The need in our remote communities is clear

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Illustration: Matt Golding

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Since the referendum was announced, No campaigners have called on the federal government for a bottomless pit of detail. The No campaigners have manipulated many people into a position of unease and caution, and is convincing them to vote No “just in case”. I write as a retired remote-area nurse, having lived in remote and very remote communities of various sizes in the Kimberley, Far North Queensland and the Western Desert, delivering healthcare alone and with other nurses.
The Indigenous people in these communities might use the Voice to ask the government questions like: why is it only the houses for the white staff that have rainwater tanks for drinking and cooking water, while their own houses have only unpotable bore water, which is known to carry bacteria and, in many locations, other contaminants that are injurious to health? The Voice could be used to ask the government why it sends a group of workers from Sydney to build and repair the houses in their communities, when there are young adults who could be taught the trade skills to earn a wage repairing their own houses. It might also be used to ask why so many promising health-related pilot studies are defunded just as they are showing promising results?
Sue Currie, Northcote

Referendum shows existence of silent majority
Last weekend thousands of people gathered and marched in Walk for Yes rallies, and the Yes campaign launched a $20 million advertising blitz across all media formats. Even before the referendum date was formally announced, hundreds of organisations, corporations and celebrities trumpeted their pledges of support for Yes, while other organisations, by their coverage, tacitly yet clearly showed their Yes colours. Now the date nears and the Yes campaign intensifies at all levels. There are Yes T-shirts, Yes signs on domestic fences, Yes campaigners at farmers’ markets and at myriad other community events and gatherings, selling Yes merchandise and handing out how-to-vote pamphlets. But where are the grassroots community No campaigners? Has anybody seen someone in a No T-shirt in the street or at the shops? Has anyone seen a No placard on a suburban fence? Yet, No continues to gain ground. If ever one doubted the existence of a silent majority, this referendum shows it may well be very much alive.
Deborah Morrison, Malvern East

There was a lot to learn from a student voice
When I was a teacher and more latterly a school principal, I was passionate about student voice – that is, providing a forum for our kids, listening to what they had to say, valuing their opinions and responding positively. The notion of a Voice to parliament providing respected Indigenous elders with a similar opportunity seems to me to make eminent sense. Nothing else in the past has worked very effectively.
Tim Douglas, Blairgowrie

This is just a necessary first step
Rod Wise (Letters, 19/9) suggests that more nitty-gritty detail is necessary to sway the No voters. Some No voters are looking for a single solution to a multi-multi-dimensional issue and will never be swayed. The Yes case should not be oversold as anything more than a necessary first step in creating a less paternalistic attitude towards helping Indigenous Australians improve their own lives. It would be foolish to overpromise.
Julian Guy, Mt Eliza

Give us the details please, Mr Dutton
All these billions that Peter Dutton “as prime minister” is going to spend “on practical outcomes for Indigenous kids in remote and regional areas” (19/9) – I want to know how is he going to determine priorities, to whom is he going to speak, and how will those people be chosen? Details please, details now.
Margaret Callinan, Hawthorn

FORUM

Watch this as well
Bob Carr says that the opening scene of the movie Higher Ground (available on SBS on Demand) removed any doubt for him about the need for the Voice (“Tragic scene sold me on the Voice”, 18/9). I have not watched this movie. However, I have watched the documentary Another Country (also available on SBS on Demand) made by the Indigenous actor David Gulpilil a few months before he died. If anyone still doubts the importance of a Yes vote for the Voice they should watch this program. Gulpilil returns to his home town of Ramingining. He talks about the failures of different government schemes (all well-intentioned), including in the town in which he lived. I believe that it is time we stopped telling Indigenous people how we can help them and started listening. I will be voting Yes for the Voice with absolutely no fear or concern, but with a sense of doing what is right.
John Rosenberg, South Melbourne

Another lobby group
There is already a Register of Lobbyists to the Australian government. They have privileged access to parliamentarians and administrators. They represent large corporations, industries and various other activities. As far as I can see, the Voice is just a permanent First Nations lobby group whose accreditation cannot be abolished by a later government without another referendum.
John Uren, Blackburn

Look forward as one
The referendum is poor public policy, which will lead to inevitable conflict over race relations in the country. History is important but it only takes us so far. A better way to look at historical matters is to say that humanity has over time become less barbaric, less prejudiced, more enlightened, healthier, and better educated. There should be constitutional recognition of our First Nations people and that all Australians love them and are proud of them. We should also state that we love and are proud of all our fellow Australians from whatever lands their forebears came from. Some people, like some of my ancestors, came to Australia not by choice, whereas others have come here to escape tyranny, oppression and wars. Regardless of why we are here, we should be proud of our continuing achievements as a nation. It is foolish public policy to live in the past. We must as a nation look forward with hope and optimism. We need to be respectful to each other, and not to support the proposition that one race or ethnicity is to be preferred over any other. We are first and foremost Australians, one and free.
Stephen Lucas, Malvern East

Welcome climate refugees
Re “A modern Marshall Islands plan” (Comment, 19/9). Peter Hartcher alerts us of the need and opportunity to enable Pacific Islanders to come to Australia as the impact of climate change will worsen for them in the not too distant future. It is already known that many islands are now affected by rising sea levels. We have a humanitarian and moral obligation – as one of the highest emitters of greenhouse gases per capita – to welcome the climate change refugees from the Pacific Islands. Let us remember they have had a very light footprint. If not, then the likelihood of revisiting our inglorious treatment of many refugees fleeing war and dispossession will be repeated.
Judith Morrison, Nunawading

Don’t protect Qantas
It is amazing how many people still believe that Qantas is fully or partly government owned. It is neither. It is fully privatised. And has been for over 30 years. A fully-fledged commercial operation, albeit majority Australian-owned. Which is why it is a disgrace that the Albanese government should proceed with policies that protect the airline from international competition and the benefits which flow to the travelling public from it. These policies have directly hit Australians in the hip pocket via the outrageously high fares charged by our national carrier.
Michael Gamble, Belmont

Don’t trust porn industry
You would think that erring on the side of caution and denying access of children to free pornography sites would be a no-brainer (“Inaction on porn site age checks slammed”, 19/9).
Not so, according to the federal government and Communications Minister Michelle Rowland who prefer industry-led codes of conduct on matters such as parental education and optional filters over the legitimate concerns of women and child advocates. It is naive in the extreme to trust industry on such matters. I suspect that this industry code will join the long list of self-interested, weak, ineffectual and unenforceable codes.
Peter Randles, Pascoe Vale South

Appalling treatment
Millie Muroi (Comment, 19/9) dispels some of the myths bandied around about immigration and its role in Australia’s current housing problem. Yet I would like to make a suggestion: we are too tolerant of the mistreatment of new migrants. While working as a student mentor at university, I heard hundreds of international students and often their dependents tell of the appalling housing and working conditions they were exposed to. These, they said, were what they had been told by estate agents and employers were commonplace in Australia. Fifteen people to one house in Chadstone? Work in Box Hill for no pay? This is the Australian dream. When so many vulnerable people have no choice but to accept this or go home, and more often lack a sympathetic ear from the public, it isn’t hard to see why the average price of a house has gone through the roof.
Anders Ross, Heidelberg

Two stories sum it up
Thank you for placing the article, “Spring heat records shattered”, beside the story, “Plibersek accused of failing to protect environment in coal case”. Not sure if this was intentional, but it was an excellent reminder of what is at stake, the future of life as we know it, and the alleged influence of special interest groups, like the miners.
Barry Lizmore, Ocean Grove

NRL shows how it’s done
Yet again we see the AFL being outdone by the NRL. The AFL has never been able to match the game-day entertainment of the NRL (just think Tina Turner versus Meat Loaf). And now we have the NRLW grand final being played on the same day as the NRL grand final, whereas the AFLW teams have been sent to obscure, near-empty grounds to play their season during the AFL finals series.
Kurt Elder, Port Melbourne

Put Q+A on radio
Has it not occurred to anybody at the ABC that Q+A is basically “talking heads” and could be produced at a fraction of its cost as a radio program? The BBC Radio 4’s Any Questions has been broadcast from locations ranging from tiny towns to major cities since 1948. There would be no need to include a fifth “celebrity” panellist, the focus would be more on questions and answers than on the audience, and the chairperson would have less involvement. There would also be an expectation that members of the public could phone, next day, to a talkback program like the BBC’s Any Answers and comment on the same questions. Admittedly there would be downsides for the ABC. Downsides? Well, the ABC would have to risk the possibility that right-wing views were given air-time without interruption or sneering.
Michael Doyle, Ashburton

The right clean
I was delighted to read the article “Detergent, a cleaner’s cover-all” (18/9) by Jennifer Barger. I have been using dish soap, vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, dishwasher rinse aid and bicarb soda in my home to clean all surfaces for some time now. I prefer to use substances that are both much cheaper than expensive commercial products, but also much healthier for my family, our home and our environment than pouring chemicals down our drains. Just Google “home-made cleaning products” for lots of ideas.
Carol Lizmore, Ocean Grove

Bills and gods
Some religious groups are against the new misinformation bill (“Religions pushing back on draft bill”, 19/9). Is this because they may need to provide proof of the existence of their god(s) in order to justify their claims about its purported abilities and doctrines?
Jan Newmarch, Oakleigh

Wasting our money
The lot in power wants to spend a truly obscene amount of our money building nuclear subs. The other lot counters with a proposal to put an even more obscene amount into nuclear power. How about focusing on immediate social issues instead of aiming to get your names in the history books?
Tony Haydon, Springvale

Why stop volunteers?
As an 82-year-old retired social worker, recently revitalised through extensive surgery and rehabilitation, I tried to volunteer to work with my peers in nursing homes to assist them to adjust to the changes in their lives. I contacted a well-known organisation and was directed to its website to fill in an application form. I am well-acquainted with IT, having been home-bound with disability for years and forced to train myself in all aspects of working online. I completed the required police check without incident. All volunteers are now required to complete a Working With Children Check. That’s all volunteers. Which is fine if it were a straightforward process, but it is not. It is a very badly designed, over-long and complicated process, and I didn’t get past first base. If it is designed to thwart people and stop volunteers (especially older ones) in their tracks, it is working.
Geri Colson, Mentone

Interesting way to put it
Scott Morrison declared to his Pentecostal audience in Perth that he “stepped down as prime minister” (18/9). A euphemism indeed! Didn’t he tender his resignation as prime minister to the governor-general as a direct result of his government being sacked by the Australian people?
Jennifer Quigley, Balwyn

AND ANOTHER THING

Australia’s nuclear submarine deal has a bill of $368 billion.Credit: Getty Images

Nuclear power
It has been estimated that it would cost $387 billion to replace Australia’s coal-fired power stations with nuclear ones (18/9). Strip the engines out of the submarines and Bob’s your uncle.
Reg Murray, Glen Iris

When domestic small modular reactors actually exist, come see me. I’ll trade you a unicorn.
Steve Melzer, Hughesdale

The Voice
I am tired of hearing, “If you don’t know, vote No!“, and wish to hear a much more positive slogan, such as “If you want success, vote Yes!“
Judith Hudson, Elwood

The Indigenous vote is not “adamantly divided over the Voice” (Letters, 19/9). And the “rest of us” (97 per cent) can support it by voting Yes.
Belinda Burke, Hawthorn

There’d be even more Yes posters on front fences but for someone stealing them. Six went from our block last week.
David Young, Clifton Hill

Morrison
Your faith may have “sustained” you, Scott Morrison (“Morrison eyes the Christian book market”, 19/9 ). It didn’t do much for your robo-debt victims .
David Cayzer, Clifton Hill

“Morrison eyes the Christian book market” (19/9). Do you mean the one held in the grounds of St Francis’ Church on the first Friday of every month?
Peter Campbell, Newport

Furthermore
Maybe the short-term rental market has got out of control and a rebalance is required. I remember when tourists stayed in hotels, motels and guest houses and residents lived in flats and houses. Geoffrey Conaghan, St Kilda

Capitalism is defined by Quick crossword clue as “Economy based on private property” (18/9). If this is the case, then the rate of capitalism’s current decline is the rate at which the proportion of the population unable to purchase a home increases.
Ruth Farr, Blackburn South

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