Australia could avoid this price hike We are told in the budget that we are bracing for major increases in energy prices. In our electricity bidding system, the wholesale price is set by the most expensive fuel, currently gas. Australia is a large producer of gas, so there is no shortage, just one created by uncontrolled exports and poorly regulated domestic prices.
Now is the time to impose the national gas reserve (as Western Australia has done) and perhaps a windfall tax, while reforming the useless petroleum income tax. It is beyond our control that much of the world suffers from high energy costs. Australia, as a major producer, can and should do better. Mark Freeman, Macleod
THE FORUM
The closed loop of work Ahead of the Budget, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said in effect that “the Commonwealth would allocate funds to get the best returns for the nation”. As a former transport economist, I ask him how he then justifies that about 85¢ of every dollar of new infrastructure funding given to Victoria goes to the Suburban Rail Loop (“Rail loop cash evens ledger”, The Age, 26/10 ), given that Victoria’s auditor-general last month found the mammoth project would generate a loss of 51¢ for every $1 invested (based on conservative assumptions recommended by Treasury and Infrastructure Australia).
The fact that the project has not been assessed by either Infrastructure Victoria or Infrastructure Australia suggests that this is just another high-cost political decision for which the Victorian public will ultimately have to deal with operational losses. Thomas Hogg, East Melbourne
Too many left out With 85¢ of every dollar of new infrastructure funding from the federal government going to the commuter rail circuit, how does this benefit all Victorians? Residents in Melbourne’s western suburbs and outer suburbs, as well as regional Victorians, have changed a lot. The federal government will commit $2.2 billion, which is far less than the $10 billion then Labor leader Bill Shorten promised in 2019. The state government wants a one-third Commonwealth contribution and has yet to explain where will the funding shortfall be. I come from.
The construction of a rail line from Cheltenham to Box Hill (the government itself admits the rest of the SRL is for future governments to build), which benefits so few people, needs to be reassessed.
Extravagant spending Labour’s challenge was to deliver an adequate budget to an economy characterized by rampant inflation and cost-of-living pressures. This required spending cuts and a program of budget surpluses. Unfortunately, it failed the test miserably by providing long-term budget deficits that will only increase inflation and exacerbate cost-of-living problems.
Much of the spending is extravagant and irresponsible. Victoria, for example, will receive $2.2 billion for Dan Andrew’s Suburban Rail Loop project, which has no business plan. Generosity to couples with incomes in the hundreds of thousands of dollars is offered in the form of child care subsidies and extended parental leave. Contrast this with the fact that it offers no relief for self-funded retirees and the removal of tax relief for people on low incomes. And millions of dollars in foreign aid are provided to neighbors who do not always act in Australia’s best interests. Martin Newington, Aspendale
Home target needs magic. To build a house, you need earth movers/excavators, concrete pourers, bricklayers, carpenters, roofers, plasterers, painters and many more. These skilled labor trades are extremely scarce. Where will the government find them to meet their target of building 1 million new homes and where will they get all the building materials and gadgets that are as scarce as hen’s teeth. now? That’s on top of the apartment building boom we’re currently experiencing.
I hope the government has a very big hat to pull its rabbits out of. Merv Barnett, Carnegie
Housing change Prime Minister Anthony Albanese didn’t grow up in “social housing” (The Age, 26/10), he grew up in public housing. “Social housing” is a recent euphemism introduced by governments to refer to both public and community housing to hide the fact that more and more government money is being diverted from public housing to community housing. Russell J. Castley, Creswick
Money to manage money The budget allocates $126.3 million to a taskforce to crack down on waste and waste in the NDIS (“Taskforce to crack down on NDIS failures”, 26/10). This means that the government will spend a significant amount to ensure that the money already allocated to the program is spent properly. Similar scrutiny has also been required of spending in the aged care, childcare and training sectors after the misuse of funds was exposed. Greater Medicare scrutiny could soon join the list.
Surely the time to think about mistakes and waste is before an expensive government plan is implemented, not after? And the first step in that process is the clear recognition that as soon as a spending program is announced, some people will be asking, “How can I get some of this precious government money?” Rod Wise, Surrey Hills
Blind on ‘Rorts’ Looks like Medicare watchdog is all bark, no bite (“Eye surgeon nails ‘known rort,'” 10/26). Maybe a little attention from one of those overzealous eye doctors is in order.Jenifer Nicholls, Armadale
Prevention is cure Although Labor has pledged to spend $537 billion on the health system over the next four years, Labor’s 2022-23 budget will do little to prevent disease and cancer in the future. Our Australian politicians need to remove the fast food blinkers if they want to improve productivity and longevity. Like other Western economies, Australia’s is built on sustaining the growth of fast food, sugar consumption and meat addiction. All of these contribute to heart disease, cancer and type 2 diabetes.
Economists inform politicians when they really need advice from nutritionists and dieticians. John Glazebrook, Terang
Churches should pay. The Andrews government’s promise to spend taxpayers’ money on building church schools is clearly an attempt to shore up vulnerable seats, but it’s wrong on every level (“Four new Catholic schools pledged”, 26/ 10). If the churches want more schools, they should cover the cost, or at least start paying taxes to contribute to the funding.
The argument offered that people are paying taxes so one party should fund their schools is nonsense. We all pay taxes for services we don’t use. Schools are no different.
It was also argued that if there were no private schools, the government should build schools for displaced students. If all the private schools went out of business tomorrow, then the schools would simply be taken over by the government, problem solved. At least this would mean that all schools could finally start to have enough resources. Finland, one of the best performing education systems in the world, has virtually no private schools. Ross Hudson, Mount Martha
Expanding private schooling The state Labor government’s support for Catholic and other low-cost schools is to be commended, but more needs to be done. Public funding of non-government schools is standard practice across the OECD, but not through Australia’s odd system that ignores school fees. Victoria could, for example, adopt the New Zealand system, under which non-government schools are fully funded by public funds as long as they keep their fees low. We could go further and demand that non-government schools receiving this funding admit more disadvantaged pupils.
We really need a bold reimagining of public education as education accessible to the public, not just education in government-owned schools. Chris Curtis, Hurstbridge
Wall a failure In the wake of the Murray River flood, the community of Echuca built a three kilometer wall. They built that wall and then turned their backs on those on the “wrong side” (“We must fight to save ourselves”, The Age, 26/10).
I’ve always preferred to fail trying rather than fail trying, and the wall builders on the “right side” built their wall and did nothing for those on the other side. How will they look their neighbors in the eye?
The people of Echuca approach the wall to watch the water rise and swallow the unfortunates, picnic on their new wall and not lift a finger for their neighbors. They are even pumping rainwater over the wall to those who are already suffering.
Sorry Echuca, you’ve seen the last of my tourist dollar. Keith Hawkins, Point Lonsdale
Too much plastic We recently returned from Western Australia where we found no plastic bags in any shops, including large and small supermarkets, markets and other shops. The only options were paper bags even for fruits and vegetables.
I wonder why NSW and Victoria are so slow to get rid of all plastic bags. Are these states really progressive? Rosemary Henderson, Red Hill South
Dual citizenship closed Your correspondent is right to say that our parliament does not reflect the ethnic diversity of the country (Letters, 26/10). Many recent migrants have dual nationality and as such cannot become MPs. Unless the law is changed we will never get diversity representation.Dave Torr, Werribee
Sins of the Father Many of us have parents who have said embarrassing or horrible things. Why do we think Gina Rinehart should apologize for something her beloved father said 40 years ago? He didn’t say those words, and he’s shown by his philanthropic actions that he doesn’t believe them. It is unfair to expect him to publicly disown his father so long after the event and his death. Louise Kloot, Doncaster
Forgive Djokovic It was just then that Novak Djokovic was kicked out of the Australian Open in the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. It seems absurd…