The housing crisis is real and will continue

The housing crisis is real (“Developments threaten to wipe out housing stock,” September 28). If people camp in vans or cars because they have no other affordable options, what happens to them when local authorities “send them on”? Stories rarely tell us where they lead or what emotional impact such decisions have. Now we hear that people don’t change homes as often anymore. Is anyone surprised? The costs of moving house are enormous.

For older people, options are limited to downsizing. There has been so much ill-conceived emphasis placed on retirement villages. But these “institutions” are not the answer and will end up being big, ugly housing developments poorly built by developers who know they will only pass on maintenance to the poor fools who bought in. They are social monocultures full of very toxic and controlling managers who often have very little understanding of what compassion is. Jacqui Keats, Black Head

The gap is getting bigger and bigger

I’m sure readers were horrified, as I was, when they read your article (“More Indigenous Children Removed,” September 24). The statistics presented suggest this gap is widening and this only affected one state, NSW. At the federal level, there has been a lot of rhetoric and assurances about closing the gap for decades, with limited success. Until this gap (child elements removed) is closed, there is no point in even trying to close the others. Michael Webb, Cromer

wise words

“The path to voice is more important than the destination” (“Instead of facing our history, we settle for squeamish silence and fairy tales,” September 24). Parnell Palme McGuinness has written the wisest words yet in this entire Voice saga. The “Uluru Statement from the Heart” and accompanying co-design report made for touching but naive reading. Both of these obscure the terrible current situation facing Aboriginal Australians, which is a result of our long inability to move things forward in the same way as other ex-colonies. Regardless of the result of the referendum, one can only hope that we now actually start the discussion that we should have been having all along. Brian Haisman, Winmalee

McGuinness suggests: “Australia must reckon with its past” and then offers a nebulous quote: “History doesn’t tell us what to do, but it warns us that we don’t have to be sure.” If history doesn’t tell us tells us what to do, then why should we examine them in detail?

Maybe something like “We don’t look in the rearview mirror to drive forward” would be more appropriate. Let’s all stop forensically examining the past or there could be a head-on collision, which is exactly where the voice is heading.

Where are the “squeamish” Australians who need to be “unsettled”? I think most people recognize that there have been historical mistakes, but they are more concerned about their own future and that of Australia. Maybe we should all take a U-turn (especially our politicians) and look to the future. Mervyn Cross, Mosman