Letters to the editor

As electricity prices rise, we reduce the amount of electricity being generated by the most cost-effective means, that being with the use of coal. Instead, we export our coal so other nations can enjoy more affordable energy.

We allow oil companies and governments (through taxes) to make billions of dollars from petrol, as the poor motorist watches the price at the pump bounce around from high to very high.

And then there is food, the greatest political con of all.

The World Health Organization is warning of an ongoing and worsening global food shortage in 2023. Predictably, we too often see the blame being laid at the foot of climate change and the war in Ukraine.

In Australia, we have the capacity to grow enough food to ensure there is sufficient for everyone in our nation, plus ample available for export, especially to nations suffering from shortages.

But what do we do? Our ‘smart’ politicians instead develop policies that continue taking water, the key ingredient in food production, away from our farmers. Such stupidity beggars belief.

When you reduce the supply of food, the natural consequence is an increase in demand and a subsequent increase in cost.

So, my fellow Aussies, as you watch the cost of your weekly supermarket spend steadily rise please give a thought to the reasons why this is happening. Because one of the key reasons will be politicians pandering to the city ‘green’ vote, rather than protecting everyday Australian families.

In years to come, I am sure future generations will look back on today’s era and shake their heads at the decision-making processes under which we are currently living, not to mention their consequences.

One can only hope that tomorrow’s politicians are more interested in supporting Australian families than the ones we have today.

Andrew Hateley,

Finley

Time to end duck shooting season

Nationals leader Peter Walsh has criticised the Victorian Government for its announcement of a shortened duck hunting season this year (The Riv, Feb 27).

Duck shooting should be banned altogether, Mr Walsh, as there is annual scientific proof of long-term decline of native duck species that are shot each year.

The most recent annual aerial survey of waterbirds in Eastern Australia showed populations of ‘game’ species of duck are still dire despite record setting rainfall.

The government’s own survey showed that few Victorian shooters understand the ‘rules’ when it comes to killing waterbirds.

Shooters’ behaviour is unable to be monitored across the state and many birds are maimed and left to suffer with shattered bills and broken wings.

One in four are left to die and there are dangerously low populations of waterbirds.

Lead ammunition is still being used by some shooters (despite being banned for 20 years), which causes excruciating deaths for birds and remains in the environment for years, posing a threat to protected animals such as wedge-tailed eagles and scavenging wildlife and indicating a potential risk to human health as well.

The Labor Government is not “pandering to inner-city greenies”, Mr Walsh, the majority of people in the country want to see an end to duck shooting season.

It may be a “legal legitimate recreational activity” in Victoria, but why then have Western Australia, NSW and Queensland banned it since the 1990s and early 2000s on animal cruelty and environmental protection grounds?

It’s about time Victoria followed suit.

Denise Wrest,

Echuca

Is it a sure Betts Peta can do both jobs?

Constituents, counsellors and concerned rate payers have every right to question how Nationals candidate Peta Betts claims she can fulfil a state MP role and remain mayor of Edward River Council.

Maybe she can, but one role will certainly suffer at the expense of the other.

As your state MP, who has travelled the electorate for the past four years, I feel I am qualified to offer my opinion.

And while I have no experience working as the mayor, I do have experience as your local member.

Council requires a minimum commitment of one workshop and one public meeting a month; these obligations are currently not being met at Edward River Council and we are only in campaign mode.

I admire anyone who has a strong work ethic, but you have to be practical, and you cannot do the best for your community, in either role, when you have your finger in two separate pies.

Do you want a mute backbencher who is going to warm a seat and whose performance is mediocre, or do you want someone who is going to throw their heart and soul into the job?

I have averaged $363 million into the electorate annually over the past four years, while the Nationals wallowed at less than $50 million and neglected the region.

Murray is bigger than Scotland and it takes more than six hours to travel from one end to the other — and that’s just driving time.

The geographical size of Murray makes things difficult; throw in the immense workload and the after-hours and weekend work, and it borders on impossible.

Twenty weeks of the year are spent sitting at parliament in Sydney — that’s over a third of the year.

It doesn’t leave much time to see your family, let alone time to work another job.

Being the Member for Murray is an honour and a major commitment, I don’t see how you can do both well.

Helen Dalton,

Independent Member for Murray

The dangerously flawed advice putting Aussie lives at risk

Australia’s peak health and medical research body, the National Health and Medical Research Council, has published flawed advice on electronic cigarettes, which puts Australian lives at risk.

The NHMRC position statement on vaping was reviewed last week by 11 leading, independent Australian and international addiction scientists. We found it was riddled with serious scientific errors and misinformation, and failed to meet the high standards expected of a leading health and medical organisation. The review was published in the leading scientific journal Addiction.

This matters because NHMRC advice is used to guide Australian health policy. It is clear now that this policy has failed. The Therapeutic Goods Administration has admitted that Australia’s policy on vaping is not working and is reviewing the evidence once again to reform the regulations. It is essential that we get it right this time.

First, the NHMRC exaggerates the risks of vaping nicotine. It highlights the presence of chemicals in vapour without making it clear that most of these chemicals are below levels that cause harm to health. The science suggests vaping carries just five per cent the health risk of cigarette smoking. The NHMRC incorrectly claims that vaping causes seizures and the serious lung conditions ‘EVALI’ and ‘popcorn lung’. However, there is no evidence that vaping nicotine causes any of these conditions.

Second, the NHMRC wrongly claims that “e-cigarettes are not proven effective cessation aids”. On the contrary, the highly respected Cochrane Review concluded that there is high certainty evidence that vaping is significantly more effective than nicotine replacement therapies such as patches and gum. E-cigarettes were also found by the UK National Institute for Health and Research to be the most effective single therapy for quitting smoking.

Third, the NHMRC claims that vaping causes young people to take up smoking, when the opposite is more likely to be true. Increased vaping is accompanied by accelerated declines in youth smoking in many western countries, suggesting that vaping is diverting more young people away from smoking than encouraging them to smoke. Most youth vaping by non-smokers is experimental and transient and does little harm.

Fourth, the NHMRC statement dismisses the evidence that vaping is already having a net positive public health effect. Research shows the decline in smoking has accelerated since vaping became available in many countries. In New Zealand, after vaping was regulated in 2020, the daily adult smoking rate fell by an unprecedented 33 per cent in two years. In comparison, the smoking rate in Australia declines by about two per cent per year.

Vaping is the most popular aid for quitting or reducing smoking in Australia and other western countries. Because of its proven effectiveness and wide reach, vaping is likely to have a far greater population effect than any other strategy.

Finally, the NHMRC argues we should not allow vaping because of uncertainty about long-term risks. While the precise long-term risk will not be fully known for many decades, it is highly likely to be far less harmful than deadly smoking. The relatively small risks of harm from vaping will be far outweighed by the more substantial known harms from delaying access to current smokers, for whom the known risks are substantial.

Australia’s restrictive prescription-only policy on vaping is out of step with other western countries where vapes are sold as consumer products. Governments in New Zealand and the United Kingdom recommend vaping products as smoking cessation aids. Australia’s harsh restrictions have led to a thriving black market selling dodgy unregulated products freely to adults and children. Legal access to vapes by adult smokers is almost impossible.

This is not the first time that a NHMRC report has been criticised as seriously flawed. Formal charges on scientific and ethical conduct and bias by the NHMRC in the preparation of the 2015 report on homeopathy have been filed with the Commonwealth Ombudsman and a review is under way. This places serious question marks over the NHMRC’s ability to objectively assess information.

Conflicts of interest and bias by the NHMRC are also a serious concern. Three members of the NHMRC Electronic Cigarette Working Committee have published papers opposing vaping. Other members of the committee represent organisations that have made strong public anti-vaping statements. No pro-vaping experts, vapers or smokers were included on the committee.

An independent and impartial Australian review of the evidence by a balanced committee is urgently needed before further changes to vaping policy are implemented. If we continue to follow the current NHMRC guidelines, we will miss a huge opportunity to reduce smoking rates and more Australian smokers will die unnecessarily.

Dr Colin Mendelssohn,

Founding chairman of the Australian Tobacco Harm Reduction Association

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