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![\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4088a95879537da5cb16db2023ce1051499abbe3.jpeg\")
Photo: Cathy Wilcox<\/p>\n
To submit a letter to The Age, email letters@theage.com.au<\/a>. Please include your home address and telephone number. No attachments, please include your letter in the body of the email. See here<\/a> for our rules and tips on getting your letter published.<\/p>\n Bravo James Panichi (Comment<\/a>, 16\/7), for your opinion on coffee in Melbourne. I am an ex-pat living in Italy, who returns each year to the city of my birth, Melbourne. For years, I have heard the hype about Melbourne coffee, and like a parent visiting the kindergarten, I always agreed that my child\u2019s picture was very good, or that Melbourne coffee was very good. Now, the scales have fallen from my eyes: Melbourne coffee is not that good (I do not agree it is undrinkable). I live in Trieste, which can claim to be the coffee capital of Italy: this is where Illy coffee is produced, this is where coffee consumption is twice the national average, for good reason. We take coffee seriously here. Here the public has a razor-sharp critical approach to eating and drinking; only the best survives. I hope that Darwinian theory applies to the Melbourne coffee scene, and excellent species evolve. . . . Meanwhile in Brunswick, a sip and my heart sings . . . Thanks, but I\u2019ll make mine at home The drink and the prices are a con Brainwashed, we\u2019ve turned into snobs It\u2019s much more than the taste Spare a thought for the tea drinkers THE FORUM<\/p>\n A brighter future? Remembering Y2K AI\u2019s ripple effect Now to gambling, PM The final journey Drawing a line Going on the rails Equality is dead Chemistry at work Housing doubts Premier knows better Support local footy Accentuating the negative Only one action counts AND ANOTHER THING<\/p>\n
Kevin Prince, Trieste, Italy<\/p>\n
Hey James Panichi, I don\u2019t know where in Melbourne you\u2019re drinking your coffee. Maybe I\u2019m just lucky to be hanging out in Brunswick where the baristas are more multicultural than hipster. On the very first sip my mouth gives thanks and my heart sings.
Trish Thompson, Brunswick East<\/p>\n
At last it\u2019s been said: Melbourne\u2019s coffee is overrated. Since the explosion in \u201ccoffee culture\u201d across Melbourne nearly 20 years ago we have convinced ourselves that we are the coffee capital of the world. This laughable conceit is up there with that other peculiarly Melburnian fantasy that our dirty and grimy laneways are a magnet for overseas tourists. Some years ago I bought an inexpensive coffee machine because I was fed up with the bland, milky and over-frothy stuff served up in most cafes. I can make it exactly how I like it at a fraction of the cost. If that helps to put a hipster barista out of a job well, sorry but …
Greg Hardy, Upper Ferntree Gully<\/p>\n
James Panichi hits the coffee bean on the head. Melburnian, Australian even, coffee and the prices being charged are a huge con.
Sergio Bobbera, Geelong<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been saying this for years \u2013 somewhere along the way we all got brainwashed into believing paying $6 for a burnt cup of bean soup, served by a bloke with a man bun and a beard that could hide a family of possums, was somehow a \u201cMelbourne experience\u201d. Give me a proper Italian espresso for $2 any day. No lecture about tasting notes, no leaf pattern in the froth, just good coffee. We\u2019ve become coffee snobs paying champagne prices. About time someone called this nonsense out.
Rory Thomas, Belgrave Heights<\/p>\n
James Panichi misses the point. I\u2019m a Melburnian and I seek different and independent cafes to support the many young people (including young business people), artists, and bohemian types (some even have tattoos!) who work at these cafes in the city, instead of ducking into a convenience store or petrol station for a cup that costs a dollar less. There\u2019s nothing pastiche about that. Getting to know your local barista? God forbid! We\u2019re \u2033\u2063having a down\u2033\u2063 here James, a bit of pretence helps the coffee go down.
Christopher Orchard, Coburg North<\/p>\n
James Panichi\u2019s view on overpriced coffee is nothing compared to what tea drinkers have to endure. A tea bag served in a thick coffee cup (often still smeared with lipstick from the last drinker) \u2013 charged at the same price as Barista coffee. And if, perchance, there does happen to be loose leaf tea served in a tea pot, invariably there is either too many (bitter) or too little (tasteless) of said leaves in the pot. That\u2019s the price we have to pay to socialise with our friends.
Dianne Lewis, Mt Martha<\/p>\n
Thanks to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for aiming to fight AI job losses (\u2033\u2063PM in vow to fight AI job cuts<\/a>\u2033\u2063, 16\/7). With governmental regulation, AI could perhaps be used to produce more with fewer worker hours.
That could usher in a better world. People could work shorter hours but with the same salaries. That would be invaluable in improving mental and social health and strengthening community life, by having more time for voluntary work or just to relax.
Marguerite Marshall, Eltham<\/p>\n
AI is becoming nearly as scary as the Y2K bug.
Mark Hulls, Sandringham<\/p>\n
Three cheers for the productivity improvements AI will bring. But what about the impact of AI on employment? Job losses are already occurring in some sectors. Skilled and experienced people are being laid off and entry level jobs are disappearing, shutting down pathways for people to develop the skills and experience that will supposedly insulate them against being replaced by AI.
Everyone assumes the people let go or not hired will be employed somewhere else. Doing what? If their job in one company can be replaced by AI, then competition will ensure AI replaces that job in all companies in that sector. And AI isn\u2019t yet fully developed. How long will it be before more sectors have an AI alternative to replace some or all of the workforce?
If AI is the next great leap in technology that will supercharge productivity, there are consequences of lower employment rates that we need to think about now, including reduced consumer spending leading to job losses in other sectors, reduced tax revenue and increased demand on welfare systems.
Donna Cohen, Southbank<\/p>\n
Anthony Albanese has read the room and vows to regulate how AI and data centres grow. To stop \u201ctech behemoths\u201d exploiting the weakest laws, he wants the states to come together to make a strong national regulator embedded in his own Office of AI. Now he needs to read the room and address gambling in the same way. Dust off the Murphy report into gambling, get the gambling regulator out from the Northern Territory where the weakest laws apply, and give it proper resources. Time to stop gambling behemoths making us the biggest losers.
Jenny Kashyap, Bentleigh<\/p>\n
As someone who has been independent for more than 60 years and who worked in aged care, I have no intention of ever living in care. I\u2019m setting aside money for an assisted dying clinic in Europe for when I can no longer live independently but do not qualify for Voluntary Assisted Dying in Australia. That\u2019s a shame because I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll be able to donate my organs if I don\u2019t die in Australia. The country should be pleased that I want to help diminish the Boomer population and not take up very limited aged care resources.
VAD (as mentioned in \u201cPatients and Carers\u201d, Letters, 16\/7) is a contentious issue for medical workers and potential users and their loved ones, but it is worth the necessary thought and debate.
One suggestion I would make is that once or twice a year for at least two years prior to a VAD request, the person wanting VAD as an option, confirms that is still the case.
And maybe, gradually, with much thought, we could also cater for those who are not terminally ill but who do not wish to be in care.
Virginia Heller, St Kilda East<\/p>\n
In one cartoon (16\/7) illustrator Megan Herbert encapsulates the scourge\/crisis\/disaster of violence against women. Politicians pontificate while women suffer and die.
Jane Ross, San Remo<\/p>\n
Potholes don\u2019t just randomly appear without cause. Road engineers have long been aware of the significance of axle loads as a major cause of road damage. Briefly, the damage is proportional to the fourth power of the axle weights. Doubling the axle load means 16 times the road damage. A 20 per cent increase in axle load can double the damage.
Consider factors such as the increased weight and number of modern, so-called \u201cfamily cars\u201d namely large SUVs and utes; increased dependence on road freight particularly B Doubles and the dramatic increase in road traffic. Our roads cannot cope and we have not sorted out who pays to maintain them in a safe condition. More and larger potholes will be part of our destiny until drastic solutions are put in place. Rail freight is surely part of the solution.
Russell Harrison, Sandringham<\/p>\n
The apartheid-like approach to \u2033\u2063poorer\u2033\u2063 residents living in housing developments is appalling. What strikes me, however, is the deafening silence of politicians who constantly carp on about \u2033\u2063Australian values\u2033\u2063. What this exposes is the mythology of egalitarianism and the \u2033\u2063fair go\u2033\u2063.
It also highlights cliched values such as equality or the idea of Australian exceptionalism. The idea of \u2033\u2063equality\u2033\u2063 has been dead for some time, evidenced on a daily basis in underfunded public schools, poorer health outcomes for those in rural and regional areas and a tax system geared towards the wealthy.
Perhaps we need to add \u2033\u2063exclusion\u2033\u2063, based on income, elitism and middle-class welfare as evidenced Australian values.
Craig Jory, Albury, NSW<\/p>\n
Columnist Jenna Price (Comment<\/a>, 15\/7) spoke to my experience in relation to chemists. We were known personally and cared for with warmth and good humour by our local pharmacy for more than 40 years.
Then several years ago the pharmacy was sold to one of the chains and all of that changed. In only months our lovely caring pharmacy staff all left. We then saw someone new every time we went there. The whole experience became an impersonal financial transaction to fill a script. We have moved all of our chemist business to another pharmacy despite having to travel further from home.
Luckily for us this pharmacy is still run as a family-focused pharmacy. Happily, the staff all know us.
Pamela Bores, Eltham North<\/p>\n
The fact Boroondara Council is taking the planning minister to the Supreme Court should be a wake-up call for every Victorian (\u2033\u2063Council takes legal action in planning row<\/a>\u2033\u2063, 15\/7).
The Allan government has changed planning legislation to hand sweeping powers to a single minister. Councils can be overruled, communities ignored and residents left with virtually no say. No planning minister, regardless of political party, should hold that much power. Nor should developers be allowed to donate to political parties while governments hold the power to approve their projects.
The Development Facilitation Program also deserves greater scrutiny. Developers can receive extra height and other planning concessions on the promise of delivering affordable housing. Yet if that promise can instead become a payment into a housing fund, the link between the concession and the affordable housing becomes opaque. Victorians deserve to know when, where and how the promised affordable housing will actually be delivered.
Suzette Miller, Ashburton<\/p>\n
Premier Jacinta Allan displays breathtaking arrogance. She knows better than a former IBAC Commissioner, a former Victorian Ombudsman and a former federal court judge who all support a royal commission into Big Build corruption (\u201cAllan digs in on Big Build inquiry<\/a>\u201d, 15\/7). She believes the industry is \u201cchanging its culture\u201d.
Allan knows better than a former Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police who called for a cap on gun ownership. Allan says we just need to stop guns getting into the hands of criminals, but police argue a cap would reduce the gun theft that equips criminals. Last week there was a shootout in genteel Essendon.
Allan knows better than the parliamentary inquiry that called for a ban on duck shooting. The arrival of deadly H5N1 bird flu on our shores, underlines the folly of annihilating half a million waterbirds for the seasonal \u201crecreation\u201d of 0.1 per cent of Victorians.
Note to premier: hubris never wins.
Joan Reilly, Surrey Hills<\/p>\n
Thanks to your correspondent (Letters, 16\/7) for explaining exactly why I do not go to AFL games anymore.
Visit to local games are far more enjoyable and you actually get to have a conversation during the breaks.
Diane Johnstone, Frankston<\/p>\n
Your correspondent (Letters, 16\/7) argues that \u2033\u2063surely Allan\u2019s reputation would be enhanced if she decided to go ahead and call the royal commission now\u2033\u2063. Perhaps, but what would be the good in having her already negative reputation magnified?
Peter Drum, Coburg<\/p>\n
Angus Taylor can huff and puff about One Nation\u2019s promises and policies (when Pauline Hanson gets around to writing them), but it means nothing unless the Coalition is prepared to preference One Nation last on the ballot paper.
Kevin Fahey, Red Hill<\/p>\n