-bent on using taxpayer funds to help build one of the world's largest coal mines, on the doorstep of our Great Barrier Reef. This will add to greenhouse gas emissions – and it ignores the global trend for employment and investment shifting from coal to renewable energy.
Barrie May, Glen Waverley
Unsustainable landfills
Instead of using a huge amount of valuable space for landfill, perhaps we should ban their use altogether within 10years. If everyone took responsibility for the waste they created, and we paid up front for the environmental and disposal costs, we would soon develop the technology and policies to ensure that waste was minimised, and all products were reusable, recyclable and/or biodegradable. Simply burying our resources in landfill is totally unsustainable.
Jennie Epstein, Little River
Loyalty to the people
Given the revelations about foreign political donations, and the lobbying by the domestic coal industry, one wonders about the motivation behind the government's difficulty with the Finkel report. Are MPs who are resisting its recommendation for a Clean Energy Target doing the bidding of the industry or foreign donors? Do they hope to be rewarded with high-paying positions on coal company boards/resource councils or work as industry consultants after they leave parliament?
Tony Abbott and his colleagues claim their opposition is about keeping power prices under control. However, their government, along with the Rudd/Gillard government, have followed the deregulation, privatisation ideology of the energy industry initiated in the Kennett/Howard era. This has led to gas prices quadrupling, electricity prices doubling and a likely supply crisis this summer. Governments should put the interests of the Australian people first.
Craig Horne, Fitzroy North
How can I be true blue?
Prime Minister, how can I be more patriotic? Should I sing Advance Australia Fair every day and chant "Oi, oi, oi" at sporting events? Should I proclaim that our involvement in the Vietnam War was a solidarity struggle with the Vietnamese, or our campaign in Iraq was to create a democratic society? Or should I march on the street to demand that large corporations pay their fair share of tax, brown coal production ceases and university fees for local students are abolished? Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.
Nalliah Suriyakumaran, Preston
Teaching respect
Wendy Knight (Letters, 14/6) is worried that her child, who is now a teacher, will suffer aggression from her pupils or their parents. She implies that schools are no longer safe working places. As a young teacher in the 1950s, I seldom saw parents. Back then, clumsily, I dealt with aggression from the technical school boys in my classes. Most parents that I met expressed gratitude for the discipline.
These days, parents seem to have more influence in school activities and are more likely to strongly criticise or threaten teachers who deal strongly with recalcitrant students. There seems to be a breakdown in the agreement about what constitutes the discipline and respect expected of young people. This does not help in the creation of a society that values decency and respect.
Leo Gamble, Mentone
A longer bus route
The route of the proposed "Doncaster bus rapid transit" system (between East Doncaster and Southern Cross Station) should extend across Alexandra Parade to the top of Swanston Street, where it could service the education and hospital precinct. This would also mean the buses would avoid the congestion at Hoddle Street etc.
Robert New, Vermont
The right to bear arms
It is ironic that US Republican congressman Steve Scalise, whose party vehemently opposes the introduction of strict gun control laws, and several others, were shot in an act of political violence. Get angry, get a gun, shoot someone seems to be the American way.
Harry Kowalski, Ivanhoe
AND ANOTHER THING
Politics
Tony, retire from politics and return to Britain. Your title as our most brutally effective opposition leader is unassailable.
Rod Williams, Surrey Hills
Perhaps Turnbull would define what constitutes a "patriot".
Mina Hilson, West Footscray
Patriots keep their money here, not in offshore tax havens. Patriotism is the last resort of a failing leader.
Maureen Peck, White Hills
The Coalition promised "growth". Who knew it was talking about the government's credit card debt?
Berys Dixon, Moonee Ponds
Who will go first: Trump, May or Turnbull?
Edith Wilke, Cowes
At 75, can I please have a government which does something before I cark it?
Des Crowle, Casterton
Manus settlement
$90 million in total, but no admission of liability. Laughable.
Stephen Baldwin, Frankston
Is Dutton's belligerence only exceeded by his incompetence?
Ian Maddison, Parkdale
I had a weird dream. Dutton, the Mad Hatter, was chasing a white rabbit down the hole. It was an asylum seeker.
Pamela Papadopoulos, South Yarra
Be warned, Mr Dutton. I feel another donation to Get Up! is looming.
Peter Gribben, Drouin
Furthermore
Network 10 – back to Channel O.
John Rawson, Mernda
Mia Freedman is a silly little girl.
Moira Tucker, Frankston
Martin Flanagan is one of our treasures. Truthful, honest and heartfelt in every word he writes.
Maureen Walsh, South Geelong
To irk a civil libertarian (13/6) is a bonus. When did our rights as citizens become a joke?
Margaret Byrne, Belgrave