Defaced mural was heartbreaking, but it may allude to something worse

Was the damage simply an act of mindless vandalism destroying something artistically beautiful; a rejection of the respect owed to our Indigenous elders; or a reflection of deep-seated racism in Australian society? At least the NSW Art Gallery packers can appreciate the artistic merit of Matt Last's (Adnate's) paintings in gifting him the Packing Room Prize in the Archibald.

THE Coalition's embrace of nuclear power has created plenty of debate, but even the storm of protest that followed failed to expose a far greater problem in my opinion: the sidelining of science.

In this case, we had political hacks within the Coalition and journalists from the Murdoch media telling us that the CSIRO got it wrong and that they know better. It's just one example of how economics has usurped control of political policies and it's not restricted to the Coalition. It's a process that is hard to explain given that economic predictions - just like meteorological ones - are subjected to the whims of the butterfly effect, meaning that small and seemingly trivial events may ultimately cause much larger consequences. Meteorologists acknowledge this and restrict their predictions to a time basis, but economists try to make predictions years or even decades ahead and consequently cannot consider these butterfly events.

What is even more confusing is the conflicting economic statements that get published, a situation that has arisen because of the proliferation of economists that now inhabit every large corporation, union, political party and media organisation, often expressing views that are more likely to benefit their host than their country. If that sounds harsh, consider the role of economists in our banks. These are organisations whose misbehaviour earned them $1.3 billion in fines in 2022, yet they still have the effrontery to argue for deregulation.

IT is great to see that, after 20 years of inept policy direction on energy, it looks like we are going to get something done. While there are calls for more detail on the cost of nuclear, I would like to understand the cost comparisons between the power options.

We can then look at the cost comparison over the longer term. On the surface, the clean energy argument appears to fall on the side of nuclear if we don't locate them in Russia or the volcanic areas like Japan.

Baseload power will need to be provided as coal declines, but what is the mix you need to provide the required buffer for the increased volatility associated with renewables?

Also, I wanted to find out from Premier Li how our coal exports are going.

SLOGANEERING is a proven method of influencing opinions. "Haste makes waste", "woes unite foes", "no new taxes" and "stop the boats!" are classic examples. The LNP borrowed, then used with great effect against The Voice to Parliament, the slogan, "If you don't know, vote 'no'".

It's a decision that might come back to bite. Did the Duttonites not realise borrowing only in part from a US slogan had a sting in its tail? The complete slogan says: "We're like babes in the woods here, but we like to be careful. My Daddy told me, "If you don't know, vote 'no'." The words were spoken by a US dairy farmer in 1982, about his concerns for the health and safety of his family due to uranium mining on land adjacent to his milking herd.

More than 40 years later, the possible associated health and safety implications with the use and subsequent disposal of nuclear fuel remain unknown. Peter Dutton's nuclear energy thought bubble is a prime example of when "If you don't know, say 'no' is the appropriate path to take.

PETER Dutton, are you aware of the numerous monolithic coal ships anchored off our beautiful Newcastle beaches? That is what I call an eyesore. It's a fact NSW taxpayers pay the shipping companies thousands of dollars a day to anchor there to avoid breaking the conveyor belt feeding the Chinese, Japanese, and Korean blast furnaces. To add insult to injury, they head straight up north via our Great Barrier Reef, putting this magnificent natural treasure in jeopardy. There is a shipwreck stuck on the reef. It is the Runic, a Shaw Saville liner. I have sailed through the reef on many occasions including on the Runic's sister ship, the Suvic. Just imagine the damage the monolithic coal carriers do to the seabed of our beaches. Out of sight, out of mind.

EBONY Bennett summed up the hypocrisy and stupidity of Peter Dutton and his party in a very well-written article ("Going nuclear on Coalition idiocy", Opinion 24/6).

I'M not sure which yellow brick road John Cooper ("We're too late on industry front", Letters, 21/6), followed to get him to the assertion that Indonesia has 250 (!) coal-fired power stations, but both sources I accessed had the number at 91. Further, World Population Review indicates that only 24 new coal-fired power stations are under construction and a further 102 plants have been shelved and/or cancelled. Wildly overblown claims do nothing to strengthen the argument of a whole range of coal-inspired Canutes commanding the renewal revolution to cease as the waves crash over their heads.

ONCE again, we see Albo sucking up to the Chinese; none other than the Premier, his new best friend. Meanwhile, reporter Cheng Lei is blocked from view by the Chinese bully boys. For God's sake, this is our country, not some backward town in China. How dare they use strongarm tactics in our country, they don't own Australia yet.

ROCCO De Grandis calls soccer the beautiful game ("League stars missing football flair", Letters, 18/6). I call it kick, hope, and act like you've been shot by a sniper. Lol.