logo
I have marital advice for our anti-Semitism envoy

I have marital advice for our anti-Semitism envoy

The Advertiser3 days ago
Turns out that the federal government's anti-Semitism envoy Jillian Segal and I have a lot in common.
We are both oldish. We are both Jewish. And we are both so very married. I reckon Segal must have been married to John Roth for close to 40 years. Same! Same! My spouse and I got married in 1983.
Now I'd like to think I know my spouse better than I know the back of my hand (and he is far more interesting than my wrinkled, be-veined specimen). Shocking news this week that not all couples married for decades have a clue about their partners.
The Australian Electoral Commission donation records show that Henroth Investments gave $50,000 to Advance Australia in 2023-24. Segal's husband, John Roth, is a director of Henroth. And Segal claims she didn't know about the donation.
I asked one of my kids about this. She said: Maybe rich people don't know where $50k goes. Maybe. But I think I'd know if my husband was supporting a divisive disgusting political organisation and if he was, I'd then file for divorce. Even if she didn't know before the weekend, she knows now.
For those who don't know, Advance Australia campaigns against immigration (Mr Roth, pretty sure you are from a family of migrants), it campaigns against Welcome to Country. It was part of the ugly campaign against the Voice to Parliament.
Which is weird. Is it just opposed to an Indigenous Voice to Parliament? Or all voices to parliament? And if so, why is it not campaigning against special envoys on anti-Semitism and Islamophobia?
Let me be straight with you. These special envoys are just voices to parliament with direct access to government. They act as advocates and advisors for their specific cause. I would dearly love to wipe out both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia and am thrilled that the government decided these two forms of bigotry and hatred needed to be addressed in this particular way.
So let's also address one elephant in the room.
While Israel continues to commit mass murder in Gaza, anti-Semitism will continue to rise. There's a link between military operations (also known as war) conducted against Palestinians by Israel and the resultant rise in anti-Semitic behaviours. Three studies all found a clear correlation - including one paper by Deakin University academic Matteo Vergani and others that examined 673 incidents between October 2013 and September 2017, well before this current razing of Gaza.
The other elephant? Why not a special envoy to address the hatred of Aboriginal people in this country? Yes, Australians voted against the Voice to Parliament. Why did this government give Australians the chance to be racist bigots, the chance to play to their lowest natures? Anthony Albanese could have had an entire phalanx of Indigenous envoys to write reports and make recommendations on how to fix the problem, so devastatingly expressed in the coroner's report into the death of Kumanjayi Walker. Racism coming out of our bleeding ears.
So, if 50 grand is unimportant, how about the sentiment of the man who gives this money to a bunch of racists? Can't you tell the measure of a man by the company his money keeps?
Or is it only racism against Jews which concerns you? Because if so, you are part of a much bigger problem. Which brings me to your report.
One of the key recommendations in your report is that all levels of government should adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's (IHRA) working definition of anti-Semitism. As Josh Bornstein writes: "In part, this definition states that it is anti-Semitic to target the state of Israel and/or claim the existence of a state of Israel is a racist endeavour." I'm a Jew. I want to be able to criticise Israel freely. I especially want to do that now as Benjamin Netanyahu bombs Gaza relentlessly, continues its mass slaughter of starving civilians.
The IHRA definition also says it is anti-Semitic to draw comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis. I'm assuming that means you can't mention the G-word. But in an extraordinary essay, leading genocide scholar Omer Bartov writes: "Discrediting genocide scholars who call out Israel's genocide in Gaza as anti-Semitic threatens to erode the foundation of genocide studies: the ongoing need to define, prevent, punish and reconstruct the history of genocide. Suggesting that this endeavour is motivated instead by malign interests and sentiments - that it is driven by the very hatred and prejudice that was at the root of the Holocaust - is not only morally scandalous, it provides an opening for a politics of denialism and impunity as well."
Australia could adopt the Jerusalem definition, one which doesn't spend two-thirds of its focus on Israel.
Dear Jillian, in your wafty deer-in-headlights performance, utterly lacking in facts, on the ABC's 7.30, you thought it was OK to suggest that you would monitor the outputs of the ABC and SBS.
I mean, Lawyers for Israel already did that. It campaigned hard against Antoinette Lattouf's brief appearance on ABC Sydney. It led to Lattouf losing her gig. It led to the ABC losing $2 million in fighting a futile court case. And I'll tell you what else it led to. It led, in my view, to people using the phrase "Jewish lobby", one of the most ill-conceived and racist phrases ever. I would not for one minute complain about social media posts sharing Human Rights Watch information. And there are many Jews here and elsewhere who rightly criticise the use by Israel of starvation as a weapon of war. The prospect of you trying to censor what the ABC broadcasts is so horrific. We don't need more censors in this country. We don't need lobby groups like Lawyers for Israel trying to silence those with valid opinions LIA doesn't like. Or you don't like.
Which brings me to the federal government.
How is it even possible that it did not do a check on those adjacent to Segal? My mind is boggled by this. And how did it think it was appropriate to nominate a person to this role who so clearly supports Israel's current behaviour? Jews experience anti-Semitism every single day in this country and that's what needs to be urgently addressed. If you conflate anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism you make it worse for all of us, you make anti-Semitism far more likely.
Turns out that the federal government's anti-Semitism envoy Jillian Segal and I have a lot in common.
We are both oldish. We are both Jewish. And we are both so very married. I reckon Segal must have been married to John Roth for close to 40 years. Same! Same! My spouse and I got married in 1983.
Now I'd like to think I know my spouse better than I know the back of my hand (and he is far more interesting than my wrinkled, be-veined specimen). Shocking news this week that not all couples married for decades have a clue about their partners.
The Australian Electoral Commission donation records show that Henroth Investments gave $50,000 to Advance Australia in 2023-24. Segal's husband, John Roth, is a director of Henroth. And Segal claims she didn't know about the donation.
I asked one of my kids about this. She said: Maybe rich people don't know where $50k goes. Maybe. But I think I'd know if my husband was supporting a divisive disgusting political organisation and if he was, I'd then file for divorce. Even if she didn't know before the weekend, she knows now.
For those who don't know, Advance Australia campaigns against immigration (Mr Roth, pretty sure you are from a family of migrants), it campaigns against Welcome to Country. It was part of the ugly campaign against the Voice to Parliament.
Which is weird. Is it just opposed to an Indigenous Voice to Parliament? Or all voices to parliament? And if so, why is it not campaigning against special envoys on anti-Semitism and Islamophobia?
Let me be straight with you. These special envoys are just voices to parliament with direct access to government. They act as advocates and advisors for their specific cause. I would dearly love to wipe out both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia and am thrilled that the government decided these two forms of bigotry and hatred needed to be addressed in this particular way.
So let's also address one elephant in the room.
While Israel continues to commit mass murder in Gaza, anti-Semitism will continue to rise. There's a link between military operations (also known as war) conducted against Palestinians by Israel and the resultant rise in anti-Semitic behaviours. Three studies all found a clear correlation - including one paper by Deakin University academic Matteo Vergani and others that examined 673 incidents between October 2013 and September 2017, well before this current razing of Gaza.
The other elephant? Why not a special envoy to address the hatred of Aboriginal people in this country? Yes, Australians voted against the Voice to Parliament. Why did this government give Australians the chance to be racist bigots, the chance to play to their lowest natures? Anthony Albanese could have had an entire phalanx of Indigenous envoys to write reports and make recommendations on how to fix the problem, so devastatingly expressed in the coroner's report into the death of Kumanjayi Walker. Racism coming out of our bleeding ears.
So, if 50 grand is unimportant, how about the sentiment of the man who gives this money to a bunch of racists? Can't you tell the measure of a man by the company his money keeps?
Or is it only racism against Jews which concerns you? Because if so, you are part of a much bigger problem. Which brings me to your report.
One of the key recommendations in your report is that all levels of government should adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's (IHRA) working definition of anti-Semitism. As Josh Bornstein writes: "In part, this definition states that it is anti-Semitic to target the state of Israel and/or claim the existence of a state of Israel is a racist endeavour." I'm a Jew. I want to be able to criticise Israel freely. I especially want to do that now as Benjamin Netanyahu bombs Gaza relentlessly, continues its mass slaughter of starving civilians.
The IHRA definition also says it is anti-Semitic to draw comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis. I'm assuming that means you can't mention the G-word. But in an extraordinary essay, leading genocide scholar Omer Bartov writes: "Discrediting genocide scholars who call out Israel's genocide in Gaza as anti-Semitic threatens to erode the foundation of genocide studies: the ongoing need to define, prevent, punish and reconstruct the history of genocide. Suggesting that this endeavour is motivated instead by malign interests and sentiments - that it is driven by the very hatred and prejudice that was at the root of the Holocaust - is not only morally scandalous, it provides an opening for a politics of denialism and impunity as well."
Australia could adopt the Jerusalem definition, one which doesn't spend two-thirds of its focus on Israel.
Dear Jillian, in your wafty deer-in-headlights performance, utterly lacking in facts, on the ABC's 7.30, you thought it was OK to suggest that you would monitor the outputs of the ABC and SBS.
I mean, Lawyers for Israel already did that. It campaigned hard against Antoinette Lattouf's brief appearance on ABC Sydney. It led to Lattouf losing her gig. It led to the ABC losing $2 million in fighting a futile court case. And I'll tell you what else it led to. It led, in my view, to people using the phrase "Jewish lobby", one of the most ill-conceived and racist phrases ever. I would not for one minute complain about social media posts sharing Human Rights Watch information. And there are many Jews here and elsewhere who rightly criticise the use by Israel of starvation as a weapon of war. The prospect of you trying to censor what the ABC broadcasts is so horrific. We don't need more censors in this country. We don't need lobby groups like Lawyers for Israel trying to silence those with valid opinions LIA doesn't like. Or you don't like.
Which brings me to the federal government.
How is it even possible that it did not do a check on those adjacent to Segal? My mind is boggled by this. And how did it think it was appropriate to nominate a person to this role who so clearly supports Israel's current behaviour? Jews experience anti-Semitism every single day in this country and that's what needs to be urgently addressed. If you conflate anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism you make it worse for all of us, you make anti-Semitism far more likely.
Turns out that the federal government's anti-Semitism envoy Jillian Segal and I have a lot in common.
We are both oldish. We are both Jewish. And we are both so very married. I reckon Segal must have been married to John Roth for close to 40 years. Same! Same! My spouse and I got married in 1983.
Now I'd like to think I know my spouse better than I know the back of my hand (and he is far more interesting than my wrinkled, be-veined specimen). Shocking news this week that not all couples married for decades have a clue about their partners.
The Australian Electoral Commission donation records show that Henroth Investments gave $50,000 to Advance Australia in 2023-24. Segal's husband, John Roth, is a director of Henroth. And Segal claims she didn't know about the donation.
I asked one of my kids about this. She said: Maybe rich people don't know where $50k goes. Maybe. But I think I'd know if my husband was supporting a divisive disgusting political organisation and if he was, I'd then file for divorce. Even if she didn't know before the weekend, she knows now.
For those who don't know, Advance Australia campaigns against immigration (Mr Roth, pretty sure you are from a family of migrants), it campaigns against Welcome to Country. It was part of the ugly campaign against the Voice to Parliament.
Which is weird. Is it just opposed to an Indigenous Voice to Parliament? Or all voices to parliament? And if so, why is it not campaigning against special envoys on anti-Semitism and Islamophobia?
Let me be straight with you. These special envoys are just voices to parliament with direct access to government. They act as advocates and advisors for their specific cause. I would dearly love to wipe out both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia and am thrilled that the government decided these two forms of bigotry and hatred needed to be addressed in this particular way.
So let's also address one elephant in the room.
While Israel continues to commit mass murder in Gaza, anti-Semitism will continue to rise. There's a link between military operations (also known as war) conducted against Palestinians by Israel and the resultant rise in anti-Semitic behaviours. Three studies all found a clear correlation - including one paper by Deakin University academic Matteo Vergani and others that examined 673 incidents between October 2013 and September 2017, well before this current razing of Gaza.
The other elephant? Why not a special envoy to address the hatred of Aboriginal people in this country? Yes, Australians voted against the Voice to Parliament. Why did this government give Australians the chance to be racist bigots, the chance to play to their lowest natures? Anthony Albanese could have had an entire phalanx of Indigenous envoys to write reports and make recommendations on how to fix the problem, so devastatingly expressed in the coroner's report into the death of Kumanjayi Walker. Racism coming out of our bleeding ears.
So, if 50 grand is unimportant, how about the sentiment of the man who gives this money to a bunch of racists? Can't you tell the measure of a man by the company his money keeps?
Or is it only racism against Jews which concerns you? Because if so, you are part of a much bigger problem. Which brings me to your report.
One of the key recommendations in your report is that all levels of government should adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's (IHRA) working definition of anti-Semitism. As Josh Bornstein writes: "In part, this definition states that it is anti-Semitic to target the state of Israel and/or claim the existence of a state of Israel is a racist endeavour." I'm a Jew. I want to be able to criticise Israel freely. I especially want to do that now as Benjamin Netanyahu bombs Gaza relentlessly, continues its mass slaughter of starving civilians.
The IHRA definition also says it is anti-Semitic to draw comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis. I'm assuming that means you can't mention the G-word. But in an extraordinary essay, leading genocide scholar Omer Bartov writes: "Discrediting genocide scholars who call out Israel's genocide in Gaza as anti-Semitic threatens to erode the foundation of genocide studies: the ongoing need to define, prevent, punish and reconstruct the history of genocide. Suggesting that this endeavour is motivated instead by malign interests and sentiments - that it is driven by the very hatred and prejudice that was at the root of the Holocaust - is not only morally scandalous, it provides an opening for a politics of denialism and impunity as well."
Australia could adopt the Jerusalem definition, one which doesn't spend two-thirds of its focus on Israel.
Dear Jillian, in your wafty deer-in-headlights performance, utterly lacking in facts, on the ABC's 7.30, you thought it was OK to suggest that you would monitor the outputs of the ABC and SBS.
I mean, Lawyers for Israel already did that. It campaigned hard against Antoinette Lattouf's brief appearance on ABC Sydney. It led to Lattouf losing her gig. It led to the ABC losing $2 million in fighting a futile court case. And I'll tell you what else it led to. It led, in my view, to people using the phrase "Jewish lobby", one of the most ill-conceived and racist phrases ever. I would not for one minute complain about social media posts sharing Human Rights Watch information. And there are many Jews here and elsewhere who rightly criticise the use by Israel of starvation as a weapon of war. The prospect of you trying to censor what the ABC broadcasts is so horrific. We don't need more censors in this country. We don't need lobby groups like Lawyers for Israel trying to silence those with valid opinions LIA doesn't like. Or you don't like.
Which brings me to the federal government.
How is it even possible that it did not do a check on those adjacent to Segal? My mind is boggled by this. And how did it think it was appropriate to nominate a person to this role who so clearly supports Israel's current behaviour? Jews experience anti-Semitism every single day in this country and that's what needs to be urgently addressed. If you conflate anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism you make it worse for all of us, you make anti-Semitism far more likely.
Turns out that the federal government's anti-Semitism envoy Jillian Segal and I have a lot in common.
We are both oldish. We are both Jewish. And we are both so very married. I reckon Segal must have been married to John Roth for close to 40 years. Same! Same! My spouse and I got married in 1983.
Now I'd like to think I know my spouse better than I know the back of my hand (and he is far more interesting than my wrinkled, be-veined specimen). Shocking news this week that not all couples married for decades have a clue about their partners.
The Australian Electoral Commission donation records show that Henroth Investments gave $50,000 to Advance Australia in 2023-24. Segal's husband, John Roth, is a director of Henroth. And Segal claims she didn't know about the donation.
I asked one of my kids about this. She said: Maybe rich people don't know where $50k goes. Maybe. But I think I'd know if my husband was supporting a divisive disgusting political organisation and if he was, I'd then file for divorce. Even if she didn't know before the weekend, she knows now.
For those who don't know, Advance Australia campaigns against immigration (Mr Roth, pretty sure you are from a family of migrants), it campaigns against Welcome to Country. It was part of the ugly campaign against the Voice to Parliament.
Which is weird. Is it just opposed to an Indigenous Voice to Parliament? Or all voices to parliament? And if so, why is it not campaigning against special envoys on anti-Semitism and Islamophobia?
Let me be straight with you. These special envoys are just voices to parliament with direct access to government. They act as advocates and advisors for their specific cause. I would dearly love to wipe out both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia and am thrilled that the government decided these two forms of bigotry and hatred needed to be addressed in this particular way.
So let's also address one elephant in the room.
While Israel continues to commit mass murder in Gaza, anti-Semitism will continue to rise. There's a link between military operations (also known as war) conducted against Palestinians by Israel and the resultant rise in anti-Semitic behaviours. Three studies all found a clear correlation - including one paper by Deakin University academic Matteo Vergani and others that examined 673 incidents between October 2013 and September 2017, well before this current razing of Gaza.
The other elephant? Why not a special envoy to address the hatred of Aboriginal people in this country? Yes, Australians voted against the Voice to Parliament. Why did this government give Australians the chance to be racist bigots, the chance to play to their lowest natures? Anthony Albanese could have had an entire phalanx of Indigenous envoys to write reports and make recommendations on how to fix the problem, so devastatingly expressed in the coroner's report into the death of Kumanjayi Walker. Racism coming out of our bleeding ears.
So, if 50 grand is unimportant, how about the sentiment of the man who gives this money to a bunch of racists? Can't you tell the measure of a man by the company his money keeps?
Or is it only racism against Jews which concerns you? Because if so, you are part of a much bigger problem. Which brings me to your report.
One of the key recommendations in your report is that all levels of government should adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's (IHRA) working definition of anti-Semitism. As Josh Bornstein writes: "In part, this definition states that it is anti-Semitic to target the state of Israel and/or claim the existence of a state of Israel is a racist endeavour." I'm a Jew. I want to be able to criticise Israel freely. I especially want to do that now as Benjamin Netanyahu bombs Gaza relentlessly, continues its mass slaughter of starving civilians.
The IHRA definition also says it is anti-Semitic to draw comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis. I'm assuming that means you can't mention the G-word. But in an extraordinary essay, leading genocide scholar Omer Bartov writes: "Discrediting genocide scholars who call out Israel's genocide in Gaza as anti-Semitic threatens to erode the foundation of genocide studies: the ongoing need to define, prevent, punish and reconstruct the history of genocide. Suggesting that this endeavour is motivated instead by malign interests and sentiments - that it is driven by the very hatred and prejudice that was at the root of the Holocaust - is not only morally scandalous, it provides an opening for a politics of denialism and impunity as well."
Australia could adopt the Jerusalem definition, one which doesn't spend two-thirds of its focus on Israel.
Dear Jillian, in your wafty deer-in-headlights performance, utterly lacking in facts, on the ABC's 7.30, you thought it was OK to suggest that you would monitor the outputs of the ABC and SBS.
I mean, Lawyers for Israel already did that. It campaigned hard against Antoinette Lattouf's brief appearance on ABC Sydney. It led to Lattouf losing her gig. It led to the ABC losing $2 million in fighting a futile court case. And I'll tell you what else it led to. It led, in my view, to people using the phrase "Jewish lobby", one of the most ill-conceived and racist phrases ever. I would not for one minute complain about social media posts sharing Human Rights Watch information. And there are many Jews here and elsewhere who rightly criticise the use by Israel of starvation as a weapon of war. The prospect of you trying to censor what the ABC broadcasts is so horrific. We don't need more censors in this country. We don't need lobby groups like Lawyers for Israel trying to silence those with valid opinions LIA doesn't like. Or you don't like.
Which brings me to the federal government.
How is it even possible that it did not do a check on those adjacent to Segal? My mind is boggled by this. And how did it think it was appropriate to nominate a person to this role who so clearly supports Israel's current behaviour? Jews experience anti-Semitism every single day in this country and that's what needs to be urgently addressed. If you conflate anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism you make it worse for all of us, you make anti-Semitism far more likely.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

WA Police establish dedicated hate crime unit to target rise in anti-Semitism and racial hatred
WA Police establish dedicated hate crime unit to target rise in anti-Semitism and racial hatred

West Australian

time4 hours ago

  • West Australian

WA Police establish dedicated hate crime unit to target rise in anti-Semitism and racial hatred

WA Police have established a dedicated hate crime unit to combat rising racial hatred and anti-Semitism across the State. Senior members of Perth's Jewish community say incidents of anti-Semitism have risen 300 per cent since renewed Middle East conflicts — sparked by the Hamas attack on Israeli citizens — in October 2023. The unit is only the second such specialised team to be established by police in Australia. The first was in NSW, which was given a $525,000 boost by the Minns Government this year. WA Police Commander Darren Seivwright on Saturday said there was no place for hate crimes in the State. 'The hate crime team was established in response to growing community concern about hate-related offences,' he said. 'The establishment of this team aligns with national efforts to improve the reporting and response of these crimes. 'Criminal offences that are motivated by an ignorance or prejudice towards people that are different from the offenders have no place in WA. 'WA Police Force are well placed to respond to hate-related offending, and no tolerance will be afforded to the small section of our community who engage in this type of insidious behaviour.' The team provides police with the capability to respond to, and investigate, hate motivated incidents, also working with online operatives from the State Security Investigation Group. The unit uses a myriad of sophisticated tools at their disposal to identify and find people involved, including using automatic number plate recognition where applicable and scouring CCTV and dashcam footage. Since the unit was established in April, five arrests have been made in relation to hate-based crimes, including over an anti-Israel graffiti attack on the WA Parliament in May and a Perth man performing a Nazi salute during a live stream in June this year. Across Australia, there has been a disturbing rise of hate crimes and anti-Semitism. Jewish Community Council of WA president Geoff Midalia said while few reports were made, incidents targeting his community were rife. 'Every week there is a drive-by at a school where somebody winds down the window and takes photos, or somebody drives by a synagogue screaming 'F… the Jews or someone doing a Heil Hitler sign out the window,' he said. 'This is ongoing. It's regular. 'Since October 7, 2023, the increase in anti-Semitism in our community has been around 300 per cent.' Establishment of the hate crime team comes off the back of several measures already taken by the WA Government to address similar incidents. Legislation enacted in March prohibits the public display of Nazi symbols and the Nazi salute. A maximum penalty of five years imprisonment applies. The Cook Government is also introducing a 'post and boast' offence to punish the glorification of illegal and dangerous acts on social media. The new laws will impose penalties of up to three years' jail for circulating such material, including online. The laws will target material on social media that may humiliate, intimidate or victimise a person, increase the reputation or notoriety of the offender, glorify the conduct, or encourage copycat behaviour. Those who don't remove offending material face a year's jail and a $12,000 fine. Offences covered by the legislation will include assaults, stealing and robbery; property damage; dangerous or reckless driving, racial harassment and inciting racial hatred and Nazi symbols and salutes. Premier Roger Cook said on Saturday his government would do all it could to keep the Jewish community safe. 'My government has a strong relationship with Western Australia's Jewish community, and we will continue to work together to keep WA safe,' he said. ''We condemn recent attacks like those on an East Melbourne synagogue that strike fear into the heart of all Western Australians. 'Racism and antisemitism will not be tolerated in WA, and WA Police will use every tactic and measure at its disposal to protect the community and catch the perpetrators. 'Hate crimes have no place in WA and we will do everything to crack down on the cowardly thugs who commit these vile attacks.'

The reach of climate change encircles the world
The reach of climate change encircles the world

The Age

time6 hours ago

  • The Age

The reach of climate change encircles the world

To submit a letter to The Age, email letters@ Please include your home address and telephone number. No attachments, please include your letter in the body of the email. See here for our rules and tips on getting your letter published. Reach of climate change Having grown up in London, I read with interest David Crowe's description of life there under climate change (' The heat is on in London and it's turned deadly ', 19/7). They have many problems with out-of-date infrastructure like buses and housing. It is encouraging that much is being done overthere, like conserving water and using more appropriate species of plants. My former home city is a case study in climate action and inaction. More could have been done sooner, but short-term political and financial interests often got priority. Now London has sweaty buses and hundreds of extra deaths in worsening heatwaves. There is also inadequate action in Australia and elsewhere. The Age on Saturday carries other relevant stories, including of Victorian farmers helping each other after a severe drought, withextra farm costs pushing up prices of lamb and beef in our supermarkets. Another article describes how the Pacific island nation of Tuvalu is threatened by rising seas and coastal erosion. Many Tuvaluans want to migrate to Australia. Impacts of the climate crisis will be relevant more and more in our news, and in our lives. John Hughes, Mentone Out-of-touch Liberals The charmless and contrarian attitude of the Liberal Party is on full display with its claim that Anthony Albanese's trip to China is 'indulgent' (at least they didn't go so far as to call it a junket). It must really gall them that in a little over three years the relationship with China – our biggest trading partner by far and one with which we have a significant trade surplus – has so dramatically improved. But then it was Peter Dutton who said we must prepare for war, and although he didn't say it out loud, it seemed pretty obvious which country he was referring to. So I guess for them nothing has really changed, except that they have proven to be even more out of touch with what Australians want from their government. Brandon Mack, Deepdene Left behind Columnist Jake Niall has only scratched the surface (″⁣ A fix to AFL's flawed fixture ″⁣, 18/7). For a ″⁣fair″⁣ competition to exist there is only one way this can happen. Like virtually all other national team sport competitions, each team plays each other team twice, once at home and once away. In this respect the AFL is a national disaster, and the AFL should have been working towards something like this when it first formed decades ago. Increasingly it is moving further and further away. This dimension of unfairness within the competition (there are many others eg, variations in the interpretation of rules between and within umpires) is why I have no interest in the game now. It is so unfair. Ian Anderson, Maldon Not wild about this AFL Wildcard rounds exist in US professional sports as part of, or entry to, the competition's final series. Many of these competitions are split into conferences, and then divisions, with division winners typically gaining automatic entry to the finals. However, you can have the situation where the runner-up in one division has a superior record to the winner of another division. Wildcard games give well-performed teams who did not win their division a chance to play in the finals. The AFL sports media has been constantly raising a proposed extension of the current finals system by a week, with 7th playing 10th, and 8th playing 9th, prior to the regular finals and persist in calling this a ″⁣wildcard″⁣ round. There is nothing wild about it, it's just another week of finals in a competition without conferences. Pedantry aside, extending the AFL finals series to 10th would reward inferior teams. In the past 10 years, only two teams finishing 10th have won more than 50 per cent of their games – Fremantle last year (12 wins and a draw) and Geelong in 2015 (12 wins). In the same period, four teams finished 10th winning fewer than half of their games. Do we really want teams with a losing record to be playing finals? Mark Southby, Oakleigh

Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff says he 'couldn't be prouder' of his team and vows to respect the will of voters as state heads to the polls
Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff says he 'couldn't be prouder' of his team and vows to respect the will of voters as state heads to the polls

Sky News AU

time12 hours ago

  • Sky News AU

Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff says he 'couldn't be prouder' of his team and vows to respect the will of voters as state heads to the polls

Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff has spoken warmly about the importance of democracy and reflected on a hard-fought campaign as the state heads into a pivotal election weekend. Speaking from his hometown of Sassafras alongside his daughter Lucy, who is voting for the first time, Rockliff paid tribute to the freedoms Australians enjoy at the ballot box. 'This just highlights how lucky we are as a country to be able to live in a democracy where we are free to express our views of all sides of politics,' Rockliff said in a press conference. Rockliff admitted that he would 'respect the will of the Tasmanian people' and thanked communities across the state, including those on King and Flinders Islands, for their engagement during the campaign. 'We've travelled the length and breadth of this beautiful part of the world, and I've met many thousands of people who are contributing so greatly to our community, and I've listened,' he said. 'I continue to learn in this job every single day. Every single day is a day for learning, a day for listening. And a day where we can make a positive difference.' Reflecting on the campaign itself, the Premier said he was proud of his team's unity and efforts during a short and unexpected election period. 'I was very pleased with our campaign, given the circumstances of the campaign. I was proud of our candidates who stood up so quickly after the events in parliament. 'I could not have asked for a more disciplined and loyal and focused team of candidates.' In doing so, he gave special mention of first-time Liberal candidates. 'It's a big thing when you walk into the polling booth and see your name on a piece of paper and you being part of history. And that's what I really appreciate about our candidates, and indeed everyone that's willing to stand for election, be part of democracy, and putting their name forward,' he explained. While not predicting a win, Rockliff expressed confidence in the work his party had done. 'I'm confident that we have put our very best foot forward. I don't believe we could have done much more than that. We've been very disciplined. 'We have had a campaign just 15 months after the previous campaign, an election we did not want, Tasmanians did not want, but one that, given the circumstances, we embraced.' When discussing the hope of his party maintaining power in Tasmania, Rockliff was keen to highlight that none of the party's new commitments would add to state debt. 'We embraced key policy areas. We strengthened existing policies. We got new commitments out there, which I'm very pleased about, but also each and every one of those commitments has not added a single dollar to the debt,' he said. When asked whether he would remain leader if the Liberals lost the election, Rockliff noted that would be a matter for the party. 'Look that's up to the Parliamentary Liberal Party,' he said. 'The election of the leader is a process that we always undertake. I've been very privileged to lead this party since April 8, 2022, and I continue to do so and look forward to working with my colleagues when they are elected.' Asked about the divisive Macquarie Point stadium issue, and his previous comment that he'd 'go back to the spud farm' if it cost him the job, Rockliff remained philosophical. 'I'll have to learn how to grow spuds again if that's the case. But look, the important thing is that you stand up for what you believe in,' he said. 'There are many areas of policy that we've taken to this election that I believe in. Better access to fertility treatment for women and families. I believe in better access to healthcare. I believe in ensuring that our kids can go to school with food in their tummies and be able to engage in learning in a safe and encouraging environment.' 'I believe in the strength of our economy, the leading state in Australia when it comes to lowest unemployment ever in this state at 3.8 per cent. And that's a testament to the Tasmanian people. The strength of our economy and our resilience is a testament to the Tasmanian and the partnership that we've had with Tasmanians in recent times.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store