Payman’s defection a personal choice

Senator Fatima Payman has made a personal choice in supporting Palestine (“Payman turns back on ALP”, July 5). There are many atrocities occurring around the world, in Ukraine, Palestine and her country of birth, Afghanistan. Payman has prioritised Palestine. This is not what she was elected for. As a Labor senator, or any major party representative, she should be prioritising the governance of Australia. She could have handled this in a much more low-profile way, without all the drama she now blames on the political party that got her elected. Mark Nugent, Lugarno

Coming from a refugee background, Payman understands more than most the plight of people unable to live in their homeland. Her empathy with the Palestinian people who are appealing for compassion from the rest of the world is palpable. To expect a young woman of principle to vote against her conscience because of the overreaching grasp of caucus was wrong, and Labor is paying the price. Genevieve Milton, Dulwich Hill

Fatima Payman said she cannot remain silent when she sees atrocities inflicted on innocent people in Gaza. Why has she been silent about atrocities inflicted on innocent people in Ukraine, or against minorities in China and Myanmar, or Kurds in Syria? Vijay Khandelwal, Winston Hill

Senator Payman’s decision to leave Labor means those who voted for Labor, as represented by her, have been disenfranchised. Under the circumstances, the correct way to go about it would be to leave parliament and stand for office next election, rather than bite the hands that fed her. Wendy Crew, Lane Cove North

Judging by the number of media interviews conducted by Fatima Payman after her ALP resignation announcement, and the depth of feeling in particular areas of the community, I would not be so sure that her rebellion will be “short-lived and ineffective” (“Payman’s short rebellion ends in a whimper”, July 5). The next federal election for both the House of Representatives and the Senate has become much more interesting. Riley Brown, Bondi Beach

James Massola (“Senator has hurt Labor and she’s not done”, July 5) is right about the consequences for Labor of Payman’s defection to the crossbenches in response to Labor’s archaic rule forbidding members to express conscience votes. At the heart of this is Labor’s outdated prohibition against members crossing the floor, a rule that has alienated me and, I’m sure, many thousands more non-Muslims. Frederick Jansohn, Rose Bay

Candidates’ race to bottom

There is much wailing about US voters having no understanding as to how Donald Trump, as president, will disastrously affect both local and geopolitical decision-making (Letters, July 5). Geopolitically that’s true enough, as most Americans fancy that the world ends on the US borders. Americans do not have to vote, so the easy out for “never Trump Republicans” is not to vote. And that doesn’t help the Democrats. Trump is crooked but to his base he can do no wrong, and to his Christian supporters he has been anointed by God. We Australians cannot and never will understand the complex and warped American electoral system, where in 2016 Hillary Clinton both won and lost. Trump may well prosper from the support of his MAGA loonies, his evangelical Christians, the gun lobby and rusted-on Republicans who believe Trump’s lies about his economic success. These reasons never have and never will be understood by Australians. Don’t even try. And the Democrats who won’t dump Biden: they are the new Blue MAGA. Trevor Somerville, Illawong

During the debate I surprised myself by agreeing with Trump, at one point: he couldn’t understand a word Biden was saying. Vicky Marquis, Glebe

Disappointing and worrying Biden’s debate performance may have been. What is of more concern is his health and performance in the next two, three, or four years. Tiit Tonuri, Cowra

Embattled Biden admitting he has just days to salvage his candidacy prompts the view that he trumps Trump in the integrity test. Trump’s persistent denial of the integrity of the last presidential votes outcome and felony crimes conviction fail this key test: “If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters”. Steve Ngeow, Chatswood

Going postal

Thank you to the Herald for publishing that article two weeks ago (“Tory plea to Brits in Australia to use vote”, June 19), telling us that Rishi Sunak had changed the laws to allow British-born Australian residents to vote in their election. I jumped online and met the deadline for a postal vote. I’m still waiting for the papers to arrive. So are people in London, I hear. There’s not a day I don’t smile at that time in 1980 when I got accepted to live in this beautiful country. Chris Baker, Mosman

Don’t you just love the British (“Labour set for biggest victory in 200 years”, July 5)? No ranting about a stolen election. Just a calm nod of acceptance, a few kind words, and the black door at No.10 closes on another chapter of history. Tim Schroder, Gordon

Blue movie

Did the blue whales give consent to have their intimate life filmed (“Private lives of blue whales revealed”, July 5)? Marjie Williamson, Blaxland

Blades of glory

I trust the Wallabies have given new coach Joe Schmidt the nickname “The Knife”, not because of any approach to selection, nor his communication style, but because the German word for “knife” is Messer. Mark Morgan, Palmwoods (Qld)

Sugar tax would be a sweet revenue raiser

It’s time for us to follow the example of more than 80 countries and implement a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (“Coalition sour on sugar tax costs”, July 5). Excessive sugar consumption is a major contributor to diabetes and obesity. Given our budgetary challenges with the NDIS, defence, and healthcare, a sugar tax would complement other revenue-generating measures. Much like taxes on tobacco and alcohol, it would offer dual financial benefits: increased government revenue and decreased hospital costs. John Kempler, Rose Bay

Having witnessed the four-year-olds struggling up the road with two-litre bottles of soft drinks in country and remote areas, and having cared for the many young diabetic and renal dialysis patients in these same communities, I am fully supportive of a sugar tax. To accompany this needs to be a requirement that all soft drinks are kept away from the front rows and above two metre height in supermarkets. These diseases are a severe burden on the health system and alone lead to a great deal of human suffering and shortened life expectancy. All government parties should be supporting these reforms. Katriona Herborn, Blackheath

We have huge taxes on alcohol and tobacco products and advertising prohibition or restrictions. A win/win for all governments, raising money while trumpeting their good health policies. A tax on sugar, with advertising restrictions for children, is equally as important to the health of our nation as tobacco and alcohol legislation. Our changing diet and sedentary lifestyles have caused a tsunami of obesity and its multiple consequences, notably diabetes. And those in the lower socio-economic demographics are most at risk. Processed and takeaway foods are already more expensive than “in season” unprocessed foods, and tobacco policy has shown that the best disincentive is the hip pocket. So parents may not buy juice or soft drinks but suggest water to their children. And if companies do not reduce sugar content in their products, people will naturally go for cheaper and lower-sugar content products, hopefully unprocessed. All it requires is bipartisan support for a long-overdue health policy. Rowan Godwin, Rozelle

While the solution to a sugar tax is to eat less, that is, changing behaviour, as your correspondent advises (Letters, July 5), a laudable response to today’s rising incidence of obesity and diabetes, sadly business does not see it this way. Apart from objections to the tax, we also have the opportunists who see sugar substitutes as the way forward. Sadly, these also come with health risks, especially for those with gut disease and allergies. Some of these synthetic sweeteners are also carcinogens. Plan A: Eat less sugar. Plans B, C and D are always inferior to plan A. Clare Sydenham, Kirribilli

A sugar tax is an excellent idea. The money could be put towards public dental services. Peter Duckmanton, Pennant Hills

Urinary sympathy

Amazing young skateboarders, inspiring basket ball players, death-defying horse riders, and all the other superb athletes Australia produces, have long been a source of interest, wonder and admiration, but I, being spectacularly unskilled in the sporting department, could not feel any direct kinship with their almost superhuman abilities – until now. Of increasingly senior years, being caught short is, at last, something I can well understand and relate to (“Athletes at risk of being caught short during parade on the Seine”, July 5). I hope, as many of us have to, they can bite the bullet, and enjoy their wonderful experience. Heather Johnson, West Pennant Hills

Not enough

It is not enough for someone like David Tennant to hurl insults on our behalf (“JK Rowling, David Tennant clash over gender issues in election row”, July 4). We need people who will argue for trans people. Challenge Rowling’s constant, baseless association of trans women with sex offenders. Talk about data on prison sexual assaults and who commits them, and against whom they are committed – they do not support but rather undermine Rowling’s arguments. Fight for our secure access to public spaces. Trans people want to use the bathroom and leave like anyone else, and should have the right to use the bathroom where they are safest. This is all anyone wants. The presumption that anyone’s safety must come at the expense of trans women’s safety is cruel and false, and must be challenged. As an enormous childhood fan of David’s I feel relieved by his support. But if he thinks all this will soon go away, he is as out of touch as Rowling is. Liska Fell, Cooks Hill

Gas crisis

We were informed some time back that the levels of a resources type tax charged to the companies exporting Australia’s resources were way below world standards. They weren’t even comparable. Now we are told that we can’t access our gas resources for home consumption because the exporting companies are having trouble fulfilling their export commitments, and because the eastern states have discouraged new gas exploration (“ACCC: gas crisis to hit earlier”, July 5). When WA Premier Alan Carpenter in 2006 demanded that the gas exploration companies operating in that state reserve 15 per cent of gas output for local consumption, he wasn’t supported by the federal or state governments. Since then, WA has enjoyed the cheapest gas in the country. As for the rest, Donald Horne’s treatise of the Lucky Country, ie, Australia, having all the potential in the world but run by second-rate operatives has never been more true than when regarding our natural resources. Stewart Copper, Maroubra

Missing links

One of the ongoing features of the historical housing spread in Sydney (“Infrastructure becomes new battleground for housing”, July 5) has been government failure to plan and implement appropriate infrastructure to support increases in population. Now it would appear the Minns government is yet to plan the infrastructure to accompany the construction of apartments located near train stations or embedded in established suburbs. Ideally, infrastructure enhancements should precede the finalisation of new construction and the occupation of the new dwellings. Ross Butler, Rodd Point

If Chris Minns wants to leave a lasting legacy for Sydney’s transport system, why not construct some missing links that would be quick to build? The obvious place to start is to extend the light rail service from Carlingford to Epping, to create an east-west service north of Sydney Harbour. Or connect Parramatta to Epping via a short Metro extension. Extend the Metro line from Tallawong to connect with the Schofields heavy rail service. For a final flourish, finish off the eastern suburbs line with a connection to Bondi Beach. Sydney needs more train/Metro services that connect to each other, instead of just bringing people into the city. Mark Allen, Artarmon

Postscript

Senator Fatima Payman ignited a storm of controversy this week and Herald readers weighed into the argument. The 29-year-old Labor politician from Western Australia crossed the floor on Monday to vote against the government. In doing so, she triggered an extended debate about caucus solidarity, conscience votes and what the PM can do on the vexed topic of Gaza.
Seaforth’s Ross McPherson wrote: “Nothing is more damaging to a political party than disunity. She might have her supporters for standing up for her beliefs but Payman is doing nothing but damage to the party.”
Jacqueline Trenbath from Earlwood expressed sympathy for the young woman, whose family fled Afghanistan when she was five. “Shame on the ALP for giving Payman such a hard time. [She] should not be punished for standing up for something a large proportion of the population believes is right.”
After new Governor-General Samantha Mostyn was sworn into office on Monday, she said: “I believe these testing times call for an unstinting focus on kindness, on care and on respect.” Castle Cove’s Peter Allen echoed this, adding that the Australian people “should demand truth and integrity from our elected representatives, especially so we do not spiral down the kind of black hole that is ripping the US apart”. Indeed.
Yesterday, we farewelled one of our finest, former Herald editor Judith Whelan, who died of cancer last week. I’ve been friends with Judith since university. She embodied all of Sam Mostyn’s qualities and inspired countless colleagues with her extraordinary talents. I thought we would grow old together. Vale Judith.
Margot Saville, deputy letters editor

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