• DECEMBER 31

So the toadying to Donald Trump begins before inauguration.

Sometimes readers love a letter so much they write to tell us and to declare it their letter of the year.

Nostalgia kicked in as I saw the Herald photo of the five-storey units built plumb against the little semi-detached cottage in William Street, Lewisham ("Tower springs up next to semi in Lewisham", October 25).

Bert Candy's first Sydney Morning Herald letter to the editor appeared on June 1, 2013. He has been published regularly since then. Readers nominated him as Letter Writer of the Year 2016. Here is a selection of some of his 2016 contributions.

• DECEMBER 30

It is no surprise that New Zealand stood up to Israel's cowardly threats when New Zealand sponsored the United Nations resolution critical of Israel building further settlements in occupied Palestine

• DECEMBER 29

Peter Wertheim and Alex Ryvchin you have absolutely nothing to worry about – history has shown that successive Israeli governments, which say they want peace, will continue to build all over occupied land and give little heed to what the world may think.

• DECEMBER 28

I am a doctor in training at a public hospital and worked a horrific roster last summer due to understaffing ("Doctor exodus hits summer holiday peak at hospitals", December 27). But I didn't blame my colleagues for needing time off from such a stressful and relentless job, and the patients we saw were well cared for, as always. The core issue is not doctors quitting, but why they quit.

• DECEMBER 27

Letters to the editor

• DECEMBER 26

Malcolm Turnbull has asked us to "reach out to those less fortunate" ("Peace and goodwill as Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten release Christmas messages", December 25).

• DECEMBER 24

The latest court decision, conveniently announced three days before Christmas, will not save the Baird government in the long run.

• DECEMBER 23

No amount of building will ease the housing crisis in Sydney because negative gearing will always give investors the edge over owner-occupiers.

• DECEMBER 22

Over 60 years, just how many good ideas, many of them emanating from costly government enquiries have I seen ditched because some "group", usually a noisy minority protests over the impact to the hip pocket nerve?

• DECEMBER 21

Moody's, S&P; and their ilk truly are the cockroaches of the economic world. Having survived the fallout of their contribution to the nuclear holocaust of the GFC, they continue to thrive.

• COMMENT

Senator Rod Culleton's resignation from One Nation raises some interesting questions.

• DECEMBER 19

It is a cop-out for Malcolm Turnbull to say now is not the right time and that more work is needed – by others, not him.

• December 18

Daily the surrogate's heart beat is what a gestating child hears, until that connection is ruptured.

• DECEMBER 17

Peter Dutton would have some credibility if he freed the captives on Nauru and Manus Island.

• DECEMBER 16

Two stories in yesterday's Herald struck me as a stark reflection of why Australian justice, as it is mandated by our political representatives today, is so confusing to the general public.

• DECEMBER 15

It would seem that the interests of Australia would be far better served if the federal government accepted the dire warnings of climate science.

• DECEMBER 14

Whoever you think is responsible for the falling educational standards in Australia, it's not the students.

• DECEMBER 13

Malcolm Turnbull is the leader of the Liberal Party ("You'll hear more from me in 2017, Bernardi promises", December 12). From this I can only assume that he has majority support within his party. But the media reports only on what is said by a minority in the party who oppose his views and that of what I must assume are the "silent majority" of the party. Where is this majority of members of the Liberal party who voted for a Turnbull leadership and presumably support his views? It's time we heard from this silent majority of liberal Liberal members of Parliament. Come on, Turnbull needs your help. Esther Scholem Macquarie Park

• DECEMBER 12

Sincere thanks to Sir David Chipperfield for warning us about the danger posed by turning Sydney's CBD into a monoculture of office tower-- but it is already too late! 

• December 11

I notice Jean-Claude van Damme was in Broken Hill to consider areas suitable for African wildlife rescues sites ("Saving species a Damme fine idea", December 4).

His name was on everyone's lips during the federal election campaign and ever since Herald letter writers have been keeping an eye out for the Prime Minister's favourite former Eels player: Jobson Grothe. But he's proved elusive.

John Howard was fond of saying the Liberal Party was a broad church. Not broad enough that Kristina Photios was able to speak her mind without having first quit ("Liberal Party powerbroker's wife Kristina Photios quits over lack of action on climate change", December 9). Are Liberal Party membership and integrity now mutually exclusive? Malcolm Turnbull should take note as he tries to lead the country while he doesn't even lead his own party. Bill Gillis Hallidays Point

• DECEMBER 9

How is it that our Premier, Mike Baird, can spew forth blatant lies about the veracity of the land title system changes he has initiated?

• DECEMBER 8

My advice to policy makers: avoid tossing out the baby with the bathwater.

• DECEMBER 7

As an octogenarian who has voted Liberal all my life I am now sick and tired of yesterday's men sitting on the backbench sniping at the government.

• DECEMBER 6

When the chief executive of the Law Council of Australia tells Mike Baird that leasing the Land and Property Information unit is not a good idea, maybe the Premier should listen.