Indigenous Australians are more likely to be charged for minor offences and more likely to be denied bail. Indigenous deaths in custody continue unabated.

Thousands of noble words have been uttered by politicians of all stripes about the need to address this national shame, but nothing has changed. It just keeps getting worse.

How to respond? I suppose we have a fundamental choice. We can follow Taylah Gray's lead (Newcastle Herald, 29/4) and pursue real and radical change. Or we can continue to harbour and give effect to the attitudes that have blocked progress - such as those on display in a recent and rather contemptible little missive from Matt Ophir (Short Takes, 5/5).

HILDA Hughes (Letters, 6/5) raised the idea of a seaweed recovery from fossil fuels. Yeah, right. The picture beside the letter showed the recent surfer protest at Nobbys over the proposed gas drilling in PEP-11.

Great, all those surfers wearing wetsuits, carrying boards, waxed and with leg ropes heading into the water. Looked impressive. But those boards, wetsuits and other materials were all made from petroleum derived products.

Without a petroleum industry, surfing as we know it today wouldn't be possible. Did any of those protesting surfers realise that? At the end of the protest, they would have gone back to their cars, made of steel and petroleum-derived materials, and driven home using a petroleum fuel. Is there an element of hypocrisy in that?

Finally, do people realise that the PEP-11 drilling area is 30km off the coast? With no giant drill-rigs in any case, we will see, smell, and notice nothing happening out there. Was this protest all a much-ado-about-nothing?

PETER Devey (Letters, 5/5) conveniently quotes retail power prices when generators can only influence wholesale power prices. In South Australia these have gone from the dearest to among the cheapest of the states.

Renewables, profitable at prices that fossil fuel generators will never be able to match, are increasing their penetration of the national energy grid, forcing lower wholesale prices across the NEG, with the largest drop in SA.

In 2019/20 renewables generated 59.6 per cent of its electricity needs and exported a further 2.8 per cent to Victoria. Their gas use continued to decline, and about 20 megawatts of diesel generator capacity is available for rare peak-demand periods.

Peter describes renewables as "unreliable". They are certainly variable, but the Australian Energy Market Operator, manager of the NEG, is confident that, with adequate battery and hydro energy storage, and widespread dispersion of generators across the massive area covered by the NEG, supported by transmission upgrades, renewables will provide the least cost system, with the highest levels of flexibility and reliability.

Peter is correct that renewables add complexity to the operation of the NEG, but none the AEMO believe unmanageable. While, in the early stages of transition, renewables received taxpayer funding, government budget papers show the fossil fuel sector continued to receive far more taxpayer funding throughout the whole transition to date.

Their renewable program has been so successful, South Australia is aiming at 100 per cent renewable energy and beyond to be a net exporter to other states.

I THOUGH that the 'politicians' would have this sewn up, but apparently no.

"TGA head John Skerritt said he wanted to remind people that for every thousand doses of either the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccine administered there were between six and seven adverse event reports".

Thanks John, but will it be me? And where is the good news? This is how to encourage people to get the jab? Of the 11 people who have suffered the clotting problem here, how many had underlying health issues? How many realised that there was an issue as described in the possible symptoms? How many reported the issue, had treatment and then died?

For whoever's sake, isn't the truth fairly simple? Why create potential hysteria? We deserve better.

COMMENTING on the entry ban on Australians in India, Graeme Kime (Letters, 7/5) talks about keeping the virus out of "our country". But it's their country too.

He talks about a hypothetical involving "5000 dual citizenship Indian/Australians" travelling here on a cruise ship.

He has no way of knowing that all those in India are dual citizens, and even if they are, they're still just as much Australian citizens as he is.

He talks about how "we, as Australians ... protect our homeland ...". "We" still includes "them", and it's their homeland too. He talks about "stepping (sic) foot on our shores". Our shores are their shores too.

As for "chipping or ankle bracelets" - we're not talking about dogs and sex offenders. We're talking about Australian citizens. Would Mr Kime have supported these measures being used on white Australian citizens returning from the US when the virus was out of control there?

In a similar vein, Dennis Crampton (Letters, 7/5) talks about the "hoo-ha about Indian travellers..." They're not "Indian", they're Australian citizens.

He sneers "...off they go, and now that the holiday is over, they want to come back to the safety of good old, soft touch and easily swayed Australia".

To go, they would have needed to have a better reason than a holiday, such as visiting sick family members, and as for coming back to Australia, well, it is their home.

Which brings us to the nub of this issue. Home and who belongs. Much of the commentary on this issue is, it seems to me, far more about what it means to be "Australian" than public health. It's the logical expression of a society that to a large degree still affords different levels of inclusion based on the colour of one's skin, the language spoken or the tone of one's accent.

It's the result of lifelong conditioning to see citizens of colour as "less" Australian; of a deeply ingrained attitude that some of us are more Australian than others.

And when we fail to see those who don't fit the Aussie stereotype as truly Australian, it's all the easier to abandon them when they need help.

SYDNEY is a multicultural city. Surely that means the travel ban put in place by the New Zealand government is racist.

BARRY Swan (Letters, 7/5) your relentless condemnation of our present government has me secretly wishing for a Labor win next time. That way, when Albo and his mates stuff up, which they inevitably will despite your obvious view that they are perfect, some of us will get a chance to whinge about the government as much as you do. There may even be a job for a cartoonist with a different view, given that the incumbent government attracts more ridicule, so I'm told. Who knows, the cartoons may even be funny!

BARRY Swan (Letters, 7/5) comes up with so many negatives regarding the Liberal Party going back further than I can remember, it is truly remarkable. If he isn't already a member of the Labor Party, he should be. He has all the right qualifications.

BARRY Swan (Letters, 7/5) accurately describes the calamitous, divisive, corrupt activities of recent years and correctly lays blame on the LNP government. ScoMo on the other hand prefers to see it as God's work!

BARRY Swan (Letters, 7/5), the sensible Australians remember the last Labor government. That's why we will continue with the Coalition for many more years to come. Perhaps the Chinese Republic of New Zealand may be more suitable for your liking. You can use my frequent flyer points on a one-way ticket if you wish.

POINT proved. In Sydney the search is on for one spreader. Imagine what will happen if they bring people back from India. They chose to go there in pandemic times, so why are the rest of us liable for their problems? Just watch - Michael Slater for a safe Labor seat. That is so obvious it makes one just shake his head in disbelief.

I SMELL a federal election in the air.

THE vast majority of us only ever have one real mum (biological, or otherwise). So if that mum is still with you, look after her because you only ever have her once!

IN response to Michael Gormley (Short Takes, 7/5): If somebody committed a crime against me, I'd want them locked up... black or white ... I think you misrepresented me, kind sir.