Morrison, Dutton and Payne should stop the Afghanistan 'spin'

They are known and any security check should have been simple and based on input from those Australians they served with.

We knew months ago that we should do this. But no, the bureaucratic imperatives had to be adhered to - even though it was clearly known how extremely problematic it was for many of them.

For those among us who have not been in such a dire situation when urgent action is called for, it is easy to hide behind, and agree with the government spin.

Those of us who have been in a similar position just want to be rescued; visa or no visa, passport or no passport.

The action being taken now is too little, too late.

There will be blood on the hands of those who could and should have acted earlier.

I no longer want to hear the excuses, lies and spin from the likes of Morrison, Payne and Dutton.

Keep it to yourselves.

Claims by Peter McLoughlin and Judy Hutchinson that the NSW government blamed the ACT for the statewide lockdown are ill-informed touchiness (Letters, August 17).

Both the premier and deputy premier, in response to questions (not some gratuitous soapbox statement), explained that the lockdown was prompted by an accumulation of concerns for varying reasons regarding a number of regions.

The baseload concern has always been clearly identified as the western regions, where case numbers are high and vaccination rates low; raising the risk that outbreaks elsewhere in the state would overwhelm the overall system.

In the case of the South Coast, the concern cited was Canberrans bolting to funk holes ahead of the ACT lockdown commencing. If the cap fits wear it, if it doesn't why jam it on yourself and complain about the fit?

Queanbeyan has barely been mentioned, so how can leakage across the border be the reason for the statewide lockdown?

Not so much noted in the recent news from Afghanistan are the approximately 1.5 million Afghan refugees, about a third of them children, many living in poor conditions, in the vicinity of Peshawar, Pakistan.

Many are families of the Mujahideen, now Taliban, and should be free to return home via the Khyber Pass, the spectacular defile in the Hindu Kush mountains.

The pass has a storied history dating from Cyrus and Darius. Alexander the Great's army passed through in 327 BC, reportedly marching seven abreast. It later served as a route for Genghis Khan and Babur the Tiger, then later the British Army.

More recently it was a supply route for the Afghan Mujahideen combating Soviet forces, then for NATO forces in Afghanistan. Finally in Taliban hands, it has resupplied Taliban forces since 2011.

There used to be a prominent sign in the pass listing the armies and forces that had passed by, starting with Cyrus. I wonder if the Taliban will now be added to the list.

Our Afghanistan ADF heroes have been pleading with our government for many months to evacuate the Afghan personnel and their families.

Many members of parliament have been asking our government to issue visas and to evacuate these loyal people. Veterans have circulated a petition months ago.

They were begging that their mates who worked alongside them be saved. Our government has remained unmoved and not responded to questions from all sides of politics. This is another example of their inhumanity to people who have helped our defence forces and all sorts of other people needing assistance.

I am thoroughly disgusted with all the countries who have used Afghans.

All of them should have been doing evacuations months ago.

I hope Australian governments do not want our people to fight another overseas war.

The locals of whatever country they go to will never help Australia again.

Shame on the Morrison government.

While I tend to agree with Roderick Holesgrove (Letters, August 17) that it is important to address the causes of these critical events, let's not forget that the cause of the outbreaks throughout Sydney, wider NSW, Victoria and now the ACT stems from that one unvaccinated airport driver some seven weeks ago.

Knowing that isn't stopping the spread.

Neither is knowing that Gladys' gold-standard system is not all that she and ScoMo touted it to be.

Last week the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its sixth assessment report. Meanwhile, I watched large Transport Canberra buses pass my home 95 per cent empty on average every 30 minutes from around 6am until midnight. This happens every day.

Twenty-one years into the new millennium and deep into the climate crisis the governments we vote for promote inefficient, climate-damaging transport services. This is a symbol of our largesse and inaction. Surely we can do better.

How about population-friendly renewable energy EV mini buses and bus services commensurate with demand? Even the Transport Workers Union could win.

Better services, happier passengers, smaller buses, more drivers. Is it really that hard?

Wildfire smoke makes COVID-19 outcomes worse, concluded Harvard University researchers confirming previous findings from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, USA ("Wildfire smoke linked to COVID cases", August 16, p18).

Whether originating from bushfires, fireplaces or wood-fired heaters, the substances present in wood smoke are similar. They include:

Suspended particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), formaldehyde, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

All of them are potentially harmful to the respiratory system making it more vulnerable to infections, including those of a viral nature.

With Canberra assailed by escalating COVID-19 infections, the public and authorities might need to urgently consider whether the accumulated scientific evidence warrants taking immediate action in order to avert an unacceptable high risk of adverse health outcomes resulting from continuing to burn wood for heating purposes.

I am worried where this complete lack of political leadership will take us, the Australian public. If ever there was a time for bilateral agreement, it is now.

The country is burdened by the combined weight of the COVID-19 pandemic and the very real effects of climate change.

Instead of working together on ways to solve or improve the situation, our major political parties continue bickering and point-scoring.

If our politicians truly have the welfare of their constituents at heart, stop the self-aggrandisement; act rather than pontificate.

There is currently great concern for women in Afghanistan, with reports of beatings and executions.

We in Australia should be mindful of the fact that there is a murder a week of women by the menfolk close to them, and many examples of abuse. We should pick the beam out of our own eye.

I live alone and no longer have my dog. But I do have good friends. One of them wants to be my "single bubble buddy".

But this isn't going to happen. Try finding out how to register for this online or try getting through to someone on a phone number that keeps dropping out.

I know they are all busy but it's very frustrating. It would be great to have a special buddy but it looks as if I'll have to wait until lockdown ends.

The thought is very much appreciated but such a pity we can't make it happen. COVID-ACT please make this information easier to find.

I get some unwanted contact from Zed Seselja nearly every day, either an email or one of his push-polling "surveys". On Thursday he was extolling the virtues of how NSW, unlike the ACT, is keeping the economy moving. He wants us to be more like NSW. I'm not sure that's a great idea. I assume his internal polling numbers aren't flash.

It's ironic that the officially listed vulnerable koala species that suffered so terribly in the recent human-caused climate accelerated fires is being used on the poster promoting getting the jab in Canberra.

The announcement ("Canberra constitutional expert Kim Rubenstein to run", canberratimes.com.au, August 17) by Kim Rubenstein to stand for the Senate at the next election could pose a serious threat to the two major parties. Kim has my vote.

America's ignominious withdrawal from Afghanistan may explain why China doesn't waste its people's lives and money starting wars in other people's countries.

Thanks to Gladys et al I have found the recipe for eternal youth. I am having to cancel my birthday again this year and stay at the age I was in 2019. I refuse to have birthdays in the cold and if I can't go somewhere warm I will continue to have non-birthdays.

The 7.30 interview with John Howard last Thursday can only be described as obscene. My question to the ABC is: "Why?"

Yes, lockdowns are an enormous challenge, yet we have the reassurance that they will end. Not so for Afghan women and girls who are in a permanent lockdown.

This is the new gold standard; Gladys' own lockdown disaster.

When I heard Scott Morrison say "nothing's changed" with regards to Australia's processing of Afghan refugees, even as the calamity was unfolding in Afghanistan, I was reminded of the saying "there are none so blind as those who will not see".

After we have betrayed and abandoned so many of our Afghan friends and helpers because we were caught with our pants down, it was interesting to hear Marise Payne pontificating about how the Taliban haven't earned our trust. Ha ha ha; she's funny.

Whatever justification there ever was for temporary protection visas (TPVs), the plight of the Afghan refugees in Australia has undermined it completely.

It is time for our political leaders to stop this cruel policy and allow TPV holders to become permanent residents.