Words are meaningless without meaningful action

The Age

13 hours ago

Selective compassion
The suffering in Gaza is real and heartbreaking, and it rightly demands public attention. But while our focus is fixed there, far greater – and largely unreported – humanitarian catastrophes continue elsewhere.
In Sudan, over 26 million people are experiencing acute hunger, with hundreds of thousands of children believed to have died from malnutrition since conflict erupted in 2023.
In Yemen, after nearly a decade of war, more than 17 million face food insecurity, and Save the Children estimates 85,000 children died from hunger in just the first few years of conflict. These numbers dwarf even the most alarming figures from Gaza, yet receive only a fraction of the coverage. All civilian suffering matters. But if our outrage is driven only by who is involved – rather than the scale of the suffering – then our moral compass risks becoming selective.
We owe more to those whose voices go unheard.
Jennifer Stewart, South Chadstone
THE FORUM
History's black holes
The story of our age is supposed to be constant progress, but man-made calamities repeat. For instance, the famine imposed less than 100 years ago on Ukraine by Moscow robbing grain is recounted in Putin's cruel destruction of that nation today.
At the same time, we see an alliance between Trump and Netanyahu as if both have pledged to drive Gazans into the sea, like the Ottomans drove Armenians into a desert. Loose threads in the fabric of history are being plucked by Putin in Ukraine and by the duo of Trump and Netanyahu over Gaza.
If history is anything, then we are watching a black hole in its page, a void where good intentions go to die.
We can only gaze at the suffering, not least those of little children dying of preventable starvation while food piles up outside the gate.
We in the liberal democracies have a perilous dilemma that will leave many of us numb. We determine our own futures free of coercion but are at risk of permanent loss of any sense of justice.
Trevor Kerr, Blackburn
Think like Thatcher
Sussan Ley's performance at parliamentary question time the other day was as flat as a day-old gin fizz. Her diction was poor, her body language ephemeral and she showed little gravitas in the face of the embarrassing comments from Michael McCormack and Barnaby Joyce. Given the low standing she appears to have within the LNP she really needs to get her act together.
And she can. There's one thing she can do that could really help her out. Go home and think to herself 'What would Margaret Thatcher do?'
For a start she'd lower her voice by an octave. Then, practically, in a strident act of strength and without pity, Thatcher would have undertaken a purge of every useless, shallow, disloyal male in her orbit and appoint young, energetic, ambitious loose cannons, male or female.
Were Ley to follow Thatcher's style, Labor would be dazed and confused. Then perhaps the Liberals can start to agree with Labor on what they can agree on, including net zero whilst setting aside other matters of disagreement for later.
The country requires an effective opposition. At present. we have to endure a bunch of hayseed tenant farmers whingeing about why they're out in the rental cottage and not staying in the big house.
The last thing the country needs is a state like we have in Victoria. As a Scot, I was never a fan of Thatcher but her parliamentary performance and her campaigning was undeniably resonant with voters at the time.
Simon Clegg, Donvale
A treaty, it's not
I am far from amused by the 27/7 report of the 'beer-lateral relationship' and what your correspondent rightly styled the ' so-called Geelong Treaty ' signed by Defence Minister Richard Marles and the UK Defence Secretary John Healey.
Treaties should be discussed and endorsed by the parliament. I have not seen any such reports of this matter. Is this another example, like AUKUS, of the public being informed, after the event, of matters that intended to shape the future for us and our children.
Associating international agreements with warm relationships between elected politicians is a modern-day nonsense designed to add to the electoral appeal of the individuals. Even if they did wear flat hats or tradie boots to look the part when visiting the brewery in Geelong or the pub in Rotherham, it is not how decisions on vast amounts of taxpayers' money should be made.
Gerry O'Reilly, Camberwell
Company we keep
Re ″⁣ Hong Kong places $40,000 bounty on local academic ″⁣, (27/7). Dr Feng Chongyi should consider himself fortunate he is not a former US citizen. Whilst we should be outraged that the Chinese government has applied a bounty on his head, the Australian government will not extradite him to Hong Kong. The actions which have garnered Chinese ire are not illegal under Australian law.
Feng Chongyi is still a free man, though his life will now be unfairly constrained.
Not so lucky was Daniel Duggan, who was extradited to the US by our government to face charges in the US which were retrospectively applied, for actions which are likewise not illegal under Australian law. Duggan has now disappeared into the gulag which is the US justice system.
The double standard applied here is a disgrace.
Australian citizens should be protected by their government against overreach by all nations. There is no free pass for ones that claim to be our ″⁣ally″⁣.
Ken Richards, Elwood
Polystyrene danger
The Yarra Riverkeeper Association has just released its 'Polystyrene Report'. It has found that expanded polystyrene (EPS) constitutes the most prevalent and pervasive litter in the Yarra River, and that most of it comes from construction sites. Builders love EPS because it's cheap and light to use, and makes construction a lot quicker. It is mixed with concrete to make foundations, and used in walls as insulation.
This is an environmental disaster in the making. Polystyrene is a form of plastic. It does not degrade in the sense that organic material does. It simply breaks down into micro-plastics that get into our waterways and soils, and if ingested by birds, fish and frogs, can damage their internal organs. It is more harmful than other forms of plastic as its toxic chemicals can leak into the environment.
So, where is the EPA on this, and the Victorian government? The state government's push for fast growth and densification to solve the housing crisis will only exacerbate this.
There is no safe way to use polystyrene on construction sites. It must be banned or its use severely curtailed.
Annette Cooper, Camberwell
Education quality
Re Letters 'Private access appeal' (24/7). The idea of private schools opening their Olympic-standard sports facilities to the public out of hours is as unthinkable as high-class restaurants offering dinners to the homeless in the morning.
Those who could pay, but usually don't, would flood in. Sporting entitlement might lose its meaning. Profit margins might be cut and normal enrolment might shrink. Privilege and exclusivity might be eroded and business models collapse.
″⁣Old school″⁣ employment preferences might fade. Education equality might benefit. Hard, but good.
Alastair Pritchard, Templestowe
AND ANOTHER THING
Trump world
I had thought that Donald Trump was beyond satire. Thank you, South Park creators, for proving me wrong.
Mark Lewis, Ascot Vale
Trump is off on a highland 'fling'. Let's just hope he's not sporting a kilt. We know what a whirlwind he can be.
Tris Raouf, Hadfield
Conflict
During the London Blitz, just over 7700 children were killed. The estimated deaths and injuries of children in Gaza is around 50,000. It is beyond belief.
Barry Revill, Moorabbin
Despite Albanese's visit to China, nothing really seems to have changed with a bounty of $40,000 placed by Chinese security police on a local academic (27/7).
Martin Newington, Aspendale
AFL
Snoop Dogg at the AFL grand final? I had hoped we'd moved on from cultural cringe. Australian – good, better, best.
Julienne Gleeson, Portarlington
'Doggone it, AFL″⁣ (Letters, 27/7) is so right. Let's take it a step further. Use new and upcoming talent for the grand final, and reinstate free to air footy on Saturday for young families and those who cannot afford streaming services. AFL footy in Melbourne should be available to everyone.
Susie Wettenhall, Glen Iris