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How can we continue to refer to Australia as the ″⁣smart country″⁣ when we hit university students, who want to make something of themselves and benefit the community, with ever-increasing fees (″⁣Soaring cost of a humanities degree fails to deter students″⁣, 23/11)? I attended various tertiary institutions in the ’70s, and apart from a few dollars for student union membership, I paid nothing.
Why are the wealthy in society about to get tax cuts they don’t need or deserve when the money saved could be spent on helping young would-be students to become the doctors and social workers that we so desperately need?
I didn’t study much history but the way things are looking, we might need another French Revolution-type event and a fresh start. Peter Dodds, Montmorency

Education helps in a person’s evolution
I completed a humanities degree at university in the 1970s. My major studies were in the disciplines of history, geography and economics. During that time, I studied such topics as the Russian Revolution, the growth of fascism in Italy and Germany, and the abhorrent details of the Holocaust.
I became much more environmentally aware with topics covered in the geography course and became au fait with the machinations
of economics.
While I don’t claim to be an expert in these fields, my humanities degree greatly influenced the person I became – a much better informed and empathetic person, I’d like to think.
That university humanities courses have become more expensive after the Morrison government’s Job-ready Graduates fee scheme (23/11) is not only appalling but is a very narrow-minded view of what constitutes a coherent and well-informed society. Coming from modest means, I might not have been able to afford my humanities degree if the Morrison scheme had existed way back then.
Phil Alexander, Eltham

System needs complete overhaul
Re ″⁣Soaring costs of a humanities degree″⁣: the students who began degrees in 2021 had already chosen their pathway through VCE by the time that the Morrison government outlined the fee changes for 2021. The difficulty in changing from a humanities focus to science/maths was not considered in the timing. And as a double whammy, many of this intake had completed year 12 in the first difficult year of COVID-19 when schools had to pivot to online teaching.
I have never understood why the fees are not the same for all subjects – say, $500 a subject, no matter the study field. Those choosing longer courses will overall pay more, but no academic area is penalised unfairly and choices to enrol are based on interest in the course, not cost (weirdly, the courses that probably cost least to run cost most to do).
Then there is the whole additional area of post-graduate fees. If we want a smart workforce able to develop new skills over time, why are these courses almost prohibitive in cost unless you are lucky enough to have a benevolent employer who pays? Clearly, it is a system that needs an overhaul and a review of its core purpose – education.
Clancy Briggs, Berwick

Study of humanities is key
Tertiary study in the humanities is what humankind, and all other life with which it shares Earth, now needs most to unlock the capitalist stranglehold (which economic politics, underpinned by deceptive marketing, has rigged) so that it stays stuck, despite its increasingly negative effects on everything and everyone.
Ruth Farr, Blackburn

Teaching of history is paramount
Nick Bryant (″⁣Global order has turned into chaos″⁣, 3/11) achieves two things – knowing something of the past in order to make
any sense of the present and underscoring the importance of teaching history in both schools and universities.
Nick Toovey, Beaumaris

FORUM

Writing on the wall
Author Tim Winton argues that “writing” will play an important part in stopping the “business as usual” path to increasing climate chaos. (“Author Winton blasts fossil fuel climate ‘crime’“, 23/11) And many of us have tried writing, with letters to newspapers, politicians, business leaders, placards at rallies and petitions.
But here we are – fully informed about the crisis, actually breaking 2C of warming, and with emissions still increasing. With all respect to Winton, I think we need more civil disobedience. Anything else is actually still business as usual.
Lesley Walker, Northcote

Not a proud moment
It is a fact that all coal, gas and oil that is burnt increases atmospheric CO2, and therefore makes climate change worse.
So when Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen (“Bowen flags tougher climate curbs″⁣, 22/11) says “new sources [of gas] are going to be required to underpin reliability and security”, what he is really saying is “we promise to make climate change even worse for the next 27 years”. Not just failing to reduce emissions enough to meet a 1.5C rise, but actually emitting more. What is there to be proud of?
Bob Hale, Malvern

Taking a haircut
Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock says demand for haircuts and dental work is pushing up inflation, and therefore further interest rate rises are likely (“More rates pain ahead, warns RBA”, 23/11).
For most people, money spent on necessary haircuts and dental work is money then not available to spend on other things. The inflationary effect should be neutral. I don’t believe anyone is getting their hair cut more frequently, or going to the dentist when they don’t need to.
But Bullock says the Reserve must use the “blunt tool” of interest rates to curb inflation. It is well overdue for the RBA to melt that blunt tool down and forge some surgical instruments out of it.
Could we all just promise to grow our hair long and let our teeth rot for a few months to save people from losing their homes?
The logic of inflation and interest rate rises completely escapes me.
Daniel Cole, St Albans

Speculative strategy
I’ve long considered capital gains tax and negative gearing as important but secondary drivers of domestic real estate investment. Far more important is the ready availability of highly leveraged loans. No other investment type allows loans of 90 per cent or more with the advantage of income on the whole property from the start.
Recently I’ve realised it’s even worse than this. With collateral, people buy houses with zero deposit and add the transfer costs and mortgage insurance into interest-only loans. This allows them to more readily outbid owner occupiers with no money down driven by a speculative capital gain strategy.
Is it any wonder we have runaway prices and people unable to buy and stuck renting when this comes on top of high immigration and new supply problems.
Mark Freeman, Macleod

Tax cuts pressure needed
If the Reserve Bank is so concerned at the amount of spending in society causing unacceptable levels of inflation, then why does it appear it hasn’t leaned on the federal government to stop tax cuts which will apparently add $184 billion to disposable income over the next decade?
Dave Rabl, Ocean Grove

Raise the taxes
The Reserve Bank is now telling us that “ordinary” Australians are out there spending and contributing to inflation. Therefore the mortgage holders will again be belted to try to bring inflation down.
How about raising the level of income tax for every wage and salary earner (including that of the obscene bonuses) across the board and adding to government coffers for social services.
David Raymond, Doncaster East

China’s green moment
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard describes China’s astonishing transition to renewables (“China’s green surge could be watershed moment for the world”, 23/11).
For around a decade, China has been acknowledged as the fastest-growing producer of renewable energy; now it appears their “target of net zero by 2060 is likely to be achieved a decade earlier than previously assumed, and perhaps earlier than in Europe”.
Another surprise: President Xi was/is a greenie. “He wrote a column 20 years ago as Zhejiang party chief warning that China’s energy-intensive and high-polluting economic model was unsustainable.“
Much is made of China’s large contribution to emissions by those in Australia who would hold back our transition; however, that is increasingly difficult to uphold.
China may even get to the finish line before we do.
The news is welcome that the federal government will expand the capacity investment scheme and underwrite 32 gigawatts of renewables as it tries to meet its goal of 82 per cent renewables by 2030.
Fossil fuels will not be eligible.
Fiona Colin,
Malvern East

Kiss them goodbye
Whatever your thoughts on the great Sydney-Melbourne divide, I think we can all agree, one of the absolute pleasures has been the total lack of the Kyle and Jackie O factor down south.
I think KISS FM is sealing their fate in Melbourne. Crass is not the way we like it, whether we are in a Preston or Prahran. Or South Gippsland, for that matter.
Frank Flynn, Cape Paterson

A reckless bet
Kyle Sandilands and Jackie “O” Henderson might be proof that no one ever went broke underestimating the taste of Sydney radio audiences, but betting $200 million that Melbourne listeners are as crass, seems reckless (“Melbourne beware: Deal unleashes radio cyclone”, 23/11).
Lawrie Bradly,
Surrey Hills

Strike v holiday
I’m waiting for those strident complainants against students missing part of a day’s classes to protest about things that will affect their futures to also decry the ever-increasing parental refrain that “taking the kids out of school for an overseas holiday won’t affect their learning”.
Laurine Hurley, Northcote

The roving dingo
Dingo is the name I nominate for the moon rover. It celebrates Ernie Dingo, who roves all over Australia showing us what a wonderful country we live in, while also honouring that iconic animal, the roving dingo.
Margaret Collings, Anglesea

JFK memories
Like columnist Bruce Wolpe (″⁣I was 12 when JFK was assassinated″⁣, 22/11) I have clear memories of that day. Twice that age and recently arrived in the US as a graduate student, alone at that point in a new country, safety and even the world’s sanity seemed far away.
Alas, events on the world stage can still revive that recollection, all too often.
Tony Haydon, Springvale

Money the old way
The article “Shoppers tighten belt″⁣, 22/11) resonates with me. Prior to the introduction of credit cards, we used cash for all expenses.
Each payday a certain amount was put aside to buy groceries. Once you used that, you had to wait until next pay. So meals were planned and made from scratch at home. Household goods were saved for or put on layby or bought with hire purchase. We saved for rare holidays from any leftover money.
Young friends have saved $11,000 this year by putting aside a certain amount of cash each week for housekeeping and they stick to buying what they need.
As my grandchildren help me with my understanding of the digital world, hopefully I can help them to understand the way to manage their finances.
Sandra Ashton, Beaumaris

Don’t demonise these kids
As a parent, I am concerned that the federal government’s plans to cut access to the NDIS for some autistic kids and adults in order to rein in the scheme’s costs will further demonise an already misunderstood group.
Unfortunately, there is still a lot of prejudice, misinformation and negativity towards people with autism, and the government will add fuel to this by focusing on autism as the main reason why the NDIS budget has blown out.
People with autism and their families will be seen as a drain on the taxpayer, or attacked for rorting the system when, in fact, the money goes into the pockets of service providers.
Already, people are writing into the newspapers aghast at Bill Shorten’s ″⁣audacity″⁣ to suggest schools might actually have a bigger role in supporting children with autism, rather than just the NDIS. Gee, how dare he remind us that, in Australia, all children, regardless of their disability and other personal traits, have a legal right to education in mainstream schools.
Please, let’s not attack the autistic community for flaws in both the NDIS and in a wider society that wants them kept separate and excluded from mainstream services. It is these systemic problems that are to blame for the costs blowout, not the autistic participants themselves.
Sara Bannister, Reservoir

Stop, give thanks
With so much causing us anguish and despair at the moment, we do need to take a moment to appreciate the happiness in our lives. My list starts with a family wedding, school fetes in the sunshine, the camellias, busy retail, seeing year 12 completed, new grandchildren, and taking a holiday.
Felicity Browne, Toorak

AND ANOTHER THING

Economy
The RBA governor has finally worked it out – it’s the cost of my quarterly ″⁣short back and sides″⁣ at Joe’s Barber Shop that’s fuelling inflation.
David Cayzer, Clifton Hill

Really Shane Wright (Comment, 22/11), we’re not Americans, we don’t use dimes. Find an Australian equivalent.
Lorraine Bates, Balwyn

Furthermore
I don’t know of a car that locks cruise control at 30 km/h. It will create a raft of speedo watchers where the inevitable speed cameras will be stationed. I agree with Police Commissioner Shane Patten, “ridiculous″⁣.
Ian Anderson, Ascot Vale

There has been much discussion of detainees and ankle bracelets. As a bracelet is worn on the arm, the correct term is anklet.
Geoffrey Conaghan, St Kilda

It exemplifies the stupidity of war that the combatants can call a four-day ″⁣halftime″⁣ break in Gaza then the fighting will go on.
Reg Murray, Glen Iris

As plans for Gippsland offshore wind farms progress listen out for the ″⁣faux″⁣ concern for sealife from the fossil fuel industry.
Jenny Smithers, Ashburton

Am I alone in my loathing of the expression ″⁣from the get-go″⁣? At least other annoying expressions like ″⁣go figure″⁣, have the saving grace of being a quick way to get the idea across – unlike ″⁣get-go″⁣ which is no shorter than saying ″⁣from the start″⁣.
Peter Kealey, Belmont

Thanks to your correspondent for explaining the Indigenous meaning for the shortlisted moon rover name, Coolamon. Boomerang might have been good too, as we all want to see it again.
Robin Jensen, Castlemaine

It’s perfectly obvious that the only name for the rover should be Colin.
Layla Godfrey, Mount Eliza

I know it hasn’t been long but it’s times like these that I really miss Daniel Andrews.
Michael Carver, Hawthorn East

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