Ley caught between a rock and a hard place

It beggars belief that anyone would be circling the Liberal leadership role at this point, but Sussan Ley has been placed in a most untenable position (“Coalition in crisis as Ley fights for her job”, November 4). Yes, she has made some mistakes in her first six months as leader, but she has no choice but to hold her position on net zero targets and stare down the hard-right members of her party. If she doesn’t, the voting public will see her as weak and lacking any policy substance. She must know that the hard right of her party are largely out of step with the vast majority of the population, who want to see an end to the decades-long climate wars and want to see a cohesive, long-term bipartisan approach to the climate challenge. If you’re going to go down, Sussan, go down fighting. Tony Bennett, Broke

With Labor’s resounding 2025 election result, I had hoped that the Coalition would understand the need to reposition itself as an effective, centrist opposition. That is obviously not the case. The Nationals keep sending hospital passes to their senior partner, Sussan Ley is on a road to nowhere with her right-wing enemies, and credible policy formulation is left at the station. The electorate must be despairing. It deserves better, but it’s clear that won’t happen anytime soon. Grahame Riethmuller, Redbank

I feel very sorry for Sussan Ley. She’s being forced to reject net zero targets or lose the Liberal Party leadership. And if she does reject net zero and retains her position, she will lose the election anyway, as the electorate have made it clear that is not an acceptable option. When she was elected as leader, it was the first sensible decision the Liberal Party had made for some time, but immediately the knives were out. Even if they don’t achieve net zero, shouldn’t they at least be aiming for it? I used to sometimes vote Liberal, but that was a long time ago. Christine Stewart, Glebe

With the Nationals gathering just 3.8 per cent of the vote at the last election, it’s extraordinary to watch them yet again wag the Liberal dog on climate action. Of course, I could be wrong, but past experience tells me I’m not. Alan Phillips, Mosman

Sobering reality

While Matt Kean correctly observes that Australia will need new industries to offset the consequences of giving up coal and gas exports (“Posturing on net zero is pointless”, November 4), I wonder whether we realise just how big an ask it will be to give up 40 per cent (and rising) of our export income over time? Certainly, we cannot tell China, Japan or Korea to stop burning what we sell to them until we’ve cut our own domestic emissions, which appears to be too hard for the Nationals and some Liberals to get their minds around. But even the government is approving increased exports of coal and gas while arguing for a pathway to net zero. What hope is there for reduced emissions if we cannot get our own act together? Ian Bowie, Bowral

Matt Kean’s article is a piece of sober reality. The Coalition, who purport to be the friend of business big and small, need to provide certainty and bipartisanship on commitment to net zero. While nuclear in principle might have been sensible in the energy mix at the last election, the absurd claims of seven plants all up and running within a decade was also pointless banter and the voters said as much. The Liberals were right on the money with the National Energy Guarantee proposal in 2017 by Malcolm Turnbull and Josh Frydenberg. Unfortunately, it did not see the light of day because of the pointless obsession of Tony Abbott and co. in bringing down Turnbull. The world’s momentum towards net zero by 2050 is unstoppable, and politicians pretending otherwise are seriously deluded. Bruce Hall, Avalon

In describing net zero as a “tagline”, the Liberal Party is proving yet again that it still hasn’t grasped that climate change is a threatening material reality, not a political tactic (“Hastie threat emerges as Ley fights to hold Coalition together”, November 4). Ruth Barcan, Berowra Heights

Tactic of cowards

Marina Wilson offers some wise advice on so-called domestic violence (Letters, November 3). However, it’s time to stop calling it domestic violence and start calling it for what it is, “coward violence”, just like the “king hit” became the “coward punch”. Public shaming has to be introduced to solve this intractable problem as nothing else seems to be working. Billboards and TV ads should be everywhere, with slogans like “real men don’t hit women”. When I was at school in the ’70s in Australia, it was deeply ingrained that as a boy, you simply never hit a girl. Ms Wilson rightly says “men are normally built stronger”, which means they have the greater responsibility to walk away before things get violent, regardless of who is wrong and who is right. There needs to be a concerted campaign in every form of media that stresses “real men” don’t commit violence against women, and any violence against a female partner or child is coward violence. Andrew Cronin, Robertson

Metro or Godot?

Thank you for the excellent editorial on the Metro delay (“Some trains on platform M1 are delayed until further notice”, November 4). For commuters in Marrickville, Dulwich Hill and Hurlstone Park, the frustration is compounded by the inappropriate and leisurely route of the substitute buses. The Dulwich Hill bus stop is a long walk up a hill on a side street away from the railway station. At the same time, the buses going to Canterbury and beyond clog the already heavy traffic at Marrickville and Dulwich Hill shopping centres – but do not stop. If buses could stop once at each shopping centre and Dulwich Grove Light Rail, it would make lives (marginally) easier while we continue to wait for Godot. Joanna Mendelssohn, Dulwich Hill

I have returned recently returned to Sydney after nine weeks overseas. My morning walk takes me past Canterbury station, where I was eager to see what progress had been made in that time (“M1 Metro delay goes unexplained, commuters feel pain”, November 4). I was not too surprised to see no apparent progress. Since the start of this project, which I have observed regularly on my daily walk, a few people seem to be working but usually about 80 per cent of employees are standing around doing nothing, or looking at their mobile phones. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why this project has been delayed and the budget has blown out. Peter Miniutti, Ashbury

Having read about the stabbing on a London-bound train, I wonder about the safety of our new Metro services, where the emphasis is on driverless, crewless trains and unmanned stations (“Train suspect accused of earlier knife attacks”, November 4). It was stated that the action of the trained staff on the train reduced the severity of the incident. I wonder if the safety of passengers is ever taken into consideration, or is it the cost of staffing those services is more important? Ian McNichol, Ultimo

Means test free power

Supplying three hours of free daytime power to Australian households is a generous gesture that will relieve the crushing cost of living, particularly for airconditioning in searing summer heat (“Households offered free power, with a catch”, November 4). It seems a great idea, except for those of us who have already spent $25,000 to install solar panels. I am annoyed that the high cost of setting up solar is being bled to feed the energy needs of those who have not set up their own. I have no quarrel with households that cannot afford the set-up costs, but this free power should be means-tested rather than a free-for-all. Is this a fair and equitable redistribution of my costly investment in solar energy? It’s like robbing Peter to pay Paul. Our current excess energy is being fed back into the grid and offsets night-time grid-derived consumption. Is our sell-back to the grid being generously gifted to well-off families that can afford to pay for their own solar set-up? This guts any incentive to transition to solar and renewables when your neighbours have already done the hard yakka for you. This is even before one argues the cost of maintenance of panels and hail damage. Joseph Ting, Brisbane (Qld)

Congratulations to the federal government for introducing three hours of free electricity. My household receives free power for two hours from noon from our provider. We charge our car, do our washing and charge household batteries during this time. As a result, our power bills have been slashed. My advice? Get in the habit of setting the timer on your washing machine and dishwasher to start at noon, even if you’re away from the house. John Boast, Hunters Hill

Smelter shame

Back in the ’60s, academic and social critic Donald Horne called Australia “the lucky country” as an ironic jibe at the mediocrity of its leaders. Our current leaders continue this display of incompetence. China can install 270 gigawatts of solar in one year, but we cannot install the one gigawatt needed by the Tomago smelter. The wires carrying electricity to Tomago travel about 100 kilometres from the Hunter Valley generators to the smelter. They traverse hundreds of square kilometres of farmland. Why is it beyond the capacity of Rio Tinto, AGL and Energy Australia to install in two years the 4 sq km of panels needed to feed the smelter? The managers are paid millions to look after the interests of their companies, but the first thing they do is demand government support and threaten to shut down the smelter if they don’t get it. They should resign in shame for this abrogation of responsibility. Alan Stanley, Upper Corindi

Drainage difficulties

I share Woollahra Council’s concerns about excavation below the water table (“Council targets parking under new apartments to tackle defects”, November 3). My late husband, Nicholas Krikis, was the architect of Mascot Towers. The developers followed his advice to not excavate for parking, but to put it above ground. His reason? Building below the water table requires a level of technical expertise that many local builders don’t have. If water seeps in, it has to be pumped out, and this can undermine adjacent properties. Peak Towers by Aland Development adjacent to Mascot Towers has basement parking, and during its construction, Mascot Towers suffered structural damage, with residents evacuated. Then-deputy premier John Barilaro said reports showed “a drop in water table” which could be impacting the structural integrity of Mascot Towers. The state government appointed engineers to investigate but their report has been kept secret. Mascot Towers homeowners sued Aland and reached a settlement, but the money was not enough to effect repairs. They’ve lost their homes and their life’s savings. How can we have confidence that an industry beset by waterproofing defects will successfully manage critical basement waterproofing? Meredith Trevallyn-Jones, Cremorne

Marvellous midwives

Having attended countless births over the past 45 years I have never ceased to be amazed by the skill of the midwives (“Victoria and NSW consider laws to restrict rogue birth workers”, November 4). Every birth is different and occasionally terrifying. Even with modern monitoring, one in 500 deliveries can, and does, go unexpectedly wrong. I have seen over and over again how the dedication and professionalism of the midwives has saved countless lives. It is time for NSW to follow South Australia’s lead and legislate to ban untrained people from providing “doula” type of care without being a registered midwife. Dr Andrew McDonald, Menangle

Words devalued

It’s ironic that Geoffrey Dyer complains about Orwellian doublethink and then accuses Israel of both terrorism and genocide (Letters, November 3). There is no general confusion over whether Hamas or the IDF are the terrorists, except among the extreme anti-Israel fringe. It’s a simple matter of moral clarity. As Athol Morris succinctly explained in the same letters column, the terrorists are those who deliberately target civilians, not those who warn civilians while targeting the terrorists. It is also not genocide, as the warnings and evacuations demonstrate. In an actual genocide, an army as powerful as Israel’s would have killed many times more people, and the supposed victims wouldn’t have been able to stop it by simply surrendering. Dyer is right that words matter, and using terms like terrorism and genocide where they don’t apply devalues their gravity. Shane Shmuel, Elsternwick (Vic)

Party people

Great to see Gina and Pauline having a great time at Don’s party with so many like-minded people (“Pauline Hanson, Gina Rinehart sighted at Trump’s Halloween party”, November 4). I wonder if Gina is planning a foray into politics with One Nation, ex-Nationals and far-right Libs. Oh dear. Mark Shannon, Skennars Head

Throne into turmoil

I don’t know why anyone is worried about Andrew still being in the line of succession to the throne (“Calls to axe Andrew from the Australian line of succession”, November 4). If you are a monarchist, you can take comfort from the fact that he is far enough down the line that the odds of him becoming king are near zero. For the republicans, if he were to become king, the republican cause would get its biggest boost ever. Relax, everyone. Bill Irvine, Goulburn

Karen that roared

On the subject of Karens (Letters, November 4), I was working in a winery in the Hunter just after the first COVID lockdown and I remember one young, tall, burly man holding court to the queue of patrons by vociferously objecting to anything COVID-related, especially the mandatory sign-in. My co-worker, a diminutive, middle-aged female, looked up at him and loudly proclaimed, “My name is Karen, and I’m not afraid to use it!” Silence down the line of patrons. Orderliness restored. Power imbalance addressed. Peter Butler, Wyongah

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