Policy without reason

For fans of ultra-black humour, Michael West’s account of the tax breaks given to banks as punishment for systematic fraud, and Christian Porter’s contortions to fend off a federal corruption commission, combined with former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull’s Great Barrier Reef Foundation, need to be considered alongside the present government’s demand for untrammelled access to encrypted correspondence by close of business this year (Mike Seccombe, “Watchdog whistle”; Karen Middleton, “Under data’s orders”, December 1–7). Something akin to a reversal of our planet’s polarities seems to be happening to human logic, and it’s reassuring that our leaders are right behind the US leadership in aiming to exploit this development.

– John Hayward, Weegena, Tas