Misguided misogyny musings miss the mark

I am a fully paid-up member of the sisterhood but we are witness to a couple of very long bows being drawn by Parnell Palme McGuinness (“Albanese got the gong but the real global citizen is misogyny”, September 27). Journalist Latika Bourke asked a graceless question of the PM as he accepted a Global Citizen Award in New York, for which she has received some criticism. Enter Palme McGuinness, who has tortuously conflated apparent misogyny aimed at Bourke with the Bondi murders in a misguided diatribe about treatment of female journalists. While misogyny is common in journalistic circles, Palme McGuinness goes 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. Judy Hungerford, Narraweena

I have no particular argument with Stephen Koukoulas being called a hypocrite, which is something he may excel in, but the rest of us, including even Parnell Palme McGuinness herself, can hardly claim to be entirely innocent of this. But here she goes once again, shaping anything she can into an argument against anyone to her philosophical left. Under the guise of supporting a fellow female journalist and railing against misogyny, instead of engaging with the fact that Latika Bourke’s question to the PM was composed of unnecessary and mostly unsubstantiated accusations, she pokes the stick at the PM. That actually appears to be the whole point of her article. McGuinness can carry on about hypocrisy and misogyny as much as she likes, and good on her, but she’d be more convincing if she chose her targets less self-servingly. Prue Nelson, Cremorne Point

Words of wisdom

Peter FitzSimons has done well to highlight the excellent speech by headmaster Michael Blake. (“Before his speech went viral, this boys’ school headmaster ran it past his daughter”, September 27). I thought Blake’s reference to St Francis of Assisi was poignant: “preach the gospel daily and occasionally use words”. Positive role models; the right choices; doing the right thing, even though it comes with a cost; what a true friendship entails – these are all important in life. Our young generations are lucky to have educators of the calibre of Blake. We have all met them, in many schools, education systems and life in general. As we see in our courts, our ICAC, in life situations, despite having the information, it comes down to individual choices. Life wasn’t meant to be easy – doing the right thing is not always easier. Geoff Nilon, Mascot

According to Peter FitzSimons, the headmaster of a boys’ private school should be praised for attempting to instil a sense of respect for females in his young charges. Good luck. This is one of the problems in single-sex schools. It is far better in most public high schools, where the mixture of boys and girls enables children, because that is what they are, 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. There is no mystique, no false outlook, just an acceptance of fellow human beings. Nola Tucker, Kiama

Eco fail

It looks like patient safety is a handy cover-up for a misguided move by the NSW Clinical Excellence Commission (CEC) to ban using “eco-friendly medical supplies in favour of single-use products that end up in landfill and cost taxpayers millions of dollars each year” (“Healthcare staff oppose ban on eco-friendly medical supplies”, September 27). Could this be the result of big corporate lobbying? There’s plenty of precedent to use eco products. Remanufacturing medical devices is commonplace in Britain, the US and Europe. 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. But get this: “about 8 per cent of all waste in NSW is generated from the healthcare sector”, according to the co-chair of Doctors for the Environment Australia. That amounts to 52,400 tonnes of waste – the weight of the Harbour Bridge. To cap things off, by reducing the resultant landfill in allowing remanufacturing, the $16 million saved can be reinvested in overstretched public healthcare. Let’s hope the CEC can be convinced to reverse this disastrous ban of eco-friendly medical supplies. Larry Woldenberg, Forest Lodge

Problems with pride

Your correspondent Adras Hidas exhorts Australians to take pride in their history and their flag (Letters, September 27). While such 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 land then was not a sovereign nation called Australia but an offshore detention centre run by the UK military and called New South Wales. Aspects of this have not been addressed sufficiently since then. I first voted in 1967 as an Australian (European immigrant) citizen 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, i.e. recognised as human residents of the land. Even that did not settle the formal recognition of these people. Indigenous Australians only acquired full voting rights throughout the nation in the 1960s Queensland state elections. Apart from First Australians, the treatment of some types of immigrants was grossly unequal. The White Australia Policy was only abolished in the 1970s. More needs to be done to make many of us feel genuine pride in this nation. Al Svirskis, Mount Druitt

You can call me Albo

In the words of Paul Simon: “I need a photo opportunity, I want a shot at redemption/Don’t want to end up a cartoon in a cartoon graveyard” (“PM must convince voters UN trip was more than selfies with leaders”, September 27). Allan Gibson, Cherrybrook

• 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.

More:

• Letters
• Opinion
• For subscribers
• Healthcare
• Indigenous
• The Sydney Morning Herald
• New South Wales