Reading Jacqueline Maley’s piece (“Immigration cuts only work if women have more babies”, May 26), makes me think that Thomas Malthus was spot on. Today’s economists conveniently ignore that we live on a planet with finite resources, which we use up faster with a growing economy, population and loss of materials, like plastics made of fossil fuels. The sooner all nations can agree that reducing our numbers is the only logical way for the survival of Homo sapiens, the better. War and hunger should not be part of the solution.
Henry Schneebeli, Moree
Contentious: yes or no to more babies?Credit: AP
Unless you’re strongly religiously inclined, more parents, particularly women, are not having more children for better standards of living, better lives, careers and so on. Smart thing is to change the direction of thinking about the population and find a better way of managing it rather than blaming the increasing population for all problems under the sun. This is not helping anyone but creating confusion and social unrest.
Mukul Desai, Hunters Hill
Nothing is ever as simple as some would make out. There are many causes for population pressures on essential services and the environment. Immigration is just one. Falling birth rates is another. And let’s not focus on just one side of the equation. The supply of housing, doctors, transport, etc, needs to increase to match the demand. The focus on immigration alone indicates that finding a solution is not really the aim. Finding a scapegoat is.
David Rush, Lawson
Equal laws
Why do anti-hate laws have to be aimed specifically in favour of certain groups (“New hate speech laws to raise criminal penalties”, May 26)? Anything which incites hatred of or violence towards another, regardless of why, should be an offence.
Alynn Pratt, Grenfell
New hate speech laws to raise criminal penalties for serious instances of vilification based on a person’s race, sexuality, gender, disability or religion is about respecting the fair-go notion that we are all equal citizens. Blind Freddie can see that extreme hate speech not only causes serious psychological harm to its hapless victims but also extends to physical harm when it incites violence. Steve Ngeow, Chatswood
What a dilemma for the Coalition cheer squad. They absolutely love the idea of stiffer penalties and jail time. It seems to be their panacea for virtually all of society’s problems, yet are totally against having their own hate and fear opinions curtailed. That the laws is being proposed by Labor would make it even more so.
David Atherfold, Avalon Beach
Clarifying history
Your correspondent’s statement (Letters, May 26) that, “indigenous people were not considered citizens of Australia until the 1967 referendum” needs some clarification. The referendum did not ask voters to change the constitution to allow Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to hold citizenship. It asked if the constitution should be changed so that indigenous peoples could be counted in the census and if the Australian government should have the power to make laws for them.
William Galton, Hurstville Grove