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Readers debate misogyny in journalism, single-sex education, a ban on eco-friendly medical supplies in NSW and the Australian flag's colonial symbolism.
A series of letters to the editor published on September 27 has ignited debate on misogyny in journalism, single-sex education, a ban on eco-friendly medical supplies in New South Wales and the symbolism of the Australian flag. The correspondence responds to recent articles and public statements, covering topics from a journalist's question to the Prime Minister in New York to the treatment of Indigenous Australians and immigrants.
Misogyny Claims and Journalistic Conduct
A fully paid-up member of the sisterhood has criticised Parnell Palme McGuinness for drawing long bows in her September 27 column. The writer argues that McGuinness tortuously conflated apparent misogyny aimed at journalist Latika Bourke with the Bondi murders in a misguided diatribe about treatment of female journalists.
Bourke asked a graceless question of the Prime Minister as he accepted a Global Citizen Award in New York, for which she has received some criticism. According to the correspondent, McGuinness entered the fray and went on a spurious and rambling stream of consciousness trying to link antisemitism, sexism and gracious world leaders, ending up in a confusing soup of misguided accusations.
The writer acknowledges that misogyny is common in journalistic circles but says McGuinness's article fails to engage with the fact that Bourke's question was composed of unnecessary and mostly unsubstantiated accusations. Instead, the writer says, McGuinness pokes the stick at the Prime Minister, which appears to be the whole point of her article.
The correspondent has no particular argument with Stephen Koukoulas being called a hypocrite, noting he may excel in that, but adds that the rest of us, including McGuinness herself, can hardly claim to be entirely innocent of hypocrisy. The writer suggests McGuinness would be more convincing if she chose her targets less self-servingly.
Single-Sex Schools and Building Respect
Another letter responds to Peter FitzSimons, who said the headmaster of a boys' private school should be praised for attempting to instil a sense of respect for females in his young charges. The writer says good luck, calling this one of the problems in single-sex schools.
According to the correspondent, it is far better in most public high schools, where the mixture of boys and girls enables children to have a realistic view of each other. Respect follows when both sexes realise there is no inherent superiority in being one or the other, the writer says, adding that there is no mystique, no false outlook, just an acceptance of fellow human beings.
A separate letter praises Blake's reference to St Francis of Assisi: preach the gospel daily and occasionally use words. The writer says positive role models, the right choices, doing the right thing even though it comes with a cost, and what a true friendship entails are all important in life. Our young generations are lucky to have educators of the calibre of Blake, the letter says, noting that such teachers exist in many schools and education systems. Despite having the information, it comes down to individual choices, as seen in courts and the ICAC, the writer adds. Life was not meant to be easy and doing the right thing is not always easier.
Ban on Eco-Friendly Medical Supplies
Another correspondent argues that patient safety is a handy cover-up for a misguided move by the NSW Clinical Excellence Commission to ban eco-friendly medical supplies in favour of single-use products that end up in landfill and cost taxpayers millions of dollars each year. The writer asks whether this could be the result of big corporate lobbying, noting there is plenty of precedent to use eco products.
Remanufacturing medical devices is commonplace in Britain, the US and Europe, the letter says. Meanwhile, single-use devices that end up in landfill cost less to manufacture and throw away, saving money with safety being used to rationalise such practices. The writer cites the co-chair of Doctors for the Environment Australia, who says about 8 per cent of all waste in NSW is generated from the healthcare sector. That amounts to 52,400 tonnes of waste, the weight of the Harbour Bridge.
By reducing the resultant landfill in allowing remanufacturing, the $16 million saved can be reinvested in overstretched public healthcare, the correspondent says. The writer hopes the CEC can be convinced to reverse what is described as a disastrous ban of eco-friendly medical supplies.
Flag Symbolism and Indigenous Recognition
A further letter addresses the Australian flag, noting that while pride can be a positive and unifying factor, it also has its problems, especially for some Australians. The flag gives prominence to the colonising nation that seized control of a territory by force more than two centuries ago, with no recognition of the traditional custodians of this land, the writer says.
The land then was not a sovereign nation called Australia but an offshore detention centre run by the UK military and called New South Wales, according to the correspondent. Aspects of this have not been addressed sufficiently since then. The writer first voted in 1967 as an Australian citizen of European immigrant background at the age of 21, as was the rule at the time, in a federal election accompanied by a referendum to allow Indigenous Australians to be counted in the census, meaning recognised as human residents of the land.
Even that did not settle the formal recognition of these people, the letter says. Indigenous Australians only acquired full voting rights throughout the nation in the 1960s Queensland state elections, the writer notes. Apart from First Australians, the treatment of some types of immigrants was grossly unequal, the correspondent concludes.
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