Middle-aged conservative men worry about how to use a clean energy target to portray Labor as the party of higher power prices. The government tries to force AGL to continue with a decrepit coal-fired power station. Malcolm Turnbull, late of a Point Piper residence replete with a large solar panel array, sits solemnly with business leaders and pretends to fight for lower power prices for ordinary Aussies.
Another weird outcome of all this is the ability to confound logic to allow coal-fired, so-called "clean" power stations to receive carbon credits. Our planet is experiencing extreme hurricanes, hot seas, dying coral, deadly bushfires and floods that are killing thousands and displacing millions. It is time to ditch the politics and bring out the market forces that are propelling us towards renewables.
Illustration: Andrew Dyson
Jill Dumsday, Ashburton
Crazy, topsy-turvy world in our capital
It is good to know that Alice in Wonderland is now a ballet (The Age, 12/9). But right now the most topsy-turvy spectacle is in Canberra. On the one hand, the government labels the opposition as socialists on a Stalinist level. On the other, it tries to tell AGL how to run its business – such meddling is otherwise known as supply-side economics, a pillar of communism. Malcolm Turnbull actually accused energy companies of "wanting to look after their shareholders". Aren't they required by law to do that? And to think John Howard took an emissions trading scheme to the 2007 election campaign. Ah well, there is alwaysAlice.
Richard Barber, South Melbourne
Business, the free market and socialism
Perhaps someone should tell Malcolm Turnbull that when companies such as AGL want to make a profit and have control over their assets, it is called a "free market". Perhaps his time in the business world did not overcome his obvious socialist beliefs in control over how companies carry out their affairs.
Peter Gribben, Drouin
Time to accept the evidence about coal
The idiot logic displayed in Canberra – such as the captain's adhoc call on Liddell power station – is alarming and retrograde. It makes no economic nor environmental sense, and is potentially a costly engineering headache. It is not supported by expert advice. Also, Liddell is not closing until 2022, when better cheaper and cleaner options can be put in place.
Global emissions must be reduced by 2020 if catastrophic climate change above 2degrees is to be avoided. Renewables, coupled with storage, are an essential part of this. Coal is not. The current leadership circus is floundering as it tries to deal with the energy and environment shipwreck it has created.
The solution is to accept the evidence that coal power is not the solution to power supply, act collaboratively with the states, update the energy market rules and accept a clean energytarget.
Keith Altmann, Woodend
We have paid a high cost for deregulation
The sooner the Victorian government re-regulates electricity prices (The Age, 12/9) the better. Competition has created a plethora of financially unsustainable energy retailers bolstered by exploitative practices. Retailers feign competition by overcharging "standing offer" customers to cross-subsidise those who shop around. Market churn is not competition: it is evidence of retailers taking money from one customer's pocket and giving it to an obliging other. Pity also the tens of thousands of households that are in the dark and cold – but presumably not the homes of Jeff Kennett or Alan Stockdale.
Cheryl Wragg, Moe
THE FORUM
Learn to live with less
Are we really entitled to "access all the electricity we want to use, when we want it" (Letters, 13/9)? A child might be excused for behaving in such a demanding way, but we adults are expected to be capable of controlling our behaviour and urges, and living with things being less than we would like them to be.
Kris Hansen, Ringwood
Degrees of heating
A recent visit to a local community house revealed an example of the mismatch between energy use targets and results. Next to the light switches were signs stating that heating should be set at 18 to 20degrees, and cooling at 24 to 26degrees. But the "saunaesque" conditions had those at the meeting feeling uncomfortably hot: the heating had been set at 25degrees.
Warmth is good, but more warmth is not better, and bloody hot is not best. How to reinforce the message? One way would be for electricity and gas bills to carry a reminder that we should set heating at 19degrees and cooling at 25degrees, and that we should dress warmly in winter and coolly in summer. Save money and the planet.
Greg Malcher, Hepburn Springs
A bit too much, China
I agree with Donald Trump's tweet from 2012. Climate change was created by the Chinese to disadvantage the United States' economic competitiveness. However, I think they went a bit too hard when they created Hurricane Irma.
Patrick Alilovic, Pascoe Vale South
Changing uniforms ...
Winter 1951 was very cold. It was a long, cold walk to school. Chilblains on the knees. In grade 1, I was sent home from Deepdene Primary School because I was wearing jodhpurs, the only trousers my mother could find to cover my freezing knees.
Winter 1985, my daughter was reprimanded at Albury High School for wearing slacks as part of her uniform. She had worn trousers, and skirts, for seven years at Albury Primary School. I complained to the Parents and Citizens Council about girls not being allowed to wear trousers, and was mocked and jeered.
Winter 2017, and girls are set to win the right to wear shorts and pants at every Victorian state school (The Age, 13/9). But we are still having this debate for independent schools. What nonsense.
Kath McKay, Upwey
... and about time, too
Wow, girls at all state schools will be able to wear shorts and pants. How progressive. It has taken the Victorian government only 10 years to implement recommendation 4.2 from the 2007 inquiry into school uniforms. What a speedy political climate.
Sam Leeder, Seddon
Our safety comes first
Why is the efficiency of trams measured by whether they run on time (The Age, 13/9)? What about passengers' comfort and safety, and ensuring that drivers are not forced to take off before it is safe to do so? What about the elderly and disabled, or people with prams, who struggle to swipe on and find a seat before the tram lurches off? What about measuring the number of people who are injured in falls as drivers rush to be on time? And why do passengers travelling west still have the added struggle of clambering up high steps? I do not mind if trams are late. I just want to get off them with fewer bruises.
Rosemary Davison, Moonee Ponds
An honourable action
Caterer Peter Rowland, whose hospitality empire has crumbled (The Age, 13/9), deserves congratulations and admiration. We live in an age where morals, values, ethics and honesty are given little or no value and respect – often because of the actions of self-centred politicians and self-anointed corporate leaders. However, Mr Rowland has admitted his own failure, taken responsibility and, at personal cost, implemented a recovery plan. What if we could live in a society where this behaviour was the norm?
Peter Dulmanis, Jan Juc
Wrong, Mr Abbott
Tony Abbott (Comment, 13/9) is wrong when he says same-sex couples enjoy the same rights as married couples. Next of kin, property laws and entitlement to part-pensions are all areas where married couples enjoy greater benefits and protections than unmarried couples.
What evidence is he relying on when he says "'it's a long time, thank God, since gay people have been discriminated against"? On the same day as his article, The Age published a story about a teenager who is suing Victoria's Education Department over homophobic bullying at school. There are many other examples that prove discrimination against gay people continues. Also, in complaining about unintended consequences of the postal survey, is Mr Abbott oblivious to the fact that he was the mastermind behind the idea of a public vote on the rights of LGBTI persons?
Christopher Membrey, Collingwood
And fair go, Mr Abbott
Tony Abbott says gay people "deserve love, respect and inclusion". He wants a country of "a fair go", one where "no one is discriminated against". But he also wants to exclude gay couples from marriage. Isn't this discrimination? Fair go, Mr Abbott, you cannot have it both ways.
Angela Dupuche, Hawthorn East
Such a simple step
When it comes to taxation, the government has already worked out what makes a couple ("How Centrelink decides if you're a couple or flatmates", Money, 13/9). So, if they have known this all along, allow those couples to make it official. Let them marry.
Leigh Mackay, Prahran
Selective human rights
Some years ago, former prisoner of conscience Robert Mugabe caused those of us who had written letters on his behalf to regret the time spent on what turned out to be an exercise of questionable value. Now another former prisoner of conscience, Aung San Suu Kyi, is causing similar despair to the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of us who wrote to the Burmese generals asking them to honour the requirements of the International Declaration of Human Rights. Is it too much to hope that she might be persuaded to extend to the Rohingya refugees the same human rights that were demanded, and won, for her?
Ian Brown, Sandringham
Two beautiful cities
Eleanor Kirk (Comment, 13/9), I am a native of Melbourne and I love it. However, I have always been filled with admiration for the beauties of Sydney. Who is the one making arrogant and ignorant comparisons here? Also, it has been said of Melbourne's weather: "If you don't like it, wait a minute". That is not necessarily a bad thing. Yes, there is even sunshine for the beach.
Kay Arthur, Diamond Creek
The big issue: waste
We have a history of identifying problems but a reluctance to take appropriate action. One issue, with potential health problems, is the lack of action in tackling waste disposal – commercial, business, industrial and residential. This could be resolved by the construction of waste incineration plants, similar to those in Europe and elsewhere. This should be a federal or state government infrastructure responsibility. Why do we often lag behind other nations?
Barry Robinson, McCrae
Such risky business
The Treasurer wants employers to increase their employees' wages. Is this so that these workers can afford to repay the money they borrowed from banks to buy homes? This, in turn, will ensure the price of banks' shares (which also sit as assets in workers' superannuation portfolios) do not decline. It would be a nice double whammy if the stretched property borrowers trip at the repayment hurdle due to low wages or a decline in house prices.
John Murray, Hawthorn East
Vulnerable road users
The total number of deaths and serious injuries involving cyclists more than doubled during 2007 to 2015 (The Age, 11/9). Better infrastructure, such as more bike paths, will fix this, we think. However, we are ignoring that big beast with tusks: motorists' attitudes. Most motorists are perfectly nice people, but they seem to regard us cyclists as not quite kosher road users – tolerated as long as we do not slow them up by a few seconds. They expect me to keep out of their way: after all, I will be the one who gets hurt if I do not. In Europe this pecking order is reversed, so that is where I spend my tourist dollars. It is so good to feel safe and cared for.
Carol Skinner, Fitzroy
Mysterious breeding
About those ubiquitous yellow oBikes. My little grandson, always the alarmist, keeps exclaiming that they are taking over the world. We watch them carefully to find out how they reproduce, but we never catch them in the act. Adding to the mystery, we never see a human in contact with them. Maybe they trigger instinctive cyclophobia. Because of the epidemic proportions of the phenomenon, maybe one of our top universities should try to shed some light on this.
Ralph Boehmer, St Kilda West
AND ANOTHER THING
Energy
Of all the things to get stuck into Turnbull for, having a beer at the footy while holding his grandchild is not one.
Linelle Gibson, Williamstown
Clean energy target – more like a coal encouragement tactic.
Philip West, Jan Juc
The Coalition policy cupboard is bare when rational debate is replaced by name calling, like "Blackout Bill" and "No Coal Joe".
David Bennett, Malvern East
We're all pawns in the political game.
Veronica Dingle, Brighton
How much does it cost to maintain this warm inner glow in the hearts and minds of government MPs?
Robin Friday, Box Hill
Once the government negotiates better power prices with suppliers, other companies will be clamouring to reduce their profit margins too.
Roderick Carmichael, St Kilda
Josh, why not convert Parliament House into a renewable energy generator fuelled by an infinite supply of hot air?
Jenny Bone, Surrey Hills
Same-sex marriage
Abbott thinks it's "a step too far", including for his sister.
Colin Jones, South Melbourne
The Coalition is misappropriating $122million of public money to spend on a party feud. Can we mug taxpayers compel them to repay it?
Laurie McCormack, Clifton Hill
And the winner is Australia Post.
Graeme Macmillan, Blackburn
Cities
Eleanor Kirk (12/9), our Chinatown is all right and, ironically, a rare CBD heritage area, safe from foreign wreckers and our planning masters.
Pamela Lloyd, Brunswick West
I care so little about the Melbourne/Sydney rivalry that I'm writing to tell you how much I don't care.
Greg Walsh, Black Rock