Your say: week beginning April 13

Every day, we publish a selection of your emails in our newsletter. We’d love to hear from you, you can email us at yoursay@theconversation.edu.au.

Monday April 13

Electric dreams

“Reading the article about 6 things Australia should do to tackle the energy crisis made me wonder how big the task is to ‘turn over’ the passenger vehicle fleet as the main candidate for conversion to electric vehicles. There are about 15.7 million passenger vehicles in Australia so increasing the proportion of EVs in new vehicle sales to 120,000 in six years is pretty small beer. A faster EV uptake won’t make much difference either as the task is too big for that. The government would need to think about re-introducing a domestic car industry that focused on changing existing vehicles to battery power. It would need to find a domestic supplier and promise subsidies and/or tariff protection for a manufacturer or several manufacturers who could undertake the task. If one million vehicles could be converted each year it would still take 10 years to complete two thirds of the task.”

John Elliott, Canberra

Tuesday April 14

The importance of good information in a democracy

“This article from the Grattan Institute yesterday on saving Australia from following the US into autocracy is timely. It needs emphasising that the biggest risk is the decline of traditional media with the internet and social media taking over. Few under-40s ever read a newspaper. It is no surprise that conspiracy theories flourish and those who would push particular political agendas are having a field day. The article recommends investing in institutions that produce trusted information of which The Conversation is a prime example, along with the ABC.”

Gary Barnes, Mosman NSW

What will it take to get ships to go through the Strait?

“There are conventions and laws but the imperative here is insurance. Lack of it is indicative of risk. It’s doubtful that many shipping companies will take on that risk on Trump’s word. The analogy I see is a herd of smart cattle contemplating a river crossing in the presence of waiting crocs. Donald is there sitting in his Humvee on the bank, shouting ‘we’ve got your back’, it lacks credibility. Not even his own forces believe it.”

David Young