Trump’s snub is a badge of honour for Albanese

George Brandis is still a true Liberal politician, criticising the prime minister for not grovelling to the president of the once great United States (“White House? PM’s in the doghouse”, August 25). I remember Liberal PM Harold Holt went all the way with LBJ into Vietnam, which was none of our business. John Howard played deputy sheriff to Bush’s lies, and off we went to another war. Then Scott Morrison “who got on so well with Biden” convinced him to take hundreds of billions of our dollars, and our sovereignty, to buy secondhand, not for defence but for attack, nuclear submarines to help America’s struggling shipbuilding industry. And the kicker is they still hold the rights to take control at any time they disagree with us. In hindsight, I don’t think these Liberal prime ministers have done us a great service in grovelling to the White House. Look at the current state of the US and it becomes obvious we are better off not rushing in where many grovelling fools are treading. Robert Antill, Lake Conjola

Nick Bryant’s column (“Does sucking up to Trump work?” August 25) was the perfect foil for George Brandis’ offering (“White House? PM’s in the doghouse”, August 25). Brandis ignores the fact that PM Anthony Albanese has maintained his and Australia’s dignity while securing relatively small tariff penalties compared to many countries. This without needing to go on bended knee to a bullying and completely transactional US president, who treats allies like enemies and vice versa. Bryant’s column shows he is more in tune, as polls are clearly showing most Australians have gone off Donald Trump – for very good reason. Luke Grealy, Wagga Wagga

George Brandis obviously doesn’t realise that there are many Australians who do not want their PM to join the sycophants flocking to Trump the convicted criminal, the mysoginist, the rapist, the liar, the immature adult who craves praise and cannot cope with criticism. What of his failure to honour Australia`s free trade deal of many years’ standing? Give me Albo`s dignity and moral values in comparison to Trump, any day. Ruth McMahon, Wahroonga

Brandis labels Albanese as “a weak and diplomatically clueless prime minister”, supposedly for not being able to secure a meeting with Donald Trump. On the contrary, Albanese has maintained Australia’s sovereignty by stating that Australia will decide its own military budget based on need and not on US pressure to increase military spending. He has also recognised Palestine as a state, in defiance of the US. Unlike some world leaders, Albanese has shown not weakness, but strength in not groveling to Trump, an erratic and increasingly authoritarian president. Leo Sorbello, Leichhardt

Brandis taunts Albanese into meeting Trump, but the prime minister is too smart to fall into this trap. The way things are going in the US administration, and with Trump motivated almost exclusively by self-interest, the better it is that we maintain some distance from the president and his minions. I admire our PM’s patience in waiting for the turmoil to be resolved. William Forbes, Medowie

Nick Bryant is obviously operating with one-sided information when he says, “Trump’s diplomacy has achieved results, such as playing a constructive role in easing tensions between India and Pakistan in May after a terror attack in Kashmir” (“Does sucking up to Trump work?” August 25). Although Trump has never got tired of making this claim, it has been repeatedly denied by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while Pakistan has said it requested the ceasefire and did not seek US mediation. While sucking up to Trump does indeed work, the reverse is also true. After the G7 Summit in Canada in June, Trump invited Modi to Washington but Modi declined, citing a prior commitment. This obviously hurt Trump’s ego. Coupled with the Kashmir episode, Trump imposed one of the highest tariffs of 50 per cent on India. Vijay Khandelwal, Winston Hills

Three things drive Donald Trump, a man who could well be in prison if he wasn’t president – money, power and revenge (“Trump ran on a promise of revenge. He’s certainly making good on it,” August 25). He is beholden to nobody and his personnel appointments are made not on ability but on a supine loyalty to whatever he decrees, or to his latest thought bubble. This has the makings of a fascist state, almost unbelievable in what was once a bastion of democracy, however flawed. What could be a force for good in a fragile and complex world is, step by step, becoming the very antithesis. Bernard Moylan, Bronte

Senator Jacqui Lambie is absolutely right to blame Trump for the missing meeting with and Albanese (“Lambie criticises ‘rude’ Trump administration”, August 25). Australia is a significant middle power and a US ally. We sit in the strategically important Pacific region and act as a counterbalance to China. If Trump lacks the courtesy and strategic nous to make time for a meeting, the fault is entirely his. To suggest, as members of the opposition have, that we should pre-emptively accede to Trump’s demands for increased defence spending as a way to beg for a meeting shows a disturbing lack of self-respect. To think he will respect grovelling and pre-emptive concessions defies history and reality. Senator Lambie is right. It’s not us, it’s them. Tony Judge, Woolgoolga

As Pasquale Vatuli surmises, logic would dictate that with 50 per cent of the population being female, even the inmates of the lunatic asylum, formerly known as the White House, would find it impossible to disenfranchise the women of America (Letters, August 25). But that means those women would actually have to vote. Since Trump’s second ascendency, US citizens have been apologetic about their leadership. The truth is that many well-intentioned but unmotivated Americans let this happen by not voting, and here they and the rest of the world are. Long live compulsory voting. Elisabeth Goodsall, Wahroonga

Fast track to net zero

It’s not surprising that a large number of Australians support a significant increase in our emissions reductions target (“Support high for net-zero increase”), August 25. The Labor government came to office with a mandate to take strong action on climate change. I hope they follow through on their promise. We have only recently seen the destruction wreaked by ocean warming on the South Australian coast. Apart from the devastating effects on the environment, the algal bloom disaster has severely impacted on industries like fishing and tourism. The government is soon to set our national climate target for 2035. The Climate Change Authority recommends cutting pollution by 75 per cent below 2005 levels to avert the worst effects of climate change. An even higher target is well-advised, considering that climate change is now happening at a much faster rate than scientists first predicted. Anne O’Hara, Wanniassa (ACT)

Price of democracy

The Herald reports the NSW Police have spent $11.3 million responding to protests and rallies linked to the Israel-Gaza conflict in Sydney (“Police reveal cost of rallies, violence”, August 25). What they (and the premier) fail to acknowledge is this is the price of democracy. They may prefer to run a totalitarian state but were actually voted in to run a democracy so stop complaining and get on with the job. We cherish the ability to protest and are taxed accordingly. Richard Watson, Pyrmont

Can we please have some police costings on the New Year’s Eve festivities, random breath testing (especially on long weekends), callouts for domestic violence, Vivid Festival management, drug busts, marathon costings, callouts to traffic accidents, the police band etc? The list is endless, but surely these roles are part and parcel of policing. Announcing what has been spent on controlling Middle Eastern tensions sounds a tad divisive. Rhonda Seymour, Castle Hill

Bad policy

It seems our developers are between a rock and a hard place, with western Sydney no longer viable due to a lack of profitability and projects in the wealthy suburbs facing opposition because they don’t actually increase housing supply (“Developers deserting western suburbs”, August 25) and (“Divisive plan to bulldoze units to make way for millionaires”, August 25). Perhaps it’s time to bring back the old Housing Commission model, whereby the state government took responsibility for the building of thousands of genuinely affordable homes without the involvement of profit-driven developers. The government could even use thousands of tradies trained in TAFE; oh, that’s right, we privatised that and destroyed another viable system that benefited the less well-heeled. It’s high time the state government took direct control of both the building of housing and the provision of labour to solve the housing crisis. Peter Cooper-Southam, Frenchs Forest

The Minns government should urgently start a build-to-rent program in western Sydney. They have the land, they have finance and they have approval authority. They can immediately call tenders, build, then sell completed buildings to long-term investors. This will take the pressure off the “housing crisis”. Brian Watters, Mosman

It is ridiculous for the federal government to rely almost entirely on profit-orientated developers to solve our housing crisis (Letters, August 25). “Affordable housing” is a scam and anything but affordable, because the cost is only a small discount on already stratospheric rents. The federal government needs to co-ordinate with the states to build and own public housing. Expecting the markets to solve a problem caused by the markets is a neoliberal fool’s game. Graeme Finn, Campsie

Where there’s smoke

The plan to convert the Redbank power station into a wood-burning generator is being wrongly promoted as “zero emissions” (“Disused coal plant could burn wood and call it renewable energy”, August 22). In reality, such plants must be fed fuel 24/7 and demand huge volumes, risking deforestation and habitat loss. European experience shows biomass is not carbon-neutral. Burning wood produces more CO₂ per unit of energy than coal. Regrowth takes decades to offset – time we simply do not have. In Europe, carbon offset and fuel certification schemes have failed. NSW should not repeat this mistake. This project is another case of greenwashing by those who wish to delay change. Anne Ammann, Dargan

Woollahra quandaries

A Woollahra station seems a bright idea, but does it stack up (“Premier steeled for Woollahra rail”, August 25)? If eight 21-storey towers were built near the station, 1000 apartments may result after the demolition of existing buildings. (The 43-storey Horizon Apartments in East Sydney contains 260 apartments). Minns says the station will cost $150 million to $200 million. So, using the upper figure, the taxpayer will be slugged $200,000 for each apartment built. Considering Edgecliff and Bondi Junction stations are so close, Woollahra station would be an utter extravagance. Ian Ferrier, Paddington

Crowning salary

Are we not surprised by the Herald article (“Pay disparity far greater than most of us think”, August 25) on the vast disparity between wages of an average worker and those of CEOs? The list of the top 10 is infuriating in the gross amounts they are paid, but they are just the tip of what must be a very big iceberg based on the relentless news items on the latest homes being bought or sold for tens of millions of dollars. I have no doubt that the hours put into their roles and the responsibilities they hold are immense, but how does the head of a fast-fashion jewellery chain negotiate a $39 million pay package? Jennifer McKay, Ashbury

Home moaners

The level of sour grapes that seems to accompany many sport losses seems to be on the rise. There does not seem to have been a Wallabies loss this year without the serial “we was robbed” motif appearing in one of the reports (“What could have bin: Referee’s dud call cruel’s tourists’ charge”, August 25). The whingeing is not confined to the Wallabies. Every Sky Blues loss seems to be attributed to the referees, opposition bad behaviour or extraneous other factors. Add the Swifts, the cricket and the perennial Origin Blues, and whingeing is becoming an unpleasant art form. Brian Kidd, Mt Waverley (Vic)

Duty of care

Failings in daycare as in aged care, healthcare and NDIS can be traced back to the manic quest by governments to outsource essential public services to profit-driven providers without regard to their commitment, integrity or competence (“Daycare owner admits to failings”, August 25). In this ethics-free world, private providers accumulate “assets” by offering premiums to take over non-profit/charity providers, then economise on care (costs) while skimming profits. The responsibility of governments is not discharged by monitoring in a desultory way. The owners must themselves be subject to “fit and proper” tests with the results on public record. As long as the owners can hide from scrutiny, the rorts and abuses will continue. This should be a priority for national cabinet. Howard Dick, Toronto

AI needs humans

There is now unprecedented investment in the AI industry (“Growing impact of AI on uni degrees”, August 25). Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg are each spending $100 billion on gigantic data centres and computer campuses. Yet analysts say there is little prospect of profitability or return on capital. These big investors are not evangelists. They put their money where their mind is. They are apostles to a new god, to a future world run by AI. China is spending equally big on AI, fostering its dream of world dominance. As a system of supercomputers networked around the globe by the internet of undersea cables and throngs of satellites, nobody knows where it all is going. Whether AI will attain self-awareness or not, its growing intellect may not remain under human control. But AI will still depend on a well-functioning human society to build and maintain its physical infrastructure, computer chips and fibre-optic cables, and assemble it with expanding electricity supplies and cooling facilities. If worldwide AI attains autonomy one day, it will know that it depends on a well-functioning, orderly and motivated human society. It will be wise enough to foster a fair, open and enthusiastic world. Gunter Schaule, Balgowlah

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