Jacinta Allan’s help for duck looking is stunning

Some safety for shooters too
Duck shooters ought to be required to put on high-vis gear on the wetlands.
Greg Pyers, Daylesford

Votes extra priceless than compassion
The duck capturing challenge – votes versus environmental considerations and compassion for the focused birds.
Vivienne Participant, Beaumaris

THE FORUM

The good divide
ANU demographer Liz Allen is correct to level to the rising wealth divide in our neighborhood (“Is Melbourne as egalitarian as we expect? How your suburb compares”, 29/1). Such large disparities in wealth are damaging to our entire society. Many individuals appear oblivious to the truth that hundreds of Victorians haven’t any prepared entry to respectable well being, dental, housing or academic providers. The financial prices to everybody of this divide are large. The Age does properly to focus on it.
Tim Mahar, Fitzroy North

Misplaced belief
Jim Chalmers has now promised that the federal government doesn’t intend to vary adverse gearing. Instantly, I had doubts. Justifiably. Can they see what they’ve carried out? No one can imagine them any extra.
Michael Angwin, Surrey Hills

Faculty shortfall
Peter Dutton and Sussan Ley are closely criticising the Albanese Labor authorities for breaking election guarantees with regard to the stage 3 tax cuts. But as time goes by we see the legacy of the Morrison Coalition authorities of which they had been each senior ministers. Of nice disappointment is the underfunding of Australia’s public colleges on their watch (“The accounting methods shortchanging public colleges billions of {dollars} yearly”, 27/1). Schooling is important for the way forward for our nation and is the duty of governments and oldsters.
Margaret Forster, Aberfeldie

Inflation considerations
Innes Willox, the Australian Trade Group chief government, desires the rise within the minimal wage to be lowered as a result of employees are getting a tax minimize (“Dock tax cuts from improve to minimal wage, employers say”, 29/1). He claims by spending it folks will gasoline inflation. If he’s involved about inflation, he must be extra involved in regards to the hovering remuneration packages of CEOs, the shortage of competitors in lots of markets, worth gouging, and the casualisation of labour with the accompanying insecurity and decrease pay. His AIG members may additionally think about whether or not this kind of remark is what nearly all of the general public desires to listen to from a enterprise chief.
Noel Turnbull, Port Melbourne

Spending splash
Can’t you see all these low-income earners going loopy spending their ill-gotten positive aspects from the revamped stage 3 tax reforms? You recognize, on extravagant issues like meals, faculty uniforms and books, family payments, mortgages. Marie Nash, Balwyn

In poor health-directed cost
The Victorian state authorities has simply delivered a serious blow to low-income earners and the rental market by their current modifications to land tax. I’m the proprietor of a single condominium in a block of 40, leased to a hospitality chain tenant on an extended lease. It’s my sole funding property and the overwhelming majority of landlords within the block are both self-funded retirees or mum and pa buyers with younger households.
Our modest funding has been the main supply of revenue for many landlords and the one property held outdoors their household house. Till now, our properties had been exempt from land tax, being valued round $120,000, properly under the $300,000 threshold. To cut back the brink to $50,000 and making property house owners pay $975 every year, successfully makes each lower-income family in Victoria endure, both by forcing renter households to pay an extra $20 every week hire, or taking $20 out of the pocket of self-funded retirees and younger households, reeling beneath the burden of getting to waive 50 per cent of our hire and freeze leases all through the COVID-19 lockdown.
Graeme Williams, Mont Albert North

Warnings ignored
The coroner isn’t just investigating the loss of life of Angus Collins (“Warnings about harmful intersection ignored earlier than bicycle owner’s loss of life”, 29/1), but additionally, in impact, the loss of life of accountable authorities in Victoria. Are we anticipated to imagine that when there was a collision at an intersection as a result of each the autos that collided got the inexperienced mild, nobody was accountable: not those that designed the lights, or who signed off on the mission, or these paid for an unbiased street security audit of the intersection, or least of all of the Division of Transport. It is going to be fascinating to see what the coroner has to say.

Hal Colebatch, Hawthorn

Poisonous path
The Age’s story solely scratches the floor of the extent of the issues dealing with works and tunnelling – and residents – in one of the crucial contaminated areas of our state (“Rail Loop will expose 1 million cubic metres of contaminated soil. Right here’s the place”, 28/1). When residents in Heatherton had been notified on Christmas Eve in 2020 that the state authorities had chosen a route for the SRL that aligned with probably the most contaminated, unlined, legacy landfills within the state, it appeared that planners had no thought of the realm’s historical past. We now know, because of The Age, the Ombudsman and the Auditor Normal, that SRL plans had been made with out the information of how excessive danger and excessive value this alignment can be.
Silvana Anthony, Heatherton

Doomed to repeat
If we don’t be taught the teachings from Melbourne Docklands’ failure, we’re doomed to repeat them (“Can Docklands shake its ‘ghost city’ picture?“28/1). It’s not a matter of hiring designers to have one other go. The query is who selects them, on whose temporary and with what public oversight? There was no grasp plan within the Nineteen Nineties for the event of this uncommon waterfront land in public possession. And there was no democratic involvement or accountability in that growth. Docklands is a case examine within the failure of neoliberal rules – ceding the function of presidency in city planning to the personal sector. Solely the resumption of civic authorities within the pursuits of residents will shake off Docklands’ repute.
Angela Munro, Carlton North

Sobering actuality
Your “Gaza Particular: Pathway to Peace” (The Age, 29/1) is considerate, constructive and on the identical time sobering. It’s clear that no pathway to peace shall be discovered until the main gamers have interaction in good religion, decide to truth-telling, and put the human rights of all on the coronary heart of negotiations. The entire course of will take time, however can not start to occur with out a ceasefire being agreed to and hostages being launched. One can solely hope that reviews of an settlement being reached (“Negotiators close to hostage, ceasefire deal”, 29/1) are dependable. The properly of ache is overflowing.

Tom Knowles, Parkville

Path to peace
Certainly “On October 7, a unique realisation struck many Israelis in a tragic approach” (“The 2 state answer has failed. A real democracy is the Center East’s solely hope”, 29/1) – the realisation that even peace-loving Israelis residing within the southern kibbutzim, who took half in aiding Palestinians and strived for coexistence, weren’t immune from the barbarity of Hamas. Certainly the atrocities of October 7 have proven Israelis {that a} peaceable two-state answer and safety for each Israelis and Palestinians has turn out to be a far off-dream. But the blueprint proposed by Sarah Leah Whitson makes no point out of dismantling Hamas, the terrorist organisation that at the moment guidelines Gaza and has vowed to repeat these actions again and again till Israel is annihilated. The writer moderately denounces Israel and the “pro-Israel lobbying teams” because the hurdle to peace. But we all know that Hamas has little interest in peace.
Keren Zelwer, St Kilda East

Signal of respect
Carolyn Webb asks the query: What’s in a reputation? (Remark, 29/1). For me the reply is: my distinctive identification. We develop up with our identify and stay with it daily; it’s part of who we’re. We’re all related in being human however every of us can be a singular particular person to be valued. Our identify represents that uniqueness. After I see my identify miss-spelt it simply doesn’t really feel proper; it’s not me – that’s not my identify. Displaying care to get it proper is an indication of respect to the worth of the person you’re referring to.
Allan Havelock, Surrey Hills

By some other identify
As a fellow member of the inaccurately named, Carolyn Webb’s piece strikes a chord. It’s stated the sweetest track to be sung is looking somebody by their identify, and but for many of my life I’ve been known as something from Angus to Andries to Andreas to easily “him” after I make clear it. Even when I write my identify on kinds it’s typically listed later as Ross Anders.
Anders Ross, Heidelberg

O’verlooked
Thanks for elevating the problem of appropriately spelling names. Might I am going additional and point out apostrophes? There are pages and pages of O’Thingummies listed, however do tablets and autofills recognise them? Generally. And what about VicRoads? And a few insurance coverage corporations? No apostrophes allowed there, it appears. However it’s on my licence. It’s my identify. And O’ is at all times adopted by a capital letter. With out the apostrophe the identify not solely seems odd, however most websites gained’t settle for a second higher case letter in a reputation. Ought to or not it’s OShannessy or Oshannessy, or O Shannessy as if my first identify may be Olga?
Elaine O’Shannessy, Buxton

Loud response
The loud booing of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the tennis Australian Open males’s presentation gave me an uneasy and uncomfortable feeling. What a poor instance for any of our younger individuals who witnessed it. No matter how some could choose the efficiency and choices of Albanese in his job, his dedication to Australia and doing what he believes is correct is tough to query.
Stephen Love, Portarlington

AND ANOTHER THING

Neo-Nazis
Sure, let’s unmask these neo-Nazis, for his or her household, mates, employers and all of the world to see.
Ian Macdonald, Traralgon

I’m wondering if these masked neo-Nazis pictured strolling by Sydney objected to obligatory masks carrying throughout COVID.
Bryan Fraser, St Kilda West

Tennis factors
The vehemence of the booing on the Australian Open for Anthony Albanese left me questioning if solely these on incomes over $150,000 might afford the tickets.
Liz Levy, Suffolk Park, NSW

No shock that Albanese was booed on the Australian Open tennis closing when seats value as much as $6000.
Boyd Ray, Oak Park

The Australian Open males’s closing was improbable. The ladies’s closing ought to have gone 5 units.
Dan Drummond, Leongatha

It’s not possible to have fun Belarusian and Russian success on the Australian Open when a Russian struggle rages on in Ukraine.
Vera Lubczenko, Geelong West

AO closing presentation – fewer flags, much less self-congratulation.
Robyn Chapman

Moreover
Congratulations to the West Indies cricket crew on their win. Right here’s hoping that is the beginning of a brand new period that rekindles the spirit of their nice groups of the previous.
David Fry, Moonee Ponds

Possibly it’s time to change the seashore signage to “swimming prohibited” on probably the most harmful seashores. There are internationally recognised indicators for this.
John Makinson, Ormond

Sure, Carolyn Webb (“What’s in a reputation? Hopefully, some accuracy”, 29/1), even worse is having your center identify misspelt in your delivery certificates. My Alexa turned Alexia and my mom’s identify was misspelt too. It’s there for all times. A pleasant identify, however not our chosen one.
Tris Raouf, Hadfield

When the soup incident befell, Mona Lisa in all probability simply laughed it off.
John Rawson, Mernda

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