As Donald Trump continues his racist, misogynistic and paranoid campaign, it is clear that some of his behaviour occurs at least by design. Even senior Republican party members now see that Trump cares not one bit about the Grand Old Party but only about himself. Furthermore, Trump does not care if he destroys the GOP by causing a split between the extreme and moderate parts, thus ensuring the party becomes incapable of securing the votes to be elected in the future. There are lessons for the Coalition here. The extreme views held by the likes of Cory Bernardi and George Christensen are far removed from the centre, where the majority of Australians want to be. Unfortunately by their behaviour, these MPs are showing they care far more about themselves than the party to which they belong. Malcolm Turnbull is experiencing this pressure on many fronts. While our politicians can learn a great deal from what is going on in America I doubt that those on the fringes of their parties will pay any heed.
Douglas Potter, Surrey Hills
Rudeness reflects poorly on MPs
Sadly the same ignorant, rude behaviour we have seen from the Republican nominee in the US is finding its way into our Senate Estimates Committee hearings courtesy of Coalition senators Macdonald and Sullivan. What a sad reflection they are on the Federal Parliament.
Warren Thomas, Ivanhoe
A few Labor crooks spoil democracy
As an active member of the Labor party since 1957 I'm aware of how the factional cancer is eating the heart out of the party (Letters, 19/10). I also know many key factional players and when talking with people from the left factions they tell me they have to do deals with the right if they want to get any one elected. If someone is caught rigging a sporting contest, they face fines, jail and lifetime bans. Despite the ALP's internal skulduggery, constantly exposed in the media, factions continue to rig the preselection process and appoint stooges to prized positions in Federal and State Parliaments. Parliamentary representation is so much more important than sport: it is one of the most important features of our democracy, yet Labor continues to allow a few crooks to branch stack and get away with it.
Paddy Garritty, Williamstown
Stop blaming the victims
Turnbull and co need to understand that lack of jobs (and growth) is what leads to welfare dependence, not the other way around. Create stable and decent jobs, stop attacking workers, and you'll reduce the number of welfare recipients and create willing taxpayers.
Frank Carlus, Port Melbourne
Pariah status surely not far away
The federal government is yet to ratify the Paris Climate agreement, it spends billions of taxpayers' funds paying polluters under its "Direct Action" policy and it has presided over a spike in coal pollution since it removed a price on carbon. Yet the government still claims to be committed to climate action. This claim has now been completely discredited by modelling showing that the modest emissions reductions purchased at great cost under Direct Action will be wiped out in just over a year if the controversial Adani Carmichael coal mine goes ahead ("Mine to wipe out carbon cuts in a year", 19/10).
At last year's Paris climate talks we witnessed the unedifying spectacle of Australia, one of the world's worst per capita polluters, desperately seeking to join the "Coalition for Ambition" to save face. There was significant resistance, before other member countries relented. World leaders must now be pondering whether Australia should be ejected and accorded climate pariah status.
Andrew Laird, Anglesea
THE FORUM
Alert to the dangers
For all his faults Donald Trump has done a great service to the US, Australia and Britain. He has made it impossible to ignore the dangers posed by the alienation of a large part of the population. Our "Establishment" leaders have made no effective plans to cope with income inequality or job insecurity. These have largely been caused by predatory behaviour of corporations and the explosion of job-replacing technologies. The upsurge in racism is a further, dangerous consequence of this feeling of alienation and insecurity.
If our democracies are to survive, our leaders need to do some serious rethinking and take urgent action. They need to recognise that neo-liberalism (the doctrine that everything should be left to an entirely fictitious "free market" and that prosperity flows from the equally fictitious "trickle-down effect) is a major part of the problem and no part of the answer. We need either new ideas or new leaders.
Bill Godfrey, Mt Stuart, Tas
See it for yourself
Surely it is time for Mr Turnbull and Peter Dutton to travel to Nauru in person. Having seen the situation for themselves they would be in a much better position to accept or reject the Save the Children and Amnesty International reports. Or is this a case of "What the eye doesn't see, the heart doesn't grieve over"?
Cath Dyson, Mount Eliza
Numb the emotions
The Immigration Department is tendering for "resilience" training for staff working in a system that effectively results in the torture of asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus Island, as documented by Amnesty, the Human Rights Commission and the system's own abuse report files ("Mental stress mounts", 18/10). As writer Richard Flanagan notes, "no Australian is innocent" since these crimes are committed in our names, and "we must answer for them to the world, to the future, to our own souls".
What an indictment on the system that psychologists will be called upon to find ways to harden the hearts of staff against the trauma they witness from working in such a system. Emotional numbing used to be considered a psychiatric disorder. Now psychologists are expected to teach the process.
Michael Hamel-Green, Coburg
Don't sever family links
Fostering the asylum seeker children currently in offshore camps sounds like a wonderful idea (Letters, 20/10). It would "rescue" them from the torture of their indefinite detention. However, it would cause further trauma by separating them from parents and family members.
Australians can be very generous, but also quick to implement placement options for vulnerable children that sever connections with parents, extended family, culture and community. Hands up those who would gladly foster an entire family from an offshore detention camp.
Penny Mackieson, Richmond
Wait for carnage
It appears the Abbott government discussed scrapping the ban on Adler gun imports so that the pro-guns Senator Leyonhjelm would support controversial immigration changes. And yet Mr Abbott now accuses colleagues of "horse-trading" for the senator's vote on legislation to reinstate the Australian Building and Construction Commission.
In Victoria, politicians on both sides use "duck-trading" to woo the Shooters Party. Duck shooters, who don't have to pass accuracy tests, want access to the Adler rapid-fire shotgun: a "better" gun will increase their chances of downing birds – dead or (worse) crippled.
Ducks are finally breeding again after years of drought. Young birds are particularly vulnerable because they lack the experience to take evasive action. Shooters MP Daniel Young told the Victorian Parliament that shooters were getting excited about "a ripper duck season" this year. There is bipartisan support for this carnage.
Joan Reilly, Surrey Hills
The ruin of beaches
Horse trainers are not just causing damage to the beaches at Killarney (Letters, 20/10). Closer to home at Balnarring, on the Mornington Peninsula, horses daily churn up the soft beach and dunes despite permits and regulations restricting them to the hard sand below the high-tide line.
This beach is part of the Western Port Ramsar site. Birdlife Australia has managed to rope off the nests of red-capped plovers but the hooded plovers have headed to safer grounds. Daily one can see where the horses have come through the soft sand to the ropes, skirted the area, then gone straight back into the soft sand. Despite it being regularly brought to their attention, management authorities turn a blind eye to the trainers' activities. Revenue from permits totalling more than $20,000 a year may have something to do with this lack of action.
Geoff Hall, Somers
Widow to marking
Just one-third of teachers say they are able to provide timely feedback, deal with student behaviour and effectively assess student progress ("Swamped teachers fail basic tasks", 19/10).
I know who that one-third is: maths, science and PE teachers. Just like a golf widow, I am a "marking widow" – left to watch Veep on my own while my partner ploughs through endless essays and other written tasks that would implode a normal person's brain. English and English literature teachers, and most likely teachers of history and other writing-based subjects, have no way to keep up with other tasks in the face of marking student work during evenings and weekends.
Meanwhile, school holidays, regularly touted as a reward, are often eaten up by marking tasks. During summer there are texts to read and lesson plans to be created – but not if you teach maths/science/PE. And yet all teachers are given the same class loads. It's time this dramatic imbalance is tackled, before my fading youth is completely gone and I have only my elderly years to have quality time with my Mr Chips.
Brigid Marasco, Brunswick West
City's diverse arteries
I agree with Madeline White that trams are convenient and a community-building mode of transport (Comment, 17/10). However, I disagree that "on trains you see only graffiti-splashed fences – blurred, industrial, inhuman".
The views offered by our train network can be beautiful. On my daily commute I admire the historic red bricks of Windsor Station, the magnificent arches of the Church Street bridge over the Yarra, the poignant rendering of an Aboriginal child by street artist Matt Adnate, and the thriving greenery surrounding the tracks the length of the Sandringham line. Approaching the Flinders Street corridor is a journey imbued with history, passing turn-of-the-century warehouses and the stunning facade of the Forum Theatre. While our trains undoubtedly pass by industrial, bleak landscapes, a commute on a Melbourne train is also a trip across the city's diverse arteries.
Ben Meurs, Brighton
New park ticks the box
A big thanks to the people who demolished the Corkman Irish Pub in Carlton. All they need to do now is safely remove all the rubbish and any hazardous materials, bring in some topsoil and sow some grass seeds. Mayor Phil Cleary can take it from there.
Alastair Wilson, Mont Albert
Show a backbone ...
If the Victorian government had any spine it would force the people who demolished the Corkman to rebuild it, would place a freeze on all other projects this mob has on the go in Melbourne until the rebuild is completed, and it would prosecute them as the criminals they surely are.
Graham Smith, Cheltenham
... and shame culprits
To rebuild the Corkman might sound like a "romantic idea" (Letters, 20/10) but it would certainly send a forceful message to any other developer that wants to try this trick – of that I am certain. It is with glee I envisage the cleaning of the bricks, and the salvaging of windows, tiles and other objects. The people who are responsible should be made to carry out this work, so we the public could watch. It would be very much like the public stocks in medieval times where culprits were shamed and humiliated. I can hardly wait.
Monica Bois, Mornington
Residents need a voice
Dummy candidates, over-government and bad behaviour are unacceptable at any level of government ("Town hall troubles", 20/10). However, the drive to create ever-larger municipalities takes little account of the basic role of councils, which is to represent local residents. Bigger is not better, nor does it encourage participation by ordinary people without party-political axes to grind. Rationalisation of services can and does occur without amalgamations if councils can see clear benefits to budgets and residents.
Before the Kennett amalgamations, councillors from the then cities of Kew and Hawthorn established a workable basis for a marriage, in the best interests of both. However, it did not take place and much of the sense of local participation and local responsibility has been lost with the creation of the City of Boroondara. Perhaps today's dysfunctional local government reflects the inadequate basis on which earlier amalgamations were made. Let's avoid making the same error again.
Kaye Cole, Princes Hill
AND ANOTHER THING...
Politics
Payne or Pyne. Simply, to whom is the defence chief answerable? It might be painful, Christopher, but it's not you.
Tony Lenten, Glen Waverley
Malcolm Turnbull and the Liberals: a shotgun wedding?
Malcolm Cameron, Camberwell
I now have a little more respect for this government. David Leyonhjelm is shafted and the Adler ban stays. Well done; two for the price of one.
Andrew Barnes, Ringwood
How is it that resilience training is required for staff to treat compassionately refugee children in detention?
Barbara Fisher, Port Melbourne
The US
Donald Trump protests that the election will be "stolen from us" while single-handedly giving it away.
Peter Jacovou, Balwyn North
It's one thing to be a sore loser, but quite another thing to be one before the votes have even been counted.
Tony Healy, Balwyn North
Claim that elections are rigged; spread xenophobia; prosecute opponents. Trump has stolen the leadership playbook from the world's despots.
Jonathan Lipshut, Elwood
Elsewhere
Given the Corkman Irish Pub was illegally demolished, will any future development qualify as proceeds of crime?
Andrea Bee, Balwyn North
I wish I'd had time to fill in the survey on teacher workload.
Patrice McCarthy, Fitzroy North
We'd be fortunate if global warming were the greatest existential threat to humanity (Letters, 19/10) but it falls a long way behind nuclear war.
Leyon Parker, Sandy Bay, Tas
Overpopulation is the biggest existential threat to our species.
Richard Corongiu, Alberton, Qld
Can't have too much pav, can't have too much av, just what's left to 'ave ("Don't blame the smashed avocado, it's the coffee", 19/10)?
Tris Raouf, Hadfield