Dutton has shown why he should never be Prime Minister

Sydney broadcaster Ray Hadley suggested in a question to Opposition Leader Peter Dutton that "part of the DNA of some Labor people is just to hate the Israelis". Mr Dutton responded "there's certainly that element to it" and suggested some Labor MPs with large Middle Eastern communities in their constituencies were "playing to their electorates".

That was an appalling question followed by an equally appalling answer. Mike Burgess, head of ASIO, has warned about inflammatory rhetoric.

The Albanese government has given unconditional support to Israel yet still Dutton is taking the low road and trying to make this an issue.

Let's not forget Dutton tried to con people into voting LNP at the last election with stories about Chinese spy ships and boat arrivals.

Yet again Peter Dutton has proven he is not a leader and certainly not PM material. Surely we are better than that.

The Voice referendum wasn't a win for Dutton. It was a loss for Australia. Dutton doesn't have the skills, character or nature to be prime minister. Even many in his own party know that.

There's been a bit of noise coming out of Canberra lately about how others should butt out of its affairs and allow it to do what it wants with regards to decriminalising drugs.

Allow me to suggest that if Canberra wants to be left alone, it needs to be mature enough to deserve it.

Heaven forbid that it becomes yet another homeless drug addicts' paradise - like San Francisco and Portland, for example - and hurts a lot of people in the process, including those outside of the ACT.

After all, since when did life choices resembling those of the angst-ridden teenage rebel, with poor life experience and a still developing brain, become society's blueprint for success?

The attack on the al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza was horrifying. The Palestinians place the blame on the Israeli Defense Force, the Israelis say it is the fault of Hamas. Hundreds of dead Gazans and those who mourn them, and the thousands of wounded, are not concerned with pointing the finger. The dead have perhaps gone to a better place.

The AAH is a Christian hospital, run by the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem. Humanitarian first and foremost, Christian-led, the hospital treats 45,000 people each year regardless of gender, race, religion, political affiliation or economic status. Only about 1000 Christians live in Gaza in a population of two million; tens of thousands live in abject poverty and the entire population is now on the brink of utter catastrophe.

The hospital had already been hit by an Israeli rocket on Saturday evening, October 14. This severely damaged the Diagnostic Cancer Treatment Centre and other facilities.

The AAH was the only place on the Gaza Strip offering breast screening for women, a vital project which Australian Anglican Overseas Aid has been helping to fund, with other projects in the facility since 1988.

Why should such a place of care, love and healing become part of the cold statistics of "collateral damage"? Hospitals and clinics are meant to be beyond such appalling and criminal acts.

The Australian government must heed calls for for an end to the indiscriminate onslaught on civilians and children in Gaza and for international law to be upheld. The ruins of Gaza we are seeing now are reminiscent of the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, which I saw in 2002 after attacks by Israel.

This Israeli government inhumanity has been going on for decades and is a major factor generating Hamas's unjustifiable, appalling actions. I distinguish between the Israeli government and Jewish people, as many courageous Israelis and Jews elsewhere also oppose the Israeli apartheid government's relentless persecution of the Palestinians.

The Israeli government plan now seems to be to kill as many Palestinians as possible as they force them south into already overcrowded areas in Gaza. More than 600 Palestinian children have been killed already. Defence for Children International calls this genocide.

Warning people that they are going to be killed does not absolve the murders. The desperate scenes of the bombing and hospitals in Gaza, the blocking of water, food and electricity should surely halt this massacre if the Israeli government had any humanity left.

There is no doubt that the strategies of the "no" campaign were far superior to those of the affirmative.

The decision to limit the delivery of the negative message primarily to two prominent Indigenous advocates, Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and Warren Mundine, was a game changer.

Conversely, the "yes" case was prosecuted by a myriad of Indigenous and non-Indigenous presenters, including the Prime Minister, resulting in a confusing message while, at the same time, allowing "no" proponents to assert the agenda being pursued was that of Anthony Albanese.

The "yes" case would have benefited by also having a "two headed" team. Ken Wyatt and Rachel Perkins would have filled the roles admirably.

Having Wyatt and Perkins leading the case may not have changed the outcome, but it would have made the "yes" case more focused and prevented the "no" attack from focusing on Albanese.

The Voice defeat was brought about by the failure of Anthony Albanese and Linda Burney to explain what the Voice was all about.

Albanese took the voters for mugs by telling them that all would be revealed once the referendum was won.

On the other hand we had Warren Mundine and Jacinta Price out amongst the people, answering questions and giving their thoughts on what the referendum would mean to all concerned. The difference between the "yes" and "no" camps was Albanese and Burney versus Price and Mundine.

It was evident from the get go that this divisive referendum was never going to end well.

If Albanese could not have foreseen this then he should reconsider his position to remain as PM.

Here we go, another worthy article on the urgent need to save the natural environment. This one from the WWF ("We must disrupt crisis with positive change", October 18).

Its solution? Throw more money at the problem. But this supposed "disruption" is just fluffing around the edges and won't make a blind bit of difference. You might as well stick filters on your cigarettes and pretend it's okay to keep smoking.

Fixing a fundamental problem requires a fundamental solution, and that involves unwinding our slavish addiction to growth.

It is the relentless growth in human population and consumption that is driving us towards disaster. As our cities burst their banks and sprawl across productive land, we need more trees, more fish and more holes in the ground to feed demand. We don't have time for simplistic, feel-good answers.

In this, the WWF is not alone among the major environment groups. Very few of them are willing to touch the question of growth. Why? Ask them.

Sadly, until we do that, we have no chance.

Back in 1967 a staggering 90.77 per cent of Australians voted in a historic referendum to give the Commonwealth Parliament the power to make laws with respect to Aboriginal people in Australia, and to include Aboriginal people in national censuses.

The Indigenous people were united behind that referendum.

But when the seeds of division and disunity are sowed, as there has been in this 2023 referendum, the people voted "no" to constitutional recognition and the Voice.

This lack of unity was deepened by Indigenous leaders authorising posters at many voting booths urging people to vote "no".

They were, in effect, backing Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and his "no" campaign.

The "no" cheerleaders included Senator Jacinta Price and businessman Warren Mundine. They will go down in history as major figures who helped stop First Nations people being recognised in the constitution.