Every day, we publish a selection of your emails in our newsletter. We’d love to hear from you, you can email us at yoursay@theconversation.edu.au.
Monday June 1
Caught in the crosshairs
“It seems One Nation would have Andrew Hastie perjure himself if that is what will clear Ben Roberts-Smith. If Roberts-Smith is innocent, as he claims, the courts will find it. If not, Hastie’s evidence, if asked for and given, will likely play only a partial role in the outcome. One Nation, openly targeting a potential witness for what they assume he may or may not say, has shown themselves to be utterly lacking in integrity, of which quality Hastie seems to have in abundance.”
Graeme Osborne, Southern River, WA
What’s a crisis?
“I appreciate the Jon Wannberg’s comment on the excessive use of the word ‘trauma’. There is another word that has crept into political, media and now common use – crisis! When does a difficulty become a crisis? If one third of the population is having difficulty with some part of life and two thirds are not, is that a crisis? To me, a crisis is partly objective and partly social. Two parts of society can face the same problem and can define it differently. Politicians, organisations with an axe to grind and the news media are wanting us to jump from problem to crisis. Bah humbug.”
Paul Campbell, West End QLD
On trauma
“I read your recent article on trauma with great interest, though some dissatisfaction. I welcome the destigmatising effects of increasing public engagement with trauma, while worrying about its growing trivialisation. Trauma – alongside broader ‘psychology-speak’ – is increasingly appropriated by mainstream culture, where discursive practices are shaped by more privileged experiences; flattening important distinctions and obscuring the realities of those living with profound or enduring trauma-related distress. While this may reflect changing language, it comes at a cost if we lose sight of the experiences and forms of care most needed by people living with significant trauma-related distress.”
Sophia Schroeder
Tuesday June 2
One Nation’s treatment of journos
“It is deeply concerning to me that there has been so much silence around One Nation ejecting ABC journalists. There is no democracy without a free press, and allowing this to slide under the radar shows that we are already in the process of going down the path of the US. One Nation is counting on widespread situational ethics and moral cowardice to become ‘mainstream’. It is essential that the focus is kept on their bigoted and racist agenda. Interesting that this issue was not mentioned on ABC’s ‘Insiders’ program.”
Jane Davis, Melbourne VIC
Sleepy drivers
“As a sufferer of driver fatigue, I was keen to read this article. I hoped the article might mention the benefit of having a supply of snacks on hand for a long drive. As a young woman living in the country many years ago, I had great difficulty driving the 55 kilometres from home to ‘town’, or back, without feeling drowsy. A noticeboard in a doctor’s surgery advised that eating something was helpful for drowsy drivers. I knew I was going to have to eat quite a bit to keep me awake, so I decided apples would be ideal because each one would take a while to eat and be relatively low in calories. For a start I would often need to eat up to seven apples on the 55-kilometre trip! As the years went by, the number of apples reduced until eventually I could confidently leave home with just one apple to get me safely to my destination. Just reaching for the apple had me wide awake. I can only assume that somehow I was training my brain to stay awake.”
Christine Stevenson, Geelong, VIC 
Wednesday June 3
Falling asleep at the wheel
“I’m wondering if drivers have a problem because automation has taken the effort away from driving. With auto transmissions first, then cruise control, now lane keeping and other ‘aids’, the only thing left for the driver is monitoring where the car is going. Not enough brain activity is left for the inherently dangerous activity of driving. I drive a 31-year-old manual with no aids. I have installed additional sensors to provide important information but I have to monitor it. Therefore I have enough brain cells in use to prevent drowsiness – even crossing the Nullabor or Hay Plain.”
Leigh Bunting, Adelaide SA
Do we really need more people?
“Do declining birth rates really matter? A question rarely asked is whether the current world population, on average, is higher or lower than the planet’s carrying capacity. Carrying capacity broadly represents the population size that allows humanity to exist in a sustainable balance with the environment. On this basis, the current world population may well exceed this limit. Therefore, simply replacing the current population level may not be the answer. Instead, advancements in AI, robotics, and humanoid robots could fill the void left by a decreasing population. The solution, perhaps, is not more babies, but technology.”
Ranjan Yagoda
Free power scheme
“We have to consider who some of the beneficiaries of free power are in the middle of a working weekday. Pensioners, people staying home minding children, unemployed or underemployed etc. As a pensioner I have had two lots of free power. It takes planning and hard work to use it well. Clothes washing, baking, vacuuming, sewing, washing carpets, even washing the dog. I am completely exhausted after my 3 hours of free power!”
Carolyn Bussey
Thursday June 4
Melbourne’s love for black
“This article was fascinating, but back in the 60s up until the mid-80s, Melbourne’s streets were actually a riot of colour. From the Paris end to the House of Merivale to the Myer Bargain Basement, colour was everywhere. I went away for a couple of years and, when l returned, everything was black (occasionally grey, camel or winter red). We blamed Geoffrey Saba at the time. True, the sharpies might have been drab(ish), but the punks were vibrant. Even the Toorak ladies wore jewel-bright tweeds. It´s been good to see colour returning to Melbourne´s streets of late.”
Maria Hungerford
Do old cars make better drivers?
“Leigh Bunting’s comments (Your Say, June 3) are so true. I have a 21 year old Toyota l have to use muscle to wind down and up my windows. But l am always aware and alert to other drivers. Especially the ones who drive those tanks they call cars. I guess we will have to wait until an accident happens involving a driver who fell asleep at their Tesla before something is done.”
Theresa Jackson, Sydney NSW
How do the Libs move forward?
“After each electoral setback the Liberals revert to the usual cliches about ‘having to do better’ or ‘listening to voters’ or ‘we need to change’ etc. But very little changes. And then they appoint Tony Abbott as president. It’s no wonder One Nation is overtaking them. They have wedged themselves into no man’s land. They can’t move to the left nor to the right. Their future is not looking bright. Their only hope is to wait until Labor self-destructs and they move slightly to the left. Then they may have a chance to get back into government.”
Doug Cadioli, Victoria Point QLD
Friday June 5
Will lower birth rates save us from extinction?
“While ‘overpopulation-associated human extinction has not come to be’, it will happen if we continue to destroy ecosystems and the habitat of other species which we ultimately depend on. More than 47,000 species of plants, animals, and fungi are threatened with extinction, disappearing at rates up to 1,000 times faster than the natural background level. In contrast to our current trajectory, Indigenous Australians thrived on this continent for over 60,000 years by maintaining a relatively small and stable population. Humans are on a dangerous path to self-induced extinction unless we actively align our resource consumption and population levels with the Earth’s natural carrying capacity.”
Jennie Epstein, Little River VIC
Does tech make worse drivers
“I am a member of the generation that learned to drive in old technology cars; manual gearboxes, drum brakes, cross-ply tyres rather than radials, roads that were truly shit, and no modern aids such as those mentioned in the article. I contend that many of our current drivers would struggle to cope with such conditions. Yes, modern technology has certainly reduced the road toll, but at a price. Watching traffic these days leads me to conclude that while many people claim that they are competent drivers, I contend that most drivers do not actually ‘drive’ their cars; they simply sit behind the steering while the car takes them for a ride, with little or no conscious input from the driver apart from controlling the direction of travel. I don’t have a solution, I’m sorry, apart from more rigorous driver training.”
Greg Brodie, Oakbank SA