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 30
Tax reform
“If Treasurer Jim Chalmers is serious about tax reform, he will finish the job started by Peter Costello 25 years ago and do away with state-based payroll tax, as was initially promised with the introduction of the GST. Payroll tax is a tax on employment and the silent killer of many small and medium enterprises.”
Ron Arthur
Do better
“It is a duty of care for all our elected representatives to manage the country’s affairs so that everyone receives essential goods and services. So many living in poverty is a massive failure of government but it is also a government choice. Our political belief system prefers factions to facts and actions.”
Steve Bentley
What Jewish lobby?
“I was disappointed to read Denis Muller’s use of the term ‘Jewish lobby’ in the article regarding the ABC v Lattouf case. While further into the article he details the specific groups who coordinated the attacks against Lattouf, to use a term like the Jewish lobby – to my mind – implies that all Jews are part of a concerted group to manipulate or control the media.”
Chris Thibaux, Sydney
Tuesday July 1
Payroll tax
“Ron Arthur (above) asks Jim Chalmers to do away with payroll tax. It is, of course, a burden imposed by individual states who had promised, after receiving their share of GST, to do away with this regressive and damaging burden. Perhaps, if Chalmers now lifts the GST percentage, they can do it without hesitation.”
Hugo Zweep
Tax inequality
“I hope former treasury boss Dr Ken Henry is one of those chosen to attend Dr Chalmers’ July Tax Summit. The Henry Tax Review is still relevant in 2025, as that gap between rich and poor persists and grows. 91 people earning more than a million a year pay no tax? Far too many loopholes allowing large companies to pay no tax? Sorry, am I missing something?”
Grace McCaughey, Johnsonville VIC
Funded hearing aid
“Thank you for your article about reforming the NDIS. Excellent except on one point: the image at the very beginning shows a child wearing a hearing aid. While automatic eligibility for NDIS will meet her early learning intervention needs, all children requiring a hearing device in Australia are fully funded for their amplification needs through the government’s Hearing Services Program and Hearing Australia and have been since the 1950s.”
Kim Kenny, Epping NSW
Wednesday July 2
Delving into AI
“Finally, thanks to author Daniel Binns, an article on how we can build critical AI literacy, at least among some people. As an academic editor who sees too many ‘delves’ in my daily work, I hope others appreciate this article too.”
Rhonda Daniels, NSW 
Running out runners
“A great article on shin splints with sage advice, on most fronts. Can the authors please provide their peer reviewed evidence for replacing footwear every 240 kilometres? Amongst my running peers I cover a moderate distance: about 50 kilometres per week. That means I’m only getting 4-5 weeks per pair, which makes running expensive and environmentally damaging. I understand most manufacturers suggest you’ll get around 500km. In my experience as a runner for nearly 50 years I get around 1,000km per pair.”
Peter Coughlan
Ed: We published some research on this vexed question late last year!
Hospital safety
“I read your piece on psychiatric patients being admitted to medical wards and I’m sorry to report what I experienced during a recent hospital stay in Brisbane. A male patient with dementia, twice my size, entered my room and hovered at the end of my bed. Another was yelling about political issues until my husband intervened to protect the targeted nurse from potential violence. NONE of this is acceptable. I was shocked and horrified to feel so unsafe while being treated for a life-threatening condition.”
Liz Hall-Downs
Thursday July 3
It’s time for universal dental care
“Having read the article on why people with mental illness have poorer oral health, why do we resist the policy to include dental treatment in Medicare? Why do we let our partisan political position affect the adoption of a policy that would help people’s general health in so many ways? More shame on our political representatives for their inability to unite on this issue and implement universal dental care through Medicare.”
Māris Bruzgulis
David vs Goliath
“When it comes to trade relations, Australia vs the US is like David vs Goliath. But let’s not forget who won that fight. Our relationship is about more than trade — Australia is an important strategic security ally for the US in the Asia Pacific. If President Trump wants to play hardball, perhaps we can add that fact into our slingshot.”
Steve Amesbury
Cassius Turvey
“The article on Cassius Turvey’s murder is shocking in its demonstration of how institutional racism works. The Supreme Court Justice’s language and thinking allows the hate to go unspoken.”
Kym Houghton
Men in childcare
“It worries me to think we might end up chasing men out of any caring roles with children. Children need surrogate dads as well as mums and it would be a dangerous overreaction to reinforce the patriarchal notion that only women care for and raise children. Let’s work hard to make childcare centres safe by creating better systems not by discriminating against half our population.”
Penny Szentkuti
“Before describing women as safe and men as a danger to young children, remember Lucy Letby, the serial baby killer in the UK. While it’s true men are far more implicated in sexual offences and therefore are a greater risk, it doesn’t follow that being a woman automatically makes you a safe option for children. Vetting candidates is problematic at best, proper procedures in situ are more vital to reducing the incidence of this scourge.”
Mike Shellshear
Bigger problem?
“Isn’t the obscene situation of child abuse a symptom of a bigger issue in society? The combination of excessive debt for housing and the rise of the ridiculous need for "gender equity” in the workplace is forcing couples into abandoning their children to predators. When will we, as a society, realise that we have gone down the wrong path? Parents need to be looking after their own children.“
Guy Forsyth