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).
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citizen → pay → gong
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.
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she → ask → 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.
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who → enter → 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.
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McGuinness → go → accusations
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.
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rest → have → this
But here she goes once again, shaping anything she can into an argument against anyone to her philosophical left.
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she → go → 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.
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she → support → PM
That actually appears to be the whole point of her article.
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That → appear → 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.
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she → carry → targets
Words of wisdom
Peter FitzSimons has done well to highlight the excellent speech by headmaster Michael Blake.
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FitzSimons → do → Blake
(“Before his speech went viral, this boys’ school headmaster ran it past his daughter”, September 27).
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headmaster → go → daughter
I thought Blake’s reference to St Francis of Assisi was poignant: “preach the gospel daily and occasionally use words”.
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reference → think → 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.
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these → do → life
Our young generations are lucky to have educators of the calibre of Blake.
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generations → have → Blake
We have all met them, in many schools, education systems and life in general.
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We → meet → general
As we see in our courts, our ICAC, in life situations, despite having the information, it comes down to individual choices.
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it → see → choices
Life wasn’t meant to be easy – doing the right thing is not always easier.
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doing → mean → thing
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.
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they → enable → other
Respect follows when both sexes realise there is no inherent superiority in being one or the other.
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sexes → follow → ?
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).
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staff → look → supplies
Remanufacturing medical devices is commonplace in Britain, the US and Europe.
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Remanufacturing → remanufacture → Britain
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.
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safety → end → 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.
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cent → get → Environment
That amounts to 52,400 tonnes of waste – the weight of the Harbour Bridge.
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That → amount → Bridge
To cap things off, by reducing the resultant landfill in allowing remanufacturing, the $16 million saved can be reinvested in overstretched public healthcare.
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million → cap → healthcare
Let’s hope the CEC can be convinced to reverse this disastrous ban of eco-friendly medical supplies.
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CEC → let → 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).
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correspondent → exhort → history
While such pride can be a positive and unifying factor, it also has its problems, especially for some Australians.
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it → have → 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.
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that → give → 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.
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land → call → military
Aspects of this have not been addressed sufficiently since then.
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Aspects → address → this
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.
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Australians → vote → land
Even that did not settle the formal recognition of these people.
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that → settle → people
Indigenous Australians only acquired full voting rights throughout the nation in the 1960s Queensland state elections.
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Australians → acquire → elections
The White Australia Policy was only abolished in the 1970s.
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Policy → abolish → 1970s
More needs to be done to make many of us feel genuine pride in this nation.
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many → need → nation
You can call me Albo
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You → call → me
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).
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trip → need → leaders
- The Opinion newsletter is a weekly wrap of views that will challenge, champion and inform.
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that → challenge → views
The Aporia
