According to 2015 Immigration Department figures, there were 1.87 million temporary and bridging visa holders in Australia. Some 60,000 people have overstayed their visas and are living in Australia illegally, while about 250,000 people come to Australia each year permanently as migrants.
Yet it is the 2000 people, largely refugees, exiled in offshore detention centres in appalling conditions, who have become the focus of a protectionist mentality reinforced by the very name "Border Force". It seems to me the pressures of population growth have found a convenient scapegoat in the refugees who arrive by boat. People who arrive by plane and stay in this country illegally escape that scrutiny. The issue is not refugees seeking a new life and arriving by boat; the issue is the growing inequity in our society, which is exacerbated by massive population growth, as those in the less favoured outer 'burbs face traffic gridlock and lack of vital infrastructure. Let's not trade away our humanity by buying into this scapegoating. Let's show compassion to those in need and then talk sensibly about equity in our community, reassess our paltry foreign aid budget and re-examine our involvement in military operations overseas.
Pauline Hopkins, Beaconsfield
Nauseated by that benevolent smile
The more politicians talk – interminably – about border protection saving "boat people" from drowning ("See, we're being brutal to save their lives!"), the more nauseated I become. To see Malcolm Turnbull stating that Australia treats these persecuted people with "compassion" is a disgraceful downgrading of that comforting word, especially when he displays the new, false, benevolent smile he learnt during the election campaign.
Pat Coe, Hawthorn
Hope prolongs the torment
Talk about "bringing them here" gives asylum seekers hope by fostering a belief that time will open a path to Australia. The consequence of compassion back in 2006 was 50,000 people coming by sea, of which 1200 people drowned. That's the reason for the brutal moral calculus. Nietzsche wrote "hope – in reality it is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man". The torrent of letters chastising offshore detention sends a signal of hope that prolongs the torment of the refugees. That is not compassionate. This policy is designed to take away false hope, and make settlement to a third country a more arduous option than seeking asylum in Indonesia. That argument is not racist.
Dylan Bailey, Ormond
A tattoo should do the trick, Malcolm
If the refugees are sent to a third country, perhaps they should be tattooed upon departure with the initials BAR (Banned Australian refugee). Or perhaps in this digital age inserting a barcode under their skin to enable quick scanning is more appropriate? This would allow for their immediate identification and quick removal if they ever seek a return to our shores via a tourist visa. However, I doubt any of them will ever want to return to Australia – a country that has treated them so badly during their time of troubles.
Andrew Powell, Caulfield
THE FORUM
Maltese cross to bear
On October 28, 1916, a group of 214 young Maltese men arrived in Melbourne on the French ship Gange. The government of Billy Hughes considered them prohibited immigrants. They had to pass a dictation test in Dutch, which they failed. There was a lot of fear that these "dark men" would steal the jobs while Australians were fighting abroad. Some of these Maltese men, being British, had fought with Anzacs at Gallipoli.
During World War I Malta became known as "the Nurse of the Mediterranean"; some 80,000 wounded soldiers, mostly Anzacs, were being cared for on the island. The hospitals were full, and every public space was converted to a hospital, and every able-bodied man and woman was enlisted to work in them.
Yet in Australia these Maltese were regarded as aliens and were not allowed to set foot in the country. They were taken to Noumea on the Gange, where they languished for several months. When they were finally allowed to enter Australia, they were detained for months on the old hulk the Anglian. A century later, history is repeating itself.
Georgina Scillio, Fairfield
What are we?
What's become of us? We give a stingy 0.2 per cent of our gross national income as foreign aid; we persecute asylum seekers; and we allow our greenhouse emissions to keep rising despite pledging last year in Paris to reduce them. Are we the world's worst citizens, or what?
Leigh Callinan, Bendigo
Bludgeoning elderly
The federal government's last budget contained massive cuts to aged care, targeted at frail older people with complex needs such as dementia and heart disease. UnitingCare Australia, Aged and Community Services Australia and Catholic Health Australia commissioned independent modelling of the cuts on 39,000 people across 501 aged care homes – 21 per cent of the aged care sector. The results are stark. The government is removing more than $2 billion from aged care, with the support for frail older people cut by more than $6500 per person each year, rising to more than $18,000 for those with very complex needs. The costs of many essential health services will no longer be covered, including physiotherapy and wound care. Such cuts will compel providers to review their services with the real risk that they will no longer be able to accept clients being discharged from hospital. We call on the government to stop the cuts while we work together to identify a more sustainable means of meeting the health care needs of older people.
Peter Bicknell, UnitingCare Australia
Accreditation too lax
While there are some excellent aged care homes, recent reports of medical negligence, neglect and inadequate personal care suggest that numerous providers prioritise profits over residents' quality of life. How do such homes pass accreditation? Ten years ago, a Senate committee held an inquiry into the sector. Its report criticised the accreditation standards, finding them too generalised to effectively measure care outcomes. Unfortunately, vague phrases such as adequate nourishment and hydration, effective continence management, optimum levels of mobility and sufficient staff continue to be used.
Consider the case of a friend. She has been classified correctly as a "falls risk" – meaning she is not permitted to walk without a staff member. Due to insufficient staff and a culture that sees many residents spend most of the day immobile, her son has sole responsibility for "maximising her mobility".
Given that the accreditation process enables aged-care facilities to receive government funding, it should be a rigorous assessment not a rubber stamp.
Sarah Russell, Aged Care Matters
Privatising disaster
The belated discovery by the head of the ACCC that privatisation is almost always to the disadvantage of citizens was welcome. So it is of great concern to find that profit-based aged-care facilities are well on the way to achieving a monopoly in the sector. The trend towards higher resident costs and lower service quality will continue apace.
The situation is further proof that Coalition ideology is a serious impediment to people's wellbeing. The idea that private enterprise can do a better job than trained and resourced public servants has taken over. Australians are the worse for it.
Private entities operate to maximise the financial return to shareholders and the top employees (with service and the importance of their work secondary), while government entities have an entirely different goal – that of serving the people at large (with the national good and service to the people paramount). Governments try to convince us this is not so, even in the face of scandalous, if not criminal, misuse of public money.
Robert Lees Andrew, Hamilton
Voices of vengeance
Historian Niall Ferguson has observed that after previous economic depressions, voters sought "political payback". Millions of people in the West feel betrayed by the parties whose policies allowed the global financial crisis to happen – but then neither punished the hustlers who caused it nor protected those who suffered the most. Now that it's time for change, or at least revenge, a messenger is needed. Who is talking about fixing capitalism so it works for ordinary people? Jeremy Corbyn, Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump and Pauline Hanson.
David Mackay, Macleod
Government needed
Our country seems to have two oppositions and no government. The official opposition appears to be doing its job. Yet after three years the official government continues to act as an opposition. No minister speaks without first blaming the opposition and then avoids answering all questions. Policy, such as it is, seems to consist of being as nasty as possible to everyone except the rich and business and denying the obvious need to tackle increasing inequality and climate change. We need a government that governs for all of us, not just the extreme far right.
Bill Godfrey, Mt Stuart, Tas
A vital division
Mark Kenny demonstrates convincingly that the role of the solicitor-general is not only traditionally independent of the attorney-general but, as the government's pre-eminent legal resource, its detachment is vital to the effective working of cabinet government ("How we'll pay for the power play", 30/10).
It is also clear how Attorney-General George Brandis has neutered the role, apparently aware that Mr Turnbull could not or would not interfere. It is becoming increasingly clear that Mr Turnbull enjoys the status of the role as PM without exercising any real power.
Paul Ormonde, Northcote
Cherish the teacher
Recent letters (30/10) powerfully demonstrate the huge stress that forces many teachers to resort to desperate measures such as discontinue their vocation, take early retirement and even contemplate suicide. An ever-increasing volume of administrative tasks is forced upon teachers and principals, in particular, reducing their time and energy to be the caring professional whom we entrust to support young people.
We are all responsible for this deplorable situation; we, as a society, grossly undervalue teachers and their magnificent profession; they are hugely under-appreciated, under-resourced and underpaid.
Father Kevin Burke, Eltham
Respect and restraint
I hope the tragic story of Mark Thompson's experiences as a principal (Extra, 23/10) gives parents pause for thought when dealing with their child's teachers. We must resist the temptation to aim at them our frustrations at how the world treats our children just because teachers are accessible.
They are often experts not just in child development but also in each child's day-to-day challenges. We can work with teachers to help our children grow strong, rather than against them in a quest for validation of our fears.
Jackie Steel, Coburg North
City up the pole
In Melbourne, every suburban streetscape is blighted by power and data transmission poles, with the wires scything through street tree canopies, leaving only trunks and branches as a pathetic parody of what councils originally envisioned. You only have to walk these streets and turn your eyes to the horizon to see how truly ugly these streetscapes are. In the suburbs, Melbourne will never be close to the most liveable city until, like the world's truly liveable cities, power and data transmission utilities are put underground ("World's most liveable city? Pull the other one", 30/10).
Brian Sanaghan, West Preston