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 May 11
The politics of fear
“How can we take a politician seriously if all she has is stirring up hate on immigrants and Indigenous people with no other stated policies? Apparently, it seems quite easy. In his book Goliath’s Curse, author Luke Kemp cites countless examples of individuals taking leadership roles by stirring up fear of external threats to take our ‘lootable assets’ (jobs, houses, and anything of physical value). Surveys across eight modern, high-income countries found that around 10–25% ranked as highly authoritarian. We, it seems, might be on the cusp of going the same way with the surge of extreme right-wing politicians in Australia using the external threat as their only policy.”
Paul Campbell, West End QLD 
The great tax debate
“To tax or not to tax? Presently, the reason for not taxing gas exports as I understand it is to keep faith with our trading partners. From my experience in competitive markets, when economic circumstances change and costs go up there’s a choice. You can put your prices up and if that makes you more expensive, then the market will react and you then have the choice of accepting less market share and retaining profit margin or accepting a lesser margin and retaining market share. Either way, a tax will benefit the Australian public and industry, either from increased federal revenue or greater gas supply at lower prices.”
Hugh Kushner
Tuesday May 12
Series finale of the podcast
“The final episode of The Making of One Nation lived up to the standard of the series. The rise of One Nation has important lessons for Australian democracy. It is not just One Nation but also the Coalition that runs on grievance politics. It should not surprise that the Coalition saw its future in moving further to the right even if that meant endorsing One Nation type policies. After all, Murdoch’s Fox News was critical in getting Trump reelected in the US. Why couldn’t he do the same thing here with Sky News TV? As a nation we have two things going for us. One is the Australian electoral system. The other is organs like The Conversation to make sure that truth isn’t totally extinguished.”
Gary Barnes, Mosman NSW
War on the ocean
“What I’ve seen nothing about and find distressing is the thought of what may be happening to the undersea ecosystems in the Strait of Hormuz. Deep sea trawlers are destroying the ocean floor; plastic pollution is killing sea birds and fish, krill (which is more important than most people realise) is being frighteningly overfished and Blue Whales have gone silent! Now there’s war in the Persian Gulf with ships and oil tankers being attacked. What else is happening to the earth’s liquid lungs that we depend on?”
Linda Payler-Kemp, WA
Wednesday May 13
Time to rethink growth?
“This article correctly calls into question the illusion of ‘sustainable growth’. Humanity has fundamentally deviated from reality, over-allocating resources, leaving a diminished planet for our grandkids and the other species on which we ultimately depend. Unless we pull our necks in and face the reality of what we are heading toward, we will be looking at a catastrophic, high-conflict future. As supposedly intelligent beings, we need to learn to live within planetary boundaries, respect biodiversity and understand ecological interdependence. Reversing this crisis requires not just environmental action, but inclusive policies that reduce inequality at all levels.”
Jennie Epstein, Little River VIC
Our unequal education system
“It’s clever of you to put the story about 1 in 3 Australian adults being functionally illiterate next to the review of Jane Caro’s alarming book about unequal school funding. Our leaders have a clear choice: continue taxpayer subsidies to people who can already pay private school fees or fix the inequalities in the system. Now that the system that gives property investors taxpayer-funded advantages over home buyers is being addressed, can we hope that education is next?”
Colin Jevons, Adjunct Associate Professor, Monash Business School
Thursday May 14
You had plenty to say about the federal government’s 2026 budget. Here’s a selection of reader views.
Changes to private health subsidies
“While the housing changes have grabbed the spotlight, the removal of the over-65 subsidy on private healthcare has gone under the radar. For the many seniors who are primarily reliant on aged pension, and perhaps meagre savings or super, this is going to make private health impossible. Having maintained private health insurance while earning, I am already struggling with the rising monthly costs and the major gap fees whenever I need any minor surgery or treatment. The narrative of wealthy, cashed-up Baby Boomers is so unfair to the many who are not in that category. This also affects more women than men, as we often have little superannuation to rely on.”
Julia H
Tax reforms not far enough
“Disappointed they didn’t go further with negative gearing, however it’s a start. NDIS is an unknown but ultimately I hope they don’t screw it up. The tax system needs to drastically go further with reform and make it highly unlikely that big business can double dip on selling gas, and the government also needs to toughen up against big business tax evasion. Wages need to be fairer too. Education must be a priority and universities need reforming! Thank you for committing to featuring our opinions.”
Mary Ebbott
A budget for the future
“Finally, a Labor budget that matters. Jim Chalmers has delivered a budget for the true believers – righting the wrongs of the Howard and Costello tax inequities. A budget that shines a light on the hill for the future housing needs of the generations to come.”
Paul Spooner
Friday May 15
Opposition budget reply
“Not much unexpected in Angus Taylor’s panning of the Budget. Oppositions (and many of the public) think that if the government says ‘Today is Thursday’, a good Opposition should say ‘No, it’s Monday!’ Tony Abbott started that rot and it is now accepted orthodoxy. Intelligent, reasonable oppositions need to consider every policy on its merits and agree with them, offer to work with government to improve them, or explain why they reject them. Taylor seldom does any of those things, preferring the Abbott mantra of opposing everything on principle.”
Stuart Kennedy, Oatlands NSW
Housing for the next generation
“All sides of politics have been voicing loud concerns over the lack of housing and how the next generation is unlikely to be able to afford to buy a house. There is also the refrain that baby boomers are hoarding wealth and houses. It may be unpopular to remind people of the fact that, while we are all living longer, we all must die at some point in the future. The data shows the population is skewed towards an older population. Have the pundits actually calculated how many houses will become available on the market due to the demise of the baby boomers over the next 20–30 years? As a baby boomer there are many moments of reflection as I hear of another friend or relative passing away or many more being shuffled off to aged care homes. So what happened to their houses and apartments? It seems that perhaps in 20–30 years there may be a glut of houses on the market for aspiring youngsters.”
Thomas Fitzgibbon, Carwoola NSW