Historically out of Tudge:a white man’s facile fantasy

Illustration by Megan Herbert

Illustration by Megan HerbertSydney Morning Herald

I’m impressed with federal Education Minister Alan Tudge’s contribution to the national curriculum debate (“Tudge push on history ‘plays politics with children’,” October 23-24). The minister’s farcical statement:“Our society is the wealthiest,most liberal,most egalitarian and most tolerant society that has ever existed in all of humankind” is so facile and biased I suggest it has a place as a discussion proposition in upcoming HSC history exams. This would provide a broad platform for students to discuss their understanding of nuance,perspective and complexity when analysing the impacts of significant events in Australian history. -Adrian Brown,Cammeray

Tudge is complaining that the new draft curriculum has a “negative view of our history” which will leave “young Australians unwilling to defend their country in a military crisis”. An extraordinarily long bow to draw given our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people have lived with “our” version of history since our ancestors,uninvited,moved in here. It’s way past time for us all to hear and learn the truth of our mostly bloody history and come to terms and recognise our place here relative to this. -Linda Shaw,Braddon (ACT)

I don’t know which country Tudge lives in when he says we are the most liberal,wealthy,tolerant and egalitarian society in the world. Such a blinkered attitude is typical of this government and white privilege and entitlement. The disparity between rich and poor,misogyny and domestic violence,the history of Aboriginal massacres and obvious racism should all let Tudge realise he is not in touch with his electorate but living some kind of white man’s fantasy. -William Perry,Mt Keira

A minister who has never read the Australian history section of the national curriculum has decided it is a “negative,miserable view of Australia” and his only reference point is that the topic of Anzac Day has been “contested”. All history is contestable as there are many views of the past,based on new discoveries and research. History should never be dictated by personal or biased views. Perhaps the minister should write his own version of the curriculum based on a heart-warming list of the top 100 happiest times of the past such as the joys of life in the trenches of World War I or best recipes using your dole money wisely during the Depression. -Vanessa Tennent,Oatley

In the real world,history’s page does not always equate to every stage advancing nor being fair to all involved. In youth,Gallipoli embodied a “boy’s own” sense of adventure and idealism,perhaps in part nurtured by what we were taught. Now as an adult,the wisdom imbued by research and reflection has me seeing that campaign tragically wasting the lives of so many ordinary and remarkable individuals. In the study of history,we must also absorb a sense of empathy for all those participants of the past. Human existence has seen the greatest of good and the depths of evil. All must be scrutinised and accepted. -Steve Dillon,Thirroul

Tudge,it seems,doesn’t want Australian children to learn from the past. Hindsight won’t be 20/20 if one eye is perpetually blinkered by his hand. -Terry O’Brien,Chippendale

The Coalition gene pool really is getting shallow when we have to endure such Hanson-lite nonsense from government ministers. -Phil Bradshaw,Naremburn

Probity is vital when it comes to public money

What a brazenly amoral argument Parnell Palme McGuinness prosecutes to whitewash the blatant waste of taxpayers’ money on the Wagga Wagga grants (“Berejiklian’s future depends on the blurry middle,” October 23-24). The government,its relevant ministers and bureaucrats are responsible for the expenditure of public money and must exhibit the highest standards of probity. This is not a grey area or a “blurry middle”. No one should have the power to hand out public money without checks and balances. My goodness,if that was so,we might see money for regional areas being spent in the city,or grants to help amalgamated councils going to some that weren’t ever amalgamated,or men’s rowing clubs even getting funding intended to provide facilities for women. That’s not the blurry middle,that’s the far side of the ethical and moral standards we should expect from our elected representatives. -Merona Martin,Meroo Meadow

According to her legal team,it seems the best defence against wrongdoing that Gladys Berejiklian can present to ICAC will be “an argument that she was acting … in the interests of repairing the Coalition government’s standing in the regions rather than from a desire to deliver personal favours …” (“Losing Face”,October 23-24). So,for Berejiklian,the best outcome would be the premier of the state was using taxpayer funds to shore up political support with a project that has a negative business case and was not the best use of those taxpayer funds. Any way you look at it,the taxpayer was being dudded. It matches her claim that pork-barrelling is acceptable,and she deserved to go. -Geoff Wannan,Dawes Point

There is an apparent coincidence of funding of clay pigeon shooting clubs and politics. Both are substitutes for blood sports and in both “pursuits”,participants and observers need to make allowance for the wind. -Gregory Cook,Beecroft

Obeids’ proceeds of crime should be pursued

Thank you to Kate McClymont,theHerald and ICAC for the tireless work at pursuing the Obeid fiasco (“Ill-gotten gains powered property empire”,October 23-24). It is no wonder the federal government is afraid of any form of federal ICAC. With so much poor governance occurring across our political decision-making,I look forward to further revelations through great investigative journalism. -Robert Mulas,Corlette

If the Obeids get away with their ill-gotten gains,then Mr Bumble inOliver Twist was right,“The law is an ass.” -Lyle Keats,Miranda

Picture a single mum finding an unexpected couple of hundred dollars in her Centrelink account. All her Christmases have come at once;she rushes out to buy her kids shoes. Centrelink catches up;she is treated like a criminal,hounded for every penny and penalised. How many such single mums would it take to make up the $30 million of ill-gotten gains the Obeids are allowed to keep? Fair play,anyone? -Kathleen Hollins,Northmead

All this spin by the Coalition about Obeid’s $30 million ill-gotten gains. No such hand-wringing about the hundreds of millions lost through false and fraudulent claims by businesses on JobKeeper. -Duncan Cameron,Lane Cove

Working from home can help solve housing crisis

Your article (“Buyers will need top income to join market”,October 23-24) again highlights the tragedy of housing unaffordability in Sydney. The government needs to do two things. First,determine Australia’s optimum population and immigration levels that will best serve the nation,not necessarily big business. Second,get behind employers to enable people to work away from the office and live in affordable towns outside Sydney. The pandemic has shown that this can be done,but employers will soon want employees back in the city. They need incentives to turn this around. -Bruce Johnson,Lakewood

Premier Dominic Perrottet says replacing stamp duty with a land tax will “reduce the upfront cost of purchasing a home”. Whatever other arguments for a land tax,this one is wrong (“Anxiety levels go through the roof”,October 23-24). The total amount that a bank will lend a borrower will remain the same. The previous stamp duty portion will go towards the sale price instead. And to boot,buyers will also be saddled with an annual tax,good for the state government’s revenue stream. No savings for home buyers at all. -Janet Burstall,Lilyfield

Never-ending storey

Want to see what adding extra storeys onto old and cherished buildings will look like (“Long may Oxford Street live (if only we could find her pulse)“),October 23-24)? Take a walk along Oxford St at Bondi Junction. Where once were low-rise village terraces,businesses and homes on a human scale,now sits a new vista is of mangled and disjointed high-rise apartment buildings of rare ugliness. Don’t let that happen to the rest of grand old Oxford St. But Sydney is all about greed,so the locals in Darlinghurst and Paddington should brace themselves:I fear an ill wind is blowing their way. -Patrick McGrath,Potts Point

Coalition of the unwilling

Don’t expect the federal Coalition to take any real action to address climate change beyond setting a distant 2050 target (“Cabinet threat over net zero”,October 23-24). Liberal representatives supporting the need for some action claim to represent voters’ concerns in their electorates. But National Party representatives opposing real action also claim to represent voters’ concerns in their electorates. As both parties need each other to hold power,expect stalemate,obfuscation,trade-offs,no effective policies and no real action to continue for another three years and beyond if they are re-elected,regardless of Scott Morrison’s words at the Glasgow conference. This is a dysfunctional Coalition incapable of dealing with this crisis. -Lynne Wallis,Talofa

Nationals ministers who threaten to quit cabinet over net zero may save the PM the trouble of having to remove the Coalition’s climate barnacles. -Steve Ngeow,Chatswood

When Scott Morrison flies off to Glasgow,will he have a lump of coal as carry-on baggage? -Brian O’Neill,Cranebrook

TheHerald is at it again in its climate change crusade,exhorting little Australia which only marginally contributes to global CO2 emissions (less than 1.5 per cent) this time through George Megalogenis (“PM has a free kick,but he won’t take it”,October 23-24),who conveniently sidesteps the questions of China’s willingness and trustworthiness in promising major reductions in CO2 while expanding its coal-fired power capacity to deal both with current domestic power shortages and expected future domestic demand. He also ignores the current lack of political consensus in the US on fossil fuels. -Michael Clarey,Pyrmont

No spin:do something

Peter Hatcher’s observation about the Morrison government as being “more interested in campaigning than governing”,is spot on (“Leaps tall stories in a single bound”,October 23-24). I wish that instead of applying spin and subterfuge to everything it touches,it would instead deal with one issue properly. Surely,that is the very least we should expect. -Peter Rainey,Wollstonecraft

Hartcher sums it up perfectly for me when he wrote “it’s a government more interested in campaigning than governing”. What a sad state of affairs we find ourselves in. But “we” keep voting them in,so what does that say about us as a nation? Are we also just style over substance? Do we have the government we deserve? I certainly hope not. -Anne Neilan,Cheltenham

As Peter Hartcher correctly says,it is the states doing the heavy lifting and taking the lead in climate change,anti-corruption commissions and the development of vaccines to fight future pandemics. Even Queensland is proposing to build a facility to house quarantining travellers – a Commonwealth responsibility – should people arrive with the latest infectious disease. The federal government,meanwhile,has done nothing. It is slowly (an appropriate word for all its actions) abrogating its responsibilities to the states. Soon it will have nothing to do but collect taxes but as Hartcher says,even our taxation system is in need of renovation. In my lifetime,I can think of only one prime minister who achieved less than Scott Morrison,the ineffectual Billy McMahon. -Rodney Crute,Hunters Hill

Harbouring ambitions

Renewed enthusiasm for making Sydney harbour’s waters swimmable again (“Sydney comes full circle”,October 22-23) is to be applauded for two reasons:it’s an achievable goal and achieving it will require us all to think about how our actions in the harbour’s drainage catchment affect the waterway. I look forward to swimming in the harbour on sunny or rainy days to come. -John Hudson,Kurraba Point

Judging by the amount of sludge currently being dredged from the harbour foreshore for the redevelopment of the Sydney Fish Market,rather than create a swimming pool at Glebe,a mud bath might be more appropriate. -Vicky Marquis,Glebe

Oh,please don’t build that awful pool! It’s an eyesore on our lovely harbour. If there has to be another pool,and goodness knows there are lots of places to swim,please design one that sits snugly beside the shore,looking like it’s meant to be there. -Jill Power,Manly Vale

Locker time

As all the kids return to school,the big question on everyone’s lips is:Who is going to be game enough to be the first to open their locker? -Ryszard Linkiewicz,Caringbah South

Meanwhile in Lilliput ...

As far as climate change goes,I’m with the Big-Endians. -Tony Hunt,Gordon

Name game

What’s in a name? The shop name,“20fUs”,at first glance,looked like “twenty F... yous”. When read again,‘2 of us’. Maybe a rethink is worthwhile (“Laundy sisters join the fashion world”,October 23-24). -Margie Christowski,Roseville

What leadership

About climate change,your correspondent (Letters,October 23-24) asks:“Where is the[Australian] visionary leadership?” The answer is simple;it’s hiding in the box labelled “oxymorons”. -Eric Hunter,Cook (ACT)

Sailor man

“I yam what I yam” – that was Popeye,not God (Letters,October 23-24). -Trish Nielsen,Avalon

“I am that I am”:Wasn’t that a disco track from the 70s? -Wayne Duncombe,Glebe

David Morrison (Letters,October 23-24) writes that some believe that God has revealed truths about himself. I once worked in a psychiatric unit which was home to not one,but two,men who knew the truth of God because they were both He. It made for some interesting confrontations,although,unlike many of their lesser acolytes,they did not resort to violence to settle their differences. -Terry Baker,Rutherford

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