Freedom of information law essential part of society

He is quite wrong to claim that its original intent was simply to allow people to access their personal records. While that was certainly one facet of the FOI Act, its main objective was to open up for public access the vast amount of information – of all kinds and in all forms – held by the government. Previously this had been hoarded by the bureaucracy and was disclosed grudgingly and sparingly (and often with bad grace).

Lloyd also claims bureaucrats are cautious about giving advice in writing because of FOI. Are today's public servants really such spineless fraidy-cats that the off-chance of possible disclosure would inhibit frank and professional advice?

Where is the risk or downside in eventual publication of advice or correspondence? Unless, of course, it was incompetent, inaccurate or politically skewed. If selection criteria were still in use in the Public Service, perhaps possession of a backbone could be one.

FOI legislation is an essential part of modern, effective and accountable public governance. If Lloyd doesn't accept this, he's in the wrong job.

Stephen Brown, Forrest

So Joe Hockey is leaving Parliament. If the scuttlebutt is accurate, he will soon be Australia's new ambassador in Washington. This practice of parachuting retiring politicians into plum overseas postings is sad, but unfortunately not new.

The Hawke government made three such appointments to London, and Ireland/the Vatican. The Howard government also made three, to Rome, Paris and the United Nations. Things really ramped up under the Rudd/Gillard governments with five postings to Washington, New York, London, Brussels and the Vatican. In his brief stay at the crease, Tony Abbott arranged three political postings, to New York, London and the Netherlands.

I do not personally know the beneficiaries of these postings. I have no doubt that they are intelligent and would not have achieved their status in public life if they had nothing between their ears.

However, making the assumption that a good politician automatically makes a good diplomat is a stretch.

I have had the pleasure of knowing many career diplomats during my working life. These are people who have dedicated their careers to this role, cutting their teeth in junior positions, often at difficult postings.

I think it is a terrible shame that these individuals are denied the opportunity of these important postings, so as to ensure that politicians that have outlived their usefulness have a carrot to help them move on.

If Mr Hockey wishes to become a diplomat, let him cut his teeth on something a little more introductory. May I suggest Kabul, Cairo or Sarajevo?

Stephen Barnett, O'Connor

Joe Hockey's self-indulgent parliamentary farewell deserves historical correction. In his valedictory speech he aligned himself with Tony Abbott as another martyr to principle and policy over politics and style. The exact opposite, of course, is true.

The Abbott team played politics savagely and in world-beating fashion right from the outset in opposition. That you could never deny them. Such was the political payoff from this totally unprincipled approach that it bred the hubris and entitlement responsible for policy calls that were increasingly flat-Earth and arrogant.

Tony Abbott's team, mostly still in the ministry, must still be affected by smoke inhalation from the burning at political rallies of witch-Gillard effigies, to have a different recollection of their standard of politicking.

Alex Mattea, Kingston

Ross Gittins ("PM lucky to be self made man", Times2, October 21, p4) says, "Giving a helping hand to those who weren't issued with as much grace as we were is why, brothers and sisters, we should pay our fair whack of tax and do it cheerfully, grateful we can so easily afford it" .

This of course assumes that making welfare dependents out of the poor is good for them. I don't think it is.

Humorist P.J. O"Rourke has described the ethics of the welfare state. "There is no virtue in compulsory government charity, and there is no virtue advocating it. A politician who portrays himself as "caring" and "sensitive" because he wants to expand the government's charitable programs is merely saying he wants to try to do good with other people's money. Well, who isn't? And any voter who takes pride in supporting such programs is telling us that he'll do good with his own money – if a gun is held to his head".

The objection to taxation is that it transfers to power spending from those who have earned it to those who have not earned it while reducing productivity, choice and liberty.

Victor Diskordia, McKellar

Your columnist Clive Williams ("Time to look after home turf", Times2, October 21, p1) has a remarkably blinkered view of Middle Eastern history and, indeed, of Islamic imperialism. Christian "involvements" in the Middle East predate both Mohammed and the consequent Islamic conquest and colonisation of vast tracts of Christian lands. Clive cites the First Crusade of 1095 as a source of Muslim "non-appreciation" of Christians in the Middle East.

Dear oh dear, my Frankish forebears were defeating invading Muslim armies in what is now France as early as 732, led by Charles Martel, may his name be praised. Perhaps if the Arabs and Muslims had looked after their "home turf" of Arabia all those centuries ago, rather than invading and occupying lands which were not theirs, for example Israel, then peace in our time would be much more attainable now.

Neil Watson, Chifley

I'm so glad that Yvette Goode (Letters, October 20) has set the record straight about Israel/Palestine. So Israel didn't steal the land from the Palestinians, it took it from the Jordanians.

And the ungrateful Palestinians have rejected three "generous" offers from Israel but prefer to live in small villages and enclaves cut off from their brothers and sisters. I mean who wouldn't?

A modest proposal. Everyone in Israel/Palestine who can't prove their family lived there in 1948 please leave.

What do you you say Yvette ? Seems fair to me.

Darryl Georgee, Curtin

I don't want to pick a fight with Bill Deane (Letters, October 20?)and his comment about subduing knife-wielding Palestinians but many years ago I was in the armed forces and at the base where I was being trained there was a semi-official course one could take part in. It was called "unarmed combat", and I seem to remember that several of the exercises specifically dealt with a knife attack, and they didn't involve wearing a flack jacket and helmet and carrying an automatic firearm.

K. Widmerpool, Braidwood, NSW

Who will stand in loco parentis for "Abyan" the 23-year-old Somali woman raped in Nauru? Abyan, an asylum seeker in detention in Nauru, was brought to Australia for medical help after being raped in Nauru.

She was summarily returned to Nauru before she could receive any help because the Turnbull government feared a High Court injunction preventing her return to detention.

This is like being imprisoned for being raped and not something Australians believe in. Should an Australian citizen be raped in a foreign country and treated heartlessly by its government, Australians would be outraged and expect persistent representations on the citizen's behalf.

Abyan's parents and family can't ask the government in Somalia to represent their daughter. If she was your 23-year-old daughter wouldn't you be outraged and do anything you could to help her?

In the ACT, a majority of people oppose Australian government policy on asylum seekers and the duplicate policies of the Opposition. Why are the ACT's representatives in the federal parliament not representing ACT people's wishes and stepping in to represent Abyan and cases like hers in Parliament on our behalf. Who will look after Abyan now if they don't?

Dr Anne Cawsey, Hackett

My recent experience with Transact/iiNet/TPG reflect a similar corporate failure to address customer problems in accounts, technical issues and general queries, noted by C. and P. Guinness and N. Stevenson (Letters, October 20).

The original TransACT had a local call centre and telephone exchange in Dickson, able to deal with all matters relating to their telephone, broadband and TV products as well as shop fronts around Canberra. A recent account problem had me on the phone to call centres in Capetown, Christchurch and Perth. These phone calls were on average over an hour in duration. The account problem was finally corrected on the third call.

I also understand that iiNet/TPG have a customer technical unit in Phillip, not accessible by the public. Yet I still have to contact a call centre in Capetown for any technical problems that I may encounter.

The original TransACT concept was spot on, a local telecommunications provider able to provide a modern, fast and reliable communications network with shop fronts for face-to-face contact and all data (account details etc) held in the ACT and in an overseas data centre or in the cloud.

Alan Thompson, Chifley

So three police officers "forgot" to show up to give evidence at a trial, causing the entire case to collapse ("Police forget to show up fortrial", October 21, p1). The case involved charges against a Canberra property developer of property damage and assault. That all three police officers "forgot" to attend court could be dismissed as an extraordinary coincidence, but more likely it suggests Canberra is heading down the same path as NSW about 30 years ago when it was said that the state had the best police force money could buy.

Graham Downie, O'Connor

IN THRALL TO THE US

Thank-you, Professor Clive Williams ("Time to look after home turf" Times2, October 21, p1) for noticing how our PMs unquestioningly wrap themselves in Old Glory. Oliver Stone's Untold History of the United States is an informative read in this area.

Barrie Smillie, Duffy

TERRORISM SPINOFF OF WAR

War breeds terrorism. Any country, such as Australia, that invades another, such as Iraq, based on American lies, will reap the pay-back, which is terrorism.

Richard Ryan, Summerland Point, NSW

LET'S PUT UP OUR OWN AD

Perhaps some of us could chip in to fund our own ad at the airport's carousels with images representing the purpose of the machines in the present ads. Images of, say, dismembered body parts lying amidst the smoking wreckage of a home, or parents weeping over the body of a dead child. You know, just to present a little balance.

Fred Pilcher, Kaleen

ABBOTT'S ABSENCE NOTED

It's notable former prime minister Tony Abbott wasn't in the House on Wednesday for his (former) treasurer's valedictory speech. I think Joe Hockey is entitled to be a bit miffed; apparently, Tony was in London, despite it being a parliamentary sitting week.

Don Sephton, Greenway

PITCH-PERFECT CARTOON

Colin Glover's concern for Malcolm Turnbull's mental health (Letters, October 22) is admirable. I'm sure Malcolm is made of sterner stuff than Colin imagines, however. My concern is for Pope, an artist, ergo a very sensitive soul, who made me laugh out loud with his cartoon featuring Joe Hockey stuck in the Acton tunnel with Malcolm resplendent in his hard hat atop topper. Davids, rule OK?

David Groube, Guerilla Bay, NSW

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