Labor should hold a pandemic inquiry

The nation is deeply traumatised. Families and workers are broke. Small businesses are shattered. Children are lost from schooling. Our universities are decimated.

Government relief was late and inadequate. We are, through mismanagement, many billions in debt. We can't afford to make the same mistakes again or continue on our present course of neoliberal "dog-eat-dog" economics.

First, we must forensically examine the flawed process that left us without enough vaccines, and then a slow, lackadaisical rollout that left us dangerously exposed to mass infection.

Then we must look to the building of proper quarantine facilities and protocols, and a modern vaccine research and manufacturing capacity.

But there are deeper issues that cry out for attention. The public health crisis has exposed deep flaws in our federation, the ability of our public service to actually plan and deliver services, the insecure structure of the housing market and the adequacy of income support.

Neoliberal market reform has left half the workforce in precarious jobs with little to cushion them in a crisis. The real "essential" workers need to be appreciated with better remuneration and conditions.

Much must also be done to correct the ignorance of science that gives rise to wild, often US-derived superstition and unfounded fear about vaccination. Trust in government needs to be restored. We need to be able to make much more of what we need here.

In essence, we need to transform our "Commonwealth" so that it is a fact, and not just a name. Is Labor the nation builder up to the task?

Sadly, a Canberra lockdown next week seems almost inevitable.

The only real question is whether it will be an ignorant One Nation staffer, a dopey Nationals backbencher or a rabid Greens anti-vaxxer who will be the super-spreader.

Or maybe it will be a rowdy nosh-up by some Labor plotters or a debauched Liberal office party that will be the catalyst that causes the deadly Delta to be unleashed across the ACT.

The only real certainty at this stage is the blame-game that will follow. Why are our parliamentarians doing this? Why can't they organise Zoom meetings like the rest of us blockheads? Even with the NBN, this should be possible.

But seemingly, they all believe nothing beats face-to-face when it comes to hot-breathing their nonsense and other virulent pathogens. Oh well, better get down to Costco to stock up on those bog rolls.

Re: Ric Hingee's letter (Letters, July 30).

In 1999 a NSW Police helicopter on a night exercise in preparation for the Olympic Games scorched the grass on a harbourside park while hovering over it.

The helicopter did not land. I think there are at least three other questions, in addition to the "delayed communications" question that need to be answered about the Orroral Valley fire.

Why was the crew of a helicopter fitted with such a hot light not taught such lights are likely to start fires?

Why was the light being used in daylight?

Why was the helicopter being landed?

I can understand why Army authorities might not want to answer such questions publicly, but I hope those questions have been asked by our civilian authorities and answered to their satisfaction by the Army.

Public confirmation that has been done would be a healing gesture.

It is good to see there will be a coronial inquiry looking at some aspects of the Namadgi fire. But why only the issue of why it took 45 minutes for the army helicopter crew to alert ACT emergency services about the fire?

We also need to know why the helicopter was in the Orroral Valley in the first place and why did it land in that location given the known high heat risk of helicopter landing lights.

Why were there no ESA staff or parks staff on the helicopter given it was scouting landing spots? Such staff would have been able to quickly report the ignition.

Would it have been possible for the helicopter crew to douse the initial fire? There are a lot more important questions that the Inquiry could address.

Congratulations on the excellent article drawing attention to the plight of the National Film and Sound Archive (Ray Edmondson, Inside Story, July 23).

Living corporate memory is an essential element to the operation and on-going success of cultural institutions. It is the responsibility of governments to honour and respect, and fund, these institutions for the benefit of future generations.

To demand "efficiency dividends" of these institutions is inappropriate and idiotic. How do you put a dollar value on appreciation of our history?

The experience, expertise and corporate knowledge of past employees and stakeholders must be valued and used to better manage the collections. Education must remain a lynchpin of their existence.

I sincerely urge decision makers to take the sound propositions of this article into account.

Mask wearing and social distancing seem to be more important than ever given that we are now dealing with the more transmissible Delta variant of Covid-19.

It is time, therefore, to have a positive public health campaign on how to use and wear masks correctly, and to remind everyone about social distancing.

The number of times that I pass people with masks constantly below their nose, or only around their neck, or with no mask at all when they have been mandated is disturbing. If only I had indemnity for the consequences of chipping them!

Mask complacency will soon see Delta in the ACT if my observations on the ski fields in recent days are any guide.

In 2020 I was impressed by Perisher's lift loading staff actively reminding people about masking. This was not evident in my recent visit.

I fully support the call of your editorial "Time to hand back our right to decide" (canberratimes.com.au, July 27) for the right to decide how to end the suffering by voluntary assisted dying (VAD). In 1996, that right was denied to ACT citizens by federal Liberal MP Kevin Andrews, a religious conservative. Another religious conservative, the not-so-Liberal senator for the ACT, Zed Seselja ("How much power over our lives should 13 politicians have?", July 21, p21). Senator Seselja repeatedly referred to VAD as "assisted suicide". According to his religion, suicide is considered a grave offence against God. Mr Andrews and Senator Seselja are, of course, entitled to their beliefs, but the fact remains that they both seek to deny those suffering a painful terminal illness a basic human right.

Emeritus Professor of History Bill Gammage (The Great Divide, Inside Story, July 25, p6) and Geoff Davies, retired ANU scientist, ("Is Bruce Pascoe's 'Dark Emu' about to walk backwards?", July 23, p30) are tolerant of Bruce Pascoe and his book Dark Emu. I'm not. I am not an academic. I read Dark Emu as a lay person.

Pascoe quotes from explorers Sturt, Grey and Giles. I have books of the journals of these explorers. The quotes I could track to their source from Pascoe's notes were selected and manipulated to provide evidence for some of his claims.

I also have access to Donald Thomson In Arnhem Land. Pascoe uses Thomson's descriptions of fish traps, canoe-making, Aboriginal dwellings and burnings but does not quote Thomson - on page 118 - that Aborigines "cannot be converted into gardeners".

The last straw was Pascoe using information contained in Gavin Menzies' 1421: the year China discovered the world. A work of fiction - at best, pseudo-history. (I bought this book in a weak moment at a Lifeline Bookfair).

I found Dark Emu easy to read but these three instances of subterfuge destroyed any credibility Pascoe may have had with me. (How could I trust anything else he wrote?)

I've just finished reading Hunter-Gatherers or Farmers? by Sutton and Walshe. They present mountains of evidence - all individually sourced - demolishing most of Pascoe's claims. It's harder to read than Dark Emu but had no problems with the credibility its authors.

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