Aust diplomat's husband walks after spitting on woman
A New Zealand court has discharged the husband of an Australian diplomat without convicting him, months after the man pleaded guilty to assault for drunkenly spitting on a teenager during a street altercation on the night of a rugby match in Wellington.
The man was granted permanent name suppression. Judge Paul Mabey, presiding at the Wellington District Court, said he didn't accept the man's arguments that the potential harms to him justified the discharge, but the magistrate agreed that his wife's diplomatic career could be curbed by an assault conviction and the publication of his name.
The man could be barred from travel abroad to her future postings, the judge said on Thursday, and the family could be split up if the Australian High Commission decided he could not remain in New Zealand to preserve the bilateral relations between the countries.
The charges arose after an episode last September after the man attended a rugby match between New Zealand and Australia in the capital. He was drunk when he arrived at Wellington's main nightlife area, where he approached a group of teenagers and became aggressive when they didn't want to engage with him, the judge said.
A member of the group punched the man, who responded by spitting on a young woman. He was arrested by police officers who happened to be passing.
The case has provoked widespread news coverage in New Zealand and Australia along with mobile phone footage of the man's arrest, in which he verbally abused a police officer and claimed he had diplomatic immunity. He had such immunity, conferred by protocol to the partners of senior envoys to New Zealand, which he later waived voluntarily.
He pleaded guilty to New Zealand's lowest level of assault charge in January. It is punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $NZ4000 ($A3700).
"For the avoidance of any doubt at all, he is not here to be sentenced for abusing the police or rashly claiming diplomatic immunity," Judge Mabey said.
"He was right to say he had that immunity," the judge added. "He was completely stupid to say it at all."
But the magistrate said he would discharge the man because of his wife's suggestion that the Australian diplomatic service would be unable to ignore the husband's conviction and the widely-distributed mobile phone video of his arrest when considering her future.
"If I were not to suppress his name, his offending would be inextricably linked to his wife and she would suffer considerably," the judge said.
He rejected a bid by the man's lawyer to suppress the country his wife represented in New Zealand.
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The Advertiser
18 minutes ago
- The Advertiser
Indigenous, climate advocates put heat on Woodside
A bid to compel the government to consider a heritage application to protect Indigenous rock art is going to court as three environmental activists declare they "successfully hoaxed" Woodside. The preliminary hearing follows Environment Minister Murray Watt's interim approval of Woodside's North West Shelf extension until 2070, a controversial gas project in Western Australia. The call has flared tensions, with environmental and Indigenous groups arguing it will slow efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions and have a ruinous effect on nearby ancient petroglyphs. Mardathoonera woman Raelene Cooper said she was thrilled the case against the newly appointed environment minister was moving forward without further delays. "It's rude to have someone waiting for such a long time," the Save our Songlines co-founder said outside the Federal Court in Sydney. The court determined Ms Cooper's case would be heard in the week of July 14. Senator Watt attached heritage and air quality conditions to the approval and those are yet to be formally agreed to by the Australian energy giant. Ms Cooper said the North West Shelf and other industrial developments at Woodside's Burrup Hub posed risks to the rock art - concerns and evidence laid out in full in a cultural heritage assessment the minister is yet to consider. The Burrup Peninsula, in WA's Pilbara region and known as Murujuga to traditional owners, contains some of the world's largest and oldest collection of petroglyphs. The "section 10" heritage application was originally lodged in early 2022. "I am furious that the minister would make a decision to lock in ongoing and irreversible damage to my country before addressing my application," Ms Cooper said. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the conditions attached to the pending approval of the North West Shelf extension would address concerns about the rock art. "The local Aboriginal corporation there, I've met with them in the past, they're very supportive of industry," he told ABC radio on Friday. "They want to make sure there's protection, but they support those jobs and that economic activity." In a separate case, three protesters were fined $10,000 each after targeting a Woodside annual general meeting with stench gas and flares. Disrupt Burrup Hub's Gerard Mazza, Jesse Noakes and Tahlia Stolarski pleaded guilty to charges laid over their protest at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre in April 2023. "Today we were fined for attempting to create false belief — in other words, we pranked Woodside," Ms Stolarski told supporters outside Perth District Court after the verdict. "We are guilty of pulling off a highly successful hoax. "One day, perhaps Woodside and the WA government will be pulled before a court like this one (and) be charged with much more serious crimes, and their victims will be future generations and all life on earth." A bid to compel the government to consider a heritage application to protect Indigenous rock art is going to court as three environmental activists declare they "successfully hoaxed" Woodside. The preliminary hearing follows Environment Minister Murray Watt's interim approval of Woodside's North West Shelf extension until 2070, a controversial gas project in Western Australia. The call has flared tensions, with environmental and Indigenous groups arguing it will slow efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions and have a ruinous effect on nearby ancient petroglyphs. Mardathoonera woman Raelene Cooper said she was thrilled the case against the newly appointed environment minister was moving forward without further delays. "It's rude to have someone waiting for such a long time," the Save our Songlines co-founder said outside the Federal Court in Sydney. The court determined Ms Cooper's case would be heard in the week of July 14. Senator Watt attached heritage and air quality conditions to the approval and those are yet to be formally agreed to by the Australian energy giant. Ms Cooper said the North West Shelf and other industrial developments at Woodside's Burrup Hub posed risks to the rock art - concerns and evidence laid out in full in a cultural heritage assessment the minister is yet to consider. The Burrup Peninsula, in WA's Pilbara region and known as Murujuga to traditional owners, contains some of the world's largest and oldest collection of petroglyphs. The "section 10" heritage application was originally lodged in early 2022. "I am furious that the minister would make a decision to lock in ongoing and irreversible damage to my country before addressing my application," Ms Cooper said. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the conditions attached to the pending approval of the North West Shelf extension would address concerns about the rock art. "The local Aboriginal corporation there, I've met with them in the past, they're very supportive of industry," he told ABC radio on Friday. "They want to make sure there's protection, but they support those jobs and that economic activity." In a separate case, three protesters were fined $10,000 each after targeting a Woodside annual general meeting with stench gas and flares. Disrupt Burrup Hub's Gerard Mazza, Jesse Noakes and Tahlia Stolarski pleaded guilty to charges laid over their protest at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre in April 2023. "Today we were fined for attempting to create false belief — in other words, we pranked Woodside," Ms Stolarski told supporters outside Perth District Court after the verdict. "We are guilty of pulling off a highly successful hoax. "One day, perhaps Woodside and the WA government will be pulled before a court like this one (and) be charged with much more serious crimes, and their victims will be future generations and all life on earth." A bid to compel the government to consider a heritage application to protect Indigenous rock art is going to court as three environmental activists declare they "successfully hoaxed" Woodside. The preliminary hearing follows Environment Minister Murray Watt's interim approval of Woodside's North West Shelf extension until 2070, a controversial gas project in Western Australia. The call has flared tensions, with environmental and Indigenous groups arguing it will slow efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions and have a ruinous effect on nearby ancient petroglyphs. Mardathoonera woman Raelene Cooper said she was thrilled the case against the newly appointed environment minister was moving forward without further delays. "It's rude to have someone waiting for such a long time," the Save our Songlines co-founder said outside the Federal Court in Sydney. The court determined Ms Cooper's case would be heard in the week of July 14. Senator Watt attached heritage and air quality conditions to the approval and those are yet to be formally agreed to by the Australian energy giant. Ms Cooper said the North West Shelf and other industrial developments at Woodside's Burrup Hub posed risks to the rock art - concerns and evidence laid out in full in a cultural heritage assessment the minister is yet to consider. The Burrup Peninsula, in WA's Pilbara region and known as Murujuga to traditional owners, contains some of the world's largest and oldest collection of petroglyphs. The "section 10" heritage application was originally lodged in early 2022. "I am furious that the minister would make a decision to lock in ongoing and irreversible damage to my country before addressing my application," Ms Cooper said. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the conditions attached to the pending approval of the North West Shelf extension would address concerns about the rock art. "The local Aboriginal corporation there, I've met with them in the past, they're very supportive of industry," he told ABC radio on Friday. "They want to make sure there's protection, but they support those jobs and that economic activity." In a separate case, three protesters were fined $10,000 each after targeting a Woodside annual general meeting with stench gas and flares. Disrupt Burrup Hub's Gerard Mazza, Jesse Noakes and Tahlia Stolarski pleaded guilty to charges laid over their protest at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre in April 2023. "Today we were fined for attempting to create false belief — in other words, we pranked Woodside," Ms Stolarski told supporters outside Perth District Court after the verdict. "We are guilty of pulling off a highly successful hoax. "One day, perhaps Woodside and the WA government will be pulled before a court like this one (and) be charged with much more serious crimes, and their victims will be future generations and all life on earth." A bid to compel the government to consider a heritage application to protect Indigenous rock art is going to court as three environmental activists declare they "successfully hoaxed" Woodside. The preliminary hearing follows Environment Minister Murray Watt's interim approval of Woodside's North West Shelf extension until 2070, a controversial gas project in Western Australia. The call has flared tensions, with environmental and Indigenous groups arguing it will slow efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions and have a ruinous effect on nearby ancient petroglyphs. Mardathoonera woman Raelene Cooper said she was thrilled the case against the newly appointed environment minister was moving forward without further delays. "It's rude to have someone waiting for such a long time," the Save our Songlines co-founder said outside the Federal Court in Sydney. The court determined Ms Cooper's case would be heard in the week of July 14. Senator Watt attached heritage and air quality conditions to the approval and those are yet to be formally agreed to by the Australian energy giant. Ms Cooper said the North West Shelf and other industrial developments at Woodside's Burrup Hub posed risks to the rock art - concerns and evidence laid out in full in a cultural heritage assessment the minister is yet to consider. The Burrup Peninsula, in WA's Pilbara region and known as Murujuga to traditional owners, contains some of the world's largest and oldest collection of petroglyphs. The "section 10" heritage application was originally lodged in early 2022. "I am furious that the minister would make a decision to lock in ongoing and irreversible damage to my country before addressing my application," Ms Cooper said. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the conditions attached to the pending approval of the North West Shelf extension would address concerns about the rock art. "The local Aboriginal corporation there, I've met with them in the past, they're very supportive of industry," he told ABC radio on Friday. "They want to make sure there's protection, but they support those jobs and that economic activity." In a separate case, three protesters were fined $10,000 each after targeting a Woodside annual general meeting with stench gas and flares. Disrupt Burrup Hub's Gerard Mazza, Jesse Noakes and Tahlia Stolarski pleaded guilty to charges laid over their protest at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre in April 2023. "Today we were fined for attempting to create false belief — in other words, we pranked Woodside," Ms Stolarski told supporters outside Perth District Court after the verdict. "We are guilty of pulling off a highly successful hoax. "One day, perhaps Woodside and the WA government will be pulled before a court like this one (and) be charged with much more serious crimes, and their victims will be future generations and all life on earth."
The Advertiser
19 minutes ago
- The Advertiser
Australian detained in Iraq released after four years
An Australian man detained in an Iraqi prison for nearly four years has been released on bail. Engineer Robert Pether was granted conditional release after being detained on misrepresentation and fraud charges. Mr Pether was arrested following a dispute with the Iraqi government and his employer, a consulting firm working on headquarters for the country's central bank. He was sentenced in 2021 to five years in prison and fined millions of dollars. A United Nations report on arbitrary detention detailed allegations that Mr Pether was subject to extreme cold, humiliation, threats of death and forms of psychological abuse, including being shown a torture room. Foreign Minister Penny Wong welcomed Mr Pether's release. "I know the personal toll Mr Pether's detention has taken on him and his family and hope this news brings a measure of relief after years of distress," she said in a statement. "While Mr Pether remains subject to legal proceedings in Iraq, this is a positive development and follows persistent Australian government advocacy over many years. "His case has been raised with Iraqi authorities over 200 times, including at the highest level by the prime minister and myself." Mr Pether wrote a letter in 2024 expressing concern for his health. Senator Wong said officials would continue to press the case for the Australian in Iraq. "We will continue to support Mr Pether and his family and to advocate for Mr Pether's interests and wellbeing," she said. "I want to thank Australian officials for their tireless work on Mr Pether's case, including Australia's special envoy who travelled to Iraq in recent weeks to negotiate for this outcome." An Australian man detained in an Iraqi prison for nearly four years has been released on bail. Engineer Robert Pether was granted conditional release after being detained on misrepresentation and fraud charges. Mr Pether was arrested following a dispute with the Iraqi government and his employer, a consulting firm working on headquarters for the country's central bank. He was sentenced in 2021 to five years in prison and fined millions of dollars. A United Nations report on arbitrary detention detailed allegations that Mr Pether was subject to extreme cold, humiliation, threats of death and forms of psychological abuse, including being shown a torture room. Foreign Minister Penny Wong welcomed Mr Pether's release. "I know the personal toll Mr Pether's detention has taken on him and his family and hope this news brings a measure of relief after years of distress," she said in a statement. "While Mr Pether remains subject to legal proceedings in Iraq, this is a positive development and follows persistent Australian government advocacy over many years. "His case has been raised with Iraqi authorities over 200 times, including at the highest level by the prime minister and myself." Mr Pether wrote a letter in 2024 expressing concern for his health. Senator Wong said officials would continue to press the case for the Australian in Iraq. "We will continue to support Mr Pether and his family and to advocate for Mr Pether's interests and wellbeing," she said. "I want to thank Australian officials for their tireless work on Mr Pether's case, including Australia's special envoy who travelled to Iraq in recent weeks to negotiate for this outcome." An Australian man detained in an Iraqi prison for nearly four years has been released on bail. Engineer Robert Pether was granted conditional release after being detained on misrepresentation and fraud charges. Mr Pether was arrested following a dispute with the Iraqi government and his employer, a consulting firm working on headquarters for the country's central bank. He was sentenced in 2021 to five years in prison and fined millions of dollars. A United Nations report on arbitrary detention detailed allegations that Mr Pether was subject to extreme cold, humiliation, threats of death and forms of psychological abuse, including being shown a torture room. Foreign Minister Penny Wong welcomed Mr Pether's release. "I know the personal toll Mr Pether's detention has taken on him and his family and hope this news brings a measure of relief after years of distress," she said in a statement. "While Mr Pether remains subject to legal proceedings in Iraq, this is a positive development and follows persistent Australian government advocacy over many years. "His case has been raised with Iraqi authorities over 200 times, including at the highest level by the prime minister and myself." Mr Pether wrote a letter in 2024 expressing concern for his health. Senator Wong said officials would continue to press the case for the Australian in Iraq. "We will continue to support Mr Pether and his family and to advocate for Mr Pether's interests and wellbeing," she said. "I want to thank Australian officials for their tireless work on Mr Pether's case, including Australia's special envoy who travelled to Iraq in recent weeks to negotiate for this outcome." An Australian man detained in an Iraqi prison for nearly four years has been released on bail. Engineer Robert Pether was granted conditional release after being detained on misrepresentation and fraud charges. Mr Pether was arrested following a dispute with the Iraqi government and his employer, a consulting firm working on headquarters for the country's central bank. He was sentenced in 2021 to five years in prison and fined millions of dollars. A United Nations report on arbitrary detention detailed allegations that Mr Pether was subject to extreme cold, humiliation, threats of death and forms of psychological abuse, including being shown a torture room. Foreign Minister Penny Wong welcomed Mr Pether's release. "I know the personal toll Mr Pether's detention has taken on him and his family and hope this news brings a measure of relief after years of distress," she said in a statement. "While Mr Pether remains subject to legal proceedings in Iraq, this is a positive development and follows persistent Australian government advocacy over many years. "His case has been raised with Iraqi authorities over 200 times, including at the highest level by the prime minister and myself." Mr Pether wrote a letter in 2024 expressing concern for his health. Senator Wong said officials would continue to press the case for the Australian in Iraq. "We will continue to support Mr Pether and his family and to advocate for Mr Pether's interests and wellbeing," she said. "I want to thank Australian officials for their tireless work on Mr Pether's case, including Australia's special envoy who travelled to Iraq in recent weeks to negotiate for this outcome."
Sydney Morning Herald
2 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
US beef might be on the table, but we don't have to eat it
If the government deals with Donald Trump's tariffs by opening our nation to beef imports, Australians' response should be quite simple – don't buy American beef (' Albanese to put beef on the table in Trump trade talks ', June 6). Australians must make a point of checking where products come from and make the decision to buy Australian. In our capitalist system, the consumer is boss. If the issue of beef imports really is a biosecurity threat, as our farmers suggest, it is also our civic duty to avoid it. I do not buy the 'grown in USA' grapes that have recently replaced the Australian ones in my local fruit barn. I also don't trust home brand products from the big two supermarkets as many of them are imported. The added bonus of telling Trump where to put his tariffs is that we support Australian jobs and reduce our carbon footprint. Lesley Maguire, Marsfield Sure, we have a beef with Trump over tariffs and presidential demands, but our biosecurity protocols are sacrosanct. Importing beef from the US may be Russian roulette for our farmers. Our agricultural industries would be devastated should they be afflicted with the diversity of pests and pathogens assailing the natural environment. One of our greatest exports is the international reputation of our quarantine and biosecurity sentinels. Steve Dillon, Thirroul On Britain's exemption from US steel tariffs, Sussan Ley said: 'We stand ready to work with the Albanese government to ensure Australia can achieve the same outcome. The Coalition wants the government to succeed because that is in the national interest.' With two sentences, the Liberal leader has hopefully begun a period of bipartisanship and a return to true Liberal principles. I congratulate her and hope she can succeed in her rebirthing of a centrist Liberal Party. 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Some time soon, urban communities will finally learn to appreciate what people living in rural and regional areas have contributed to the nation's living standards, as prices increase and shortages of supply become evident. The nation's wealth is spent but not created in our cities. Bruce Clydsdale, Bathurst Bros become foes In Trump's fickle world, one thing was always certain: his chumminess with Elon Musk would end in a mudslinging fight (' Bromance is over: Musk accuses Trump of being in the Epstein files, June 6). So many times we have watched the humiliating drubbings dished out by Trump on those he deems disloyal or with whom he disagrees. This time, however, he may have met his match. Musk's bombshell post to the world that 'Trump is in the Epstein files. That is the reason they have not been made public', may prove to be Musk's leverage in the relationship. As he cynically posted: 'Have a nice day DJT.' Mary Carde, Parrearra (Qld) Trump Derangement Syndrome. Well, there it is, from his own pen, what we've been seeing for years but didn't know what to call it – and now he's named it for us. Shrinks will be studying Trump for a long time to come, but in the meantime, can we give him the honour he richly deserves – the front cover of Mad Magazine. Patrick McGrath, Potts Point Trump, the fabulist in chief versus Musk, a certifiable megalomaniac. 'Rumble in the Jungle' on steroids. Best show in town. Maureen Moss, Beecroft Peace Prize at stake The US veto of the latest UN Security Council ceasefire resolution simply reminds us that the power to bring the Gaza conflict to an end lies in the hands of one person, the president of the United States (' US vetoes Security Council call for a ceasefire', June 6). The UN itself is powerless, as Israel's ambassador Danny Danon made defiantly clear, saying that 'no resolution, no vote, no moral failure, will stand in our way'. If Donald Trump has set his sights on the Nobel Peace Prize, as often claimed, he should sign one of his famous executive orders to immediately top supplying Israel's war machine. Tom Knowles, Parkville (Vic) Stick with Israel Josh Szeps advises Jews to abandon Israel because supporting it at present conflicts with Jewish values (' It's time for Jews to abandon Israel ', June 6). But abandonment itself is an abdication of essential and core Jewish values of, among others, Chesed and Emunah, which mean loving kindness, steadfast loyalty and faith. To suggest that Israel should be abandoned because of the way its current government is prosecuting the tragic war in Gaza could not be more un-Jewish. Raymond Schwartz, Bellevue Hill Josh Szeps writes a powerful but problematic article. When he calls for Jews to abandon Israel, I presume he means diaspora Jews – that is, Jews living outside of Israel. But what about the seven million Jews living in Israel? Are we to eschew our friends, family and religious kinsmen, tarring them all with the same brush as their government? Do I know how to fix the abhorrent situation in Gaza? No. But I do know that no solution will come from turning away. It is now, more than ever, that we need to turn towards each other and find the strength to get through this latest threat to Jewish survival. Yehuda Bassin, North Bondi Josh Szeps brutally tears the scab off what the state of Israel is doing to the Palestinian people. Is there any legitimate reason why there is space in the world for a Jewish state but not for a Palestinian state? Richard Sergi, Summer Hill Smokes and ire First Chris Minns wants to increase the threat tobacco poses to public health by reducing prices, and now the police minister wants to give a boost to organised crime by excluding the police force from acting against the tobacco black market (' Police 'can't regulate' tobacconists ' June 6). Just whose interests is the government of NSW protecting? It certainly doesn't appear to be ours. John Croker, Woonona 30-year itch The opposition is attacking the government's proposal to adjust the taxation on higher superannuation balances (' Coalition shuts down deal on super tax ', June 5). A mainstay of its argument is the government's failure to index the proposed cut-in point of $3 million. The opposition says inflation will pull in ever more super-holders so that young workers in 30 years' time will have to pay this tax as soon as they start earning. Really? Even if wages do balloon like that, does anyone know of a taxation measure still in force from 30 years ago without change or adjustment? Perhaps the Coalition expects to remain in opposition for the next 30 years, with no opportunity to introduce any changes themselves. E. Mark Latham, Croydon Park Multi-party preferred The path to desperately needed taxation reform must involve bipartisan agreements with the conservatives (' Deal or no deal: Chalmer's mistake ', June 6). The Liberals may be weak, almost irrelevant at present, but they'll not always be so. The best way to achieve this is with the support of the conservatives, Greens and independents. Obviously, some concessions will be necessary by Jim Chalmers, but increased taxation is essential and must be set in stone. Geoff Harding, Chatswood Libs doomed by inability to learn It's hard to believe that the Liberals could sink much lower after their 'near-death' electoral defeat, but they continue to surprise (' Elder statesman has taken his party backwards ', June 6). A divorce with their whacky National partners, followed only days later by a reconciliation (of sorts); old stale, pale males (Abbott and Stockdale) sniping, undermining, and publicly putting the little ladies back in their places; and even a shadow cabinet position given to someone (Kapterian), before the vote count was completed, who didn't end up winning a seat in parliament. With their inability to learn from their past defeats, it seems that the Liberals will always be the party of greater ridicule and incompetence. Alan Marel, North Curl Curl Aside from the misogyny, may I suggest that the most prominent characteristic of a certain Mr Stockdale is his eyebrowage. Photos of him sitting beneath a portrait of Bob Menzies, also magnificently eyebrow endowed, make me wonder whether the only way for women to get ahead in the Liberal Party is to put those tweezers away. Kate Coates, Wangi Wangi It's bleeding obvious that the federal intervention into the NSW Liberal Party has always been a move to consolidate the influence of the conservative faction in NSW. Ironically, the intervention team is dominated by two right-wing fossils from Victoria, a state where the Liberal Party has long been on life support. If the present intervention team prevails, the Liberals will remain increasingly irrelevant, and Australia will be the worse for it. Bruce Spence, Balmain Anyone who follows the intrigues of Victorian state politics would know that former Labor premier Dan Andrews was able to win three elections, arguably owing to the disarray of the Liberal opposition. To send two relics from that disorder of the Victorian age (sorry, Victorian state) is quite insulting. I wonder if Alan Stockdale and former NSW Liberal leader Peter Collins caught up for a bevvy or two. Peter King, Windsor Downs Women's issue Hysteria is an old word that relates to the uterus – a 'woman thing'. I'm guessing that Mark Speakman, though the product of a uterus, has not, and probably will not, understand that his use of the word 'hysterical' has just lost him a swag of women's votes. Mine especially (' Catley slams Speakman after he calls her 'hysterical', ' June 6). Kathryn Coates, Wangi Wangi Pyrrhic victory Those who celebrated North Sydney Council's failure to implement a rate rise as a win for the community should now see the reality of this Pyrrhic victory (' Inside the fight to save famous oval that's slowly falling apart ', June 6). A much-loved iconic oval is in disrepair, council buildings leak when it rains, community services will need to be curtailed and there may have to be a fire sale of income-generating assets. All of this when current residential rates are lower than those of neighbouring councils and the ill-conceived pool continues to drain council finances at an alarming rate. Catherine Turner, Cremorne Left in limbo Workers' rights are under constant pressure, every hour of every day. The ABC keeping staff members on revolving fixed-term contracts is just another example (' Play School staffer sues ABC ', June 6). Such staff members are not chess pieces to be moved around at the whim of management. Flexibility to quickly and easily sack staff is not conducive to loyalty or good mental health. It also erodes the ability of staff to plan their lives. It is not a moral way to improve any organisation's bottom line. Greg Baker, Fitzroy Falls A fair race The final election result for the federal seat of Bradfield has been called, with independent Nicolette Boele declared the winner by a margin of just 26 votes over the Liberal candidate Gisele Kapterian (' Teal candidate Nicolette Boele wins final Bradfield recount ', June 5). The Australian Electoral Commission should be applauded for the thorough way in which the full recount was conducted over the past week and a half. The genuine commitment to democracy was evident at every stage and the staff were consistently polite and obliging. My respect for our democratic processes was constantly reinforced as I watched the process unfold. Each vote was treated with the respect it deserved and the intention of the voter was paramount. I feel nothing but gratitude for our amazing AEC and our democratic processes. Robyn Thomas, Wahroonga Waste costs schools I have been following reports in the Herald of the ICAC hearings into allegations about improper spending at the public schools building unit (' Unravelling top schools unit's network of consultants ', June 6). As a lifelong advocate for public schooling (I attended public schools, my children and grandchildren attended public schools and I taught in public schools), I am alarmed at the reported amounts of money that were spent on consultants and the awarding of contracts to friends. Public schools are crying out for money for building maintenance, extra resources, specialist staff, heating and cooling for classrooms, and proper classrooms for additional enrolments. Now we are learning where the money was being spent. Shame on those responsible, shame, shame, shame. Helen Russell, Leichhardt Rare birds It seems calling someone a 'bird brain' is no longer an insult (' Smart cockies crack the water fountain test ', June 6). Mexican sparrows have even found a way to make tobacco into a health aid – they put cigarette butts in their nests to repel parasites. Paul Doyle, Glenbrook It's good to know my visiting cockatoos might come in handy when I have a jar I can't open. Lisa Clarke, Watsons Bay Hard to swallow Jeremy Brender (Letters, June 6), why would anybody consider paying an exorbitant price for an egg and lettuce sandwich at Sydney airport when they could buy a $10.30 meat pie instead? Robert Peters, Maitland Name brand Maiden name? A woman's 'maiden' name is really her father's name. Patriarchy still rules (Letters, June 6). Betsy Brennan, Wahroonga Ruff and ready While I'm in full agreement with correspondent Alison Stewart's views on misogyny in the Liberal Party (Letters, June 6), I must, in defence of old dogs, take issue with her last sentence. You can, actually, teach them new tricks. It just takes a little longer. Jo Bond, South Melbourne (Vic) Postscript Who can trust a politician? We all know the answer to that one, yet Australians trusted Anthony Albanese enough to vote for him in record numbers only a month ago. Buyer's remorse seems to be creeping up fast, as it does in politics, not least among readers who had hoped for a meaningful shift away from fossil fuels. Labor's approval of Woodside's North West Shelf gas project until 2070 was viewed by many, including Herald columnist Ross Gittins, as an inexcusable breach of trust. 'Why, Albo, why? Make it make sense,' pleaded reader Ross Hudson. In bringing Labor back for a second term, Australians had also hoped for tax reform, but the prime minister's unwillingness to slap mining companies with a resources rent tax further undermined public faith. 'Albanese has lost his spine,' lamented Peter Nash. 'Labor has been intimidated by mining companies and by business opposition to changing negative gearing and capital gains tax.' People with fat super balances are also having trust issues after Labor announced its plan to raise earnings tax on accounts above $3 million. The government's extravagant tobacco tax seems to have backfired too, leading to a proliferation of illegal imported cigarettes and vapes. 'Labor's disastrous tobacco taxes are a timely warning about their proposed super taxes,' wrote William Lloyd. Albanese's rejection of American demands for Australia to jack up defence spending didn't inspire confidence among defence hawks. David Sinclair didn't mince words. On the matter of public security 'our PM either has his head stuck firmly in the sand, or in another part of his anatomy entirely.' The defection of Greens senator Dorinda Cox to Labor this week only created more suspicion. 'Albanese's welcoming of that political turncoat adds insult to injury,' said James Fliece. A cynical Sue Dyer added: 'The prime minister and Cox should come clean about when she applied and how this was facilitated and approved.' Labor wasn't alone in the firing line. Liberal elder Alan Stockdale's 'light-hearted' remarks about 'assertive women' – in an address to the NSW Liberal Women's Council no less – drew howls of derision. Alison Stewart had some advice for Liberal women: 'You can't teach old dogs new tricks. Look elsewhere for representation.' That's always an option Alison, but the question is, who do you trust?
