Projected population growth is unsustainable

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Credit: Andrew Dyson

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Obliging developers to build more liveable and more affordable homes is welcomed (“New housing plan to lure developers in big build”, 20/9). But I wonder if anyone is doing all the sums. The “big build” is based on Victoria’s population growing by 3.5 million by 2051. That was the size of Melbourne in 2004. So, is the plan to add almost another Melbourne in the next 28 years? A city is not just dwellings – it needs schools, hospitals, parks, shopping centres, sporting fields, etc. The cost and disruption of building all this is mind-boggling. And how will the increased demand for fresh water be met? What will be the carbon emissions from such massive construction?
No, Victoria does not need a million or more new homes. We need a government that understands that its projected population growth is grossly unsustainable, fiscally irresponsible and environmentally destructive.
Ian Penrose, Kew

Government should build and own apartments
Developers are in the business of making huge profits, and would likely only put in the absolute minimum amount of social and affordable apartments in their projects. Surely it would be better if the government owned the land and built the apartments itself. Obviously there will be no lack of tenants, and the rent would eventually recoup the costs of building and be a continuous source of income. Perhaps long-term tenants could eventually own their apartments, too.
Marie Nash, Balwyn

Only developers benefit from growth like this
The housing crisis is brought about by a mismatch between growth and supply. This situation is entirely predictable. But population growth is the path that Australia has chosen to take. However, if you have more people, you need more services for them and these services including housing are currently not keeping up with the growth rate. Unfortunately, the modus operandi of the government economic model is a perpetual increase in people, with just a token attempt to provide facilities for them. The only beneficiaries of this are the developers and the government itself, at least in the short term.
Leigh Ackland, Deepdene

Strength, not luck, behind minister’s rise
The federal Minister for Housing and Homelessness, Julie Collins, should be incredibly proud of her success (“Stable housing is close to minister’s heart”, 19/9). But she has fallen into the known trap where women, unlike men, say their achievements came through luck. Growing up in one of the most disadvantaged areas of Australia, leaving school at 15 to work and then returning to complete her education in her 20s shows great strength and perseverance. Opportunities and support that are offered require commitment and resilience, not luck, to accept and complete to effect a change in circumstance. There are a number of men in the public eye who have changed their lives and while many refer to a mentor, luck is never mentioned in their stories.
Heather Barker, Albert Park

What about the spaces for people’s wellbeing?
Bigger, taller apartments near transport hubs is to be key to the government’s housing reform (20/9). This has already occurred in Box Hill, where high-rise apartment blocks are crowding the skyline. This mini-suburb has no new associated infrastructure – e.g. no primary school and no open space for either sport or leisure. In the adjacent suburbs of Mont Albert and Surrey Hills, primary schools are full and there is no local open space to provide netball, basketball or public tennis courts etc. The government needs to expand its thinking for the future beyond residential structures, and consider the wellbeing of the present and future community.
Elizabeth Meredith, Surrey Hills

FORUM

Old idea a good one
The last time we had a shortage of housing, the government established a body to provide it. It was called the Housing Commission. Perhaps Daniel Andrews could do the same, and show that the government was serious about wanting housing to be accessible for everyone.
Hal Colebatch, Hawthorn

The new maths
There seems to be a new maths circulating in the referendum debate. Of late, I’ve come across the comment ’most Indigenous people don’t support the Yes vote”, but my research shows me 80 per cent of Indigenous people support it and 20 per cent are No. So it now appears that 20 per cent is the new majority. Well, we are sticking with the new minority and voting Yes.
Anne Maki, Alphington

No guarantees in life
Two of the main reasons being given by some people to not vote Yes in the referendum are that we don’t have enough information and there are no guaranteed outcomes. I put it that this applies to most of the major decisions we make in our personal lives. If those worries stopped us taking what we see as potential steps forward in our lives we would never have children, buy houses, choose a career, travel, the list goes on. We proceed knowing we can, and will, adjust as needed in the future. Let’s do the same with the referendum by voting Yes.
Jenny Callaghan, Hawthorn

Respect is welcome
It was great to read that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has stated that: “I respect every Australian regardless of whether they’re going to vote Yes or whether they’re going to vote No.” The PM’s statement is very timely and welcome, given leading Yes campaigner Marcia Langton’s recent comments about aspects of the No campaign being based on racism and stupidity. Any voter who was thinking of voting Yes purely because of feelings of guilt or moral inferiority should not feel uncomfortable voting No, given the many cogent reasons for doing so.
Adrian Hassett, Vermont

New Zealand way ahead
What a privilege it was to walk for the Voice last Sunday. I am fortunate to be a citizen of both New Zealand (Aotearoa), where I was born, and Australia, where I now live. Although Aotearoa still has some way to go in upholding the rights of its first peoples, government recognition of the Treaty of Waitangi makes NZ seem light years away from my adopted country. Embedding the Voice in Australia’s Constitution is not a radical thing, but it’s a good start. Being asked by the majority of First Nations people to support it, like being regularly welcomed to Country and invited into smoking ceremonies, is a gift. We non-Indigenous Australians would be churlish to refuse.
Chris Atmore, Somers

The past still with us
It is poor public policy to not consult with stakeholders, and to not consult is to deny their stake. The notion too that all that went wrong belongs in the deep, dark past glorifies the present while ignoring the facts. These include the massacres of Indigenous people at the hands of white law enforcement and station owners less than 100 years ago, and poor policy that ignored input and wrought devastation that could otherwise have been avoided. These things occurred within living memory and the consequences are still being played out: the past and present are not easily severed. There is a path through this, but lack of consultation with stakeholders does not provide for it.
Emma Borghesi, Rye

We must act now
Nick O’Malley expertly reports the Bureau of Meteorology’s El Nino announcement, concluding with the most important fact: Australia has already warmed an average of 1.48 degrees since records began (“El Nino is here, the Bureau of Meteorology finally confirms”, 19/9). This heat overlay is bound to intensify the impacts of El Nino, heightening the danger of fires, heatwaves, drought and coral bleaching. We must be prepared. But above all, let this warning pile pressure on governments to urgently cut the pollution caused by burning coal, oil and gas, which is responsible for over 75 per cent of the warming. Disappointingly, the Albanese government has continued to allow expansion of coal and gas. Tackling the escalating climate crisis with urgency is the only way to instil hope and protect ourselves, and all future generations, from increasingly worsening extremes.
Amy Hiller, Kew

Measures to reduce heat
The announcement by the Bureau of Meteorology that El Nino is upon us (20/9) should alert everyone to prepare for extreme heat now. The effects of extreme heat can be somewhat offset through installation of blinds and shade cloth to protect areas from direct sun. For future protection the planting of shade trees and shrubs is nature’s way of cooling areas. Avoiding installation of large areas of concrete and paving is another way of mitigating high temperatures. If paving or concrete must be used then using light colours will reflect rather than absorb heat. Although artificial grass can be a low-maintenance option for backyards, it can be 5 or 6 degrees hotter than natural grass and should therefore be avoided where possible. Installing fly screens on all doors and windows can provide options to keep windows and doors open for flow-through ventilation. All these measures can lighten the burden on our air-conditioners and therefore pressure on our electricity grid. We should all be looking at heat-reducing measures now – before the onset of this predicted El Nino event.
Graeme Lechte, Brunswick West

Let’s say it right
Now that El Nino is officially with us, we can mitigate one of its effects by learning how to pronounce Nino. The second “n” isn’t “n”. It’s written with a wavy line on top and is called “enyay”, more or less. It’s a separate letter in the Spanish alphabet. It’s pronounced as if it were “ny” before a vowel. Most Australians can say “good onya”. We will be listening to this word, probably daily, for six or more months, so could we please learn to say it correctly? All together now: “El Ninyo”.
Angela O’Connor, Glen Iris

No consequences
The headline almost gets there (“Jail the corporate lawbreakers”, 19/9), but Ross Gittins doesn’t quite nail a key weakness in dealing with law-breaking businesses. As “legal persons” under the law, the businesses are liable for financial penalties and commercial restrictions, but not being human, can’t be imprisoned. There’s the rub. The concept of “corporate crime” shifts criminal liability away from people and onto the organisations they own, direct or are employed by. When businesses are sanctioned for crimes the human perpetrators are seldom even charged, let alone imprisoned. That’s what needs fixing. Corporate law has to get more personal.
Lawrie Bradly, Surrey Hills

Job loss fears
I well recall what happened to the Australian car industry when the Abbott government withdrew its financial support. I, like many, have small regard for the highly paid executives who run Qantas, but I fear the same thing would occur if the federal government withdrew policies which protected the airline. I fear for the jobs of the thousands of Australians who are employed either directly or indirectly by Qantas and I believe that is the very reason the Albanese government pursues policies in support of the airline. I would receive no joy in waving my cheap airline ticket in the face of an out-of-work former employee of a defunct Qantas airline.
Phil Alexander, Eltham

Thank you, professor
Being avid readers of Good Weekend, we were very touched by Tim Elliott’s article on Professor Richard Scolyer (16/9). What a brave, selfless man, and we thank him for trying to find a cure for brain cancer. It seems to only pick on the best. We lost our 34-year-old daughter Sara and her two-year-old son Alfie to brain cancer in 2018.
Helen Clark, Prahran

Here’s some proof
Your correspondent (Letters, 20/9) sarcastically suggests that religions will be threatened if proof of God’s existence is required by the draft misinformation bill. The definition of God, provided more than once in the Bible, is “God is love”, and few people would deny the existence of love. Other attributes of God are speculative, debatable and unproven.
Harley Powell, Elsternwick

Thumbs up for grand final
I am for and against your correspondent’s comparison (Letters, 20/9) regarding AFL and NRL grand finals. The NRL is to be commended for scheduling the NRLW grand final on the same occasion as the NRL grand final. In contrast, the AFLW is still shabbily treated as a competition. But the suggestion NRL game-day entertainment has always prevailed is debatable, given the AFL had the foresight to engage Ed Sheeran for the 2014 grand final – before he attained his current global superstar status. Recent AFL grand finals have featured Jimmy Barnes, Paul Kelly and Robbie Williams, among others.
Brian Kidd, Mt Waverley

Why so loud?
What an excellent program Makers of Modern Australia on the ABC has been. But how much easier it would have been to watch if it had not been spoilt by the sometimes overpowering noise/music. So many programs suffer from the same problem and I end up muting the sound and reading subtitles, or giving up and turning the television off!
Maureen Goldie, Blackwood, SA

No substitute
Cute words (Letters, 20/9), but to run our power grid we would have to switch off about 1500 AUKUS subs.
Brian McKay, Albert Park

AND ANOTHER THING

Who are the “silent majority” in the referendum campaign?Credit: AP

The Voice
Those who are going to vote No are making a lot of noise; perhaps the “silent majority” are going to vote Yes.
Jennifer Carty, Toorak

Tens of thousands march in the streets to say Yes. Hundreds of thousands stay home to say No.
Greg Hardy, Upper Ferntree Gully

If Golding’s depiction of the task ahead of the Voice (20/9) is equated with the task of Sisyphus in Greek mythology, it may be doomed forever.
Jon Smith, Leongatha

The Voice referendum has done virtually nothing but divide Australians. This division will continue whether it’s a Yes or No vote. The main difference will be that a Yes vote will result in far greater costs and still not solve the problems of our Indigenous populations.
Tony O’Brien, South Melbourne

Barassi
Although Ron Barassi’s endeavours were not international, he should still be ranked with Sir Donald Bradman, Walter Lindrum and Phar Lap.
Graeme Walters, Mt Waverley

I would like to see the premiership cup remain as it is and instead have a stand at the MCG named in Barassi’s honour. Or how about a Barassi medal for best coach of the season?
John Cain, McCrae

Furthermore
The burning boat cartoon (19/9) captured in a masterstroke the diabolical situation we find ourselves in. The cartoon of the year, Cathy Wilcox!
Jerry Koliha, South Melbourne

Oh come all ye holidayers, come here to Victoria, the state of the holiday tax.
Noel Mavric, Moonlight Flat

With airline competition, the federal government appears to have put one Q in the rack.
Phil Labrum, Trentham

Another cheap cleaning tip – shaving foam on the shower glass. And he can do it!
Margaret Skeen, Pt Lonsdale

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