Dutton dusts off his deportation dogwhistle

Here we go again: another simplistic, macho-populist idea from Opposition Leader Peter Dutton to whip up community outrage over those few instances where legality overrode policy – this time to deport dual nationals who commit a crime (“Dutton seeks vote on citizenship”, March 17). I can just hear all the cries of “Yeah, send ’em back to where they came from!” How simple that sounds. And just what happens if the offender renounces their foreign citizenship or their country of origin refuses to take them back (as some do) despite their status? Here’s an idea: having adopted these people as citizens in the first place, deal with their baggage like we do for home-grown culprits, and make sure that those who are given the privilege of citizenship actually deserve it. Adrian Connelly, Springwood

Peter Dutton’s enthusiasm for demonstrated “allegiance to Australia” is impressive and commendable. I hope he has also proposed two more related referendums: to remove a foreign flag from the top-left corner of Australia’s national flag and to ensure Australian citizens, at last, 124 years after independence, have the right to be head of state of their own country. As a proud dual citizen, news of such referendums would seal my vote for Dutton and his admirably patriotic party. God save the King. Steve Cornelius, Brookvale

Peter Dutton’s adoption of Trump-like tactics continues with his recent hyper-exaggerated claims mimicking Trump’s use of hyperbole. The American liar-in-chief frequently claims to have the biggest, best, longest, and most important of everything in his nation’s history. Peter Dutton originally claimed that the caravan bomb plot was potentially the biggest terrorist threat in our country’s history, and we know how that turned out. Now he claims the allegations of CFMEU crime is “the biggest corruption scandal in our country’s history”. Such extremes of language highlight his transformation into “Donald Dutton” to suit his political purposes. Rob Phillips, North Epping

In the US, Trump is rounding up people and deporting them without due process. In Australia, Peter Dutton wants a referendum to allow him to do the same thing. Graeme Finn, Earlwood

I always thought the Liberal Party was about taking responsibility. Then why would we not take responsibility when we educate and bring up a child who turns to crime? Dutton again looks for the easy fix rather than take responsibility. Trump in America is bad enough – we don’t need his sad policies here. Philip Dowle, Wickham

Does the “no convicted criminals allowed” principle apply to all? Donald Trump has blocked entry to numerous citizens of mainly Central and South American countries, with the justification that they are convicted murderers, criminals and terrorists. Hopefully, the same principle will be applied in any move in Australia to have him visit us. After all, he is a convicted criminal, isn’t he? Kevin Farrell, Beelbangera

Curbing corruption

The revelations that criminals are still running riot in the construction industry sends a strong message to Canberra that measures so far put in place, the appointment of the CFMEU administrator Mark Irving and Geoffrey Watson SC, are not enough (“CFMEU ‘worse than ever’,” March 18). Unless further strong measures are quickly actioned, ideally a good, targeted commission of inquiry but at least serious staff support for Irving and Watson, Labor will deservedly suffer at the polls. Predictably, Peter Dutton has jumped on this to boost his strongman image, but his deregistration proposals are not favoured by serious commentators (“Dutton lays down gauntlet for Albanese over CFMEU corruption”, March 19). And the Coalition’s poor record on corruption in the last parliament doesn’t inspire confidence. His lack of a serious climate policy should rule him out. Perhaps a hung parliament with the independents with the balance of power might be the ideal solution. These strong women could put some spine into Canberra. Gary Barnes, Mosman

Failed royal commissions. Government inertia. Union corruption worse than ever. This sums up the situation in Australia as a federal election approaches. Four Corners’ appalling revelation about systemic abuse throughout the multi-billion dollar childcare industry, with federal and state Labor ministers blocking access to data and being “unavailable” for questions, offers a whole new take on “untouchables”. Still, with the election date yet to be announced, I keep dreaming politicians will wake up to the massive voter despair and see the political and moral capital in ditching hard hats, tough talk and posturing, and clearly explaining the problems in controlling the CFMEU, regulating privatised child care, stopping coal exports – and outline workable solutions. Peter Farmer, Northbridge

Swim carnivals must adapt or die

Traditionally, the primary purpose of a school swimming carnival was to enable children who were competent swimmers the opportunity to compete against one another (“Safety fears as schools axe swimming carnivals”, March 18). The others, those who couldn’t swim 50 metres unaided and without stopping, had their participation limited to sitting for hours in the stands, waiting in hope for a 20-minute “free swim”, where they got to jump into the pool, splash around and have fun. But really, for most kids a swimming carnival was not that great. If a school acknowledges that the traditional carnival may not suit its students, it may come to recognise the need to make these events more inclusive, relevant and importantly, fun. William Galton, Hurstville Grove

As a former teacher, I read with interest about “the demise of the swimming carnival”. What a day it was – the expense, the organisation, the buses, the disruption to learning and the kids who got “ratty” and badly behaved in the baking sun. Even 30 years ago attendances at carnivals were dismally low. Swimming skills are vitally important, but I don’t believe that this tradition does much to uplift overall water skills among Australians. Tim Herborn, Blackheath

For a long time, students have been taking sickies on swimming carnival days. At my last teaching appointment, all Year 7 and above attended the swimming carnivals, and the remaining students were required to attend school. This lowered the number of absences and reduced poor behaviour at the pool among students who didn’t want to be there. Primary schools used to regularly hold learn-to-swim lessons run by teachers, however, a change in regulations requiring that swimming teachers needed an appropriate qualification meant that free swimming lessons could no longer be provided. The cost of swimming lessons has meant that many children simply don’t have them. In a country such as ours where aquatic activities are so popular, free swim-safe lessons for all primary students should be introduced. Stephen Kirk, Blackbutt

It’s not only swimming in schools that’s dying, it’s sport in general – and it has been for nearly 20 years. Sport is thought to be compulsory, but what is mandatory is allocating a determined number of hours. My son’s primary school used the swimming carnival to tick off seven hours, regardless of whether a child swam or read a book. The athletics carnival will be next. This ticks off another seven hours, but the only children who do well are those who are going to Little Athletics anyway. There were no sports teachers or teachers keen on sport to promote even a weekly lesson in swimming, athletics, tennis, softball or similar activities, despite the tennis courts and an oval nearby. Jenny Greenwood, Hunters Hill

Putin’s devious agenda

Trump courting Putin’s Ukraine ceasefire completely ignores the nation’s sovereignty and right to protect its people from further violence, oppression and genocide (“Trump to speak with Putin about ending Ukraine war”, March 18). A Ukraine land and mineral acquisition is not a “deal”; it is the same as annexation, which was the intended purpose of Russia’s invasion. Putin, himself a former KGB agent, described Germany’s regaining its sovereign east from Russia after the fall of the Berlin Wall as Russian citizens “waking up the next morning as strangers in their own land”. This level of entitlement is well documented throughout the Soviet invasion history, like annexing the Slavic countries into a remapped Yugoslavia with Soviet satellite governments. This has been repeated recently in Belarus. Putin has also suggested intentions to reannex the Baltic states. French President Emmanuel Macron was correct to say it was not Russia’s right to dictate to Ukraine on joining NATO. Robert Vitkunas, Broadbeach Waters, Queensland

So Putin will graciously consider peace with Ukraine if he keeps territory. If he gets back frozen Russian assets, so he doesn’t have to pay for invading another country. If Ukraine is never allowed to join NATO. If Ukraine is never to have any protection from further Russian attacks. If, in other words, Ukraine becomes the first place to be dragged back into the empire of the Tsars. All this is very familiar. It is nothing but the Cold War communist attitude that “what’s mine is mine, and what’s yours is negotiable.” If Trump agrees to any of it, America could potentially lose Alaska, which was part of Russia until 1867. Grant Agnew, Coopers Plains

Trumpian tentacles

Peter Hartcher’s opinion piece does more than examine Trump, it inquires into the assault on the concept of government and the value of free trade (“Trump’s locked in, to senselessness”, March 18). What is most noteworthy is the realisation that his “crusade” is one that has, at its heart, the destruction of government. To do this, he must dismantle the rule of law, unravel any pretext of democracy and discard popular will. That process is well under way. The US Constitution, which he took an oath to uphold, is starting to burn. What will be left is the rule by large and powerful corporations, the so-called “oligarchs” (those very few that control 95 per cent of wealth) and the private law enforcement that they will employ. Any idea of national sovereignty will collapse, and his new world order (rule by the rich) will prevail. The inequality of wealth that now plagues our society will only grow worse and unleash massive poverty, crime and health crises. All this so that Trump and his tribe can sit on golden toilets. Oh, but it’s just the US, you may think. Wrong. The tentacles of Trumpism are already snaking into Australian politics, as Gina Rinehart (Trump pal and Australian billionaire) seems to hold an unnerving sway over our prospective alternative PM. Mike Voorbij, Tenambit

Another very insightful opinion piece from Ambrose Evans-Pritchard (“Trump’s energy dream is set to blow up in his face”, March 18). Where did this false notion arise within the denier cult that climate change is a pseudo-religion? A religion is a belief system unsupported by verifiable facts. Climate change does not require a belief system, only a recognition of science supported by testable facts and data. You can “disbelieve” all you want, but the underlying facts will not change. John Burman, Port Macquarie

Dutton’s energy plan is a dud. No Australian Senate is going to cop a highly inflationary cap of 54 per cent on renewable energy as part of the mix, which will be reached within every senator’s term. Without the cap, renewables will continue to grow their share in Australia, undermining the case for establishing a nuclear energy program in the foreseeable future. Jim Allen, Panorama, SA

You are what you eat

The human animal is capable of breathtaking cognitive dissonance (“The influencer who grabbed a wombat made bold claims about Australia. We fact-checked them”, March 18). While the American influencer’s treatment of a cute wombat caused a huge uproar in Australia, we seem to collectively wilfully ignore the institutionalised cruelty of farmed animals. Using cuteness as a benchmark, let’s look at calves and chicks as two examples. Male calves, deemed useless as they cannot give milk for humans to take, are killed soon after birth. Male chicks are macerated at birth as they cannot lay eggs. We are talking millions of animals routinely killed as they offer no economic value to us. Greyhounds, merely because they can run fast, are deemed to be “working animals”, which allows them to be used and abused at will in order to make money. We really do need to take a look at ourselves before we pile on one person who happened to be exposed in the press. Judy Hungerford, Kew

Lead by example

On the weekend we had rallies across Australia calling, and very rightly so, for action to be taken against the appalling rate of domestic and sexual violence in Australia today. At the same time, we had television commentators celebrating the perpetrators of the violence masquerading as sport; NRL, AFL, UFC, boxing, and so on, despite those same sportsmen so often appearing in court on charges of, wait for it, domestic and sexual violence. Is it too intellectually challenging for so many Australians and politicians to realise that the glorification of violence disguised as sport encourages a belief in men and boys that violence equals manliness? Ian Usman Lewis, Armidale

ATARs aren’t perfect

Until ATAR scores are freely available, there is no way of knowing which school is No.1, or any other position, in the HSC rankings (“James Ruse High’s plan to return to No.1 revealed”, March 18). ATAR scores have been unavailable since 1997, when The Daily Telegraph published a headline, “The class we failed”, referring to Mount Druitt High School, for their 1996 HSC Tertiary Education Rank (now called ATAR). School rankings now solely depend on counting the number of Band 6s that students obtain in each school. Anecdotally, but well known by HSC teachers, prestigious and independent schools encourage students to take lower-level subjects, for example, standard English rather than advanced English, and less rigorous subjects such as food technology, in order to increase the likelihood of increasing the number of Band 6s, with the aim of elevating the school’s ranking in the media. Until we know the ATAR of each student, the rankings are unreliable. Jenny Baker, North Bondi

Blast of hot air

I note Clive Palmer’s advertisement banner on the front page of the Herald this morning decrying immigration states, “Excessive immigration destroys infrastructure – our housing, schools and hospital which destructs our communities.” I only wish Palmer cared for the English language as much as he seems to care for his trumped-up non-issue. Nick Andrews, Bellevue Hill

The brown-coloured emission from the trumpet blown by Clive Palmer in Cathy Wilcox’s brilliant cartoon (March 18) reminds me that to “trumpet” is a euphemism for passing wind. Perhaps the new Palmer mob should be referred to as the Farty Party. John Lees, Castlecrag

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