Curbs on foreign students are cause for concern

The decision by federal Education Minister Jason Clare to severely cut the number of foreign students studying in Australian universities is concerning (“Foreign student cap a blow for unis”, August 28). Concerning because universities are already struggling to carry on educating to the highest level those who could make significant contributions to caring for this planet and its people. Concerning, because the best foreign students should not be denied access to the best of Australia’s universities and be relegated to smaller and regional universities. Douglas Mackenzie, Deakin (ACT)

The emotive argument put forward that students are no longer made to feel welcome is misleading. A correction of the failing Coalition model for tertiary education is needed, that being that our institutions can be bankrolled by overseas students. It is not sustainable. The federal government should reinstate funding to account for the loss of foreign student revenue. Anthony Connolly, Beacon Hill

Universities claim their foreign student industry contributes $48billion to the economy. Respected economists have pointed out this overestimates the true contribution hugely. It should be closer to $20b because students who stay longer than a year and work locally should not be classified as providing export income through their spending. That spending should be treated the same as spending by a resident, as it is locally earned. By all means, debate the benefits, but use defensible data. Ronald Watts, Newcastle

It is a sad situation when education policy is influenced by immigration and politics rather than the health and needs of the education system. Repeated studies have confirmed that overseas students have minimal effect on rental availability but rather, issues with supply and short-term rentals are the source of the crisis. This decision is about next year’s election and will lead to reduced local tertiary places, scholarships and courses, and is a retrograde step that is both cynical and media driven. Government funding has been greatly reduced over the years and forced a corporate structure onto universities. The government is now restricting their ability to fund themselves. Further demonstrating the power of media misinformation.
Rowan Godwin, Rozelle

What is the Greens’ game?

Just what is the Green’s strategy in attacking the Labor government on all fronts, including the CFMEU (“Death throes”, August 28)? Is it, in the hope of ensuring a minority government, of becoming the de facto “government”? The trouble is, they could bring in a Coalition majority government. Do the Greens really want this?
Peter Hill, East Ballina

PM, you sure have a lot on your plate at present, topped off by the ever-present malignancy of the CFMEU leadership. Remember all of us people out here who depend on you and your promises of getting things that matter done. Now is the time to prove your true leadership in life-changing reforms. No pressure. Judy Finch, Taree

Over 49 years I worked with all types but the worst are aggressive bullies like those in the CFMEU. Why do posturing Greens hold these people up as someone to admire? To me, they’ve damaged responsible unionism and brought deregistration on themselves. Helen Cremer, Auburn

The methods used by certain people within the CFMEU to counter allegations with aggressive tactics should be recognised by naive union members, who’ve paid for all the goings-on. As for the Greens, far from being supporters of gradual and progressive policy, by their want-it-now ideology they are once again being shown up as despoilers of government progress, seeming to be merely a support for Dutton and co. The Australian Democrats revisited? Donald Hawes, Peel

It is obviously no accident that “ME” is at the heart of the CFMEU. Philip Cooney, Wentworth Falls

Nick McKenzie’s opinion piece is precisely on point (“CFMEU members are right to rage, but they’re railing at the wrong people”, August 28). I am outraged at the vitriol levelled at Anthony Albanese.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, I worked in a labour law firm that acted for the BLF. As it was right then to deregister the BLF, it is right now to deregister the CFMEU and start over. When thuggery is perpetrated by infiltrating criminal elements (whether it be physical, psychological, or financial), it is the beginning of the end for any union.

I look forward to seeing construction industry workers represented by something that has the workers’ interests at heart rather than their own self-interest. I am an avowed unionist and believe there is a place for them still – if only others out there thought the same, workers may be in a better position. Peta Dixon, Surry Hills

Honest toil

How many employees who moan about being called out of hours can honestly say they have efficiently devoted every minute of the official work hours to actual work (Letters, August 28)?
Chatting to colleagues, surfing the net and inefficient work practices are lost hours that are impossible to calculate. I’ve alway considered it’s a quid pro quo arrangement where managers can turn a blind eye to late arrivals or long lunches to those employees who deliver while those same employees are willing to go the extra mile to meet deadlines. Legislation to motivate both sides to toe the line will breed resentment and workplace disharmony. Elizabeth Maher, Fiddletown

Are we seeing here a 21st century issue? When I first joined the permanent workforce as a graduate engineer almost 60 years ago, not every home had a telephone, and many workers did not own a car, let alone a second one. Each day we all attempted to arrive at the designated time, and a clerk would appear and draw a line across the timesheet so it was obvious who was late if we didn’t “bundy” on and off. At the end of the day, the whistle would blow, and all would down tools and often go home on public transport. There was no way management could connect to many of the “workers” and “staff” out of hours except by going around to their houses and knocking on their doors or dragging them out of the pub. Modern ubiquitous technology has allowed management to steadily erode the freedom to balance work/life and to encroach on unpaid time. Perhaps we are now finally seeing a correction. Neil Crosby, Annandale

Voting vexation

There is no obligation to vote, just an obligation to turn up and have your name marked off (Letters, August 28). Michael Charlton, Petersham

No doubt your correspondent believes paying tax should also be voluntary. David Salter, Hunters Hill

How can compulsory voting exist in a democracy? It’s oxymoronic. Mike Keene, Mollymook Beach

One only has to look at the shenanigans of the American electoral system, where voting happens on a workday and polling booths are located well away from less affluent areas, to realise how important compulsory voting is. It behoves officials to provide easy access to polling stations and have them open on a day when most people are free. John Mizon, Collaroy

PM must play his hand

Tim Costello is right in saying our PM is facing his Port Arthur moment, but on the issue of gambling advertising (“Albanese faces Port Arthur moment”, August 28). More telling is the fact the PM has a credible report calling for a total ban to support him. The difference between John Howard and Albanese is that Howard could imagine what future Australia would be like if high-powered guns were not controlled. Unfortunately, our PM can only imagine a future without him in it as PM. Leadership requires the courage to back your convictions, even when your mates may turn on you for it. Albanese is too interested in pleasing everyone to see that. Brian Barrett, Padstow

Costello’s article sums up all the arguments for a ban, but Albanese ain’t no Howard. Why can’t the government just do the right thing? Dierk Mohr, South Turramurra

Urging (especially vulnerable) people to gamble is immoral and a form of theft. It preys on the unsuspecting like a parasite. It encourages financial, psychological and physical self harm, as well as social disorder and distress among families, and turns stable relationships into chaos. Banning gambling itself is the ideal. If that’s not feasible, then let’s at least drive a stake through the advertisers’ hearts. Frederick Jansohn, Rose Bay

Admirable as the sentiments expressed by Costello are, limiting the target of his attack to gambling advertising does not confront the real problem. Advertising indeed induces participation in gambling, but the biggest losses – financial and social – are caused by poker machines, something that enjoys a protected status in Australia. The club lobby, determined to protect their huge income sources, would be a powerful opponent, but if Costello is serious about gambling generally and its distressing impact on Australian families, he must direct his attention beyond the advertising stimulus to the real problem – the one-armed bandit. Making advertising the whipping boy is only scratching at the surface of the gambling problem in Australia. Brian Kidd, Mt Waverley (Vic)

I’m with you Tim Costello, a total ban on all gambling ads would be a truly defining moment for Australia, and should, I believe, guarantee a Labor victory at the next election. Come on Albo, time to stand tall. Nicholas Beauman, Neutral Bay

Aged-care failure

Aged-care issues, like disability care issues, seem to be an intractable problem for our politicians to resolve (“Baby Boomers face aged-care bed shortages as funding crisis worsens”, August 28). It’s almost like there is no common ground they can agree on, yet they continue to duck, weave, prevaricate, deny and avoid action while at the same trying to be “popular”. It seems this inability to resolve it is the only issue that they can agree on. What an appalling bunch of self-serving people we have selected when bipartisan issues like aged care, which ultimately will affect all of us, can’t be resolved. It’s no wonder politicians are generally held in contempt, given their self-serving behaviour. Alternatively, maybe we should bring aged care back into government ownership? Because at the moment it seems the industry can’t do its job, despite the mountain of government money propping it up. At least then there’d be accountability, transparency and consistency. Bernard Stever, Richmond

One potential solution to the impending shortage of aged care beds might be the expansion and refinement of the government-sponsored homestay program. My mother, until the age of 94, provided accommodation to students in exchange for a few hours of household chores. She received daily visits from a nurse from a nearby aged-care facility to assist with showering and dressing. Meals were delivered once a day by a not-for-profit organisation. This approach could also be adapted to support Indigenous students from rural Australia in attending schools and universities. Since a significant portion of aged care costs likely comes from maintaining physical facilities, it could be more cost-effective to implement a stay-at-home model, supplemented by necessary services. John Kempler, Rose Bay

Fossil fuel folly

Hidden inside the Herald we can find a call by United Nations secretary general Antonio Guterres for wealthy nations to stop new fossil fuel projects (“Plibersek defiant on mine delay”, August 28). Known reserves of fossil fuels alone will push global temperatures above the 2C rise limit set by global climate accords. Yet successive Australian governments continue to provide permits for new fossil fuel exploration projects, regardless of the dangers to the environment. To do so is fundamentally irrational. Neil Ormerod, Kingsgrove

Helen of Sydney

The Greeks can keep their Helen of Troy as long as we have our Helen of Sydney (Column 8, August 28). I am saddened to hear she is leaving the Herald after a 40 year-plus association with the masthead. As a columnist and author of articles chronicling Sydney’s cultural and social life, she had no peer. Once I wrote in and asked her who her stylist was, she fired back indignantly and said, “I don’t have a stylist!”

She wrote with intelligence, humour, knowledge and alacrity of perception, but never in an angry or disparaging way. She never put anybody down. She will always be remembered as the author of The House, her magnum opus about the Sydney Opera House, which has become essential reading for locals and visitors wanting to know more about this iconic building.

She was modest in proclaiming her credentials but those who have followed her journalistic career know she achieved much overseas, in the USA and Europe. You don’t get a commendation in the UN Media Peace Prize if you’re second rate.

Her love of Sydney shone through her love of growing up in her childhood suburb in the north-west, to where she swam in the secluded pools of the eastern suburbs. Goodbye and thanks, Helen Pitt, for everything you did for us in your spirited writing. We can all only send you good karma in whatever direction you choose to travel. I hope there’s a Homer out there who includes you in his epic. Peter Skrzynecki, Eastwood

New format

Letters still too long (Letters, August 28). Jeff Apter, Keiraville

The brief letters had but a brief return. Margaret Grove, Concord

• To submit a letter to the Sydney Morning Herald, email letters@smh.com.au. Click here for tips on how to submit letters.
• The Opinion newsletter is a weekly wrap of views that will challenge, champion and inform. Sign up here.