Once again, questions have been raised about dubious pre-election funding favouring government-held seats (‘‘Government ‘hid Premier’s role’ in grants’’, August 7). This time, the alleged rort involves Gladys Berejiklian.
As usual, we are told that all funding allocations followed established guidelines. It doesn’t matter how murky, how much money is involved or how rubbery the guidelines appear to be, governments always deny any wrongdoing and just ride it out.
It’s little wonder politicians are not trusted and voters feel cheated. Cases of proved rorting should be considered a crime and should be subject to prosecution. It is misallocation of public funds. When rorting is uncovered, the election should be deemed void, even if the seats involved did not affect the overall outcome. Maybe then the practice would end. - Graham Lum, North Rocks

Yet another rort, this time with the council grants scheme, in which our Premier may be involved. Whether it be federal or state, it seems that everyone wants to rort the process and enjoy the political benefits from doling out largesse.
Inquiries are set up and come up with suggested punishments and recommendations, but these are all exercises after the fact. What we need is an independent assessment process for competing projects and for the subsequent recommendations to be followed solely based upon merit, with no political interference. - Peter Nash, Fairlight

Allegations of political rorting embroiling the Premier come as we now also learn that the salaries of two staff members of the NSW Treasurer have been paid by icare, currently the subject of corruption investigations. Of course, the personal involvement of Gladys Berejiklian and Dominic Perrottet in these events still needs to be clarified, but these revelations have come to public scrutiny only because of excellent investigative journalism from the ABC and the Sydney Morning Herald. Since State Parliament is sitting for just two weeks between June and September, once again we must rely on Aunty and the Herald to demand accountability from our political leaders. - Rob Phillips, North Epping

Our state government is getting more adept at political distancing and washing its hands of responsibility with the revelations the Premier approved the allocation of funds to unmerged Hunter’s Hill Council, then sought to conceal this. And after weeks of cheerleading, our fearless Treasurer now has to explain how members of his personal staff were paid by scandal-ridden icare. I guess they are all in this together. - Mark Paskal, Clovelly

Shillings and pennies at the movies: priceless

We were a bit more affluent in the 1950s (Letters, August 7). We got two shillings for pocket money. We went downstairs to save threepence for interval, which included a bottle of Coke. The twopence return on the bottle paid for two potato scallops to eat on the way home. - Brian Collins, Cronulla

And above all, Roy Rogers, King of the Cowboys. ‘‘Roy Rogers, Roy Rogers, oh you were our hero’’, so eloquently recalled by Eric Bogle in Front Row Cowboy. I grew up in a very isolated mining community in what was then Southern Rhodesia, and the weekly trip into town and the flicks was the highlight of our lives. - Penny Ransby Smith, Lane Cove

Upstairs! Wow, what glamour. The Guildford Regent of my young days had front and back stalls only. And a shilling to spend? If we were lucky, my siblings and I had sixpence for front stalls and a penny for a block of honeycomb to suck through the second movie. So imagine how special I felt when my boyfriend bought ‘‘upstairs’’ tickets for the pictures at the Astra in Parramatta, on a Saturday night. I was impressed, even before he gave me a box of Winning Post chocolates: another first. We celebrate our 69th wedding anniversary next month. - Kath Hollins, Northmead

Move to flexible working has allowed the virus to spread

Sinclair Davidson’s suggestion (‘‘Don’t count on instant snap-back’’, August 7) that the economy needs less, not more, regulation flies in the face of reality. Labour market flexibility at the forefront of this policy has resulted in coronavirus mobility as casual and part-time workers have found it necessary to go to work despite the possibility of spreading infection.
Lack of proper regulatory practice initiated the global financial crisis and underwrote the falling standards in the building industry. Confidence in our institutions and practices is essential if the economy is to rebound strongly. - Michael Turner, Culburra Beach

Lost in the fog
David Neilson, as a frequent user of dark country roads, I am also alarmed at the dangerous practice of using headlights and fog lights at night (Letters, August 7). Under NSW regulations, it is illegal to have fog lights on unless there are adverse weather conditions, but is anyone ever fined for this offence? - Sandra Pertot, Diamond Beach

Under a (mushroom) cloud
As we pause to remember Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Ross Butler’s letter (August 7) brings to mind October 1962 and the Cuban missile crisis, when we were poised on the brink of a nuclear World War III.
London went quiet as everyone was inside glued to the BBC waiting to see what Nikita Khrushchev and John F. Kennedy would inflict upon us. There was a ‘‘long distance’’ telephone call to Germany for family goodbyes, just in case.
Amid it all, my father was trotting around bright and chirpy. He knew that a nuclear WWIII was unlikely because (this time) all the politicians, generals, financiers and aristocracy would also die, or face an excruciating death when they left their radiation shielding bunkers. Translated: ‘‘We are all in this together.’’ - Ronald Elliott, Sandringham (Vic)

Shoots of hope
With so many koalas lost to indiscriminate shooting in Australia’s past, it is good to see that shooting of a different kind, new growth, is bringing hope for survival in areas devastated by bushfire (‘‘Green shoots as koalas yearn over new leaves’’, August 7) - Doug Walker, Baulkham Hills

Essential, or expendable?
The social engineering involved in picking winners and losers in regard to the cost of a university degree is ill-conceived and makes no sense (‘‘Double and nothing: social worker exodus risk’’, August 5).
Why should the cost of a social work degree be increased by more than 100 per cent when the federal government itself names social work as an essential service? During the bushfires, who was there on the ground responding urgently to the crisis, co-ordinating help centres and providing mental health first aid?
People mistakenly believe psychologists are doing all the heavy lifting in the area of mental health. Maybe they dominate in private practice but in community services, you will find mostly social workers trying to support and advocate for the marginalised and vulnerable.
Social workers are mostly women and they are not well paid. Their clients are largely invisible. Here is an essential service the government is ensuring will not be done because there won’t be enough qualified social workers to do the job. Does it want to privatise social work services, as in aged care? Many questions need to be answered about this ill-considered policy. - Josie McSkimming, Coogee

Neglect about covers it
The interim report of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, bluntly but appropriately titled Neglect, was tabled in Federal Parliament in October last year. What action, if any, have our politicians taken subsequent to those findings (‘‘Relatives say duty of care was breached’’, ‘‘Aged care fault lines exposed’’, August 7)? - Peter Mahoney, Oatley

Chance gone begging
I disagree with Jim Lavis (Letters, August 7). If the CPRS legislation had come into effect, the coup would not have happened: Labor would almost certainly have won the 2010 election, instead of losing by a seat; and it would have had control of the Senate, which it previously lacked. There would have been a strong possibility of Labor then winning the 2013 election and, by the time the LNP was again in power, Australian action on climate change would have been firmly established, well accepted by the population and difficult to remove. - Brian Milton, Avalon

‘Gloster’ fosters memories
Further to Deni McKenzie’s mention of Gloucester (pronounced ‘‘Gloster’’) as an English place name pronounced differently to its phonetic spelling (Letters, August 7). Our family moved around NSW every few years and of all the towns we lived in, Gloucester, NSW, was by far the nicest and friendliest town we lived in. Sharing the name with an English town with a speech anomaly was no impediment. - David Gore, Old Bar

Those were the daze
Remember before COVID-19, when our nightly news featured murders, car crashes, corruption, political chicanery, failed relationships and drunken footy louts? Wasn’t it lovely? - Rosemary O’Brien, Ashfield

Thank you, NSW
I write to thank the government and people of NSW for the friendly, efficient and supportive way they are managing returning Australians. The respect and kindness I received was extraordinary, as was the good communication through my hotel quarantine. This was with everyone I had contact with: airport staff, police, army, medical personnel, hotel staff and NSW Health. May I continue to find this kindness as I head south to Tasmania. It is wonderful to be home. - Clare Sullivan, Hobart

New court would deliver Indigenous justice

The target set for 2031 on Indigenous incarceration is too weak, and affirmative action is required (‘‘Need to set up special court urgent: Indigenous lawyers’’, August 7). The Walama Court proposal is needed to make inroads in narrowing this black and white gap. Once support services providing community, housing, employment and drug rehabilitation are set up, all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders serving under 12 months should be released and assisted. This would cost nothing when the cost of incarceration is taken into account. - Steve Johnson, Elizabeth Beach

With respect, really? Our Indigenous children need more educational and vocational opportunities than a new court. Without wanting to disparage them in any way, I point out that those calling for an Indigenous court are successful professionals. Perhaps the minority (of right-minded but single-focused individuals) could consider the opportunities that are denied to the majority and inspire us all to work on that. - Pasquale Vartuli, Wahroonga

It is beyond belief that, with so many Indigenous lives being ruined by the justice system, action on alternatives to incarceration such as the Walama Court are stalled. - Andrew Macintosh, Cromer

PostScript

COVID-19 comes and goes in the letters page in much the same way as it does in the community. It’s here, it’s almost gone, then, suddenly, here it is again. This week, it’s back with a vengeance. Letter writers are not in favour of it, obviously, but being against it takes many forms. First of all, everyone who comes within cooee of a COVID germ should stamp on it at once, anyone not wearing a mask in NSW (Premier Berejiklian, it is felt, should jump on this now and make them compulsory – if it’s good enough for Victoria, etc) is stupid and selfish, as is anyone who thinks COVID is a hoax.
Plus, please slam those borders shut, Madame Premier.
Away from disease, letter writers are furious about the way Parramatta is being treated. ‘‘Willow Grove and St George Terrace Must Stay!’’ is the consensus. As for the politician (oh, alright, we’ll name names) Geoff Lee saying that only 11 protests came from the area so the rest can be discounted, well! That didn’t wash at all. As Matt Petersen of Randwick says, ‘‘That would have allowed the Franklin River to be dammed, the whaling industry to continue, and the Antarctic to be mined’’.
Phonetics was another popular topic. As a follow-on, there were many letters mocking English spelling and quoting George Bernard Shaw about spelling ‘‘fish’’ (you’ll have to look it up, it’s too long to explain here).
The last great explosion was for icare and everything about it – starting with its name (much mocked) and working through the way it has been run along to what should be done with it now.

Harriet Veitch, acting letters editor

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