My delight in watching Scott Morrison held to account

Credit:Illustration: Jim Pavlidis

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Robo-debt royal commission
Thank you Catherine Holmes, SC, for upbraiding Scott Morrison for his obfuscatory and long-winded answers to questions at the robot-debt royal commission. It almost made up for the many times in the past that I found myself yelling at the television: “Just answer the question.”
Now if only the Speaker of the house could act with such power and authority, parliament might get somewhere in question time.
Ross Bardin, Williamstown

Relentless sense of infallibility
Whether as minister, prime minister and now before the robo-debt royal commission, Scott Morrison’s justification of the unjustifiable, explaining away his transgressions of commission and omission, is an extraordinary mix of denial, distraction, evasiveness and blaming others (“Proved wrong by history: Ex-PM”, 15/2).

It’s fascinating to observe that he always comes across as passionately convinced that every one of his decisions was inspired by a sense of infallibility. One can’t but admire both his relentless consistency and his seeming sincerity.
Kevin Burke, Sandringham

Asking the questions
Just as Scott Morrison expected journalists to be clairvoyant and ask him if he had taken on other ministries, mightn’t we have expected the same of him to query whether the robo-debt scheme was in fact legal? A classic exercise in plausible deniability.
Peter Thomson, Brunswick

Poor advice
Bureaucrats’ initial advice that robo-debt’s income averaging was unlawful was expressed in terms of a need for legislation to make it legal. Parliament has the power to do that, but it wouldn’t have made using income averaging as a trigger for collection of non-existent welfare debts any less improper. The wording of the advice in January 2015 seems designed to clear the way for a minister hell-bent on a pre-determined course of action.

Scott Morrison must always have known that income averaging was fatally flawed – any thinking person who looked at it would, without the need for bureaucratic assistance. By their advice and then its withdrawal in March 2015, bureaucrats handed Morrison the gift of plausible deniability. That was played out in his tortuous performance before the royal commission on Wednesday. As always, he blamed others.
Lawrie Bradly, Surrey Hills

Authority lacking
It’s a sad reflection on the state of politics in Australia to think that the person performing so poorly (“‘Are you even listening?’ Bitter lesson for ex-PM”) before the royal commission into the robo-debt program was once our prime minister.
Tony O’Brien, South Melbourne

A simple apology
If Scott Morrison has another appearance at the royal commission, all he has to say is, “What we did was wrong”. He and his like need to understand there are some people who cannot manage and need a helping hand.
Anne Flanagan, Box Hill North

More waffle
The self-serving and evasive answers to questions given by Scott Morrison at the robo-debt royal commission are entirely as one would expect, packed with the waffle of a media interview, journalist and audience alike heaving with irritation at the refusal to answer the question. Morrison flagged his tactic at the start by “thanking” the process that brought him to the commission and obsequiously “thanking” the commission.

No one is interested in how Morrison feels or to whom he wishes to thank; what they are interested is a straight answer to a straight question. Let’s not hold our collective breath.
Simon Clegg, Donvale

THE FORUM

Reflecting our community
Thanks to The Age for highlighting the poor representation of Victorians from non-European backgrounds in the new state parliament (“Parliament goes backwards on diversity”, 15/12). We need to do better on reflecting our community in our parliaments. It was refreshing to see the Greens have not only a majority of female MPs, but also a much younger representation and a leader from a non-European background.
Peter Allan, Brunswick West

Democratic limits
What brilliant news: “Green numbers quadruple as upper house sways to the left” (The Age, 15/12). In my opinion, however, there are two significant problems with the way MPs are elected to the Legislative Council in Victoria – the most obvious being the ability of candidates with little voter support being able to pay a fee of $55,000 to a preference whisperer to arrange preference deals.

The other is the two-party system. The Liberal Party has allowed at least two “controversial” candidates to be elected, purely by virtue of their position on their upper house ticket. The old Liberal-Labor two-party deadlock means a dead cat in a red or blue T-shirt at number 1 or 2 on the upper house ticket will be elected.
Michelle Goldsmith, Eaglehawk

Political controversy
Why is the Liberal Party’s Renee Heath always referred to as “controversial”; is it because the church she belongs to has some tenets the general community, and Heath herself, don’t accept?
Victoria’s premier belongs to a religion that opposes same-sex marriage, abortion, voluntary assisted dying, and allows the practice of exorcism. Why doesn’t that make Daniel Andrews “controversial”?
John Capel, Black Rock

Using the system
The disheartening loss of Fiona Patten to Adem Somyurek in the upper house (“‘Unfinished business’: Patten vows to keep driving change”, 15/12) could be viewed as an example of how the people have spoken.

But given Somyurek’s record of Labor branch stacking and the DLP’s hiring of “preference whisperer” Glenn Druery to help get him over the line, it instead appears to be an example of how the political system can be legally gamed.
Paul Miller, Box Hill South

Departing with grace
Fiona Patten can hold her head high having made a substantial contribution to our community and departing with grace. I hope she is not lost to public life and wish her well.
Peter Sprott, Alphington

A record to remember
The defeat of Fiona Patten is a victory for Victorian women and girls. As a lobbyist and advocate for the sex industry, she pushed the disgraceful idea that having sex for money is empowering, liberating and a boost to one’s self-esteem. Of course it is the opposite.
Jeremy Browne, Ripponlea

VCE not working
Contrary to Katie Roberts-Hull’s view (“The danger of an unscored VCE”, 15/12), the final two years of secondary education are not years of immense learning, unless you see learning how to maximise your ATAR score as an educational outcome.

When VCE replaced the one year High School Certificate, the public was told that students would be assessed over two years, resulting in a meaningful score that reflected their talent and efforts. However, year 11 is now considered merely a practice year and final exam performance is critical to the ATAR, rendering it similar to the system it was supposed to replace. Exam success requires students to regurgitate information in the right format under time pressure. Preparation includes remembering pages of direct quotes, a “skill” that will never be needed again.

Universities now use a variety of ways of selecting students for their courses, so ATAR is not even needed for its primary function. No wonder students are voting with their feet and increasingly choosing to finish high school unscored. It is time for a new approach.
Esther Abram, Coburg

Career driven system
Now that the dust of VCE results and our response to these has settled, we can reflect on our education system once again.

Our current system is very focused on providing knowledge, training and an assessment process aimed at choosing the best students for the particular tasks desired by society. The attendant curriculum is very influenced by the needs of certain highly desired careers embedded in a highly competitive atmosphere. This results in narrowing the possibilities for what could be achieved and young people who feel less worthy.

A good education system, that benefits both individuals and the community, produces young people, who are constantly curious about the world around them, are able to follow interests that allow them to discover their true potential, are happy that, while others may be done better, they are satisfied they have done their best.

It is easy to postulate on different educational philosophies, but incredibly difficult to create structures and systems that meet different goals. It requires a societal change of values. We can’t afford to let things continue as they are.
Howard Tankey, Box Hill North

Build it now
I agree with The Age editorial that building infrastructure shouldn’t be a political football (“Big builds a big risk to the public purse”, 15/12). However, let me point out one fact about building infrastructure that is often overlooked: building never gets any cheaper. So while it seems wrong to be spending up so big at this point in time, the reality is that waiting would end up costing us more.
Margaret Steel, Eltham

Genuine evil
The harrowing events in Wieambilla, Queensland, are a reminder that those who serve in the police force each day tread the precarious line that otherwise holds back the tide of civil anarchy. There is such a thing as evil. It is not a mere social construct but a daily reality which often rears its head through the decisions and actions of hardened and hateful citizens.

What makes this baffling atrocity so despicable is not just the death of a brave neighbour, or the youthful age of the deceased officers, but the fact that the original police intention was a welfare check on a presumed missing person; something that is a bread and butter responsibility for those who wear the blue uniform.

We can only pray that something of the solace of the Christ-child will flood the hearts and minds of those who are presently walking through the valley of the shadow of death.
Peter Waterhouse, Craigieburn

Deadly consequences
Conspiracy theories have consequences. In the US, using violence in trying to overturn the government. In Australia, killing two young police officers and a local farmer in cold blood.
Michael Helman, St Kilda East

Route not so baffling
We must take issue with Patrick Hatch’s article “The city’s most baffling bus routes”, (15/12). Our company operates the Moonee Ponds to Aberfeldie route and while the 467 is a historic route, it remains a valuable part of the Essendon-Moonee Ponds community carrying over 10,000 commuters a month and timetabled to meet railway services at Moonee Ponds. Route 467 serves Ave Maria College as well as many older passengers who are reliant on the service to access medical appointments, shops and Moonee Ponds railway station.

In 2023 St Bernard’s College will open a year 9 campus on the site of a now-closed primary school in Aberfeldie and the students will be serviced solely by the 467 bus, further increasing community service on that route.

There is more to suburban bus routes than a cursory glance would suggest.
Kathryn Feehan, proprietor, Daniel Zampatti, general manager, Ryan Bros Bus Service

An imperfect system
The game is up. Us money-hungry GPs have been exposed yet again. Nefarious tactics have been revealed such as billing Medicare to speak to an aged care resident’s family about their condition (“‘Little frauds’ debated on GP Facebook groups”, 14/12). Clearly this is fraud of the highest order.
Or could it be that GPs are trying to do their best to fit their work into an imperfect and complex Medicare system? Why, for example, does Medicare not pay GPs to counsel patients’ families?

Should GPs stop speaking to family members? Or maybe charge a private fee? I suspect most GPs do what I do and just do this work without payment, like an innumerable number of our daily tasks.
GPs were on the front line of the COVID pandemic. We bore the brunt of vaccinating the population. Now a record number of burnt-out GPs are retiring, and the profession is struggling to recruit medical graduates.

GPs are consistently the lowest paid medical speciality. We practise high quality medical care at a fraction of the cost of other specialists. While there are indeed some unscrupulous operators who attempt to monetise Medicare, the vast majority of GPs do their job ethically as a service to their communities.
Dr Jonathan Epstein, Balaclava

Backwards step
Since the royal commission into mental health Victoria has taken some positive steps forward in the care of people with mental health issues. Now the federal government is taking a major step backwards by reducing the number of Medicare funded sessions people can have with a psychologist per year from 20 to 10.
Reg Murray, Glen Iris

Let go of the angst
May I remind readers that television sets and other devices have on-off buttons and channel selectors, and that newspapers are set out so that it is easy to skip articles? If you don’t like the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, don’t watch or read about them. Their actions have zero impact on our lives. Save your angst for things that matter.
Louise Kloot, Doncaster

And another thing

Politicians
Fiona Patten, re: “Most politicians are good people” (The Age, 15/12 ). I learnt in school that “most can mean anything between 51 and 99 per cent.
David Cayzer, Clifton Hill

Scott Morrison
Question time in parliament is a happy meander, question time under a royal commission is incisive and direct.
Gary Bryfman, Brighton

Morrison states he would give information if asked and as he trusts he doesn’t ask questions. One might expect him to be a man of few words!
Joan Segrave Healesville

By remaining in parliament Scott Morrison is, to quote Paul Keating, “doing himself slowly”.
Andrew Dods, Apollo Bay

Gas prices
Who is running this country? Foreign owned multinationals or our elected government?
Dan Drummond, Leongatha

Minister Chris Bowen’s arrogance towards the energy companies reminds me of then treasurer Joe Hockey’s taunting of the car manufacturers in 2013. Soon after Holden, Ford and Mitsubishi all exited Australia. Watch now as Shell and others do the same.
Wayne Alexander, Eltham

Peter Dutton is playing the long game opposing the reduction in gas prices. The long game in opposition.
Ross Hosking, Blackwood, SA

Soccer
Sorry APL, but selling off the A and W League Finals to Sydney will alienate supporters and not advance the game one little bit. How short-sighted, on the back of our local talent’s great exposure at the World Cup.
Bryan Lewis, St Helena

The Socceroos can take pride in the fact that the only teams that beat them were the World Cup finalists.
Les Aisen, Elsternwick

Finally
With the lifetime smoking ban in NZ will it still be called “the land of the long white cloud”?
Robin Jensen, Castlemaine

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