As a parent of the generation copping “snowflakes and incessant complainers” I have been put in my place with,“But you raised us this way”. Yes,we did over-protect you,gave you the iPad to manage yourselves,provided you door-to-door pick-up and drop- off service,and molly-coddled you in many ways. In return,you gave us new and better ways of looking after ourselves,said what was wrong with the way we treated other fellow humans,the climate and animals. Mental health is a huge worry with your generation,Daniel Cash,but I also see psychology,health science and social norms do change tack over time. What was good earlier often is bad now. Too much reliance on “experts” and ignoring the experience of the past generations comes at your own peril. I’m glad you want to begin the process of learning “ways to press on” as that will definitely work for all of us.Manbir Singh Kohli,Pemulwuy
An old head on young shoulders;well said,Daniel Cash. We Boomers had the best of times. It is counterproductive to delude young people about their capabilities or reward them for mediocrity. Similarly,many baby boomers need a reality check about their “self-funded wealth” and reluctance to pay their way in retirement.Graeme Troy,Wagstaffe
Why is it necessary to continue to hit the Boomers around the bollard? We have worked bloody hard to have what we have. Two jobs to raise a family and pay a mortgage and we went without holidays. We paid our taxes and looked after our senior citizens. We are selfish if we won’t downsize and now you want us to stump up the cost for aged care,penalising us for growing old. Some cultures treat their senior citizens with respect. Unfortunately,Australia is not one of them.Peter Haggarty,Cranebrook
Two-way tolls are not a new development
With the discussion about fairness of tolls and the one-way bridge toll,can someone point me to the non-tolled road to cross the harbour for people in North Sydney (“”,March 13). All other toll roads have toll-free alternatives,even if they are now altered to a one lane goat track to make the toll roads look more efficient. I guess Gladesville Bridge and the new café-lined Victoria Road Boulevard is the alternative. At least for anyone driving north to east,say from North Sydney to Bondi or Randwick,the tolls are already two-way:Bridge toll south,cross-city tunnel or eastern distributor going north.Giles Parker,Riverview
History needs to be considered before conclusions about equity of tolling are rushed. When the Harbour Bridge was built we were told that tolls were needed to pay for it. The toll then was neatly transferred to pay for the Harbour Tunnel. The toll was doubled to be collected in one direction to speed up the flow of traffic as it was assumed that drivers would return to their destination by the same route. Now one way tolling is declared unfair even though the costs of both have been paid for in full by motorists. A commercial imperative would be to ensure that the Tunnel and Bridge tolls are the same as those projected for the yet incomplete Western Harbour Tunnel for which there has been no business case published.Catherine Turner,Cremorne
I was told,as a child in the 50s,that the toll on the Harbour Bridge was to pay for the continual painting of the Bridge so that it wouldn’t rust and collapse into the harbour. I still believe this to be so. Remaking it a two-way toll,as it used to be,is undoubtedly to cover the increased cost of a four-litre tin of Killrust.Terry Charleston,Cootamundra
It is ridiculous to suggest that Transurban should be nationalised. Putting aside the question as to how we would implement that,it would put Australia on a par with Cuba or Venezuela as an investment jurisdiction. In claiming that infrastructure assets used by the public should be not for profit,your writer misses the point that toll roads and tunnels would not have been built in the first place without companies seeking adequate return.John Kempler,Rose Bay
Has there been an attempt to determine whether there is any correlation between the increase in vehicle size and the increase in the road toll?Scot Webb,Bella Vista
Hands off hard-earned assets to fund aged care
A government-appointed taskforce recommends older Australians should pay more for aged care services (“”,March 12). The emphasis of this recommendation is that this proposal will affect wealthier Australians. One must ask what denotes “wealthy”? It can be expected that this will relate to any person who might own their own home and have sufficient funds in their superannuation to allow them a modest life in retirement. One can assuredly assume that “wealthy” does not relate exclusively to those who have been fortunate enough to accumulate a sizeable portfolio of assets in their lifetime – these already have access to better aged care services that are self-funded. If this proposal is introduced,it will assuredly be set at a sufficiently low threshold to reap in most aged Australians who will own their home and have modest superannuation on which they have been eking out a modest means of living after decades of saving and living carefully. It is infuriating that the assets of the aged should be eyed off by government as a source to be tapped. As it stands,when people need to access aged care,they typically need to sell their home to finance entry to any aged care facility and a sizeable sum is already taken for the care of that person. It is too appealing to seek more from this pot – “why not take it all” seems to be the logic that is applied here. Let me emphasise that these assets,whether large or small,have been hard-earned. Taxes have been paid in full. It is deplorable to think that as one grows old those hard-earned belongings should be ripped off. If there is a small nest-egg after one passes on,it should be our right to choose where it should go.Cheryl Chenery,Gwynneville
I think it is rather discriminatory to expect older people to pay more for the care they need because they may have the means to do so. Surely,this should apply to anyone needing health care. If you can afford it,pay more. Perhaps the whole Medicare system needs to be reviewed.Pam Fichtner,Dunbogan
Super’s for spending,not saving
I am sure there are many other retirees like me who have budgeted to pay those “additional costs” in aged care from our superannuation. My friends and I do not consider superannuation as an inheritance bonus for our kids. If we can afford it,we will pay it and try to avoid being a burden on the taxpayer.Aidan Cuddington,Umina Beach
No scaremongering in sight
Yes,we all care about our neighbourhoods and these policy changes warrant rigorous debate (“”,March 13). The rally at Parliament House was a
peaceful getting together of concerned citizens from across Greater Sydney,all of whom were concerned about the destruction of their local areas,and the loss of hard-fought powers of their local councils. I heard no “scaremongering” and anyone on top of the issue has done their homework. And yes,there will be “towers” in our suburban streets,along with the annihilation of our history,and trees and wildlife. The proposed reforms will not deliver affordable housing,will only feed the developers,and will reduce our city to a concrete jungle of horror. Opposers of the proposed reforms are not anti-development. It just has to be in the right place,in the right quantity and form,and decided after extensive community consultation. Our beautiful city deserves that.Elizabeth Howard,Katoomba
Cocaine capital
This is a very serious and alarming issue that is growing steadily over the years and has no decline in sight (“”,March 13). There’s nothing to be proud of in the fact that Sydney has retained the title of cocaine capital of Australia. Drastic measures to stop the trafficking of these illicit drugs,educating the downsides of the usage among the youth and adults alike,and heavily punishing the key players are all needed. Governments and enforcement agencies must work together to make society safer for future generations.Bala Ramakrishnan,Cherrybrook
Sadness at Ramadan
I live in a suburb with many Muslim residents. As I walked home late at night on the first official day of Ramadan,I could not help but reflect on the grief and pain that my Muslim neighbours must be feeling in this month (“”,March 13). But you do not need to be Muslim to feel sadness for those in Gaza who are starving and suffering. Nor do you need to be Muslim to know that this cannot be allowed to continue. It is simple humanity. So many of us these days are urged to “be kind”. That epithet does not only apply to how we as individuals treat others,but to nations as well. I hope our politicians take note during this Ramadan of the very real distress and disappointment in our community at Australia’s response to this tragedy and act accordingly.Tanya Harris-Roxas,Granville
Charging ahead
Electric vehicles are very cheap to run and to service. I’ve saved at least $1200 in the first year of driving a medium-priced EV (“”,March 13). So-called “range anxiety” is really a furphy,but it could be made completely irrelevant by governments encouraging service stations to install fast chargers,say every 100 kilometres along all major rural and regional roads. This would probably cost less than subsidising the purchase of EVs that are already being bought in increasing numbers as prices fall and competition increases.Philip Bell,Bronte
Reef madness
Sadly,the damage to the Great Barrier Reef due to repeated coral bleaching poses a huge threat to the survival of this natural treasure (“”,March 13). Ocean warming is mainly to blame. Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has pledged $1.2 billion to improve the reef’s resilience. Unfortunately,no amount of money thrown at the problem is going to fix it,unless we drastically reduce carbon emissions and slow global heating. Yet Plibersek continues to approve new fossil fuel projects for export and domestic use. The approval of four new coal-mining projects in Queensland and NSW in 2023,for example. This will cause the release of millions of tonnes of heat-trapping pollution into the atmosphere. Environment laws are set to be reviewed this year. Surely the effect of climate change on our natural environment must be taken into account.Anne O’Hara,Wanniassa (ACT)
Secret to a long life
Sarah Berry’s thoughtful and balanced article on food anxiety and risk mitigation brought to mind Woody Allen’s comment:“You can live to be 100 if you give up all the things that make you want to live to be a 100” (“”,smh.com.au,March 13)David MacKintosh,Berkeley Vale
Sourdough sculptor
I make my sourdough in an antique loaf tin (,March 13). I get a much higher ratio of crumb to an easily cut crust and my cheese slices fit perfectly on the consistently sized slices. Plus I don’t need the skills of a master sculptor to make the artisan ovoid loaf shaped loaf.Stuart Garland,Yamba
Photo confession
In the interests of transparency,I should confess now (“”,March 13). As a keen photographer,I too have “manipulated” some of the photographs I have taken of my family. My grandchildren did not always have the perfectly clean faces that appear in my photographs. They sometimes had snotty noses and chocolate ice cream on their chins. And older members of the family had skin blemishes which I photoshopped away. People occasionally blinked at the wrong moment,but opened eyes appear in the photographs. I do hope that history will be kind to me.Laurie Wilson,Allambie Heights
Talk about conspiracy theories,with all this ongoing fuss over the princess’s photoshopped card,it makes you wonder what is really going wrong in the UK government and/or its economy.Brian Collins,Cronulla