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 November 17
No treaty
“This treaty and the creation of the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria are a vanity project of the Victorian Government and represent a disastrous unravelling of democracy in Victoria. Only a tiny minority of the population of Victoria was entitled to vote and of that minority an even smaller number actually voted. Now we have the bizarre spectacle of less than 1% of the population holding the state to account.”
Andrew Smallman
Build better
“Lost amongst the net zero wars are the real issues impacting the cost of power for most Australians: the ever-widening gap in our wealth and most of all, poor insulation/unsustainable building designs, none of which are discussed or addressed in policy by either party.”
Jane Davis
The value of the arts
“An acquaintance of mine worked for a merchant bank which hired two types of university graduates: those with an arts degree and those with business/economics degrees. When the GFC hit in 2008, many from the arts degree team became supervisors of the business/economics team. The arts team could deal with changes and look outside the box for solutions, whereas the business team considered the system as it was. Arts degrees require independent thought, not rote responses. Job readiness limits graduates; open-minded learning prepares graduates for meeting changes and adjusting throughout life.”
Dalton Dupuy 
Tuesday November 18
In defence of Treaty
“I applaud The Conversation’s commitment to representing diverse opinions. In this case, I feel Your say, November 17 (above) oversteps the mark. The link drawn between giving minorities a voice and the unravelling of democracy is not well founded. Society is not a zero-sum game, and I feel detractors of Treaty often fail to acknowledge the very real benefits that access to Traditional Owner knowledge offers all modern Australians. Finally, let’s not forget that a mere 200 years ago the population percentages cited looked markedly different and the causes of that shift were not endemic to Australia.”
Ellery Durrant
Testing for drugs
“Simply using a test that shows the presence of a drug to disqualify a driver is unethical and does not prove impairment. If the police want to use such tests to charge drivers with use, I think that would be fair enough. But to take someone’s driving licence from them without a proper test for impairment is a step too far.”
Phil Murray, Devonport
You’re on mute
“Have delegates travelling to the United Nations Global Summit on Climate Change heard of Teams meetings?”
Alan Robertson
Wednesday November 19
Climate facts
“The current attitude of the coalition reminds one of a long-known proverb: ‘my mind is made up, don’t confuse me with facts.’ As a nation we are beholden, it seems, to benighted politicians’ gut feelings rather than a belief in scientists and their carefully thought out and peer reviewed science. What could possibly go wrong?”
Peter Western, Leongatha VIC
Berry well then
“The reassurance that we don’t need to worry about the pesticide dimethoate contaminating berries, that we should eat as many berries as possible, and can safely do so just by washing them sounds like pro-industry messaging rather than independent advice I can trust. It also concerns me that discussion of harm around the impact of this pesticide is restricted to impacts on human consumers. The massive expansion of the berry industry and its blanket use of pesticides has had dreadful impacts on local communities and ecologies.
Jennifer Crone
From cinema to celibacy?
"Ole’ to Pope XIV’s advocacy for the public cinema! Given his significant empathetic work in humanitarian issues in several countries during his career, I’m now looking forward to him hopefully advocating for the removal of celibacy from the priesthood.”
Barbara Rooke
Thursday November 20
A hidden pandemic
“I congratulate Lucinda Grummitt for highlighting the hidden pandemic of childhood trauma affecting Australians. Spare a thought for those affected. Children don’t have a choice in choosing the world they live in. Their parents do, and sadly many kids are set up for failure without a healthy adult in their lives.”
Cid Mateo, Brinja Country
Money, money, money
“I am amazed the article you ran recently on Elon Musk’s pay-packet did not elicit any comments worthy of publication. Remuneration decisions infinitely beyond the lived experience of the vast majority are very corrosive forces of societal harmony. As Michael J Sandel concludes in What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets, ‘Democracy does not require perfect equality, but it does require that citizens share in a common life’. Fair and reasonable remuneration is central to this.”
Dr John Halsey, Upper Sturt, South Australia
Melbourne’s music scene
“The state of affairs in rock n roll has been adversely affected by the commodification of big names in the business. Brands like Beyonce and Taylor Swift – who ignore local venues – are the real blood-suckers in respect of local venues.”
Kym Houghton
Friday November 21
Save our scientists
“Has the government considered what will happen to our CSIRO scientists and researchers following cuts to their funding? Will they stay in Australia or move elsewhere? We need these skilled people for our immediate and future needs, at a time when science is at the forefront of a changing world. Please Mr Albanese, keep our expert scientists. Don’t let another country prosper from them.”
Jennie Clarke
The problem with kids these days
“Social workers in schools might well help, but would persuading parents to stop many children’s unending diet of extremely violent videos also be very beneficial?”
Dr John Rogers, ACT
Net zero isn’t enough
“There’s been recent discussion about adopting net zero emissions as a target. But how many people discussing this understand what’s actually at stake? For me, it’s what kind of life will my children, their children and others like them have in a world where higher temperatures will make living more difficult. We need to care about that and plan tough measures.”
David Merritt, North Balwyn, VIC