IS brides are entitled to the same rights as all citizens

If illegalities have happened of course they must be “handled”, but where else does an Australian citizen go if their life has become impossible (“IS brides to be charged”, May 8)? Australia has a responsibility – even to those of us who have erred. The children must be guided and the mothers need help to a fulfilling, contributing life. Remember how badly the Indigenous people were treated, which has resulted in so much tragedy and anguish? We can do better, and we can learn from our mistakes. Kindness will serve us better than sticks and stones. Leigh Allen, Hawks Nest

I was touched and pleasantly surprised that all the letter writers in yesterday’s Herald calling for compassion to the IS brides’ return were men making the connection to DV and coercive control. While each woman’s case will be examined, in a court if necessary, it does seem likely that they were mostly duped and controlled. They found themselves unable to leave, regretful but forced to remarry if their husbands died. It is to be hoped that they and their children can recover and learn to have a normal life back in Australia. They deserve that chance. If there are charges, that will be dealt with. These women have already seen hell on earth. I doubt any Australian jail can shock them. Their traumatic experiences are hugely relevant in de-radicalisation programs because they have seen the lies and abuse first hand. Rhyan Andrews, Faulconbridge

Now that major charges involving slavery and being a member of a terrorist organisation have been revealed against the returning IS brides, can we expect a retraction from all those who wrote letters in support of them and attempting to shame anyone who felt otherwise? Rob Sinclair, North Sydney

It is disappointing to witness the lack of humanity shown by both major parties regarding the arrival of the so-called IS brides. The government has made a point of stressing it played no part in helping these women and children enter the country and the Coalition is claiming they should be prevented from entering the country. No one from the major parties seems to be accounting for individual differences in each of these women’s stories: some may have been coerced, some may have been tricked, some may have found themselves trapped, and some may have gone to Syria willingly. If charges are appropriate, they will be laid, and have been. Along with this, ASIO will be monitoring them carefully. The government, fearing a political backlash, indirectly added to the misconception that these women and children will be a threat to Australia. The government and the opposition should be promoting the law and humanitarian concerns rather than giving in to prejudice, fearmongering and propaganda regarding the return of these women. Another case of principle being sacrificed to political expediency. Leo Sorbello, Leichhardt

I am amazed that a combat battalion or two were not deployed to Sydney and Melbourne airports on the arrival of those women and children. We can’t be too careful. But the mainstream media appear to have been in their element. Wolf Kempa, Lithgow

I have long held the view that these women should be thrown in jail if laws were broken, but the kids should be brought home. The noise to the contrary has been loud unedifying politicking and the unreasonable hard line from Albanese and Burke has been very disappointing at best. Yesterday’s letters to the Herald, while advocates for the return of the “brides” suggest that the women were duped or unaware of what they were getting into by joining these brutes in Syria. Try telling that to the countless Yazidis who were enslaved and killed by extraordinarily savage IS monsters. Those IS brides must face the full force of our law while the kids are reintegrated into
our world. Bruce Hall, Avalon

Television news footage of heavily armed police deployed at the arrival in Australia of the so-called IS brides makes me wonder: were the women and their children expected to disembark with machine guns firing at the welcoming officials? What have we become? As an older Australian, I’m appalled, dismayed, disgusted and despondent. Alynn Pratt, Grenfell

Even their label, the IS brides, is political and emotive. This is a legal matter. As Australian citizens, these women and children are subject to Australian law and should be arrested, charged and tried if they have broken any of our laws. But also, as Australian citizens, by law, they have the right to return to and live in their country. It’s time the politicians stopped using them as a political catchcry to further their divisive dog whistling and allow the courts to do their independent job. Rowan Godwin, Rozelle

Let us hope that the magistrate or judge who sentences those Muslim women will have the compassion to count their detention in the Syrian refugee camps as time served against any jail term that might be imposed. Alan Stanley, Upper Corindi

In the screaming rush for radical political correctness, in demonising the women and children returning from quite a few gratuitous Australia-imposed years in Syrian refugee camps, we’ve heard AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett and the Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke, talk with straight faces of “community integration programs and countering violent extremism programs” for the kids. Not one even sideways reference to detraumatising therapy for the minors, let alone of course their mothers – despite the widely acknowledged brutality of living in the Syrian tent cities. As if PTSD and associated damage are only things that Australian soldiers get from campaigns just like the 2003-2011 one in Iraq, which – it’s not a secret – so destabilised the Middle East (thank you, Dick Cheney, George W. Bush, John Howard and Tony Blair) as to directly spawn Islamic State in the first place. Talk about child abuse. Can charges be brought against our politicians and their politicised public servants, even just for such contemptuous and abusive hate speech? Alex Mattea, Kingston

Abbott beggars belief

Tony Abbott (Letters, May 8), a Rhodes Scholar, despite thousands of climate scientists providing irrefutable proof warning us about climate change says, “climate change is absolute crap”, yet the same man believes that an invisible man in the sky created the universe without the slightest shred of evidence being forthcoming. And we should believe that he is the man to lead the Liberal Party? Matt Kaarma, North Nowra

Many in the broader electorate would certainly agree that Tony Abbott displayed unacceptable and “unconscionable attitudes to women”, such as appointing only one woman to his 19-member cabinet after the 2013 election. However, some conservative masterminds at the top of the Liberal Party, including Angus Taylor, must think that having this former federal Minister for Women preside over the organisational wing of the party would somehow help them win back the female vote. Sue Dyer, Downer (ACT)

It beggars belief that the federal Liberal Party, under Angus Taylor’s leadership, is set to appoint a failed PM, a politician ousted from his own seat, as party president. This can only be interpreted as the ultimate death wish for a party struggling with its reason to be. Abbott remains a polarising conservative figure who shows no restraint in voicing his extreme right-wing opinions and will further alienate the voters the Liberal Party so desperately needs to win back. Donna Wiemann, Balmain

Elected to take on the challenges

Waleed Aly (“Broken promise, broken system”, May 8) reminds us we were promised that capital gains and negative gearing concessions would remain untouched. But in any election we vote for the person or party we believe will best handle the challenges ahead and none of us know what those challenges, or problems, will be. If promises need to be broken to cope with different circumstances, so be it. Penny Ransby Smith, Lane Cove

It’s not often that I disagree with Waleed Aly. He bases his entire argument on an assertion – that coming changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax concessions are really just symbolic and primarily about sending a message to younger voters that the government cares about intergenerational equity – that seems to me to be nonsense. Breaking the promises made on negative gearing and the CGT is not primarily an act of symbolism. The treasurer may well have acknowledged that the changes are sending a message to young voters, but that doesn’t mean that’s all they are. They are important and meaningful changes. They are necessary, and they’ve become more so since the promises were made. The government would be remiss if it didn’t break the promises. Prue Nelson, Cremorne Point

Waleed Aly waxes philosophical in his comments on broken promises. The implication that policy proposals should be immutable is admirable but impractical. The necessity of legitimate flexibility in adapting to, and managing, changing circumstances renders the concept of “electoral promise” a potential impediment to delivering better outcomes. The future is yet to be written. Lessons from the past are rapidly losing efficacy amid the tsunami of events disrupting predictability. The reality is to accept a promise of honest and honourable effort to devise and effect political policy and improve the equitable distribution (some will get more, some will get less) of what our society has on offer. Promise, like hope, is no substitute for action. Robert Caraian, Crows Nest

Waleed Aly seems to forget that the Howard government took the GST to the 1998 election after promising never to introduce it. This was at least as big a flip as the change in negative gearing and the CGT concession. Ian Adair, Hunters Hill

For opposition’s sake

James Massola’s article (“Turning housing pain to Labor’s gain”, May 8) gives both sides of the story of why Labor is now talking about intergenerational change in the housing market. The worrying issue is that even while Labor has drip-fed snippets of the proposed changes, the Opposition, some media and the property sector are ringing alarm bells without seeing the detail. Perhaps, because details don’t matter to those opposed in principle to the changes. The Opposition and some media oppose the government at every turn, whether or not it’s a good idea, because it’s the government’s idea. The property sector, in business to make money, tends to put profit over principle. Intergenerational change is necessary to help younger Australians get into housing. The death of bipartisanship means the only group trying to change the status quo is criticised for finally trying to do the right thing. Geoff Nilon, Mascot

It is good that the federal government appears to be finally addressing the negative gearing/capital gains housing issue, which costs the federal budget more than $30 billion annually, but it would seem that a tax on gas exports has been postponed. A 25 per cent tax on LNG exports would raise about $17billion a year and is supported by One Nation, Clive Palmer and the majority of Australians, but would undoubtedly face an even greater advertising blitz by the gas exporters, so Albanese seems to have gone for the easier, more profitable option. The only trouble is that, as time goes by and the inevitable switch to cheaper renewables accelerates, there will be less gas to tax so we have probably lost our chance to derive some benefit from our gas exports. Peter Nash, Fairlight

Predictably, there has been outrage from the Coalition and unhappy property investors about the prospect of changes to negative gearing. There is a high probability that existing owners will be grandfathered so essentially they are bleating about nothing. The galling thing though is that these people have made loss-making investments and self-righteously believe that the rest of the taxpaying community should help cover their losses. If the burden becomes too great they have an easy out, sell the property, then someone who actually wants to live in it may be able to buy it. This will relieve the stress of the property investor, who can invest in something that does not
lose money. Ross Hudson, Mount Martha (Vic)

So if Chalmers gets his way and there is a reduction in the CGT discount and the way trust income is taxed, then a specific effect will occur. In the calculation of trust income, the trustee is entitled to the 50 per cent discount on capital gains. Any reduction in the discount will mean trust income increases, and if a base 30 per cent tax on trust income is imposed, then even more tax is paid. And about time. Michael Blissenden, Dural

Local frustrations

Across Greater Sydney you could hear the screams of agreement with your article (“Few exceptions in a city full of poorly designed suburbs”, May 8). Whether talking of urban planning, environmental protection or housing surely it’s bleedingly obvious we need to find ways to improve and strengthen the capacity of local government. I have twice worked in local government in an inner city and a regional council and both luckily at a time when resources were at an all-time high. I have seen how they can facilitate inter-government collaboration, stimulate local community engagement and achieve serious social and physical outcomes. Many communities, frustrated and angry at our “cash strapped councils”, should direct that feeling at the state and commonwealth for abandoning local government. Jill Napier, Phegans Bay

Thanks to Tim

Thank you to Professor Tim Flannery for his article about that wonderful human being Sir David Attenborough (“The day I understood why Attenborough is so loved”, May 8), acknowledging his 100th birthday, and his important documentary making. We are most fortunate we have people like Sir David and Tim Flannery to assist us with our life-long learning. Paul Reid, Campsie

I have vivid memories of watching David Attenborough – on our newly acquired black and white television set – reporting from the jungles of Papua New Guinea in 1957. His film star brother Richard seemed to get most of the attention at the time, but it was David who introduced me to the wonders of the natural world and who, amazingly, 70 years on continues to keep us quietly apprised of fragility of our planet’s ecosystem. Little wonder he is loved. Gordon Lambert, Kiama Downs

Anzacs v Poms

Your correspondent’s suggestion (Letters, May 8) that we revamp Anzac Day footy is a noble one – however could we not be more commemorative if the major games in Sydney and Melbourne on that day are played between a combined Australian-New Zealand team against England? The Poms are the ones that stuffed up the Gallipoli campaign – so why miss an opportunity to annually remind them of their ineptitude. Two-up could be played by all spectators at half-time. Micheal Traynor, Bellambi

Inland rail flutter

Your correspondent (Letters, May 8) draws attention to the huge cost overruns associated with the Opera House but neglects to mention how it was funded. I well remember the popular Opera House Lottery. Surely a lottery for important infrastructure projects such as the inland rail is the obvious way to go, given Australians’ propensity for gambling. A far better way to meet the urge to wager than throwing money into poker machines and roulette wheels. I might even have a flutter myself. Elizabeth Elenius, Pyrmont

Much needed prayers

Quasquicentennial congratulations to the Commonwealth Parliament which opened 125 years ago in Melbourne on May 9, 1901. Tom Roberts captured the event in his five-metre The Big Picture, which is displayed in Parliament House. It features 269 dignitaries, including Sir Henry Parkes (the Father of Federation), who died in 1896 but appears by artistic licence on a painting in the background. During the ceremony our first governor-general, Lord Hopetoun, offered prayers for parliamentarians that are as much needed now as then: “direct and prosper all their consultations, to the advancement of Thy glory, and to the true welfare of the people of Australia”. David D’Lima, Sturt (SA)

Tender on Trump

Stephen Bartholomeusz describes Donald Trump as “thin-skinned and vengeful if he believes he is being defied or insulted” (“Trump shifts gear on trade war with tariff hit on EU’s car sector”, May 8). I would say that’s probably one of the kindest criticisms of Trump that I’ve read in recent times. Peter Miniutti, Ashbury

Trump l’oeil (verb): To fool the beholder. Harold Scruby, Neutral Bay

• To submit a letter to The Sydney Morning Herald, email letters@smh.com.au. Click here for tips on how to submit letters.
• The Opinion newsletter is a weekly wrap of views that will challenge, champion and inform. Sign up here.