Illustration: Andrew Dyson
Illustration: Andrew Dyson
The Prime Minister's description of Aboriginal people living on traditional country as "lifestyle choices" which should not be subsidised by taxpayers can be seen in all its arrogance and hypocrisy if we consider that the taxes of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians subsidised his university education – and subsidise his current luxurious lifestyle, which will continue into his retirement.
I lived and worked in a remote Western Australian Aboriginal community. Living "on country" after centuries of dispossession and near genocide is vital to Indigenous people struggling to maintain their culture and autonomy. It is some small compensation not only for past wrongs but also the continuing bureaucratic bungling, incompetence and corruption.
I hope that one day soon, non-Indigenous Australians will  realise the benefits of their wonderful lifestyles are based on that dispossession and genocide. We owe a huge debt to Aboriginal people; supporting their choices to maintain their culture on their own country goes a small way towards repaying this.
Western Australia's wealth is, to an overwhelming extent, based on the cattle industry in the past and more recently, the mining industry. Both involved the exploitation of Aboriginal people and their land. Where does the Western Australian government and Mr Abbott intend the residents of remote communities live? Away from their country and traditional spiritual base to become fringe dwellers around the outback's towns with all the "lifestyle" problems that will entail?
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Jude Power, Warburton

Destroying a culture and way of life

The "lifestyle choices" of Aborigines began to be eroded in 1788. Apparently what remains of this life, on the Northern Territory out stations as distinct from the remote townships, is about to disappear. The out stations are peaceful, self-contained places where Aborigines can have access to their own meat and fish, follow dream time routes to harvest annual crops at the right season, look after the land, and keep their lore and languages alive by teaching their children.
They appreciate the government's health visitors, daily or weekly commute of  teachers, air transport in emergencies and the ability to travel to Darwin, Brisbane or Melbourne for secondary education. Then, perhaps, there will be the opportunity to train as a nurse, ranger, pilot or teacher. But they will return to their out stations and work there.
If out stations are not supported by government services, the inhabitants will be denied what other Australians take for granted. Those who move into towns will live in overcrowded accommodation with family, look for non-existent jobs, spend their welfare money on food  and lounge around in parks. The young bloods may be given the chance to be involved with violent gangs and illegal access to grog and ganja.
In our suburban life, tree changers are admired and envied. How many politicians have a holiday house? However, when the Aborigines want to continue their 60,000-year-old "tree change" lifestyle, it is to be denied to them. What will be lost is much more than their place of abode.
Elisabeth Middleton, Clematis

Abbott has learnt well from the master

With his latest comments regarding Aboriginal disadvantage, effectively blaming Indigenous people for their plight for living in remote communities, Tony Abbott yet again plays from the guidebook of his hero, John Howard: when you are struggling in the opinion polls, flick the switch to dog whistle. If no one seems to be listening, blow a little harder.
Kevin Morton, Maribyrnong

The hard facts of life

Tony Abbott speaks the truth. There is a limit to what government can provide and we must all pay our way. We expect that car industry workers in Elizabeth will relocate to find work in other areas. Fruit growers in Shepparton have had to uproot and move to new industries. This is a difficult reality facing many Australians as times change. How is it fair to ordinary, hard-working taxpayers to have to subsidise unviable remote communities? You cannot expect governments to provide schools, hospitals and services to hundreds of tiny communities. This is not racism, it is reality.
Wayne Alexander, Eltham

Learn from history

We are able to subsidise the lifestyle choices of iron ore and coal miners, and of many people through negative gearing and superannuation tax benefits. We subsidise the lifestyle choices of ministers who use private flights because commercial ones are inconvenient and who order $3000 restaurant meals as they wine and dine industry figures.
I did not think it was possible that our Prime Minister and his government could hit any lower. But it seems that Tony Abbott will be complicit in driving remote Indigenous Australians off their traditional lands. That worked well in the past, didn't it?
Greg Wharton, Box Hill South

Such privileged beings

I could not agree with Tony Abbott more. There should be no subsidies to populations based on their lifestyle choices. So let us start with the populations in private schools.
Jane Hoye, Mount Waverley

Harsh realities

I am guessing Tony Abbott also believes that poverty, disease, unemployment, drug and alcohol abuse, violence and early death are also "lifestyle choices" for some of our Aboriginal people.
Doug Steley, Heyfield

Trapped in quagmire

On October16 last year (147 days ago), 102 properties were compulsorily acquired by Linking Melbourne Authority for the East West Link. Since then, about 86 properties have been voluntarily acquired. Most owners remain in limbo, unable to move on with their lives as they wait for acquisitions to be reversed or finalised.
It has been 103days since Labor won power in Victoria. This would seem a reasonable amount of time for the appropriate authority to unravel this complex mess that the Coalition forced on property owners. Anxious residents demand clarification and direction. Surely it is not too much to ask that the Victorian government communicate and assure us of its plans and timetable to resolve this mess.
Keith Fitzgerald, Collingwood

Times haven't changed

Some 30years ago when I was working at a large metropolitan hospital, I took some time out to participate in the annual fund-raising revue. People were relaxed, enjoying each other's company and the obvious talent among some of their peers.
The darker side was apparent in the form of a very well-respected senior consultant lurking about the place. Yes, he was performing, too. I will not forget my shock, nor that on a registrar's face – nor her new husband's expression – after the consultant virtually lunged at her and engaged in a long, passionate kiss. Was it wanted? I do not think so. But, hey, we were all having fun, weren't we?
Christine Vickers, Lockwood

Sadly, feet of clay

How disappointing. I thought that a surgeon – capped, gowned, gloved and masked – was a pillar of integrity. Now I am not too sure. A wolf call from an Adonis tradie on a building site roof seems to be a little safer and more innocent.
Margaret Skeen, Point Lonsdale

Culture of entitlement

It is no surprise that senior surgeons perpetrate a culture of abusing female staff. These predominantly white, middle-aged men have undergone decades of "bastardisation", first as junior private school students, and then as registrars, hanging out for the day when they will be able to lord it over others they consider beneath them.
The attitude is "I survived, so you should also be able to". The medical establishment, made up of men such as these, will not change the practices of treating women as chattels, or of working registrars until they drop, kill themselves, or kill a patient out of error. The country needs a truly independent body to oversee the medical profession.
Mike Puleston, Brunswick

$525? And for what?

I am not sure whether to be appalled or amused at the comical goings on at the Fat Duck Melbourne (Epicure, 10/3). To pay $525 for a lunch that includes "a deep purple sphere, little bigger than a cherry" and "a nitrogen-poached puff of foam...  [that] evaporates to nothing" among 13other oddities is very sad, particularly when I see homeless people not far from the diners' cocoon scrounging empty bottles and cardboard for the sake of a few cents in their pocket. In this case, maybe the wealthy and the poor ended up looking for a decent dinner  to ease their hunger.
Tim Nolan, Brighton

Such strange logic

If Victoria needs an extra 448 new primary school classes every year over the next decade to cope with its booming student population (The Age, 11/3), why are we selling off school grounds? 
Evert de Graauw, Wantirna