The damage done.Matt Golding
Khairat expresses surprise that as a teacher,her school management has told her not to speak to her students about the “conflict in the Middle East”. She shouldn’t be surprised. The reason is in her description of what she would have sought to discuss with them:“the thousands killed and trapped beneath rubble”. No context,no mention of the hostages,of the horrific massacre which started this war,nor of the terrorist organisation which runs Gaza and hides behind the civilians who have become its victims. Until Khairat is capable of providing a balanced and historically accurate perspective on events to her students,she should stick to the curriculum.Paul Roberts,Miranda
The edict from school management to teacher Khairat beggars belief. The central role of a humanities teacher is to give young people the tools and the space to interpret the world. At a time when so much of the news is focused on Gaza we should be encouraging considered,critical thinking and understanding,not abandoning students to the shrill manipulation of social media. The conflict and the misinformation won’t go away because a secondary school leader chooses to ignore it. Students with questions need to hear lucid,humane voices like Khairat’s,not platitudes and evasion.Tony Judge,Woolgoolga
Khairat effectively answers her own question of why she shouldn’t she be able to teach her students about the Israel-Gaza conflict. Her myopic narrative of the conflict,that makes no mention of the October 7 Hamas attack that triggered the war,epitomises the inherent dangers of bias.
If our teachers are to have licence to discuss complex issues,a good starting point must be a semblance of balance.David Faktor,Bondi
If students of high school age are interested in a public/world issue,preventing them from discussing it in the classroom doesn’t mean that they cease to be interested in the issue. It simply means that the students are denied the chance to learn about the issue in the one space where there is some chance of them hearing from knowledgeable advocates from more than one side,reading and viewing materials from reputable sources putting different perspectives,and being able to share their own views in a supervised,nuanced discussion. I regularly see abominable memes and partisan nonsense (from both sides) about the Israel/Palestine conflict on social media. Do Khairat’s employers really want this to be her students’ main source of information on the issue?Paul Norton,Highgate Hill(Qld)
The question is not whether a teacher should be allowed to discuss current geopolitical events with students,it’s whether that teacher is capable of providing a balanced perspective. Khairat’s credentials would suggest otherwise.Col Burns,Lugarno
Coalition is attacking PM to cover its own failures
Judging by the sudden negative commentary on the Albanese government,it appears we’re all trapped in the two-party bunker and should lift our heads above the parapets for a clearer view (“”,November 30). So the referendum failed. To be clear,we don’t have an opposition holding the government to account,wanting what’s best for the country. We have one bent on total annihilation to cover their own vast crater of market failures in housing,climate,integrity,gender equity,aged care the list goes on. Think carefully about who you choose as your local MP. We need ethical representatives more than ever.Sue Young,Bensville
Shaun Carney nails it with his opening statement:Simply not being Scott Morrison is one thing but trying on the ill-fitting role of “tough-guy” Dutton while dressed as lamb won’t cut it. Indeed,it may well get you the chop.David Baird,Burradoo
Illustration:Dionne Gain
While the federal Labor government does need to improve in some areas,it is not as dire as some claim. It is unlikely that the voting public has already forgotten that after the previous government managed to rack up a trillion dollars of debt,the current one is the first in 15 years to deliver a budget surplus. Chris Bowen’s recent announcement of the government’s intention to underwrite 32GW of new renewable energy investment is a huge step in the necessity for us to decarbonise and invest in the economic opportunities of the future. If Albanese can now imaginatively restructure the stage 3 tax cuts,he could well be on the path to redemption.Peter Nash,Fairlight
There have been two opinion pieces this week predicting the demise of the Albanese government (,November 29). Not one mention of the inertia,inaction and incompetence of the previous government/s that left this nation crippled socially,politically and economically. Also nary a mention of the policy and leadership vacuum that still engulfs Peter Dutton and the Coalition. How about some discussion about the real progress the current government has made,despite the mess left by Scott Morrison and his predecessors?Tony Heathwood,Kiama Downs
Carney tells us Australians have such a short memory that we might bring back a Coalition government. I can only hope that prompts our prime minister to abandon “safe” policies,drop the third tranche of tax cuts,eliminate negative gearing and wring more tax from corporates while he can. Voters might not reward his bravery but I reckon he would have the quiet thanks of every future government.Colin Stokes,Camperdown
Road planners in ivory towers leave motorists fuming
Fairly obviously traffic modellers and designers for the Rozelle interchange have sat in their ivory towers crunching numbers in their sophisticated modelling software without bothering to go out and collect the empirical data on just how much chaos and delay results from multiple and consecutive lane merges (“”,November 30). That evidence is readily available on the Sydney Harbour Bridge right now especially on the southern merges of the Cahill Expressway. And on the northern end where multiple merges have been imposed due to construction lane closures - I suffered a 25-minute delay for a normal one-minute trip recently.Peter Thornton,Killara
Sydney road planners seem to have a history of underestimating surface road traffic. Look at the Cleveland Street exit for the Eastern Distributor that for years had to be restricted to being open only in off peak times,until permanently closed in 2017. Let alone the hastily placed red cones to stop traffic dangerously trying to cross all lanes to get to the Bondi/Paddington exit. How could they get it so wrong? In Sydney why do the authorities assume you already know where you’re going? Signage is generally so hopeless and badly placed that it can be dangerous at times. Having lived in Mosman for nearly 20 years I recently ended up on the other side of the harbour due to the almost non-existent and wrongly placed sign for the turn off at the Warringah freeway roadworks.Peter Neufeld,Mosman
The causes of traffic chaos are:new traffic lights added on Victoria Road on turn into Anzac bridge stops traffic flow;bus lane to the middle of the road reduces lanes from four to three.
The solutions:remove traffic lights at the end of Victoria Road,allow toll-free tunnel travel from Iron Cove bridge on every direction -not only towards CBD - until the first exit point,and place bus lane where they pick and drop passengers,the kerb lane.Alberto Bizcarra,Rozelle
A hint for the RTA:to successfully build anything follow this sequence;plan,design,build and use. It seems the sequence used at Rozelle was build,use,think about it,redesign.Harald Ehrlich,Balmain
True leadership
Thank you,Pat Dodson. True leadership (“,November 30). We salute you. We wish your younger cousins well in trying to fill your shoes. Many of them are worthy and I hope they have the support to step up to the challenge of helping to heal our broken Australia. So many of us still need to learn the truth of the history of post-colonial Australia.Moyra Shields,Wagga Wagga
Strange definition
Being in opposition has not dented shadow treasurer Angus Taylor’s sense of humour - but may have affected his perspective (“”,November 30). His claim that “now is the wrong time for Labor to raise taxes on working families by breaking their promise on the stage 3 tax cuts”,where the benefits will flow overwhelmingly to those with a taxable income of more than $150,000,provides an interesting definition of “working families”.Maurice Critchley,Mangrove Mountain
Significant settlement
Heritage rules that ban development in areas deemed to have cultural value may well be limited to large parts of Sydney’s inner west,east and north shore,not anywhere near Parramatta (“”,November 30). Radiocarbon dating suggests human activity occurred in Parramatta from around 30,000 years ago. The Darug people lived in the area before European settlement. Parramatta was founded as a British settlement in 1788,the same year as Sydney and is the oldest inland European settlement in Australia,but is obviously considered insignificant when it comes to (over) development,in its CBD especially.George Zivkovic,Northmead
Illustration:John Shakespeare
Scaffold screens
In a city obsessed with real estate no fine will deter the destruction of bushland and trees when people gain millions in the value of their property with an improved view (,November 30). Illegal destruction of trees to improve views has always been an issue in Sydney. Fines will not deter when the monetary gains are so great. The only way to deter this appalling practice is to erect a scaffolding screen system around the site to the height of the removed trees so there are no gains to be made by removing them. People will quickly appreciate that a view through trees is preferable. This was once done many years ago in Bellevue Hill when a magnificent old Morton Bay fig tree was poisoned:the tree was left and what would have been the canopy covered in unsightly blue tarpaulin which remained in place for some years. It worked - the rest of the huge trees lining Victoria Road have so far not suffered a similar fate.Margaret Nolan,Darlinghurst
Elderly tips
I happily concede that old age is not always a fun time but,for me,it certainly beats the alternative. (,November 30). My days of playing squash and golf are well and truly over,and I’ve had more surgery than birthdays,but there is still joy to be had. One tends to sublimate the impossible physical activities and realise them in more aesthetic and intellectual ways. And your correspondents,who are not enjoying life,have shown a skill in letter writing which they should pursue. Letter writing can be wondrously cathartic and I wager your correspondents feel better for having shared their take on old age.Trevor Somerville,Illawong
Giving women credit for their role in history
Reading the obituary of Dale Spender reminded me of the wise advice I was once given by a much older friend. She urged me to look at women’s history from a different angle. As I leaned in,she said,“Remember,men didn’tgive women the vote,theywithheld it. Suffragettes and their supporters demanded that this be rectified” (,November 30).Pauline McGinley,Drummoyne
Question answered
The answer to your correspondent’s question:“why are migrant offenders more dangerous than Australian-born offenders” is that they carry more political capital (,November 30).Bob Dillon,Bathurst
Move on
Imagine having so little fulfilment in the rest of your life that you spend your days actively resisting the admission of girls to a private school from which you graduated decades earlier (“”,smh.com.au,November 30).Jeffrey Gabriel,Gladesville