The article ‘Coe & Co’, written by Paul Barry in the May edition of the Monthly, wrongly attributed Mr Coe making the following statement in response to an email from Michael Stefanovski: “We will not dump the Rubicon transaction.” The Monthly acknowledges that this was incorrect. Mr Coe’s response to Mr Stefanovski made no statement one way or another as to whether Allco would or should proceed with the Rubicon transaction.
Letters to the editor
N.B. From August 2009, letters to the editor will be published in the print edition as well as online, though longer ones may be published on our website only.
How to submit a letter to the editor: Email letters "at" themonthly.com.au. Letters must include the writer's full name, daytime phone number and home address (for verification only), and may be edited for clarity or length. If you do not want your letter published, please mark it 'not for publication'.
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July 2010
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July 2010
‘King Coal’ (May) gives a timely reminder of the impact of mining developments in closely settled areas. The stories of Glenn Beutel and the Bateys are representative of what is happening all over Australia, but they are stories no one wants to hear. Governments at all levels are so beguiled by the short-term financial benefits of mining, they are incapable of considering its impact on the community and the environment.
The food-versus-coal campaign is something that will eventually affect everyone. Australia has a rapidly growing population to feed, but an ever...
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July 2010
My friend Tim Flannery (‘Comment’, June) refers rather disparagingly to “appalling treachery and weakness” in the Liberal Party in relation to Malcolm Turnbull’s failed attempt to force the Liberal Party to support Kevin Rudd’s emissions trading scheme in November last year.
With great respect, Tim, where, oh where, was the “treachery” of which you speak? When Mr Turnbull brought to the Coalition party room a shadow cabinet recommendation (opposed by me and five other shadow cabinet members) to support Mr Rudd’s ETS, the party room clearly rejected it.
The...
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June 2010
The ‘King Coal’ described by Guy Pearse (May) might seem to enjoy the freedoms of a monarch, but it is just one of the extraction industries, including oil, bauxite and iron ore (to which you might add gaming), enjoying similarly grotesque privileges. The real king, however, is clearly a political establishment with a donation addiction so serious that it has recently eclipsed the greatest challenge our species has faced. It was Carmen Lawrence who suggested that our major parties have come to behave like corporations, delicately implying the same ruthless pursuit of...
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June 2010
Malcolm Knox (‘Nuclear Dawn’, May) thinks there’s only one nuclear energy – the one that the uranium industry wants him to think about. The uranium industry and the US Department of Energy are locked into two things that will condemn them to armament and disaster. Firstly, their reactor design is based on an Aga stove. The energy source sits still, while the coolant flows around it. When the coolant tube blocks, the ‘Aga’ goes nuts, which is what happened at Three Mile Island. Secondly, the uranium industry wants to use uranium, of which we have about 50 years’ supply,...
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June 2010
Paul Barry’s frank account of the goings on at Allco (‘Coe & Co.’, May) and all its spin-offs is yet another reminder that too much of the current style of stockbroker forecasting and market analysis is focused on the business alone and its technicalities. The reality is that managed investment funds, not to mention the mums and dads, don’t invest in companies per se but in the people who run them. The world is full of talented accountants and lawyers, and being a board member would be a no-brainer for many from the business world. Sadly, Allco is another glaring...
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May 2010
Mandy Sayer’s article (‘The Wild Frontier’, March) provides no practical solutions for the problems facing Tweed Heads. Instead, the article reinforces negative stereotypes, vilifying young ‘gangsters’ and welfare-dependent families, inciting fear and loathing by divisively pitching elderly ‘self-funded’ retirees against long-term welfare recipients living in public housing.
It’s a one-sided view. Sayer ventured into the local pub to find archetypal welfare recipients affected by alcohol, drugs and gambling problems. She interviews the obligatory grandstanding...
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May 2010
Emily Maguire’s cover story (‘Like a Virgin’, April) is insightful and provocative, and reveals just how screwed up our culture’s ideas about sex still are.
What I’d like to add to her analysis is that the treasuring of virginity by men, when and where it occurs, also symbolically represents a desire for ownership of women’s sexuality, indeed ownership of this from birth onward. Historically, this can be seen as an aspect of viewing women as property, a feature of society – not surprisingly, grounded in religion – that in legal terms only ended relatively recently...
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May 2010
Bill Bowtell (Comment, April) almost hits the nail on its head when he asserts there should be one single funder (the federal government) allocating health dollars to a series of separate providers. But then he completely misses the mark with his suggestion that “the state and territory governments should be bypassed entirely”.
This proposition is unsound for many reasons. First, because it looks at the health system in isolation from its interface with other state government agencies that will remain under state administration: community services (child welfare...
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April 2010
I recognise neither myself nor my essay in Mike Parr’s angry letter responding to ‘The Outsiders’ (February). I wrote the essay not to exploit the Waterlow tragedy by using it to further an agenda; rather, I presented an openly subjective, enquiring piece that tries, tentatively, to approach the conundrums at the heart of mental illness and creativity.
If I may address Parr’s objections: In the immediate aftermath of the murders of Nick and Chloe Waterlow, it was police who reported that Anthony Waterlow, who was wanted for questioning, was believed to be...
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