LETTERS
Illustration: Cathy Wilcox
I have great concerns about the proposed redevelopment of Darling Harbour where there has been no public consultation and creation of a master plan (''Darling Harbour born again'', December 12). The leading member of the consortium, Lend Lease, is involved in litigation with the state government over the terms of the Barangaroo development. I am saddened by the demolition of the beautiful and relatively new convention centre. The ugly overdevelopment at Cockle Bay by a very hard-nosed contractor might again leave the state exposed to major costs.
Tony Simons Henley
As an old ex-tradie who has seen his voluntary work in rugby and surf clubs destroyed by the ''new'' thinking of new committees and councils, I can empathise with Philip Cox regarding the proposed demolition of the exhibition centre (''Demolishing exhibition centre 'an act of vandalism','' December 12).
I was in Guy's Hospital in London in the late '60s and it was still operable after some 400 years, albeit with some serious tweaking of the electricals and plumbing. I do not understand the mentality or the economics of tearing down perfectly good buildings. ''Old'' is not always bad and ''new'' is not always better.
Eoin Johnston Alstonville
Thank heavens that NSW's de facto supremo, Nick Greiner, warned us last year that we could not expect the redevelopment of Darling Harbour to include any ''great'' buildings. He's certainly delivered on that promise in spades.
Obviously ''No more Opera Houses'' is the unspoken official state policy and the gradual erosion of the original Barangaroo vision to a streetscape of very average buildings plus a monumental casino block should have prepared us that there is no place for inspiring architecture in the current government's plans.
Yes, it was disappointing that Ken Woolley's terrific ''Black Stump'' was demolished in the '90s, but at least it made way for a fabulous development. Now Philip Cox's ethereal buildings are to be replaced by hulking visual bullies and the only bit to be spared is the utterly tacky Harbourside Festival Marketplace.
In the past two decades Sydney has thrown up some absolutely brilliant buildings that do justice to our pride in our city (and maybe even help make us a tourist magnet). Why should we stop now? Apparently Cox's exhibition buildings no longer meet current needs; but let's look carefully at the alternatives before we become accomplices to such appalling desecration.
Richard Walsh Woollahra
Let me get this right … our state government is planning to demolish two recently constructed and functional public buildings in Darling Harbour in order to build two newer buildings providing exactly the same function in the same place.
The $1 billion (or so) that it is planning to spend on this plan to provide ''the world-class facilities that Sydney deserves as a global city'' is the same billion or so that this government recently cut from our public education budget; and our primary schoolchildren just came 27th in the world for reading. Perhaps if the vast majority of our future citizens cannot read, they will be less likely to question such absurd and farcical policies.
Greg Harrison Frenchs Forest
OMG! Where are the vistas, the parks, the gardens? Where is the piazza? Where was the landscape architect? Our harbour foreshore goes missing in what is an overwhelming crowding of dominating, mostly uninteresting buildings.
Sigh! The O'Farrell government bores again.
Julie Hawken Glenbrook
A beneficial dose of 'darling'
I spent some time last week at my local hospital where I observed the reaction of lonely aged men when a caring nurse called them all ''darling''. These men loved it and felt quite relaxed as they explained their problems to competent nurses and doctors (''I said luv, I said pet, I said mate, how dare you talk to me like that'', December 12).
The bureaucrats responsible for such a pathetic policy should be monitoring the ratio of medical staff to patients to ensure all patients are receiving the care they deserve regardless of what the nurses call the patients.
Robyn Lewis Raglan
Since there appears to be a move among minor levels of Australian bureaucracy to eradicate the use of familiar terms of address such as ''mate'' and ''darling'', may I respectfully suggest the reintroduction of the Cockney terms ''Guv'nor'' and ''Ducks'' (Duchess). They do, after all, suggest a certain amount of humbleness, which would not go amiss in our local version of society.
Ian Juniper Frenchs Forest
The four members of my family who work in the north coast NSW health industry will have to abandon "mate" and other traditional chummy forms of address. Fortunately, the bosses who banned such innocuous terms of endearment will continue to be referred to as bastards and wankers.
Paul Roberts Lake Cathie
I was in a courtroom once and the defendant called the magistrate mate. The magistrate commented, "I am not your mate, as you will very soon find out."
David Markham Flynn (ACT)
Another gate blocking the Coalition's path
The court's dismissal of the case against the former speaker Peter Slipper must surely raise questions about the involvement of senior Coalition members in this matter and whether or not a dirt squad exists within their ranks (''Slipper case thrown out'', smh.com.au, December 12).
So far ''Utegate'' and ''Slippergate'' have failed to deliver government to the opposition and given that ''AWUgate'' is now a non-issue, maybe it is time for Tony Abbott to think about delivering some real policy initiatives, quit the dirt-digging and negativity, and offer the public some genuine reasons for making him prime minister.
Trevor Nayler Ermington
If the Slipper/Ashby case were an allegation of sexual harassment in a corporate workplace, would it be dismissed before evidence was tested in court? Such questions about legal privilege for public figures, politicians and lawyers have plagued British law for centuries and there is no clear answer - we must trust our judges.
Ian Levy Avalon
Commission topic
Childhood sexual abuse. What is true and what is false?
Your article, ''I hated myself for the things I'd done as part of the abuse'' (November 19), tells some of the horrific story my sister, Cathy Kezelman, has written about her alleged sexual abuse as a child. She is the president of Adults Surviving Child Abuse (ASCA).
During intensive psychotherapy, Cathy ''recovered'' memories of abuse she alleges occurred 30 years earlier.
She claims that, between the ages of four and 14, she had been repeatedly sexually abused by her father and a family friend. Cathy writes that her therapist ''validated'' her experiences, yet this registered psychologist has nothing with which to corroborate Cathy's experiences apart from the story itself. These happenings remain uncorroborated by anyone, including family members.
The article debases the memory of our father and, in my opinion, makes our mother appear complicit in Cathy's alleged sexual abuse. Our mother is devastated.
A royal commission is in the making. The issue of false recovered memories of sexual abuse arising from negligent counselling or psychotherapy needs to be on its agenda.
Space constraints here prevent me from addressing the inevitable ''well, it's your word against Cathy's''.
I have made a formal complaint to the Health Care Complaints Commission about Cathy's therapist. I note that the psychiatrist quoted in the article, Dr Peter Klug, is not Cathy's therapist and the criticism in this letter is in no way directed at him.
Claude Imhoff Byron Bay
Three Rs jackpot
Peter Miniutti's sage advice to the Premier, Barry O'Farrell, to ''wake up'' (Letters, December 12) and not cut the funding of education of children with special needs is probably the best gift he will receive this Christmas.
Aiding and abetting poker machines while at the same time reducing the financial support of these children will sicken and stick in the craw of most people. It is not easy to be a politician, and especially so when powerful vested interests walk through your door.
Perhaps, it will stiffen O'Farrell's resolve not to cut these funds if he remembers how many children are deprived of food, clothes and small pleasures, let alone holidays, because the money that should have been spent on them is gobbled up by the insatiably greedy poker machines.
Lorraine Nelson Frenchs Forest
Proper process
The issue of the alleged sexual assault by a student of The King's School while on overseas exchange has caused the quivering finger of accusation to be pointed at the boy, his school, his headmaster, elite schools, young males … the list could go on. People are quick to attach their own agendas to matters such as this.
The sexual assault allegation is significant and must be taken seriously. However, as headmaster, I could not bring back and suspend the alleged offender for sexual assault because it had not been proved. In a sense it was fortuitous there were other infractions I could use to repatriate the boy, hence my use of the phrase ''failure in ambassadorial duties''.
Sexual assault is sexual assault. It is preposterous. It is ugly. It is serious. Dealing with an allegation of sexual assault seriously means following due process. Judging from some of the comments I've read, this legal protocol is of no interest to some. They want blood - even if it could be innocent blood. However, I agree with the opinion voiced yesterday that we should not pre-empt the legal process by proclaiming innocence beforehand. But neither should we do it to proclaim guilt beforehand.
It is curious that a case such as this always brings out prejudicial views not linked to the issue. It also provides a test where people are all too ready to fail you. Sometimes we deserve to fail. I know I do. Even the Fairfax media does. It interviewed the boy without permission and quoted him in the newspaper in clear breach of ethical protocol.
The allegation of sexual assault must not be trivialised. It deserves our focus rather than being diluted by giving time to other agendas. It deserves due and proper process and it deserves to warn us that accusation spreads - even to headmasters and newspapers.
Tim Hawkes Headmaster, The King's School, North Parramatta
Switch to mob
Eric Scott (Letters, December 12) inadvertently tripped the switch when he wrote ''Perhaps someone can turn out the lights on language when the last group of we pedants has left''.
Correct Australian usage is ''when us mob decamps''.
Tom Falkingham Edgecliff
Please tell me, Eric Scott, that you were being deliberately ironic when you wrote ''the last group of we pedants''.
Douglas Fergusson Northbridge
Standards slashed alongside costs
The NSW Teachers Federation, school principals and teachers have been warning for some years of the effects that state and federal government policies would have on declining international test results for Australian students.
Mass skills testing (NAPLAN) has resulted in narrowing of the curriculum and ''teaching to the test'', relegating creative thought, deep learning and critical analysis to the back seat (not to mention its impact on self-labelling by students who don't understand the test's real purpose).
Segregation of students and schools has caused inequity to soar - advantaging the advantaged and increasing the lack of resources (including students role models) in disadvantaged schools.
To make things even worse for the government sector, the casualisation of the teaching profession has resulted in a lack of mentoring for new teachers as they move from job to job.
The state government is busily hacking away at professional training and curriculum development bodies and there are threats to special education support and school counsellors; staff dealing with specialist behaviour management have been axed already.
Meanwhile, teachers' salaries are falling way behind other professions every year.
If the government goes even further with this approach - for example, by asking school principals to take responsibility for the effects of these policies - morale will decline even further, there will be more casual/contract teachers, and students will suffer the consequences.
Destroying the public sector is not a good way to cut costs.
Vanessa Tennent Oatley
Double standards when it suits
Bullying and ''trolling'' are invariably condemned by society as unacceptable. It's strange, therefore, to see so many correspondents defending the 2DayFM prank. This is like saying bullying is the fault of the victims.
We are now told it was excusable because it was a joke about the royal family.
For all their brashness too many Australians still have a '''chip on their shoulder'' and I wonder if it is petty nationalism that blinds some people to the hypocrisy of their justifications. I doubt many correspondents would be quite so indifferent if it had been Gough Whitlam in hospital.
Stephen Thomas Wahroonga
RBT, the prequel
The issue of people ''pre-loading'' on alcohol before going out has been around for years and the recent study confirms that it is a major contributing factor to alcohol-fuelled violence ("Mandatory closing hours an unfair burden - hotels", December 12).
If people are turning up to venues already drunk and then being served more alcohol, obviously responsible service of alcohol is not being observed in the venues. Drastic times call for drastic measures. Before entering a venue after 10.30pm, have all people breathalysed and then refuse to admit anyone over a certain limit, say 0.10. I know all the civil libertarians will be up in arms over this suggestion but are we fair dinkum about addressing the problem or not?
Rob Peard Beacon Hill
Rules and rights
Fifty-five people found to be genuine refugees are being held in detention indefinitely because of an adverse ASIO assessment which no one has the right to see (''Refugee lawyers challenge indefinite detention rule'', December 12). By what morality can we justify locking refugees up, possibly until they die, without even the right to know the reason? Isn't this how people are treated in dictatorships?
Brendan Doyle Wentworth Falls
At the Polly booth
I was heartened to see the Australian Electoral Commission had placed an advertisement in the Herald (December 12) advising that the Australia Pirate Party was trying to be registered. It's not before time, and with a bit of luck it may form a coalition with the Australian Hemp Party. With the calibre of some of the candidates available in next year's federal election, I am tempted to vote for a eye-patch-wearing, one-legged, stoned rascal of the high seas.
Paul Taylor Murwillumbah
Too high cost
When will car makers wake up to the fact that too many families and children have suffered because of SUVs (''Boy, 5, killed near school'', December 12). The driver's seat is obviously too high for the driver to notice small children around the vehicle.
Leslie Leong North Epping
No take-off
A second airport, mate? Tell them they're dreaming (''Sydney's second airport: it's time to decide, says Truss'', December 12).
Sarah Hayse-Gregson Auburn
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