Prepare for an onslaught of Coalition climate furphies

The Labor government and all true believers in climate science need to prepare for persistent public “porkies” from the Coalition and its supporters, emboldened by the net zero snub (“Sussan Ley’s nonsensical net zero press conference might come back to haunt her”, November 14). Nick O’Malley indicates one appropriate response – call out the constant, misleading statements in clear and concise terms. O’Malley exposes Nationals leader David Littleproud for an $8.7 trillion exaggeration in damages from current climate policies, and also points to major energy cost increase drivers being conveniently excluded by the Coalition. In the absence of reasoned rebuttal, many voters will be influenced by misrepresented facts offered from the daily hymn sheet as throwaway one-liners. Brian Jones, Leura

It is mind-boggling to see the Liberal Party deliberately making itself more irrelevant than ever. How can it possibly hope to bring down power prices or solve our energy supply problems by doing nothing (“We may well be witnessing the disintegration of the Liberals”, November 14)? For longer than a decade they’ve been a handbrake on the development of new power infrastructure. They’ve spent years ranting about coal and nuclear power but have yet to come up with realistic costings or timelines. Too preoccupied with wedging Labor, and too much in love with the fossil fuel industry, the Liberals have consistently disregarded the welfare of ordinary Australians. Climate change is staring us in the face, yet all they can offer is more political gymnastics and empty rhetoric. Bruce Spence, Balmain

The mechanic gives the bad news: “Yep, I can fix it, but it’ll be expensive and I can’t guarantee that it won’t break down again next week.” The crunch time has come, or nearly come, for Australia’s coal-fired power stations. They are breaking down so often that their owners have decided to get rid of them and invest in something else, like solar farms. Opposition energy spokesman Dan Tehan, however, is having none of this. He is going to encourage owners to keep their power stations open long after it is economic to do so. He calls it “sweating existing assets”. One wonders how he proposes to achieve this. Is he going to give owners a subsidy to keep their clunkers running, or fine them when they close them down? Doesn’t his Liberal Party decry political interference in private enterprise? Mike Reddy, Vincentia

As a non-aligned voter, I was disappointed but not surprised by the Liberals’ drawn-out decision on net zero. However, the Liberals, if elected, “would also scrap emissions reduction measures, such as the fuel efficiency standards and electric vehicle tax breaks, the safeguard mechanism, ditch the ‘rewiring the nation fund’ and repeal the renewables target to deliver 82 per cent clean electricity by 2030”. These are all things that I would vote for in the interests of offering future generations a future. Goodbye, Liberals, see you in 10 years, perhaps. Hugh Barrett, Sanctuary Point

Do I have this right? The Liberals would withdraw subsidies for EVs and renewable generation but are willing to subsidise the incredibly fraught technology of carbon capture and pay to keep coal burning plants open for longer? How does this fit with “it’s all about the price paid by the taxpayer/consumer”? If the same amount of money is to be spent, surely it is better to use it to assist transition to the cheaper solution, like renewables, and cut down the carbon being emitted rather than hope to capture it later. Jim FitzSimons, Cremorne Point

In the long list of questionable statements from the Liberal Party, the latest example tops the lot. Leader Sussan Ley has capitulated to the right-wing by dumping net zero as the party policy, but will not abandon the Paris climate treaty. And despite the party’s refusal to do anything to achieve net zero, if Australia did actually reach that goal “it would be a welcome outcome”. Sounds like double-double-think. Rob Phillips, North Epping

Doesn’t Sussan Ley remember what happened to Malcolm Turnbull when he sold his soul and dropped the Emissions Reduction Target to save his Liberal Party leadership? He lost the leadership anyway, as well as all credibility with voters. Louise Greenwood, Balmain

Net zero is a rational goal accepted by most Australians, but Ley has put her personal political ambitions before the good of the nation. Ignoring the realities of climate change is not a sign of leadership; rather, it is a sign of weakness. While Ley and others on the far right claim they want to see power prices coming down, the truth is they want to see coal and gas profits going up. Michael Davis, Balmain East

The Coalition politicians who voted to abandon net zero targets should be ashamed. Their smug faces after that meeting show they have no idea what they have done. Like nasty children with no grasp of consequences. When the next extreme weather event occurs, fire rages across the land or floods swamp a town, I doubt that anyone will be thinking “don’t mess with my electricity”. We all know why you are dragging your heels. Don’t underestimate the intelligence of Australians. Susanne Lambert, Normanhurst

It’s astonishing that anyone in the Liberal Party might want to replace Sussan Ley as leader. Why? The role is clearly a poisoned chalice, and any new office bearer would be contributing to his/her own political demise. Adults behaving like petulant children, instead of getting on with the job they’re paid to do, is not inspiring confidence. Elizabeth Sayers, Wentworth Falls

A leopard doesn’t change its spots. Sussan Ley may be a moderate in comparison to the hard right of the Liberal Party, but she’s hardly a beacon of environmental progress. After all, she was the environment minister who successfully appealed the court ruling that the government had a duty of care to young people and future generations on climate change, and who, before the 2022 election, cancelled recovery plans for threatened species. Martin Mansfield, Baulkham Hills

No one ever successfully treated alcoholism by drinking more beer. Obesity cannot be cured by eating more fatty food. So how is it that the Liberals have joined the Nationals in advocating for the burning of more fossil fuels as the solution to global warming? That is exactly what they’re advocating with their abandonment of net zero, and renewable energy with it. The Crisafulli LNP government in Queensland is blocking already-approved renewable projects and pumping taxpayers’ money into keeping the coal-fired power stations running. Now the LNP want to roll out this rank stupidity nationwide. Peter Arthur, Artarmon

The opposition leader says the Liberal Party is all about affordable power for Australians. But affordable power is no consolation when you don’t have a house to use that power because it was destroyed in a fire or a flood. Jacky McCarroll, Gerringong

Even if it were remotely possible that power prices will come down by investing in new coal and gas rather than renewables, I ask: How will we afford the insurance on our homes with the climate getting angrier and angrier? Diane Prior, Northbridge

Well, at least the Coal-ition is living up to its name. Kip Morel, Pyrmont

Test of tolerance

In this day and age, neo-Nazis are the greatest test of the “paradox of tolerance”: is a society that promotes itself as free and tolerant reinforcing its principles by refusing to tolerate hateful bigots who do not believe in tolerance themselves, or is it compromising these principles (“Evil left unchallenged will be normalised”, November 14)? For my money, standing up for the rights and freedoms of someone who’d gladly see you stripped of yours if your beliefs clash is a mug’s game. There’s no sense in trying to take the “high moral ground” over people with no morals. James Short, Belmore

Unusually, I find myself disagreeing with correspondent Miranda Korzy over the solution to reining in right-wing extremism (Letters, November 14). Certainly, everyone needs a roof over their heads and food on the table, but I see no evidence of destitution in the men who stood so belligerently outside Parliament House. I see misguided zeal fuelled by entitlement. If these blokes are missing anything, it is good male role models that should have imbued self-worth that has no need to tear down “others”. Dick Clarke, Elanora Heights

I think Ms Korzy is right when she says the problem is disenchanted and alienated people who think their core values are being ignored in favour of the values of others. As for correspondent Rob Mills wanting to deport an immigrant who is not exactly fitting in, the exit queue would be a lot longer than one if that idea was put into practice. Peter Thornton, Killara

Cap commissions

As part of a property sale, a signed contract, or an agency agreement, between the real estate agent and seller is required, which states the minimum price at which the seller is obliged to pay the agent an agreed commission. Instead of creating more legislation and increasing penalties for underquoting by agents, which would require additional surveillance and policing, this document should be available to prospective buyers along with a building and pest report, or strata records (“NSW cracks down on underquoting real estate agents”, November 14). This would dramatically improve transparency, and the estimated price could be used at auction as the reserve. The market would determine the eventual sale price. The sooner this parasitic and deceptive industry is brought to heel by the government or a disruptive new model the better. Drew Morrisey, Cremorne

One way to effectively address underquoting would be to simply ban house and unit auctions and require prices to be published. Such a move would no doubt make homes more affordable, save vendors the high cost of auctioneers and advertising, and it could also save prospective buyers a lot of wasted time and repeated disappointment. Graham Short, Cremorne

The practice of real estate agents receiving a blanket percentage of the sale as their commission is overgenerous. Consider a house valued at $2 million. The first $1.8 million is a no-brainer in that anyone could sell it at that price, not just a skilled realtor. The percentage commission for that amount should not be included in the fee calculation. Instead, a higher commission should be received from that point on. Let’s make the agents earn their commission, especially in a time when real estate is snapped up within weeks of coming on the market. Eric Sekula, Turramurra

Want to end the practice of real estate agents underquoting on price guides? It’s easy, just forbid them from taking any commission at all on any amount above the price guide. Bart Fielden, Lindfield

Build it? They won’t come

Infrastructure Australia needs 300,000 workers to build vital infrastructure, but my son – who has done his electrical apprenticeship in Germany – cannot get his qualifications recognised here until he does a three-year Certificate 3. So he is not coming back (“300,000 workers needed for vital projects”, November 13). Chris Wilmott, Austinmer

Doctors give the news

I was interested to read a recent article in the Herald about the increasing costs of seeing a specialist. I recently received a call from my urologist to inform me of my PSA results. After no more than 30 seconds I was passed to his secretary, who charged me $140 for the “consultation”. Disgraceful. Suffice to say I told my referring GP of this blatant rip-off and let all my friends and acquaintances know never to consult him. Warwick Harty, Maroubra

Sickened by depravity

Of all the news that the Herald has reported on over its 194 years, surely the darkest, most disgusting and sickening item is the suggestion that wealthy foreigners from, reportedly, Europe and America paid the Serbian army to be allowed entry to the Sarajevo front line during the 1990 siege so they could take up sniper positions and shoot at civilians for sport (“Foreigners paid to kill civilians in Sarajevo siege”, November 13). “Tourist shooters” and “weekend snipers” are accused of paying different rates for different targets – children having a higher price than old people, for example. Can people get any more depraved than this? Graeme Smith, Daceyville

Women in science

Reading about a new women-only residential college at UNSW funded by a grateful alumna (“Billionaire’s plan to build a women-only residential college”, Novermber 14) made me think of my kindergarten friend Dallis Hardwick. She did not have that sort of support when she became one of the first holders of a PhD in metallurgy after studying at UNSW in the 1970s. She was not intimidated by the male-dominated environment and she became a respected rocket scientist in America. Why? After graduation, she couldn’t get a job in Australia. Lyn Langtry, East Ryde

Complaint noted

Transport for NSW investigations officers received a complaint alleging serious corruption by Ibrahim Helmy and apparently all they did was “look(ing) at these at face value … re-reading them”, meaning, they simply read it (“Red flag ignored in kick-back scandal”, November 14). They didn’t even contact the writer of the complaint. The Transport for NSW investigations officer now claims the department was too busy and under-resourced to investigate. One wonders what exactly they are busy with though, if allegations of serious corruption weren’t enough to prompt an investigation. Perhaps they’re just very slow readers. Richard Abram, Bexley

Centrelink’s slip-up

Anya Phan owns a multi-million dollar house and is allegedly involved in a $70 million fraud, yet she has been receiving disability support pension payments for the past two decades. No wonder Australia is called the lucky country – although not so lucky for those who try to do things the right way (“Woman charged over alleged $70m fraud syndicate”, November 14). Rhondda Hartley, Mosman

The “fortune teller” arrested for alleged fraud was apparently on a disability pension. Did Centrelink not check why such a person was living in a luxury duplex in an upmarket suburb? Robo-debt pursued the innocent, while it seems others get away with cheating the system.Stephanie Edwards, Leichhardt

Latham the wrecking ball

Mark Latham venting his anger again, this time at Chris Minns (“Minister calls out Latham over ‘Hitler rants’ at Minns”, November 14). But the object of Latham’s anger does not matter much as he has no trouble in finding victims. He rails against the world – the elites harass him, the Labor Party has lost its soul and predictably enough, the press is after him. It’s a sad tale that a man whom Gough Whitlam trusted with policy formation now plays the role of a wrecking ball. I was tempted to say he is better thsn what he has become, but in reality, he seems to take pleasure in slandering and demeaning his fellow workers. Australia was lucky he never became prime minister. Trevor Somerville, Illawong

Plastic: It’s drastic

Thank you, Jill Robinson for pointing out that it’s not just the volume of fashion garments that’s the problem, but its composition (Letters, November 14). My calculation is that about 90 per cent of fashion, “fast” or not, is synthetic infested. But there is widespread ignorance about the labelling of synthetics. Some months ago, I received an email from a recycling company advising people to avoid clothing containing polyethylene terephthalate and polyamide. They indicated in brackets that the latter was nylon, but I had to Google polyethylene terephthalate. It’s polyester. Nylon and polyester are just two names for synthetics. Other common names include Spandex, Elastane and Lycra, which are all the same type of polyurethane. Until we can identify the plastics in our clothing, we can’t fight back. Ellen McEwen, Croydon

Labor, the workers’ fiend

In torpedoing the government’s immoral workers’ compensation changes, independent MP Taylor Martin has become a hero to thousands of the state’s most vulnerable citizens (“MP flips on workers’ comp vote”, November 14). I use moral language deliberately, since Mr Martin has chosen to act according to principle, something increasingly rare in the contemporary political landscape. With this legislation, Labor has deformed itself from a workers’ party to a grim clique of suited spivs, who wouldn’t know a worker if they tripped over one lying in the gutter after being injured on the job. Thye Seng Wong, Cammeray

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