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Illustration: Andrew Dyson
TONY ABBOTT
Bitterness will get you nowhere, Mr Abbott
The "Peter (Peta) Principle" refers to a situation where a person is promoted to a position one level above their capability. Tony Abbott's case is a classic example. His bluster and bluff masked his inability to cope with the demands of being prime minister. His apparent unease when Peta Credlin was not there to back him up is a further demonstration of his discomfort. It takes real courage and humility to admit, at least to yourself, that this was the case. Bitterness and recrimination will get him nowhere.
Peter Dodds, Montmorency
Our ex-prime minister, Tony Rudd?
Tony Abbott is doing a Kevin Rudd. Does he not know we have a new leader and we do not want to hear from him any more? He needs to resist causing trouble and realise Australians are pleased to have a reasonable prime minister who is trying to govern for us all, not the extreme right.
Dianne Wood, Mildura
Another ghost haunting Parliament House
Peter Hartcher's reports on Tony Abbott's prime-ministerial end read like a whodunit. Mr Abbott, however, played a big part in digging his own grave. Journalists, commentators and letter writers also helped enormously. Even Rupert Murdoch thought that Mr Abbott's prop, Peta Credlin, deserved the rough end of the pineapple. It was a magnificent effort to get rid of Australia's embarrassment, both internally and overseas. However, it is important to note that Mr Abbott's ghost is hovering around Canberra, as was that of Kevin Rudd, looking for a chance to come alive. Be aware, Malcolm Turnbull.
Bill Mathew, Parkville
A matter of behaviour, not gender
I like to think I am as conscious of sexism and female gender stereotyping in the workplace as the next woman, but who does Peta Credlin think she is kidding when she complains she has been ill-treated by the media simply because she is a woman? (The Age, 1/12). If the rest of us behaved at work like she reportedly did – shouting, having tantrums, slamming doors, demanding sackings, freezing people out and attempting to exert undue influence – in any respectable organisation, we would be out the door in three warnings flat, regardless of our gender. Incredible.
Kathryn Lyell, Glen Waverley
But wasn't Ms Credlin paid for her work?
Peta Credlin was not "a f---ing volunteer" for Tony Abbott and the government, as it claimed she said (The Age, 1/12). She was a paid employee. Her alleged comment is a great disservice to all the voluntary workers around the country.
Mary Hoffmann, Richmond
Let the past be. We have a new leader
When will the media stop playing into Tony Abbott's hands with its incessant analysis of his downfall and his conspiracy theories. He failed because of his reactionary policies. What this country needs is political stability and a forward-thinking government which will carry us into the 21st century. Malcolm Turnbull is the better Coalition leader to do this. Let him get on with the job for the good of this country.
Jenny Orford, Sunbury
The harsh facts of life, Mr Abbott
"Abbott lashes out at Bishop" (The Age, 2/12). Just admit it, Tony. You were beaten by a woman.
Jenny Bone, Surrey Hills
Few joys in cycling ...
Too often money spent on bike paths in Melbourne's west and north is wasted ("Poor pathways a turn-off for cyclists in the west", 2/12). Signage to off-road paths is almost non-existent. On-road paths are easily found but often they simply disappear, usually where they are most needed. Many on-road paths are unusable through lack of maintenance. Overgrown trees (Kororoit Creek Road) or significant broken glass (Pascoe Vale Road) are examples of this. Pot holes on bike paths are also a significant problem. Unusable and or "unfindable" bike paths represent a waste of taxpayers' money.
Chris Wallis, Albert Park
... and it gets worse
It is not only the inner-west that has poor infrastructure for bike riders. Further out we also have to contend with fast-speed roundabouts designed to allow cars to proceed as fast as possible. A place where cycling lane markings disappear at the approach and you risk a serious collision trying to get out of the traffic. The west's cycling network is fragmented, if it exists at all, and the further west you go, the worse it gets. We need infrastructure that is connected, allowing us to use roads as legitimate users, rather than an afterthought. VicRoads' designers should ride some of these areas. Perhaps then the mindset would change to improve the cycling experience for all.
Jennifer Williams, Altona
Poetic justice
Australians have watched in frustration for many years while Coles bullied local suppliers and replaced well-known products with its own home brands. So, when Campbell Arnott's dug in its heels over the price of Tim Tams (The Age, 2/12), I must admit that I took some delight in Coles finally having a taste of its own medicine. If only smaller companies had the clout to do the same. To those who would complain about the small price increase for Tim Tams: it is precisely your attitude that has allowed Australian manufacturing to endure the slow death that it is currently suffering.
Amanjit Gill, Narre Warren
The ALP's last hope?
If one listens to questions and answers in parliament, one will have heard, until recently, the magic word "Abbott" in almost every Labor utterance. It has been replaced by a magic phrase "Turnbull's 50per cent GST increase". There seems to be an assumption that the federal government wants to increase the GST. I am not sure that this if the case. Unless the states approach the federal government with unified advocacy, an increase in the GST is unlikely. Labor's strategic new phrase risks becoming "dead, buried and cremated".
Graham Strong, Sandringham
A little more, please
In the troubled wake of having sold off our gas and electricity, we should have learnt that getting rid of our public assets can be fraught. It is an indictment on its short-term thinking that a Victorian government now launches another cash grab from rent-seekers for parts of the bay and the Port of Melbourne, instead of retaining those rents for a steady income.
The government is again reduced to selling off our heritage because it is too chicken-hearted to use the taxing powers granted to it by the constitution. No doubt Victorian governments of all persuasions will continue to extend a begging hand for extra funding from the federal government. A greater amount of GST perhaps?
Bryan Kavanagh, Mount Waverley
Loss of our industry
Recent reports have suggested that an island is being considered for the expansion of the Port of Melbourne. How will cargo travel to and from the island? Will this new trade route save Australian coastal shipping from its inevitable demise? Years of deliberate government neglect will see all coastal freight, together with international trade, carried in overseas ships. I look forward to the day when there is no industry in Australia and we can import our politicians from a country with lower labour costs.
John Hart, Black Rock
The right to a home
Last week in Elizabeth Street I saw two figures wrapped in threadbare blankets. Their heads were covered and they were lying on the pavement attempting to sleep. In Bourke Street slumped an Indigenous man, begging and ranting delirious nonsense. Near the NGV
I had an intense conversation with an articulate man without a secure abode. He told me of the increasing number of elderly who have been made homeless. It is now not only the young, drug affected or mentally unsound who are suffering this plight. We need to do something powerful and constructive to provide shelter for those in urgent need. Not one of us in the world's most liveable city should be abandoned and left to our own devices to endure this perilous state.
Carol Marshall, Moonee Ponds
My pre-written opinion
Ian Malcolm (Letters, 2/12) I have also wondered how to go about "pre-ordering" something. Equally puzzling are "pre-existing" (it exists before it exists?), "pre-booked" (often in advance!) and, the silliest of them all, "pre-prepared".
Ken Turnbull, Maldon
A poisoned gift
What a welcome statement from Malcolm Turnbull that we are to spend $1billion over five years on innovative solutions on climate change management. But the apple has the same sour taste from the 2014 Hockey/Abbott budget. We will take the $1billion from our aid budget. Again we take it from the mouths of those who can protest the least and who have the greatest need. A truly magnanimous statement from our prime minister, me thinks not.
Keith Hawkins, North Melbourne
Is this our best?
The $1billion for climate change initiatives for countries in the Pacific region is welcomed, but it will come out of the existing aid budget. Will this necessitate cuts in other aid programs, such as immunisation? Australia should increase aid funding and shoulder its share of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals of ending extreme poverty by 2030. We signed up to the goals but have offered no new or additional funding. Britain's foreign aid budget is 0.7per cent of its gross national income compared to Australia's which will shortly fall to a miserable 0.22per cent of our gross national income, its lowest level ever. Australia is better than this.
Michael Picone, Kingston Beach, Tas
Ethical shopping
Japan's decision to resume "scientific" whaling will affect not just the whales, whose lives will be senselessly taken, but also Japanese industry. Consumers will make other, scientific, choices when it comes to holidays or buying cars or electronic goods.
Lawrence Pope, Victorian Advocates for Animals
How to lose customers
What kind of loyalty can Telstra expect from customers when it subjects them to such exorbitant fees when they travel overseas ("Roaming may be a misdial for Telstra", BusinessDay, 21/12)? As retirees, on our three-week trip overseas we must choose the inconvenience of obtaining a foreign SIM for our mobile due to Telstra's international roaming fees. Thanks, Telstra.
Tony Bell, Hawthorn East
Take heed, schoolies
Many years ago when I finished the equivalent of TAFE in Britain, we had "rag week". This involved us students doing crazy but harmless stunts such as being pushed around the street a in pram, dressed in a nappy. We did these silly things to raise funds for charity. We carried tins and gathered significant money for the local hospital and had a great laugh doing it. Could some kind soul start a trend in Australia and guide our spoilt brats to do something useful on their way to adulthood instead of "mucking up"? Please.
Nicholas Brown, Montmorency
Superwoman Kate
The Dressmaker is a great Australian movie and book. I am bemused, however, at the ease with which Kate Winslet is carrying the Singer sewing machine, on both the book's cover and movie poster. Anyone who has used one of these 10kilogram-plus behemoths knows that they could only be lugged around with shoulder-dislocating difficulty.
Dianne Anderson, Bundoora
Well done, umpire
Hail the third umpire, Nigel Llong, for his DRS decision in the 3rd Test at Adelaide. It will give the Kiwis something to complain about for the next 20years and, hopefully, take their minds off Trevor Chappell's under-arm.
Rick Drewer, Gawler East, SA
Poor – but happy
The older I get, the more convinced I am that I would rather be poor in a beautiful world than well off in a desolate one.
David Beardsell, Balwyn North
AND ANOTHER THING ...
Abbott
Tony, you blamed Julia for her downfall yet she endured the same adversities you complain of. Admit some responsibility.
Jane Laver, St Kilda
Is it a cardinal sin for a Bishop to deceive an Abbott?
Adrian Tabor, Point Lonsdale
Abbott thinks he can invoke The Rudd spirit and rise from the ashes. Me thinks not.
Debora Mendelson, Toorak
Tony, Peta and Joe are yesterday's people. Why devote full-pages to them?
Reg Murray, Glen Iris
Abbott should accept he was fortunate to have been PM but that, like Rudd, he was unsuitable for the role.
Francis Smith, Caulfield North
Tony says he would "have died happy". I would have died laughing if he had stayed any longer.
Paul Wells, Preston
Mr Abbott, you don't do your own assessment when you arrive at the Pearly Gates. St Peter does it.
Angela O'Connor, Glen Iris
Now, now, Tony, no blouse fronting.
Brian Moynihan, Castlemaine
Environment
"Black lung" for the miners, black lung for the atmosphere.
Don Stewart, Port Fairy
Abbott said climate change was "crap". Turnbull says it isn't, but acts as though it is.
Ian Bell, Fitzroy
Turnbull in Paris: talking the talk while walking backwards.
Kevin Summers, Bentleigh
Business
Shame to hear about a supplier bullying Coles. How does it feel, you poor darling?
Wayne Nattrass, Invermay, Tas
No wonder Woolies got out of Dick Smith. It's not easy to screw suppliers like Samsung, Toshiba, Adobe.
Peter Barrett, Kew
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