Published letters
Letters I have had published in newspapers, listed in order of publishing date. The titles are given by the editors. Writing letters feels about as ineffective as banging my head against a brick wall, but at least some will read them and agree!
Local newspaper
Both published anonymously by request; complaints about local vandalism. I was feeling rather irate when I wrote them, so they are somewhat strongly-worded!
6 March 2006
To the parents of the teenage thugs who vandalize fences along […] Rd in the early morning of February 19: do you know the meanings of the words “parental responsibility”, “discipline” and “curfew”? Do you know where your children go at night, and do you even care?
I am getting very tired of being woken up at night by drunken louts roaming the streets, and of fearing what more damage will be done to our fence, and others.
11 October 2006
Several front fences in my street […] have had two graffiti attacks in the last two weeks – perhaps not coincidentally, it was school holidays.
The corner shops at […] Road have been covered in graffiti for years, and look like a ghetto.
This problem seems to be getting progressively worse and I am sick of seeing this vandalism everywhere.
Could we please have more police patrols at night in the area, or something? Could parents not let their teenagers roam the streets at night unsupervised? Also, banning the sale of spray paint would help.
The Age, 3 March 2008
On overdevelopment and overpopulation.
A house or bust
The Housing Industry Association is urging the Victorian Government to release more land for housing (“State urged to release land to ease crisis”, The Age, 1/3) – not surprising as it stands to make money out of constructing more and more houses. I guess it won’t be content until Victoria is smothered in housing estates.
Missing in all the agonizing over rising house prices is that a major cause of this is the growing population – something which the Government is deliberately encouraging and which is eroding the liveability of Melbourne.
Herald-Sun, 6 March 2008
On overpopulation.
Reduce the population
Reducing population growth and thus the demand for housing is an obvious solution that politicians such as Mr. Brumby seem reluctant to acknowledge.
They are obsessed with “growth”, no matter what the environmental cost.
I am dismayed at seeing what has made Melbourne a liveable city – its open spaces and low urban density – relentlessly destroyed.
The Age, 6 May 2008
On overpopulation.
No winners in this contest
Those interviewed in “City’s house prices among cheapest” seem to regard population growth as a competition in which the city that can cram in the most people is the “winner”. They appear oblivious to the negative social or environmental consequences of such overcrowding. Reducing population growth would reduce demand for housing and help lower prices.
The Age, 5 June 2008
On a curious opinion piece supporting Melbourne’s “vibrant nightlife” (a much-overused phrase which I’ve come to detest). There is an odd attitude in society that staying up all night is somehow “cool”, while going to bed and getting up early isn’t (needless to say, I do the latter!). The letter was slightly altered by the editor.
Dreariness or drunkenness?
So, according to Larissa Dubecki (Comment & Debate, 3/6) people who like to get a good night's sleep are wowsers! Humans didn't evolve as nocturnal creatures, and the 24-hour modern lifestyle she espouses contributes towards sleep disorders. And I, for one, liked Melbourne when it was a “dreary, unexciting provincial city” with an “empty, useless city centre” – at least it wasn't plagued by the drunken violence that is endemic now.
Original letter:
So, according to Larissa Dubecki (“Locking out modern life is not the answer”, The Age, 3/6) people who like to get a good night's sleep are lazy and wowsers! Humans didn’t evolve as nocturnal creatures, and the 24-hour modern lifestyle she espouses contributes toward sleep disorders. And I, for one, liked Melbourne when it was a “dreary, unexciting provincial city” with “an empty, useless city centre” – at least it wasn’t plagued by the drunken violence that is endemic now.
Herald-Sun, 16 June 2008
On overpopulation. Two other letters on the topic were also published and highlighted in a box.
News that Australia’s population is booming is dismaying.
Water and housing shortages and overstretched public services mean an increasing population (and competition for resources) should be a cause for alarm, not celebration.
The Brumby Government seems to be in denial of these negative effects of growth.
Herald-Sun, 3 July 2008
On overpopulation. The letter was edited and most content cut out, presumably to fit in the “50/50” section.
The obvious solution to the housing shortage would be to reduce the absurdly high immigration rates.
Original letter:
The obvious solution to the HIA’s scaremongering regarding the housing shortage (“Crisis in home building”, Herald-Sun, 1/7) would be to reduce the absurdly-high immigration rates to ease this pressure – but then the HIA would not profit from this.
Local newspaper, 16 July 2008
On overdevelopment, which is ruining my suburb and many others.
Ugly suburb
[My suburb] used to be a pleasant suburb to live in, but it is dismaying to see this eroded by continuing overdevelopment.
No thanks to the liberal planning laws and an apparently-indifferent council, some selfish developers and residents are able to build the most intrusive, ugliest houses possible.
These enormous houses fill a whole block, loom over smaller houses and leave no room for a garden.
The modest houses and gardens that made the streets pleasant to walk along are being erased, and [my suburb], like many other suburbs, will eventually become a concrete wasteland of high-density apartments.
Is this the environment that residents really want to live in, or does no one care anymore?
Herald-Sun, 11 September 2008
On overpopulation. Only slightly edited.
Earth calling Mr. Thwaites
John Thwaites must be living in an alternative reality if he can’t see the negative effects population growth is having on Melbourne (“John Thwaites backs population growth in Victoria”, September 10).
Overcrowding and overdevelopment will make Melbourne increasingly unliveable.
Do we really want to emulate the dreadful megacities that blight other countries?