Capitulation to religious right on census questions on sexuality and gender identity a betrayal of values

In 1969, when a group of striking railway workers disrupted the city by marching through its streets, the then longest-serving Victorian premier, the tough Henry Bolte, said: “They can march up and down until they’re bloody footsore.” It was not going to change anything.
It actually caused a public outcry because he had used the word “bloody”.
I just wish Premier Jacinta Allan was as tough as Bolte and sent the CFMEU the same message. And yes, let her say “bloody” which today will not cause the same outrage. The key word is “tough” against bullies.
Geoff Lipton, Caulfield North

CFMEU adds to costs
Re “Building unions to walk off job in protest”, (27/08): Cost overruns on major infrastructure projects cannot just be attributed to global issues and the rising cost of materials. The CFMEU is partly to blame with allegations of illegal and thuggish behaviour revealed this year. The net result is a huge waste of taxpayer money.
No one can argue the role this and other unions play concerning the safety of their workers. We all want people to go home safely.
The challenge for the prime minister and our premier is to take a firm stance and not kowtow to the CFMEU.
Yvonne Bowyer, Surrey Hills

Support for protest
A wonderful turnout yesterday with many different unions supporting the CFMEU and protesting against the administration order initiated by the federal government.
Mary Fenelon, Doncaster East

Wake-up call for Greens
When the Greens members selected Lidia Thorpe over Julian Burnside, a lifelong social justice campaigner, for a Senate seat in 2020, it was a wake-up call for non-members who have voted for the Greens over the years.
If the current members want to change the focus of the Greens, they may want to consider changing their name and colour?
Leah Billeam, Portarlington

Climate crisis is here
The human species seems determined to destroy the environment that has supported its evolution over the past 12,000 years (“Anti-wind farm lobby mobilising across the regions”, 27/8). With more and more evidence of careering climate change unfolding every day in every part of the globe, the luxury of procrastination disguised as debate is not an option.
Heaven knows what’s driving the anti-renewables/pro-nuclear movement, but it sure as hell isn’t common sense.
We don’t have 20-plus years for nuclear energy to save us. The enemy is at the gates right now.
John Mosig, Kew

Freedom is priceless
Michael Bachelard highlights the problems of wrongful conviction (“No law to pay for injustice”, 24/8). He cites Geoff Ferguson and Lindy Chamberlain who “suffered one of the greatest injustices the state can impose a citizen: the wrongful removal of their freedom”. Ferguson and Chamberlain spent two years and just over three years respectively in custody before they were released. More recently, Kathleen Folbigg was in custody for 20 years before her release.
By contrast, Jason Roberts (for whom I acted as a solicitor from 2014-20) spent almost 22 years in custody for the murders of Sergeant Gary Silk and Senior Constable Rod Miller. The Victorian Court of Appeal granted Roberts’ appeal against his murder convictions based on “significant police misconduct” involving “fabricated evidence” and “reprehensible conduct by the investigating police”. Roberts was acquitted at a 2022 retrial.
It has been reported that Roberts is suing the state of Victoria for compensation and he should be able to prove that the police acted with “malice” and “corruption”. As lawyer Jeremy King stated: “All the good cases settle.” However, no amount of money can compensate for the decades he spent in prison.
Simon Moodie, Carlton North

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Gambling harm real
I can, from personal experience, tell you that gambling has devastating effects on families.
Imagine being taken at the age of 14 years, nine months, by your mother to Coles to apply for a part-time job. Every cent earned going to feed your stepfather’s gambling and alcohol addictions. For the good of families and victims, please ban all gambling advertising.
Name withheld, Newport

Voting system wins poll
The argument made by David Charles against the Australian voting system (Letters 27/8) is flawed on at least three counts.
First, in Australia, it is not compulsory to vote. It is compulsory to cast a ballot. People can, and do, cast a blank ballot or in many cases adorn it with messages or drawings.
Second, if it is compulsory to cast a ballot, it is illegal to prevent someone from doing so. If this were the case in Afghanistan, I doubt the Taliban would win.
Third, first-past-the-post voting allows candidates with very few votes from winning, whereas preferential voting, while more complex, takes account of a larger number of electors.
Juliet Flesch, Kew

Still disadvantaged
Bravo Barbara Chapman (Letters, 27/8) for pointing out that “universal Boomer wealth is a myth; wealth and poverty are highly gendered in Australia”.
As a female, married, Boomer teacher in the late 1960s and early 1970s, I experienced unequal pay, no superannuation and compulsory resignation during two pregnancies.
The sad reality is that there is still disadvantage for women in the workplace despite advances triggered by feminist protests.
Glenda Johnston, Queenscliff

True debt level alarm
A secret payment of $888 million to the Metro rail project (“Labor offers $888m lure to hit Metro build target”, 27/8) is the latest edition of the Victorian taxpayer being used by the state government as an ATM.
Equating to $127 for every man woman and child in the state, this latest blowout will also see the project possibly running a year behind schedule, opening in September next year, while costing even more.
And it comes on top of recent revelations that the trains will have to go slow under the hospital precinct to avoid affecting sensitive medical equipment.
Given the May state budget forecast debt to hit an eye-watering $188 billion in 2028, secret payments such as this bring into question whether the true debt level will be much higher.
The next generation is set to be saddled with consequences of this.
Mathew Knight, Malvern East

Disconnect law overdue
The rules around the right to disconnect are long overdue. The ordinary worker has only his or her labour to sell, and giving it away freely disadvantages us all.
However, Natasha Hawker (“Workers will game disconnect law”, 27/8) is correct in saying that there is work to be done to navigate the new rules. Work that should have been done long ago as the workforce has changed.
Businesses should do the hard yards if they want to continue operating and profiting, and all employees should be well-informed of their rights and responsibilities when working flexible hours and from home.
The ad hoc system we seem to be operating under thus far seems to be a bit of a shambles. One example from my own experience was when I wanted to contact my health fund about rehab after surgery. Repeated phone calls by me went unanswered until I finally got someone who told me that the person responsible for my query (which was urgent) was working from home and if she didn’t answer, well too bad, try again.
Cheryl Day, Beaumaris

Negative-gearing plan
With negative gearing to cost the budget and hence taxpayers
$165 billion over the next 10 years, can someone explain why it wouldn’t be a good idea to take that and invest it in public housing, either by build-to-rent or build-to-buy schemes?
Yes, it may mean bigger government but we need to accept that there are some who will never be in a position to own a home, particularly given the cost of houses, high rents making it harder to save for a deposit, and increasingly more precarious work situations.
Anthony Albanese, you like to remind us of your background. Now step up and offer others the same chance.
Rod Eldridge, Derrinallum

Airbnb tax sensible
Contrary to the nonsense peddled by some, not all taxes are bad. News that, finally, there is to be a modest levy imposed on Airbnb accommodation, where the owner is not present, is good (“Primary places of residence exempt from Victoria’s Airbnb levy”, 27/8).
For too long, Airbnbs have drained supply of rental housing in regional towns while also creating misery for neighbours where owners are not there to supervise miscreant party animals.
It’s bad manners all round, with owners not satisfied with the generous negative gearing tax concessions plus capital gains discount still allowed.
Surely, there’s a fair principle we can agree on, whereby property owners should not enjoy a nice little earner, tax-free, at the significant expense of the broader community, in terms of rental housing supply and neighbouring residents who should be able to get a good night’s sleep.
Bernadette George, Mildura

A class above
Surely, Melbourne High’s insistence that all year 11 students are required to take a VCE humanities subject is a good
thing “Just one all-boys school bucks VCE trend, and it’s not private”, 27/8).
It may just result in Victoria’s next generation of doctors being able to write legibly.
Tim Habben, Hawthorn

AND ANOTHER THING

Peter Dutton
A suggested slogan for Opposition Leader Peter Dutton: Make Australia Great Again.
Lindsay Donahoo, Wattle Glen

Golding’s cartoon (27/8) depicting Peter Dutton as a “neveready battery” is unfair. Any schoolkid knows you can make a battery out of a potato thanks to the (electrolytic) acids inside.
Ray Peck, Hawthorn

There goes another of your nuclear sites, Dutton (“Coalition to ditch reactor sites if seismic risk too high”, 27/8). Latrobe Valley’s Loy Yang is an earthquake area.
Michael McKenna, Warragul

Anti-wind farm lobby
Many countries in Europe seem to embrace wind and solar farms and yet in Australia, there is a select group who see them as threats (“Anti-wind farm lobby mobilising across regions”, 27/8). If some farmers think nuclear is the better option, they will still have the power lines and a very long wait.
Paul Chivers, Box Hill North

The anti-wind farm lobby sounds like more hot air, something to be avoided at all costs.
Phil Alexander, Eltham

Furthermore
Re “Labor offers $888 million lure to hit Metro build target”, (27/8): With the state overburdened by debt from infrastructure projects, the government is like a problem gambler chasing their losses.
Lawrie Bradly, Surrey Hills

Many building workers are marching against Labor Party legislation while the Australian Securities and Investments Commission is doing little to deal with the big builders who keep going broke and springing up again, or refuse to fix defects.
Loch Wilson, Northcote

After watching Q&A, voting for 16-year-olds should be allowed but not mandatory until age 18. This would allow those who were interested to have their say.
Rita Reid, Port Melbourne

Finally
Re “Seven’s ‘sexy Santa’ dancers leave staff cold”, (27/8): So much for the “cultural reset”.
Jenny Bone, Surrey Hills

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