Vulnerable pay the price for investment vehicles
'Labor must seize the moment' writes Shaun Carney (' Albanese era must leave a legacy ', July 3). I wish that the PM would use some of his enormous political capital and seize the moment by reaching out to Sussan Ley with the suggestion of bipartisan support for a legislated four-year term for the federal government to commence after the next federal government term. This way no one party could be perceived as being disadvantaged by this sensible change. If this change cannot be legislated and needs a referendum to alter the Constitution this could be done at the next federal election. That would be something that will be remembered in 40 years' time. Dale Bailey, St Leonards
The National Party, because it is a regional party will never be able to govern on its own, will always need the softer right-of-centre party in the Coalition to ever govern again. The paradox at the heart of conservative politics in Australia is that the only way the Liberal Party could ever form government is with the support of the cities, which in recent years have virtually abandoned them. So by making themselves more relevant to the city they become increasingly irrelevant to the regions. This will be a lose-lose situation for years and years. Chris McKimm, Karangi
Australians have entrusted the Albanese government with their trust because the Coalition was untrustworthy. This is not just an opportunity for the government – it is an obligation. After three Coalition terms of going nowhere and a first term of housekeeping and fending off Dutton's disingenuous attacks, it is time to effect much needed changes. Shaun Carney is right, Australia is a different place to what it was for the Hawke/Keating times of change. The time is right, there is a mood for lasting change to be implemented. The biggest threat may still be the Coalition outliers, an unruly mob, harder to control than a herd of cats. The Australian people are watching. Geoff Nilon, Mascot
Universal basic income
Rob Phillips (Letters, July 3) ponders on the likely effects of AI on work availability. Much of this thinking has already been done, and trials have already started of a universal basic income as a solution to the problem. Every adult gets a government-funded no-questions-asked payment roughly equivalent to current welfare payments, replacing and simplifying current welfare structures. It not only supports people without employment or adequate hours, but it ensures demand for goods and services does not fall with collapsing employment. It places no impediment for enterprising people to still create their own wealth. Most alternate scenarios involve the dystopian nightmare of increasing concentration of wealth for the few, and an underclass in extreme poverty. Stein Boddington, St Clair
Letters champion loquacious to the last
I went to Joan's funeral yesterday afternoon (Letters, June 29). It seems Joan just couldn't stop writing even at the end. In true Joan Brown-from-Orange style she wrote a poem about her life entitled 'This is who I am' for her funeral service and she even wrote the eulogy which was read by her sister, Marion. Talk about a prolific and persistent wordsmith. She will be sadly missed not only by her family and friends but also the readers of the Letters pages. Valerie Craig, Orange
Bradfield knife-edge
Your correspondents who evidently supported the independent candidate in Bradfield are missing the point (Letters, July 3). Had Ms Kapterian been elected on as fine a margin as Ms Boele now has, I very much doubt the latter would not have used every measure possible to challenge that result. Ms Kapterian won the first count by about four votes and lost the second by 24. While I agree that our electoral commission is the very best, it evidently can still make mistakes in the count as this shows. Ms Kapterian won the first-past-the-post vote by a very large margin. She owes it to those supporters to challenge the result and seek a fresh election which would very likely be a two-horse race. Whoever wins that, then so be it – she will have very clearly proven her mandate. Peter Thornton, Killara
Assuming the Liberal Party is successful in its appeal for a by-election in Bradfield, what platform would it campaign on? Is nuclear power still on its manifesto? Is the Liberal Party still opposed to cutting the lowest tax rate from 16 per cent to 14 per cent? Will women return to the Liberal Party cause on the promise that possibly some time in the future they may consider quotas to increase female representation in the party? If the good people of Bradfield were happy to reject the LNP in May, I don't imagine things would have changed significantly by July-August. John Bailey, Canterbury
You would have to wonder on what grounds the Liberal Party would seek to overturn the election result. They would have to have evidence of serious misfeasance or malfeasance. There has already been a full recount under the strictest scrutiny imaginable. 'We should have won. It's our seat. We thought we had won and now they reckon we lost. Boo-hoo' does not cut it. Seats are won by the person who gets 50 per cent of the votes + 1. John Burman, Port Macquarie
Selective wake-up
The disturbing article relating to testing for selective and opportunity classes in our schools should be a wake-up call for future schools of this type (' Secret warning before test chaos ', July 3). One parent said 'by that time, the children had lost interest'. Of course they had. Money would be much better channelled into creating classes in normal schools where the gifted children could be educated with other students while their exceptionalism would be well catered for, and their education for life being much more rounded. Ann Babington, Thornton
Take pride in Lions
May I put forward the most worthwhile of all hobbies (Letters, July 3)? Join a service club such as Lions. My wife and I did just that a decade or so ago and have joined a great community of volunteers which contributes so much to our local, state and international peoples in need. Annual fees are minimal, no expensive equipment has to be purchased – only your time and labour are required, we have lots of fun and we know that all our funds go to the people who need it. There are no paid positions so none of our funds get 'wasted' on administrators. You can give as much time and effort as you wish, from a couple of hours a month and upwards. There is bound to be a club close to your home. Lions clubs are crying out for members so please join us and learn that we are more than just Saturday morning sausage-sizzlers.
Graham Carter, Eglinton
I discovered the pleasure of reading aloud when I volunteered to become a reader for Librivox.org – an organisation dedicated to recording all written works (out of copyright) for the free enjoyment of everyone. It's easy, they are delightful encouraging people to work with and it can be done from your own home, requiring minimal equipment. Jennifer Beckett-Wood, Chichester
I so agree with accepting new challenges to stimulate an ageing brain and body, because I know first hand it absolutely works. I started ballet for the first time at 80. This year it's computer training and as the City to Surf with 90,000 starters is not safe for me, this month I will exactly replicate the course without the crowds so I haven't missed the experience. Starting fresh becomes so important to a good quality of life with advancing years – embrace it. Elizabeth Kroon, Randwick
Ukulele as an inexpensive – $40 – hobby? Perhaps, but you would need to spend many thousands of dollars extra to build a soundproof room in which to practice or risk being murdered by your family or neighbours. This brings us to the old riddle – what is the difference between a ukulele and a trampoline? You take your shoes off before you jump on a trampoline. Ian Morris, Strathfield
In reply to John Swanton's letter asking if AC/DC can be performed by bells, as a practising campanologist I can claim that, at the age of 72, I'm a member of a heavy metal band. Jennifer Derrick, Orange
Airs, no graces
Why is Museums of History NSW bleating about the proposed development next to its Justice and Police Museum at Circular Quay (' Sydney law museum embroiled in own fight for justice ', July 1)? A few years ago, it sold the developers the air rights over part of the museum for millions of dollars and this in turn has facilitated the scale of the development. You reap what you sow. Peter Watts, Lilyfield
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Sydney Morning Herald
3 hours ago
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The inside story of how Australia's moment to shine in the arts world went horribly wrong
The historic grip of major galleries over Australia's representatives had been broken, and the newish selection process seemed to be serving Australia well. On December 16 last year, Collette and Creative Australia's head of visual arts, Mikala Tai, conferred and the pair's selection was confirmed, the decision tightly held in the organisation for weeks for fear it would leak. Among the select few with knowledge of the successful team, the decision was regarded as 'bold' or 'courageous' – Sabsabi's Lebanese heritage and public pro-Palestinian stance connected him to the Middle East at a time when conflict in that region was emotive and polarising. But a week before the planned February 7 announcement, police lobbed their own explosive device into this febrile mix, going public with their investigations into a caravan loaded with explosives in north-west Sydney. The incident was quickly labelled a 'terrorism threat', although later the Federal Police would describe it as 'a criminal con job'. By then, a federal election was imminent and polling showed voters were starting to turn against Labor. Loading Two days after the caravan discovery, Creative Australia briefed Minister for Arts Tony Burke on its upcoming announcement. Mention was made in the ministerial dispatch that Sabsabi, along with other artists, had withdrawn from the Sydney Festival in 2022 in protest after the festival accepted funding from the Israeli Embassy, 'out of solidarity with the Palestinian people and the Palestinian cause'. But the minister's office was not alerted to historical works which would later be raised in the Murdoch press and in parliament, including You (2007), a multichannel video and sound installation featuring imagery of the late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, in the collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art. 'That the work was seen as highly ambiguous, and already nearly 20 years old … appears to have given staff confidence that any controversy connected with the work could be managed,' the report says. A staff member later left a message with Burke's office alerting them to the work's existence but appears not to have followed that call up. A 'questionable' matter The board of Creative Australia was backgrounded on the winning team but played no direct role in the selection process. Members were not alerted to any potential controversies. Days after the team's announcement, as its sister tabloid paper defended allegations it tried to entrap a Sydney cafe in an antisemitic sting, The Australian described Sabsabi's use of imagery of Nasrallah as 'ambiguous' and 'questionable'. Collette and senior members of his team were unaware of a second sensitive work, Thank you very much (2006) featuring imagery of the 9/11 attacks and US President George W. Bush, until Senate question time two days later when the Coalition's then-shadow arts minster Claire Chandler rose to her feet. By all accounts, Chandler's questions sparked panic. Soon after, around 3pm, the CEO, chair and head of public affairs held a call with Creative Australia's external communications advisers, who concluded the negative media narrative around the artist and his prior artworks posed a significant risk to the reputation of Creative Australia if the stories continued to run. Burke then called Adrian Collette at 3.30pm asking why he was not alerted to the contentious artwork. He later insisted he did not demand Sabsabi's head. The report found that the minister's statement was consistent with the information received by the panel during its review. Loading Collette later recalled in testimony to Senate estimates: 'We anticipate always that the selection of the Venice artist will be controversial. It has been from time immemorial. 'Everyone has a view on the artist, on the art. We don't resile from any of those decisions; we haven't in the past. But what happened at that moment was a recognition by me and the board that this entire process was going to be mired in the worst kind of divisive debate.' At 6.05pm an emergency meeting of the board had been convened, and it was determined to offer the artistic team the opportunity to withdraw from the project under threat of sacking. The board did not seek the advice of the head of visual arts or its head of communications, and did not allow the artist to present his case. It was beyond the panel's terms of reference to judge the legitimacy of the board's decision, but it's clear the board acted hastily without drawing breath. The board could have announced a review of the team's selection. Instead, it brought a gun. 'Nobody except those involved can ever know how fraught and heartbreaking that meeting was,' board member and artist Lindy Lee later recalled. She resigned the next day. Officially, the board said it acted to avoid the unacceptable risk to public support for Australia's artistic community of a 'prolonged and divisive debate'. The panel found the board felt compelled by 'a strongly negative narrative [that] was expected in the media around the artworks and the artist, and the decision to select the artist had become a matter of political debate'. Another factor that may have been weighing on some board members was the potential for the controversy to be used as a battering ram to reduce the funding and independence of Creative Australia. With an election imminent, Creative Australia faced an existential threat from cuts, real or imagined, as conservatives made every noise they would follow the playbook of Donald Trump in stirring up the culture wars. Notably, it is in a more benign political environment with Labor securing a thumping majority that Sabsabi and Dagostino have now been reinstated. In any event, at 7.41pm on February 13, Collette contacted the artistic team and advised them of the board's decision. Sabsabi and Dagostino refused to resign. Forty minutes later, after the board's statement was prepared, Collette made three unsuccessful attempts to contact them. Sabsabi and Dagostino later recalled being stunned by the turn of events: 'The Venice Biennale is one of the biggest platforms in Australian art,' Sabsabi told this masthead. 'To be selected and then have it withdrawn was devastating. It was heartbreaking and has caused ongoing anxiety. It's had a serious impact on my career, my wellbeing and my family's wellbeing.' By 6pm the following day the Herald had broken the news that philanthropist Simon Mordant had resigned, along with Mikala Tai and program manager Tahmina Maskinyar. Petitions and protests followed, the outrage lasting four months until the board voted two weeks ago to rescind its decision. Had Creative Australia been as well-prepared for the public announcement as it should have been, it is possible that its senior leadership and board may have reached a conclusion that any controversy around both works could be sensibly managed, the report concluded. The organisation was caught between its conflicting desire to do right by the artists and political realities. Ultimately, the entire mess could have been avoided if cooler heads had prevailed and due processes were followed. Changes afoot Former publisher Louise Adler is not the only commentator to draw parallels between the Sabsabi debacle and Antoinette Lattouf, the radio broadcaster who was last week awarded $70,000 after a Federal Court found she was unfairly sacked by the ABC for her political opinions concerning the war in Gaza. Like Lattouf, Sabsabi's pro-Palestinian views were well known at the time of his appointment, and complaints flooded Creative Australia as soon as the appointment was publicised, cheered on by the Murdoch media. Holding or expressing a political opinion was held by the federal court as not a valid reason for terminating Lattouf's employment, even at the national broadcaster. Sabsabi and Dagostino had been selected by an open expression of interest process, by an organisation founded on the principle of artistic independence. Both stand as an abject lesson to the dangers of knee-jerk reactions to pressure tactics. Sabsabi and Dagostino speak of a sense of renewed confidence that allows them to move forward with optimism and hope after a period of significant and collective hardship. The arts world feels vindicated by their intervention. Loading It's likely there will be changes to the Venice selection process, and there is every indication that Collette, an experienced arts administrator, will seek to make things right, and then make a diplomatic exit. 'At the end of the day, Adrian became the kingmaker,' said one campaigner. 'He brought the recommendation to the board. The buck stops with him.' Mikala Tai made a rare statement via social media after a period of media silence in which she said she had come to learn why she wanted to work in the arts industry. 'I have also learnt a lot about cultural leadership. That we have conferred leadership on administrators and that this is a distraction from the fact that artists remain the heart of the industry and that the moment we forget the artist, we sacrifice the industry.'
