Prostitution
In an opinion piece in the October 1 Melbourne Age ("Helping women make choices on prostitution") feminist academic Leslie Cannold makes some clumsy attempts to morally justify why it's a "good idea" to allow "brothels to operate in a regulated fashion", but never allow street prostitution. Her argument has nothing to do with feminism nor does it deal with the question of the reasons behind or responsibilities when making certain "choices", such as prostitution. A lot less women would "choose" prostitution had they not experienced abuse, could earn the same amount of money as men and receive decent support for bringing up the next generation.
Cannold thinks more like a middle-class entrepreneur than a feminist, arguing that street prostitution is harmful to the community but brothel owners making a killing out of a woman's "choice" to sell her body is OK. Maybe her argument has more to do with keeping the value of her property in St Kilda up and reflecting a "not in my back yard" attitude than with the wellbeing of women.
The bitter reality of street prostitution is a daily reminder to us that we really ought to find better choices for women to make a living than having to sell their bodies.
Margarita Windisch
Socialist Alliance Senate candidate
Melbourne
Solar power
John Howard is a disgrace and a danger to my grandkids. Why? Because while global warming is sucking the life from our land, Germany has almost 13 times more solar power per head than Australia. Further, as was reported by the ABC News on October 2, Dr David Mills — our leading solar scientist, who moved to California when the Howard government trashed him — has just stitched up a deal with major US power utilities for the construction of multi-billion dollar solar thermal plants to provide baseload electricity, something Howard refused to support building here.
That's know-how and export potential that was ours, but no, Howard's too busy sucking up to the coal and nuclear lobby. Howard would prefer nuclear reactors in our backyards to solar panels, just as long as it fattens the profits of his mining mates.
And while I'm just a mum and part-time nurse living in suburbia (and certainly no expert), this matter is particularly on the nose for me, as I saw and spoke to Dr Mills in person when he gave a presentation at the Ethos Foundation in August 2005 at Binna Burra, Lamington National Park in Queensland (about 50 minutes drive from me). I could see his ideas had massive potential, and now it looks like this mere "mum" was on the ball — while our elected leaders were, and remain, asleep at the wheel (or rather, in the pockets of vested interests).
Kim Bax
Cedar Vale, Qld
Taxation
There is no reason any West Australian should be paying state taxation. If WA got its fair share of royalties from Canberra, we could all actually get a dividend for living in WA.
The current system is grossly unfair to WA. The loss to WA of royalties and income tax that go straight to Canberra is scandalous. In Charles Court's day, the state government insisted that the mining companies built the towns of Tom Price, Pannawonica and Mt Newman while the government provided the teachers, police and health workers.
Today most miners are fly-in-fly-out workers, hence housing prices in Perth have boomed making affordability the worst in 23 years.
This boom has resulted in power and water shortages the new infrastructure of which has to be paid for by all West Australians rather than the federal government.
The miners' income tax goes straight to Canberra. How much better would it be to have lower wages in return for housing in Karratha where rents are now $2000 a week, and a new town in the Kimberley beside Lake Argyle where there is water aplenty and sustainable hydro power.
Yes, the miners have a larger pay packet, but what is the use if housing and health are costing us all the earth they mine?
Colin Hughes
Swan View, WA
APEC 'security'
I find it funny that "security" afficionados are so offended by Chaser sending them up. After decades of spooks sporting a packet-fresh Che or Mao T-shirt and seeking to incite violence at peaceful demonstration planning sessions, it is high time someone repaid the compliment. Remember the Hilton bomber?
Jane Salmon Donovan
Lindfield, NSW
El Salvador
The committees in support of the FMLN in Australia strongly support the decision of the political commission of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) of El Salvador to propose the candidature of journalists Mauricio Funes and Salvador Sanchez Ceren for president and vice-president of El Salvador, respectively.
From Australia, thousands of kilometres away from our homeland, we take this opportunity to request the national council and the national convention of the FMLN to speed up the legal process and formalise the nomination of Mauricio and Salvador as the presidential candidates of the FMLN for the March 2009 election.
We are confident that Mauricio will lead the Salvadoreans to an electoral win in 2009. This is an indispensable tool to carry out the social, political and economic transformations that the people have desired for so long, and the successive conservative governments have neglected to do.
It was precisely the neglect of those fundamental rights of the people which has caused the exodus of thousands of our compatriots to distant places such as Australia. This has left a legacy of rivers of tears and countless nights of anguish for those of us who involuntarily abandoned our birthplace and families.
With the support of many Australians, we have continued striving for a free, democratic, independent and egalitarian Salvadorean homeland.
Now we want to tell Mauricio and Salvador that over 20,000 Salvadoreans live in Australia.
If one day you think of visiting us, in whatever capacity, either as leaders of the FMLN, or as presidential candidates and even as president or vice-president of El Salvador, do not think twice — the members of the FMLN, friends and sympathisers will be waiting for you with open arms.
Finally, we want to make a call to our Salvadorean compatriots living in Australia to unite together to fight this battle for justice and freedom by supporting the candidates of the FMLN, Mauricio and Salvador, as they represent not just a political party but also the genuine aspirations of the whole Salvadorean population.
From the committees in support of the FMLN in Adelaide, Canberra, Melbourne & Sydney
September 30 [Abridged]