London on the Yarra? Sharpen your pencils

Less than accommodating
I don’t think I have ever witnessed a more tone-deaf and shameless concession speech than the one made by outgoing Queensland Premier Steven Miles on Saturday night. Oddly enough, there were no concessions. Normal protocol requires that a person typically congratulate his opposition and wish it well before proceeding to speak further. David Crisafulli did this most eloquently at the beginning of his victory speech.
However, Miles actually hit back at the former opposition leader by accusing him and his party of being a fringe political movement. Moreover, as Miles declared that the LNP would not have enough seats to form a majority government, viewers at home simultaneously watched as the number of seats on their screens showed Labour’s number falling, with the LNP’s number of seats reaching 47.
I am reminded of a pertinent post-final comment made by former AFL coach Mick Malthouse, in which he stated that he was a firm believer in being humble in victory and gracious in defeat. What we witnessed in the Sunshine State from Steven Miles was a long way from such a noble aspiration.
Peter Waterhouse, Craigieburn

Blockers or weaklings
Regarding the Queensland election results, I read that “the people who elected the Greens… expected them to play a progressive rather than a blocking role” (Age28/10). I wonder if these people thought this through? What should a party in a position of balance of power (for example, the Greens in the Senate) do? If they block a law that, say, does 25 percent of what they want, in an attempt to force the government to increase it to 50 percent, they are called obstructionists. If they allow this, they will be called weak and ineffective and not worth voting for.
Even when they score a great victory – as in 2009-2012 when they blocked Rudd’s useless CPRS and consequently got Gillard’s effective CEFP (subsequently demolished by Tony Abbott as a “carbon tax”) – they rewrite history by ignoring part of the CEFP. story to portray them as mere blockers.
Colin Smith, Glen Waverley

Trump whispers
According to Rob Harris, the glimmer of hope is that if Trump comes to power, the world will get Mark Rutte, NATO Secretary General, a “whispering Trump” (“Is the “whispering Trump” Ukraine’s last hope of defeating Putin?” 10/27 ). However, if Shakespeare were to be followed, he would need to be as good as Decius Brutus, whose job it was to ensure that Julius Caesar was present at work on the Ides of March. Decius Brutus knew Caesar’s weakness: “If he is so determined, I can shake him. When I tell him that he hates flatterers, he says that he does, and in this case he is very flattered.” But will it work with Trump? Caesar was a man of principle and said that he hated flatterers. Trump – no, he welcomes flatterers – and uses them.
Claude Miller, Castlemaine

Democracy challenged
Next Tuesday, 419 years after the November 5th Gunpowder Plot, democracy will be under threat again. American voters have a choice – a smart young woman with a positive, forward-thinking message against an aging former TV show host who has spent the last 10 years lying, cheating, using and abusing the democratic and legal systems to advance his personal interests.
In Australia this would not be a choice – Australians have said they overwhelmingly support Harris – but we can only sit back and watch the chaos of election work in a divided States of America, the outcome of which could have profound consequences. about our future.
Richard Jones, Frankston South

Roots of success
The study answers the question of why Australia is so rich (“Why is Australia so rich? This Nobel-winning paper solves the mystery,” 10/27). Of all the formerly colonized countries, Australia has the highest GDP per capita. However, the attitude of white settlers towards the indigenous peoples here was not much different from the attitude towards the colonizers in other countries. But we didn’t have slavery used to extract resources.
Australia also saw the early growth of trade unions in the 19th century; world-first electoral reforms such as voting for women; and a strong democratic base. The more pressing question today is how fair the distribution of wealth is in Australia. I’d like to see a study on this.
David Fry, Mooney Ponds

Bank fraud
Age The report (“Fraudsters are targeting Australian bank customers. But there’s one key thing you may not know”, 10/28) doesn’t tell half of it. A few days ago, I received a notification in my banking app that a recurring bill had not been paid due to an issue with my credit card information. In this case I was lucky! There were two issues: the demand for money was not a recurring transaction (the company was named, but it was for a single transaction completed several months ago), and the demand for funds did not come from the company as stated in the message (confirmed). company). After contacting the bank, the employees were unable or unwilling to tell me the actual source of the request for funds, or how the notification got to me through the bank’s own app, or how much money was requested by what should have been flagged as a fraudulent demand for money. As we rapidly move into a cashless society, how will the consumer be protected from fraudsters if the banks themselves cannot distinguish legitimate payment requests from those of scammers?
David Kennedy, Balwyn North

Customer needs
I received a letter from the Commonwealth Bank. The first sentence reads: “Our customers’ needs are changing.” The letter then said its North Melbourne branch was to be closed and ATMs were also to be removed. I can only assume that this action was taken in response to demands and protests from bank clients about the need to close the bank branch and dismantle its ATMs.
Dennis Walker, North Melbourne

Mess on the playground
Opening school grounds to the public after hours may seem like a good idea. But at least half of them will bring their dogs (of course), most of whom will run around off-leash, leaving droppings around children’s play areas, especially in sandy soil and bark-covered areas. Therefore, every morning school staff will have to search the area and clean up all this mess. It’s not such a good idea after all.
Geoff Dalton, East Malvern

Amazing debut
The Adelaide Oval was lit up on Sunday by the sensational 2024 WBBL debut of 15-year-old NSW schoolgirl Caoimhe Bray (whose Gaelic Christian name is pronounced Kiva), who took the deciding wicket and scored the winning runs in a thrilling performance. allowing her Sydney Sixers team to defeat the Melbourne Renegades.
Eric Palm, Gympie, Queensland

Permanent waste
Last year my local council changed its rubbish collection policy to allow each household to have two free rubbish collections per year. Everyone threw out their trash at the same time every year. The new system means that the environmental strip on almost every street contains solid waste all year round. It’s no wonder people are dumping it illegally – under the old system, litter being dumped outside the annual collection date was much more obvious.
Linda Chandler, Mentone

AND MORE

Qantas updates
If the upgrade is given free of charge, with no expectation of any impact, what number is called? I can guarantee no influence.
Joan Segrave, Healesville

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Anthony Albanese may have put all his free Qantas upgrades on his parliamentary register, but whether he likes it or not, they don’t pass the pub test.
Reg Murray, Glen Iris

Before we start talking about improving the skills of politicians, let’s not forget the RAAF aircraft provided to Matthias Cormann to travel abroad in his bid to win support from the OECD leadership.
Annie Wilson, Inverloch

US politics
If US voters are really smart, they will accept Republican money “donations” and vote Democrat anyway.
Bruce Dudon, Woodend

In addition to Matt Golding’s cartoon that the upcoming US election could blow up Mount Rushmore’s monument to past greatness, consider the election date – November 5th. Please remember the fifth of November / Gunpowder Treason and Conspiracy. / I see no reason why the treason of the Capitol / Should ever be forgotten.
Janet Gaden, Marshall

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