Adult book-reader decline may be a sign of the times

Malcolm Knox is in danger of underestimating this country’s mature minds (“Adults aren’t reading. Why not pay them to?” November 11). Some of us old codgers don’t need financial incentives to read. Our parents,mainly our mothers,instilled in us the glory of the written word and we have never lost the habit. Later on,many of us found the joy of lifelong learning and embraced mature-age tertiary education. Now,we don’t just read for entertainment but to inform ourselves on the issues in which we are most interested.Derrick Mason,Boorowa

Can that suggestion for a $100 book voucher for those turning 65 be retrospective,please? I’ve got three books on the go right now but there’s always room for more.
Erik Hoekstra,Leura

Malcolm Knox’s article is a timely reminder to reflect on some of the negatives of social media. Johann Hari in his bookStolen Focus points out what we can learn about social media from Marshall McLuhan’s statement that the medium is the message. Twitter/X:Don’t focus on anything for too long,and the world can be understood in 280 characters. Facebook:Your life exists to show people edited highlights of your life that must be immediately liked. Instagram:All that matters is how you look on the outside and if others like how you look on the outside. Hari suggests that the motto for life today should be “I tried to live but I got distracted”.Paul Casey,Callala Bay

Malcolm Knox has an excellent suggestion to encourage reading by giving a book voucher to those turning 65. Perhaps the purchase could be limited to books written by an Australian? A win for the local authors as well.Sally Spurr,Lane Cove

I’m one of Malcolm Knox’s seniors who was once a passionate reader,less so now. For me,the main reason for this decline is that the books are just not as engaging. I’ve been caught so many times by the florid blurb on covers,only to be disappointed after a few paragraphs. My only requirement is that there be a good story written with passable grammar. My favourite authors are Julian Barnes,Anne Tyler and Kate Grenville.Carolyn Little,Mortdale

As an 82-year-old avid and omnivorous reader who gets through several books a week and belongs to two book clubs,I was saddened to see the statistics on reading decline among older people as presented by Malcolm Knox. I recently completed a graduate diploma in family history through the University of Tasmania – totally online but with lots of reading and writing. My life would be much emptier without books to read and study to undertake. Older people are constantly encouraged to keep their minds active,to socialise and to exercise. I’m endeavouring to heed that advice and would hope that others in my demographic do likewise. I thought Australia used to be a world leader in book buying and reading. Books may be expensive but there’s the wonderful service from public libraries. I’ll be manning the barricades if there’s ever a threat to their services.Levane Abdoolcader,Padstow Heights

Tuvalu resident visa offer must be handled carefully

I couldn’t agree more with Anthony Albanese’s offer to the people of Tuvalu (“Special visa opens path for Tuvaluan migration”,November 11). However,we hope it has been well thought through. These are people of a relatively small community who more than likely know each other or gain great comfort from fellow communities,even though there are 11,300 of them,and live in a locked area,7 degrees latitude from the equator. They are used to a hot climate,so where could they be housed that wouldn’t change their lifestyle too much,with amenities to suit? Also,being close-knit they could suffer separation from their kind,if separated too widely,as the early Irish migrants did when separated from their close neighbour communities. This also brings to mind the problem we are having in saving our flora and fauna from habitat loss. That’s on top of our own problem of housing Australians. All that is before we may receive a similar request from the Kiribati government,and there are 100,000 of them and they live at approximately 2 degrees latitude. This altruism needs to be handled carefully or it could all come tumbling down.Anthony Healy,Willoughby East

It’s really great the Australian government is offering citizens of Tuvalu visas so they can escape rising sea levels and live and work in our country. That means we can go ahead with new coal mines and continue coal seam gas fracking,doesn’t it?Rod Bartlett,Woonona

If Australia has a veto right on Tuvalu’s security arrangements,does Tuvalu have a veto right on Australia’s new fossil fuel projects?Dieter Liebrich,Swanpool (Vic)

If Tuvalu and the Pacific forum countries agree,Tuvalu could become Australia’s Puerto Rico and become an Australian territory,and those born after,say,2023 automatically become Australian citizens. With the migration program now in place,in a decade or so Australia can use Tuvalu in its defence strategy.Mukul Desai,Hunters Hill

The Australian government’s decision to make available a visa allowing the people of Tuvalu to migrate to Australia is commendable. However,at the rate of only 280 each year,it will take 40 years for the whole Tuvaluan population to migrate to Australia. That may be enough time to escape the worst sea-level rise scenario,but it does not take into account extreme weather events such as cyclones,abnormally high waves or storm surges. All these phenomena will become more common and extreme as the globe – especially its oceans – continues to heat up. Low-lying Tuvalu could have disappeared into the Pacific Ocean in 40 years. Australia should accept at least 500 Tuvaluan migrants per year.Douglas Mackenzie,Deakin (ACT)

Outage shows privatisation perils

The recent failure of the Optus network affected more than 10 million customers (“Signal failure”,November 11) but thankfully not my household. However,it did affect my work as a counsellor/psychologist at a local school when I was unable to contact a parent from the school landline to their mobile. On the day,we happened to have a locksmith come to the house to repair a security-screen lock. He couldn’t put the payment through from his phone and borrowed my husband’s to ring the office to take the payment by credit card. The outage obviously brought into focus how virtually every aspect of our daily lives – communications,travel,shopping,social and medical – depends on mobile communication,an essential service. All Australian essential services should be publicly owned because as soon as they are privatised the company only has to satisfy its shareholders and make a profit,and costs to the user increase.Mila Yates,Valentine

There has been quite a bit of discussion on mandating capacity sharing for mobile networks. In plain English,that means if one network is down then you are transferred to another. In Australia,Telstra has the premium network. The question must be asked:why should Telstra and its shareholders pick up the costs involved in bailing out second-rate mobile providers when their networks are down?Malcolm Freak,Armidale

Optus’ signal failure has highlighted the elephant in the room:it’s ridiculous to be spending defence billions on AUKUS submarines when a country can be brought to its knees by a militant hacker targeting our reliance on cyberspace. It would be far better to be shoring up our defences in all the ways we now keep our country functioning. Meanwhile,we’re not giving up our landline.Anne Ring,Coogee

During the Optus network outage a trauma it caused most of us was the sudden lack of any mobile to function. It has become normal for us to permanently go around with our faces buried in our phones to the extent we hardly notice faces,footpaths,roads or cars any more.Mary Julian,Glebe

Blunt rates trauma

I am not an economist but it appears that the RBA’s raising of interest rates to lower inflation at this time is a blunt tool bludgeoning those who can least afford it:mortgage holders (“Interest rate rises tipped in face of economic fire fronts”,November 11). The article makes the case that wages growth is not a key factor at present for inflation and that taxes are eating into spending. However,strong population growth via immigration,and a tight rental market are two of the current main contributors to inflation. The RBA can’t control immigration or rents by raising interest rates,but government can. The federal government needs to take more responsibility for inflation and step in to assist the RBA by reducing immigration and doing everything it can to work with the states to assist renters and increase housing supply. Reducing inflation aside,the RBA is not working. There needs to be a federal and state government response now.Warwick Spencer,West Pymble

Can someone with more economic knowledge than me please explain to us how raising interest rates,which results in billion-dollar profits to banks,is a better option than increasing GST on non-essential and luxury items,allowing those struggling with mortgages to survive? Is it just too hard?Jan Knapp,Bolong

Stage draw

So,the “Golden Lion”,i.e. the Kings Cross Minerva Theatre-MGM Metro Cinema,is sadly dead (“Final curtain for King Cross theatre”,November 11). So much for preserving another important piece of Sydney’s art deco history. Perhaps now,Sydney’s once-beautiful Plaza cinema at 600 George Street could rise from its decaying shame to be reborn as a much-needed live theatre? With producers literally begging for more suitable venues to satisfy the insatiable demands of our city’s ever-increasing theatre patrons,what’s the problem?Bob Scott,Eastlakes

Safety first

The NSW road death toll is up nearly 30 per cent this year versus last year (“Two teens killed,three injured in horror crash on remote NSW road”,smh.com.au,November 11). The Roads&Traffic Authority of NSW’s road-safety campaigns were high-profile through the 1990s and 2000s. The RTA had a road-safety team of social marketing experts and had a significant ongoing advertising budget. Moreover,there was serious evaluation of the effectiveness of the many campaigns that ran (many readers will recall the Dr Karl “micro-sleep” TV campaign,it was judged the most successful). Does the current state government have the same commitment to road-safety marketing? Asking for a friend – all of them,in fact.John Bevins,McMahons Point

Target malpractice

Immigration Minister Andrew Giles claims we need another 48,000 skilled migrants to meet the government’s housing target (“Migrants required to meet building targets:minister”,November 11). The announced target is 2.2 million new homes in the five years from next July. If we need that number to house the current Australians already struggling to find a home or,worse,finding it impossible,just where are an extra 48,000 skilled migrants going to live while they labour? Whatever answer Giles may supply,it would appear an extra 48,000 residents will be fighting over already non-existent housing.Jeremy Cornford,Kingscliff

Railroaded

Returning from the Blue Mountains on the tollway I found myself in the same situation as your correspondent (Letters,November 11). With no sign to the city,I travelled needlessly to the airport. Nearly one hour later,with many additional beeps signalling tollway dollars,I arrived home. I hope,like others,that the new interchange will tell motorists more clearly it’s either this way or the highway.
Vicky Marquis,Glebe

Happiness is a Honda

I can relate (sort of),Richard Glover (“Driving me crazy in love”,November 11). The object of my passion is a Honda Accord Euro bought new in 2010 (gasp). This ageless beauty would now be regarded as ancient history. My girl car has no fancy tech,thus no flashing screens. Still,there is the peace on offer when I ask “How far to Ulladulla?” and silence reigns.
Pam Connor,Belconnen (ACT)

Light nights

As a librarian of several decades,I was disappointed by the ad for evening events at the State Library of NSW (November 11),which says,“The deepest conversations happen after dark” and the events start at 6pm. If they’d asked any decent reference librarian,they would have found out it is still light at 6pm.

Mark Anderson,Coogee