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Why is it that the Liberals, both state and national, reach for the stick to engage with the disenfranchised and youth transgressors rather than seek persuasive and lasting solutions. Matthew Guy is very quick to point the finger and shake in mock rage when he speaks to what he sees as mass criminality when in truth his problem is with a tiny section of our society. Exaggeration is a large part of his diatribes and we can do without it.
Illustration: Cathy Wilcox
Kenneth Coghill, Bentleigh
Politicians should be given the boot . . . camp
Look, I'm all for boot camp as long as it can be proven to work. So to really prove the concept how about we up the ante and send politicians there. They can learn how to behave in Parliament, stop telling barefaced lies and to actually answer the question that has been asked of them. Add in a course on common decency including what is right (aka pub test 101) as opposed to what is legal but wrong (aka sniff test fail 202) and we might be on to something. Obviously this is a minimum two-year program for the current recidivist offenders but it will set the example for future bootcampers.
Mark Brooks, Benalla
Who are these laws really aimed at?
If I drive at 82km/h in a 60km/h zone, get summonsed to appear in court, fail to attend court and then are subsequently found, will I automatically be sent to jail under Matthew Guy's proposed "lock 'em up" laws? As a 67-year-old Caucasian male should I be worried? Or are the proposed laws aimed at other sections of the community, at those with different religious beliefs, or at those with different skin colours, who are far easier to blame and vilify, and use to win some cheap votes. Perhaps I should just concentrate on worrying about the African street gangs that are roaming the local streets.
Doug Shaw, Sunbury
The new law: guilty until proven innocent
Matthew Guy's tough on crime/make Melbourne safe agenda appears predicated on the assumption that he will be able lock up every suspect person to make us "safe", and that he can fix "the problem". Nothing could be further from the truth unless he changes the law so people are guilty until proven innocent. Think about which regimes behave in that way and ask yourself if you would be happy living in those places. However Guy wants to spin it, Melbourne is among the safest cities in the world.
His views on law and order are grossly simplistic, and seem to shadow the risible comments of Peter Dutton who thought it smart to say that Melbourne people felt too unsafe to go out at night for dinner. Should Matthew Guy win on Saturday, his comment that he will "make sure that every Melburnian is safe" will most certainly come back to haunt him every day of his tenure.
Brandon Mack, Deepdene
The certain way to provoke attacks
It may not be possible to prevent "terrorist" attacks in our cities, but there is a certain way to ensure that there will be more. Continue to exclude, marginalise and demonise minority groups, be they Muslim, African or whatever.
Nick Barton, Hillside
Where are all the prisoners going?
The state Coalition needs to start explaining to voters where they are going to build all the prisons to lock up all the thousands of people who breach bail, and the cost.
Further, Matthew Guy and shadow attorney-general John Pesutto ought to be asking the police why it is they don't always appeal against bail being granted, if that's the Coalition policy. For many of these matters, it seems to me that the Opposition is trying to sheet home the blame in the wrong direction. Not only is that cheap political expediency, it's also a bit gutless.
Ross Crawford, Frankston
FORUM
Stop the whistling
I am deeply troubled with some of the policies being put forward as law and order at this state election, particularly the latest of the publishing of judges' sentencing record.
I'm not in any aspect of the legal system and my only experience is being on the receiving end of a speeding fine and for jury duty, but even a novice like me knows that there are always extenuating circumstances that never seem to be presented by some of the tabloid media whenever a large or heinous court case judgment don't seem to match this mythical public opinion.
The notions of "innocent until proven guilty" and "beyond all reasonable doubt" seem to be put aside to gain a few votes without delving into any of the reasons why a "light" sentence was given in the first place. I agree there may be some issues with the communication between various intelligence agencies, but this dog whistling isn't doing any of us any favours at all.
John Anderson, Donvale
Get serious
A recent letter asked why police were wasting time on a squeegee raid. I recall the report on the police action said there was a very high incidence of drivers caught using mobile phones. Every report I have seen on road safety concludes that distraction is a major cause of road accidents, and a recent study reported in The Age found a surprisingly high number of drivers admitting to using their mobile phones. If we are serious about safety, surely the conclusion is that there should be more squeegee patrols or other means of catching offenders. Another conclusion is that the level of penalties is insufficient to deter drivers. Perhaps confiscation could be threatened.
David Lamb, Kew East
Grievance cul-de-sac
In Bill Mathew's world, (Letters, 19/11) the cause of Muslim terrorist attacks is always the unjustified actions by the West. To last week's reference to the 2001 Iraq war he now adds the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, but of course, he conveniently ignores the hostile acts of Israel's neighbours that precipitated this conflict.
According to this logic, the large loss of Australian lives in the 2002 Bali bombings was the inevitable result of Australia's prior support for the East Timorese in their war of independence against Indonesia.
The solution to ongoing Islam-inspired terrorist attacks will never be found by indulging in the "grievance" cul-de-sac, rather, it first requires an end to the infantilising of the Muslim world, and an expectation that Muslims will take full responsibility for their own actions.
Geoff Feren, St Kilda East
Market example
Obviously all the dog whistling and vilification has had the desired effect with most Coalition voters and a large proportion of Labor voters saying that we should discriminate against Muslim nations in our immigration policy.
Long ago it was the Chinese who Banjo Paterson referred to as "the leprosy". Then, after the war it was the Jewish refugees who were allegedly arriving "dripping with furs and jewels" straight from the concentration camps. In the fifties it was the "wops and dagos", the Greeks and Italians who largely built the Snowy Scheme for us. More recently the Vietnamese "forming dangerous enclaves".
Now the Muslims, motivating and harbouring terrorists.
I would urge people to go to Dandenong Market and its surrounds to see the hundreds of Muslims who are integrated into our society and contributing 100per cent, not a terrorist among them.
Reg Murray, Glen Iris
Toxic choices
It is a pity that Daniel Andrews will not make a "deal" with the Greens ("ALP snubs Greens as 'toxic' rival", The Age, 19/11) because if Labor gets back in power in Victoria, he may well have to "deal" with minority groups who have far more "toxic" agendas. As I have always done, I will be making up my own mind on preferences and voting below the line at this election.
Phil Mackenzie, Eaglemont
Penal settlement
Matthew Guy and the Liberal opposition plan to reconstruct Victoria into a penal colony.
Marie Hodgens, Burwood
New models needed
Scott Morrison has "plenty of mates who have asked me if they can be my special envoy to sort the issue out with Pamela Anderson". Would these nice men – I assume they would be men – sort these issues out in Morrison's bus? Would Morrison's Pentecostal God also attend? And as Pamela is a star, would she be able to grab hold of something that doesn't belong to her, a la Trump?
The behaviour and opinions of Abbott, Trump, Morrison and their mates send all the wrong messages to our LBGT+ community and the #MeToo movement. These guys need to be updated or rejected.
Jeff McCormack, Hangelsberg, Germany
Raise your voice
Just as Scott Morrison is calling on Muslim leaders to publicly condemn Islamic extremism, Christians also need to make their voices heard against Christian extremists who support schools expelling gay students and gay conversion therapy for children.
Walter Lee, Ashfield, NSW
Keeping promises
The Liberals can promise to outspend Labor at the election. If they win the election they will claim that Labor has messed up the finances, and that none of their promises can be paid for. Simple. Would Matthew Guy promise that all his election promises will be delivered, no matter the state of the finances?
George Houlder, Cambrian Hill
Green defence
If, as Daniel Andrews says, the Greens are "toxic" because of a "problem with women", how does he reconcile that extraordinary statement with the fact that seven of eight current Victorian state Greens MPs are women? Such MPs come from the grassroots of the party's ordinary members and not by factional chiefs, as has long been the way within the Labor Party. Further, among the seven women Greens MPs in State Parliament are the first Aboriginal woman elected in 160 years to the Victorian State Parliament and also the first woman Vietnamese-Australian elected to any Parliament in Australia. His attack on the Greens has all the marks of a politician desperate to cling to power and happy to stoop to false and misleading claims concerning political opponents.
Robert Humphreys, Ringwood
Truth goes missing
Politicians were happy to vote for the retention of our metadata (they didn't even know what it was) but are not so supportive of a federal integrity commission.
I guess their attitude towards any such commission belongs in the same basket as truth in political advertising, buying votes through pork barrelling and the inexplicable generosity of political donors who seek nothing in return.
Gary Sayer, Warrnambool
Keep to the centre
History has a nasty habit of repeating itself, therefore, it's no good pretending that the US-driven trade war with China, would not return us to another cold war.
Whatever our stance in our geo-political situation, we are a former British colony geographical located within the boundaries of ASEAN. Scott Morrison can say that our foreign policy is our business and nobody else's, but the truth is that it's driven by our alliance with the US.
Instead of trying to punch above our true national weight by siding with the US, we should be playing a centrist peace-making role in the context of the Sino-US trade war that could, given Trump's unpredictability, escalate into a military conflict.
Alex Njoo, St Kilda
Paving the way
Tim Colebatch gives us a well-considered piece on population and infrastructure (16/11). And yet it's marred by the throwaway claim that "road space has grown barely at all" in this century.
EastLink, Peninsula Link, the Hallam, Pakenham, Dingley and Deer Park bypasses and widenings of the Monash, Tullamarine and Western Ring Road are hardly negligible additions to road space. That's before one considers the extensive arterial road networks newly built up in growth suburbs – the latter being the normal growth one expects to support a growing population.
It's true that, considering just the past 10 years, we've not seen quite as many new motorways as in the past. But this is also a period when we've seen – for the first time – road traffic and congestion grow slower than population.
We'd argue there is at least a partial causal factor here. On infrastructure and congestion, as years of experience and clear expert advice tells us, you get what you pave for.
Tony Morton, president, Public Transport Users Association
Innovation nation
Katy Barfield's food rescuing posts ("Start-up aims to save food from wasteful graves", The Age, 19/11) provide a creative solution to unnecessary waste. Instead of politicians using fear and dog whistling, we need more innovative thinking on crime, climate and population challenges. Extravagant oneupmanship, and locking more people up indefinitely doesn't win my vote. Innovations like Katy's is what I'm looking for.
Anne Hocking, Healesville
Students losing out
Well said Catherine Ryan and Anna Apfelstedt (Letters 14/11 and 19/11). After 30-plus years as a teacher librarian I, too, feel it is a great shame that qualified, passionate teacher librarians rarely exist in our schools today. In this information age we need them more than ever. Reading for pleasure and for research is such an important part of a student's education. Sadly, it is now rare to find a school with a teacher librarian.
The big losers in all this – the students.
Anne Chowne, Thornbury
AND ANOTHER THING
Politics
Flesh-eating ulcers spreading in Melbourne (17/11). A further opportunity for some politicians to exploit fear and uncertainty.
Keith Gove, Hawthorn
To get himself off the hook, Scott Morrison could suggest moving the embassy a few kilometres in the general direction of Jerusalem.
Tony Lenten, Court Glen Waverley
The wonders of modern science – we now have a self-wedging PM.
Joan Segrave, Healesville
Evidence suggests that jurisdictions with less inequality have lower crime rates than those who are simply tough on crime. Something Matthew Guy should ponder.
Phil Alexander, Eltham
Why does Matthew Guy want to build a prison? There'll be some on Nauru and Manus Island available soon.
Raymond Kenyon, Camberwell
Is Matthew Guy suggesting a Chinese style re-education camp for young offenders?
Shayne Davison, Mulwala
Trump
In the words of Jack Nicholson, when it comes to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, Donald Trump just can't handle the truth.
David Seal, Balwyn North
Donald Trump fails to demonstrate anything resembling empathy, focusing more on himself than those who have suffered the most.
Allan Gibson, Cherrybrook, NSW
Donald Trump rates his performance as "A+" despite the loss of the House of Representatives. An "A+" for incompetence and self delusion?
Peter Rutherford, Hamlyn Heights
Aw diddums. Who's a grumpy boy?
Wendy Batros, Templestowe
Furthermore
Lower emissions (renewables) and reduced power prices are not mutually exclusive. Think of the long-term operating costs.
Greg Curtin, Blackburn South