Letters
Letters to
the editor
Thneedy issue
In Ken Henry’s address to the National Press Club (Mike Seccombe, “Green knight of the round table”, July 26–August 1), he displayed strong emotion when he was discussing the dire state of the natural world. He thinks environmental protection can be achieved while growing productivity. I am sceptical that these joint aims are compatible. Environmental aims are mainly assessed qualitatively, apart from numbers of extinct species. Productivity is measured quantitatively. I once worked in a scientific organisation whose productivity was increased by sacking many administrators and allocating their tasks to us scientists, who were quite inefficient in these roles. Productivity per se is not worth pursuing if it is the Lorax’s useless “Thneeds” that are being produced, at the cost of carbon emissions. It is not just environmental aims that are best assessed qualitatively but also the nature of our economic outputs.
– Jock Churchman, Campbelltown, SA
Facing disaster
Thanks to Jennifer Mills for excellent coverage (“On the beach”, July 26–August 1). It is profoundly disturbing – horrifying – to see deep-sea creatures (normally invisible) dead in great numbers on the beach. Shame on Murray Watt – squatting there looking concerned with one side of his face, while approving Woodside Energy’s expansion with the other. If we don’t stop fossil fuel emissions at once then we’ll be confronted with disasters like this more and more often.
– Margaret Merrilees, Port Willunga, SA
Stuck on talking points
A cracker July 26–August 1 edition of The Saturday Paper with articles by Mike Seccombe (“Green knight of the round table”), Cheyne Anderson (“From Port Vila to The Hague”) and Jennifer Mills (“On the beach”), all pointing to the fact we need more action, not more words, on the climate crisis – the same for the unfolding Gaza tragedy. However, your recent articles quizzing the new backbenchers’ class of 2025 doesn’t give much hope that the 94-seat Labor Party will deliver anything except more caution, more words (“Class of 2025”, June 28–July 4; “Class of 2025: Part II”, July 5-11). Hardly any of the newbies seem to be raring to go on the climate crisis, closing the gap for Indigenous Australians, stopping AUKUS, doing anything strong to support Palestinians, or even to reform the gambling advertising space which a huge majority of citizens support. We have crises aplenty, but with such a huge majority in the House of Representatives, we also have an opportunity for real action on all of them. If only Anthony Albanese’s government could find some courage.
– Jo Vallentine, Coolbellup, WA
Social alienation
Polly Hemming could be applauded for recounting her trials at the hands of Canberra health services (“Market captives”, July 26–August 1) – not that Canberra is any different to anywhere else. In highlighting the degradation that pervades human services her anger is palpable, and understandable. She rightly describes this as the result of the misuse of language; that is, the core business of human services, or care, is forgotten in the language of the consumer. Like Hemming, we really have less agency in systems devoid of accountability. In reality, what Hemming describes is the pervasive alienation that has been allowed to creep into society. We are all being gaslit. Any notions of civil society are undermined, not just by politically expedient distortions of language that disguise and deflect true meaning; these distortions also pervade how we all think, accepting the uncivil as a new normal – until we bump up against an alienated reality.
– Gil Anaf, Norwood, SA
Chicago model
Thank you again for your revealing editorial (“Woolly blanket”, July 26–August 1). It reminds me again of the adage that power corrupts absolutely. However, my vote this week for The Saturday Paper’s best effort goes to the insightful article from Polly Hemming. In her experiences with public service medical establishments she identifies the influence of the Chicago School model (get government out of business), brought to New South Wales via the conservative premier Nick Greiner, and retooled and implemented across the state by the Baird conservative government (if it don’t earn, we don’t do). Acknowledging Hemming’s comments about our classification as customers and consumers, I invite further inquiry into the conduct of all state bodies, which may reveal even further the community denigration inflicted by the failure of management systems to respond effectively to the needs of Australian communities. Customers and consumers in a marketplace have choice, in public services we get what the government decides to give us.
– Will Martin, Bawley Point, NSW
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This article was first published in the print edition of The Saturday Paper on August 2, 2025.
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