From left field
I FOUND it ironic the “lefties” were on the other side of the free speech debate at Notre Dame University (Herald, April 20, 2013).
Often it is the hard “left” who have suppressed free speech whether it be Geert Wilders or Pauline Hanson, threatening those attending  meetings with intimidation and physical violence.
More than a decade ago a Catholic chaplain at Edith Cowan Uni was sacked for failing to heed the university’s views on gay rights because he opposed the lowering of the age of consent.
Often anyone who has an honest opinion which doesn’t match theirs is labelled a “fascist” or whatever in an attempt to silence debate.
If you excuse a mixed metaphor the chickens have come home to roost and they’re biting you on the bum!
Phil Scott
Willagee

Bring it!
I AM an avid skateboarder and I read your paper. I am obviously ecstatic about the youth plaza, however there needs to be less talk and more construction. I would like to be alive by the time it is finished, mound or no mound.
Sincerely restless woodpusher,
Luke Smoker
Ainslie Ct, Kardinya

Whose funds?
I REFER to your timely front page article on Notre Dame University (Herald, April 20, 2013).
I don’t mind what restrictions a private university applies as long as its students are full fee-paying and unsubsidised by state or federal taxpayers.
But if Notre Dame receives any grants of money from any government, it must maintain freedom of speech and thought expected of a public university, and should not impose religious or other restrictions or dogma on its students, whether they’re co-religionists or not.
I’d like to know if Notre Dame is fully private and entirely self-supporting.
Michal Lewi AM
Orana Cres, Brentwood
The Ed says: it gets millions in public funding.

Lot to get over
I LIVE only a few streets out of Dennis Jensen’s Tangney electorate, in Bicton.
May I remind him that Aboriginal people in this country only received the right to vote in 1967 as compared to women in 1902. So I think his tweet “Hell, how long ago was colonialism…Get over it” (Herald, April 20, 2013) was very offensive and inappropriate.
Aboriginal children were still forcibly being removed from their families up until the 1970s—is that so long ago they should just “get over it”?
By that rationale perhaps we should tell the Diggers to forget Anzac Day and just “get over it” because all that happened way back in 1916?
I would like to see politicians in this country serving the needs of all our community which is what he is elected to do.
I hope he can take my comments on board.
Rebecca Chapple
Coldwells St, Bicton

Civility at stake
CIVIL society is a diverse thing. It contains institutions as varied as radical political parties, churches and universities.
As the story on the front page of the Herald shows (April 20, 2013), Notre Dame University has no idea about its role in modern Australia’s civil society and thinks of itself as an institution of Catholic religious formation while accepting federal money under the pretense of being a university.
There are Catholics who are members of the Socialist Alliance, including at least one priest, and a pastor of another Christian denomination. Socialist Alliance is a “broad church” yet Notre Dame “university” is not broad-minded enough to allow students to organise a Socialist Alliance club.
What is worse is Notre Dame authorities forced off campus students who’d organised a meeting to discuss Australia’s mistreatment of refugees. That behaviour should be mentioned any time the Catholic Church makes any pronouncement about refugees.
The Catholic church hierarchy has the right to hold whatever views it likes and to propagate them: That is a function of civil society and those are the norms of democracy. However, Notre Dame cannot demand to be treated as a university, a secular institution of civil society, while actually operating as another, religious one.
Barry Healy
Holland St, Fremantle

First, the milk
IF Keith Bales (Herald letters, April 13, 2013) thinks Mrs Thatcher was so wonderful he should have tried living under her as I did for three years in northern England.
First, my kids’ school milk was stopped and then my name on the housing list was taken off due to her selling them. I’ll admit the mines needed closing as no-one should have to do such a filthy job in bad conditions but jobs should have been found for the miners first. As for John Howard saying she was Britain’s best prime minister, how would he know as he didn’t live under her.
R Dixon, Artwell St, Willagee 

Copping it
I READ with interest your article on police response times in Fremantle (Herald, April 20, 2013).
Last Tuesday I was in a coffee shop in Hilton when a distressed lady came running in, seeking help as she was being pursued by a man carrying a knife and hockey stick.
The man was very agitated and yelled abuse at the lady and then at patrons of the coffee shop and at one point had all the patrons bailed up inside the coffee shop.
I called the police at 11.35am. Twenty minutes later they had still not arrived and I called again to be informed the call had not been actioned and I was informed it would be made a priority and that I was not to leave the scene and to ensure the distressed lady remained as well.
Forty minutes later the police had still not arrived and I called them again to be told the police were on their way. We both waited for another 20 minutes before the lady left and I soon returned home.
Contrary to police flak-catcher Susan Usher’s statement in the Herald last week the above is totally unacceptable.
Mike Rowe
Bennewith St, Hilton

Free thought?
SURPRISE surprise! A Catholic-run university hates left-wing agenda (Herald, April 20, 2013). It has ever been so since the Inquisition (and they knew how to control dissent).
The Church will always push right-wing thought and suppress any alternative point of view and it will always be that way despite the puffery attending the crowning of the latest pope who, despite his avuncular appearance, will always maintain the status quo. My advice is to go to Murdoch where at least there is still a semblance of free thinking left.
Geoff Dunstone
Carrington St, Palmyra

Boxy Mole
IN the Saturday April 20, 2013 Herald Thinking Allowed article the photo referred to “a little-known power station that once stood at the foot of south mole”.
If the building protruding into the ocean on the south side of the mole is being referred to I suggest it was not a “little known power station” but the “Box Factory”.
As a young boy I walked my billy cart on many occasions from South Terrace to south mole to collect waste sticks from the “Box Factory”. I believe the boxes made at the factory were used to contain export apples. The photo shows timber stacks close to the factory.
William Power PSM
Kirkland Pl, Melville

Playing false
IT is extremely disappointing the Liberal party continues to knowingly make false claims about “illegal boat arrivals” with its new billboard in West Perth tallying the number of suspected asylum seeker boat arrivals under the Labor government.
As Australia is a signatory to the United Nations Refugee Convention, asylum seekers have the right to arrive by boat and have their claims assessed for refugee status. They are not breaking any international or domestic law.
The sign also states Labor has “lost control of Australia’s borders”. In reality, Australia takes under one per cent of the world’s asylum seeker claims, with the vast majority of asylum seekers living in developing countries.
The incorrect information in the billboard is very concerning—it can be damaging to the mental well-being of asylum seekers and refugees living in the community who view the sign, and also feed resentment within the Australian public towards this group.
The Australian public deserves political advertising that is based on fact, not advertising that is designed to incite fear and hatred towards those seeking Australia’s protection.
Dr Lisa Hartley
Curtin University, Centre for
Human Rights Education
Kent St, Bentley

True costs
THOUGH I agree Notre Dame University’s decision to ban students from forming left-wing groups (Herald, April 20, 2013) appears to go against our open and free society, as a private institution it can ban whatever groups it likes for whatever reason it sees fit.
My greater concern is the public funding provided to Notre Dame and other religion-based providers of public services. Notre Dame receives public funds to provide education that per student is on a par with public universities.
Surely, those public funds should come with an obligation to adhere to society’s values, not private or religious values. With management of the Midland health campus recently privatised to St John of God, fertility treatments are no longer offered due to the religious position of the private provider, but with public funds paying for the service.
As a society we need to consider the true cost of private groups providing public services. Are we willing to pay them money and in return lose our freedom and assist in the reintroduction of religious values into health and education that are inconsistent with the values of our wider society?
Rob Sheehy
Hebbard St, Samson

Ell of a letter
I HAVE decided to write a letter today, after enjoying a flick through last week’s Herald letters and finding plenty to chuckle at but not much that I agreed with.
I particularly would like to have a gripe with all you baby boomers and Gen-Xers, who just love pointing their wrinkly fingers at us youth.
In the time I have lived in the big bad city ( I moved here from Albany) I have felt unsafe on the streets a few times. Each time, I was accosted by someone older than 40.
So, Francois Carles, suggesting that public drinking should be legal for over 40s, because “surely they can be trusted” is completely ridiculous.
I urge people to think about the fact it is always a small percentage of a demographic that creates a bad reputation for the group as a whole.
Look after and respect the people around you, no matter what their age or background, and maybe you will find all the trillions of helpful and respectful youth out there.
I would also like to mention that Leigh Gordon’s letter about generously donating “a ute full of boxes” to “the back entrance of the Red Cross” sounds a lot like illegal dumping which is a curse to op shops everywhere.
Thank you for your time.
Ellie,
South Fremantle