Theft from the "public purse" appears to happen regularly. Government MP Steve Irons and his wife have helped themselves to public monies for dubious, unexplained travel and other purposes ("MP flying high on the public purse", 16/10). It is merely the latest revelation of a politician who has in effect stolen from the public. Each time this happens – or, rather, on the occasion the miscreant is caught, which is not the same thing as whenever it occurs – various explanations are offered. There is a denial that anything wrong has been done, an admission that the money has been repaid, or an apology that denies culpability and appears to blame those who "may" have been offended. Finally, the government will hold an in-house review. It will find the system "too ambiguous", will recommend "a new definition of parliamentary business be introduced", alongside "improved reporting methods", but will warn that "significant legislative changes are required to streamline parliamentary work expenses". Surely it's more straightforward? Exercise integrity. Don't lie and don't steal.
Deborah Morrison, Malvern East
Unfit to make the rules
Yet another expose of a backbencher, who used a generous interpretation of "electorate business" to claim expenses. Perhaps it is time to incorporate a system that the founders of democracy, the ancient Greeks, used to determine affairs of state. Known as ecclesia, it formed groups of citizens, selected by lot, to hear arguments and make decisions. As the term "community expectations" is so often used, ecclesia might better determine the rules that pass the pub test and the penalties for breaches of those rules. From the point of view of an outsider, it is easy to conclude that politicians, the people who have the most to gain from loose definitions of claimable expenses, are the worst people to set the rules.
Lindsay Kenneth Jarman, Geelong
MPs' despicable behaviour feeds discontent
Where exactly is the mutual obligation? Unemployed people, half of whom sit below the poverty line, receive just $38 a day to cover rent, food, clothing, utilities and transport ("Our shame: kids getting poorer", 16/10). Many of these desperate people are maligned by others, including MPs, as "dole bludgers" or "leaners" or spoken of with contempt as "welfare recipients". Yet this world also permits a federal MP, already earning many times the income of most workers, to claim $258 from taxpayers for a night's accommodation to attend a Gold Coast golf tournament, which also cost the public $1875 in airfares. And this is a "legitimate" electorate expense for an MP who represents a seat near Perth. The mismatch between how average Australians live and how the privileged few get by is so astounding and stark as to be almost incomprehensible. While some people are negative gearing their 10th property, dodging tax or buying designer outfits for the spring racing carnival, other people are struggling to feed their children. The gross and despicable inequity in our society will only feed discontent. Policymakers ignore this at their peril.
Pauline Hopkins, Beaconsfield
THE FORUM
Embrace equality anew
Climbing rates of crime and mental illness among young people; an increase in domestic violence; and the corrosive cynicism with which we regard politicians in our major parties. The growing inequity in society contributes to all problems. The OECD reports that high inequity produces serious social disorder, with Australia one of the most unequal societies in the Western world due to the gap between rich and poor. Some 73,000 children now live below the poverty line, more than a decade ago. We are witnessing a precursor to the whirlwind we will reap if politicians continue to have a tin ear for such inequity. Brexit and the rise of Donald Trump are further evidence of that whirlwind. Our prospects are grim unless we return to the egalitarianism that was once a hallmark of Australian society.
Bryan Long, Balwyn
Destroyer lurks within
George Bush, Tony Blair and John Howard were half right. There were weapons of mass destruction, but not in Iraq. They were under their noses. In America such weapons included policies espoused by the Republican Party since the Reagan years, which have created an angry, disaffected underclass.
And the right wing of the Coalition seems to be following suit. We now have 73,000 children living below the poverty line, and a large proportion of working Australians excluded from home ownership. Other Australian weapons include the xenophobia stirred up by conservative dog whistlers and reductions in our modest foreign aid budget.
The "United" States is discovering that gross disparities in wealth, income and economic opportunity are not sustainable if it wishes to recreate a decent, safe, harmonious society. The Coalition might do well to examine the American malaise. Would members of any reasonably egalitarian, caring society seriously contemplate putting someone like Donald Trump in any position of authority?
Norman Huon, Port Melbourne
The truly hidden truth
WikiLeaks likes to portray itself as a noble organisation revealing the hidden truth. It actually is an agent of the Russian state endeavouring to get Donald Trump elected. How noble.
Michael Helman, St Kilda East
Time to say goodbye
Britain's David Cameron showed courage and intelligence when he stood down as prime minister and subsequently left politics. He realised that in staying on, he would be a distraction to his party, its new leader and future policy making. He had the guts to leave. If only Tony Abbott had the same strengths.
Ellen McGregor, Heathmont
Dogs with old tricks
Senator Ian MacDonald is a loud and angry-barking Queenslander. He is now supported by the member for Deakin, Michael Sukkar, a new breed of attack dog. The distinguished Professor Gillian Triggs, Human Rights Commissioner, has little to fear from these would-bes.
Peter McNamara, Canterbury
Better aim needed
Hunters who need a quick-firing multi-shot gun obviously expect to miss more often than not. Learning to shoot well will be much cheaper than buying an expensive gun and wasting ammunition. And safer for the rest of us on a number of levels.
Gary Sayer, Warrnambool
Nobody's business
Most commentators are overlooking the main reason against holding a plebiscite on same-sex marriage (Opinion, 16/10). I am a straight, married father of three children; it is none of my business whether same-sex couples are allowed to marry, nor is it the business of anyone else apart from those that a legislative change would affect. Why on earth should we all be given the opportunity to decide for others whether they should be afforded a basic human right?
Neil Green, West Footscray
People no longer
Dehumanisation was a psychological tactic the Nazis perfected in World War II's concentration camps. Inmates were deprived of their names, that which identified them as human beings, and were debased to the status of non-people, subhumans. They could then be tortured and murdered without conscience as they didn't exist as humans. Those of us are old enough to remember were horrified at this mental torture.
On Manus Island and Nauru the guards refer to asylum seekers and their children by their boat numbers, not their names. Is this a lesson our government has taken from the Holocaust? Not the humanitarian lesson that people should never be degraded or psychologically tortured in this way again but a way to make another group of people subhuman and dispensable in the eyes of the public.
Miffy Robb, Eurobin
Shipping suffering
Jewish people being transported to extermination camps in freight trains were referred to as "cargo" – to dehumanise them and make it more palatable for those responsible for this horror. Today, this "cargo" is referred to as "illegals" (as in criminals), transferees and other terms that do not acknowledge the humanity of these desperate people seeking refuge. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Elizabeth Potter, Brighton
Breeding hopelessness
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton deserves recognition for his political nous. He treats the detainees on Nauru and Manus abominably, thus drawing attention away from the more than 25,000 asylum seekers on the mainland in "community detention". Come to Werribee, and see where "Reza" and "Soraya" live on charity handouts, unable to get work because employers reject applicants who have no hope of permanent resident status. I'll introduce you to their daughter "Mariam", a bright VCE student but who is stateless and therefore unwelcome at any university in Australia. This transient life breeds hopelessness. When will this nightmare stop? Don't give me more rubbish about preventing people smuggling. Lord, have mercy on us, complicit in the cruel deprivation of human dignity.
Revd Neil Tolliday, Werribee
Not worth bottling
On Thursday I was plodding through security at Melbourne airport to board a domestic flight after untold hours of sardine cramming. I placed my duty-free bottles of alcohol on to the tray and awaited them on the other side of the scanners. The lady looked up at me and said, "I can't let these through, sir." "Why not?" I querulously inquired. "Because I've got a birthday coming up," she hilariously replied. Fantastic. Still, I guess it helps if your department is headed up by a clown.
Andrew Neeson, Launceston, Tasmania
Publicise airport route
There have been several articles about the lack of public transport to Tullamarine airport. But there is a way to get to there by this method. The 901 Smart Bus leaves Broadmeadows railway station every 10 minutes and stops in the bus area of Terminal 4. We who take this route always congratulate ourselves on being in the know. Interestingly, this route does not appear on the Public Transport Victoria Journey Planner no matter whether one enters "Melbourne Airport", "Tullamarine Airport" or the name of the stop as it appears in the 901 timetable "(Melbourne Airport (Grants Road) (Melbourne airport)". Also, the direction signs at Tullamarine airport to the bus stands underneath Terminal 4 do not say "Public" buses until you actually arrive at the bus stands. I wonder why this route is not publicised by PTV or airport management.
Jan Lansdowne, Brunswick East
Brutes on the lake
Just over 100 years ago the Coburg Lake Park was created. It was an initiative of a far-sighted Coburg council, which appreciated the need of residents for beautiful and peaceful natural surroundings within a city environment. The lake and weir were built by the labour of Pentridge convicts, who have received little recognition for the beautiful space they created for successive generations. Now this urban oasis is being overshadowed by high-rise development in the Pentridge Gaol heritage precinct, with the collusion of a much less visionary Moreland council and the consent of successive planning ministers. The developers, for their part, repeatedly lodge high-rise heritage permit applications that fail to include sight lines from Coburg Lake. Four more towers of 15-19 storeys are planned in what will become a mini-Manhattan in the centre of this heritage precinct. No doubt some of the occupants in the high rises will enjoy fine views of the lake. The rest of us, residents and lake visitors alike, will be forced to have our noses rubbed in the brutalist architecture that will now dominate our lake surroundings.
Michael Hamel-Green, Coburg