Heading for a crisis

Credit:Illustration: Vintage Matt Golding

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Humanitarian agencies face challenges, natural and man-made, every day. Most are non-governmental organisations which rely on dedicated people to work in the field. The decision by the regime in Afghanistan to prohibit women working for NGOs (World, 26/12) must be met with world-wide condemnation, including from our government. The alternative is a humanitarian crisis and a further deterioration of the position of women in Afghanistan.
Melanie Carter, Largs Bay, SA

Pick a date and stick to it

Re “Almost ready to cut the cord” (Comment, 26/12). We should just find a date without any historical baggage – and which is likely to provide reasonable weather for outdoor celebrations – and make it the day we will inevitably become a republic. The year this will occur is hard to predict. When we become a republic, this date will also be our new Australia Day. All arguments, sometimes bitter and hurtful, will end.
Howard Tankey, Box Hill North

Just pure entertainment

Nick Bryant always gives us a closely reasoned article but his latest is irrelevant to the republican debate. We know a good thing when we see it and recognise the British royal family as the “greatest show on earth”. Further, we appreciate that they more than pay their own way. Each year they hand over to the British parliament the total cost of the royal household plus a very considerable surplus. We will continue to appreciate the royal family’s entertainment value and that’s all there is to it.
Hartley Beer, Glen Waverley

Clean up your mess

What a load of poppycock about “mess” (The Age, 24/12). Male or female, some take on cleaning as a duty while others resent it. Either way, it is not their choice but an imposition. In this day and age – and excluding fair exchanges of labour and payment and so on – able people need to take responsibility for their mess and stop finding excuses for their sloth.
Emma Borghesi, Rye

When ‘housework’ is fun

“Gendered affordance perception hypothesis”, too right. When you see some paint on the eaves looking a bit flaky or a single drop of oil under the fiancee’s car, this can lead to “an overwhelming compulsion” to fix it. But does the research, published in the journal Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, answer that profound and age-old question: If a bloke dismantles major parts of the oven and disappears to “have fun” cleaning them in the garage, does this still constitute housework?
Ronald Elliott, Sandringham

What churches give us

On first appearances, your correspondent’s proposal about churches selling their properties, gold and silver etc and using the proceeds to help those with less sounds wonderful (Letters, 26/12). However, churches already provide a multitude of support programs. If they were to sell everything and used those funds now, who would fund support programs in future years? Programs that feed and provide temporary housing for people in need, such as those escaping domestic violence. Governments are always reluctant to spend money on community concerns unless there is an election beckoning.
Ian Rosel, Wantirna

The power of US culture

In “From the slap to the sink” (The Age, 27/12), nine of the 10 “pop culture highlights” listed are from the US. Even some of the language used was American (“Harry Styles had spit on Chris Pine”). Surely there were other events of interest in the world in 2022? Or are our lives simply that dominated by the culture of another country?
Lucy Couper, Rhyll

The real issues we face

I am less concerned about Victoria’s floral emblem, the abundant and beautiful pink heath (Opinion, 27/12), than its critically endangered faunal and avian ones, Leadbeater’s possum and the helmeted honeyeater.
David Johnston, Healesville

It’s real and it’s happening

Our floods translate to the blizzards in the US, both appalling, but regularly attributed in the news to acts of God or just record-breaking “natural” events. When might we hear them called what they are: climate change in action? Instead, we drive climate extremes with our continued use of fossil fuel, thinking we have buckets of time to change, and a belief that things will settle down. The truth is, we ain’t seen nuthin’ yet.
Carolyn Ingvarson, Canterbury

AND ANOTHER THING

Credit:Illustration: Matt Golding

If the Liberals want to make housing affordable to lure younger voters (26/12), they should support the abolition of negative gearing perks.
Barry Lizmore, Ocean Grove

Andrew Gee: a person who understands the mood of the nation and is on the right side of history.
Paul Ekers, Princes Hill

It appears some Liberal MPs want a voice to be able to vote on the Voice.
Robin Jensen, Castlemaine

My New Year’s resolution is to avoid any mention of Harry and Meghan. They’re not inspirational people. I want to read about battlers who overcome life’s misfortunes.
Margaret Skeen, Point Lonsdale

Sale items 30, 40 and 50 per cent off. Wow, retailers must stack normal prices very high to be able to offer such generous discounts.
Bruce Dudon, Woodend

The Don (26/7) was a superior cricketer but according to many of his teammates, way above them at feathering his own nest. A true Liberal.
Peter McCarthy, Mentone

From the son of a former mounted policeman to the officers who rescued the two sisters (27/12): Forget clip clop, clip clop. It’s clap, clap, clap.
Gerry Lonergan, Reservoir

So David Warner hadn’t had a Test century for three years. As he’s now scored a double, does that mean it brought the average down to 18 months without a century? The kid’s got guts.
Geoff Lipton, Caulfield North

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