Comment

Letters to the Editor

Siege: the disturbing aftermath

SMH Letters

As a former employee of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, who was there at the time of the Lindt Cafe siege, I read with interest the bail chapter in the coroner's report.

Backing for mine irresponsible

SMH Letters

Whatever the true jobs figure may be, once the coal from this giant mine is burnt, the carbon dioxide which is released into the atmosphere will effectively cook the planet, and all the aspirations of the Paris Climate Summit will be lost.

Postscript

President Donald Trump gestures as he gives the commencement address at the US Coast Guard Academy on Wednesday.

Irritatingly bland or alarmingly self-indulgent, readers could get no satisfaction from the public utterances of our top political leaders this week.

Letters: Turnbull shows his true colours by supporting Trump

SMH letters dinkus DO NOT REMOVE TEXT

The fact that Malcolm Turnbull could applaud the most regressive step in American healthcare in decades is a pretty fair indication of the direction in which he would like to take the Australian system, if he could get the parliamentary majority to do it.

Soupcon of wisdom

SMH letters dinkus DO NOT REMOVE TEXT

The solution to the "shark problem" would seem to be quite simple: don't go swimming in their dinner bowl ("Shark bite survivor bitten but not shy", April 30).

Fire levy tax status a fair question

Illustration: Cathy Wilcox

I live in Randwick, with absolutely no chance of losing my home to a bush fire and yet I am to pay double the levy cost to those who choose to live in the Blue Mountains surrounded by trees.

Pollies' self-interest over property prices

Illustration by Cathy Wilcox.

By now it must be evident to everyone that our democracy has failed, given that our nation's politicians are incapable of addressing the housing affordability crisis by virtue of their monstrous conflict of interest ("Houses of Parliament: MPs on top in property game", April 22-23). That these very same real estate speculators have the effrontery to lecture Australians on what our nation's values should be is not only the height of conceit, but damning evidence of their collective sophistry. If ever the phrase "a pox on all your houses" was appropriate, this is surely the time.