Racism
Peter Robson's article "Rudd must abolish racist policies" (GLW #736) was a breath of fresh air. I had taken the liberty to criticise Gerard Henderson's April 2007 speech on the Holocaust in an article posted on the Gleet.net website (< http://www.gleet.net/20080121/13/Say_sorry_to_the_Aborigines_GA HREF="mailto:erard_but_for_what.shtml"><erard_but_for_what.shtml>) for what it implied about policy towards Australia's Aboriginal peoples, but Robson's piece pushes that important point that it isn't just the people like Henderson who need to be monitored and pursued. Governments of all persuasions in this country need to be constantly pressured to stay on track to address the age old issues that are consistently neglected.
Always a pleasure to visit the GLW website.
Sylvano Lucchetti, Sydney
Peter McGregor
I would like to pay our respects to activist and friend Peter McGregor. Thank you for your obituary by Stephen O'Brien (GLW #736). Good to see so many GLW people at his memorial in Newcastle on January 19. Peter knew a publication that supported human rights when he saw one, and surely that is why he helped seel GLW.
Peter was active in so many campaigns and struggles... he was showing the film on the huge toll the sanctions had taken on the children of Iraq long before it was anything like fashionable (actually it never was that, but a terrible crime, now overtaken by the illegal invasion of Iraq).
I admired very much Peter's declared citizen's arrest of then attorney-general Philip Ruddock last year at the University of NSW. Peter was manhandled out of the hall, then arrested and charged with "unlawful entry on inclosed lands", a trumped up charge which was dropped at the last minute, after causing maximum trouble for Peter. Surely the point of it. This was symposium Peter had paid attend. All of the people who made up the Howard regime should know that a citizen's arrest will be declared for their role in the invasion of Iraq, at any public event they attend.
Peter was brave. With the onset of dementia, which meant that he could not read GLW or anything else, he was brave enough to take his life, although I wish he had not done so.
Peter, your time has come to rest in peace, But ours has not... Peter was an inspiration for ethical, non-violent, courageous activism.
Stephen Langford
Paddington, NSW
'Creative capitalism'
Microsoft chairman Bill Gates has called for a rethink on capitalism to ensure the power of the market addresses the needs of the world's poor. He says that creative solutions are needed so that market forces help everyone.
In particular, Gates is troubled that advances in technology, health care and education tend to favour the rich and bypass the poor. He wants to encourage companies to take their innovative thinkers and think about the most needy, even beyond market opportunities.
He says capitalism is only half developed because it focuses only on the profit oriented side of human nature, not on the satisfaction derived by helping others.
Gates wants financial incentives for companies to help the poor ,the negative effects on the environment and the negative effects of local cultures.
What is the Australian response? Labor will target stay-at-home mothers with wealthy husbands to deny their family welfare handouts. The Liberal Party will turn to former Victorian treasurer Alan Stockdale to lead the party out of the state and federal wilderness. Australia's poor will enjoy top-notch poverty for a long time to come.
Pam Taylor
Connells Point, NSW
Trade unions
It has been a long time since I have heard a Liberal Party member speak of the value of free trade unions for a just and democratic society. The Liberals' mantra appears to be the reverse — that the elimination of unions is essential to democracy. This is a grave mistake. Countries without trade unions are less fair and less democratic. For example, workers in Saudi Arabia have little protection and trade unions and strikes are banned.
Trade unions are a voice for the voiceless. The reduction of union membership in Australia over the last 20 years is symptomatic that we have begun to passively accept a more authoritarian Australia.
It is no surprise that the right to raise a voice, to protest, to disagree, has always been questioned by the likes of Howard, Ruddock and Downer. Take APEC, for example. Howard was always urging us to assent to national and corporate empires without question. Anyone who questioned was a "troublemaker". The truth is that the elimination of trade unions will always benefit large corporations, the power base of the Liberal Party.
Unionism actually has a noble heritage — workers who banded together to seek a fairer society. In my 20 years as a teacher and a union member, it is this impulse towards fairness that I have seen demonstrated, time and time again.
Rowan Ford
Scullin, ACT
Older driverrs
I totally support Gil Solomon ("Letters", Sydney Morning Herald, January 19), regarding the RTA plan to de-licence older drivers.
You too, will become an "older driver", if you survive the carnage inflicted on us by "younger drivers", who, when they crash, cause multiple victims, either temporary or permanent too. I have lobbied state politicians of all persuasions, hoping to make them aware of this outrageous proposal.
I cannot support my argument with statistics, only cold hard logic. I have driven. Literally, thousands of kilometres as a bus driver with the State Transit Authority buses. Since my retirement 21 years ago, I have continued to drive for various organisations as a volunteer. I currently volunteer as a driver three days a week and am on call for the other four.
Again, I make the point that some "older drivers" should be curtailed, but to make a blanket judgement that all should be restricted is plain paranoia.
My driving duties now entail a majority of tollway, motorway and expressway work at the high end of the speed limits on each road. I have never considered that my driving, in any way, has been a hazard to other road users.
I object most strenuously to the proposed changes and I urge all fair-minded citizens to join the fight to have this repealed.
Frank Roll
Lidcombe, NSW [Abridged]
Tax breaks
Breaking promises or breaking hearts and lives? If PM Kevin Rudd dumps inflationary tax breaks, he can cover more health, disability and education needs while improving the overall economy. I like the sound of that.
Jane Salmon
Lindfield, NSW
Crowded trains
Why do politicians find it so difficult? The answer to the crowded trains is simple. Abolish daylight saving and let interstate businesses start at 7am while deregulating shopping hours to let city shops open from 10am to 7pm. No more peak hour rush. Problem solved.
Colin Hughes
Swan View, WA