Congratulations to Kate McClymont for the seminal role her thorough, principled investigations played in the apprehending of Alan Jones (“Police lay two additional assault charges against Alan Jones”, smh.com.au, November 19). Not for nothing was Sydney labelled “Jonestown” for the long period during which Jones exercised a largely malignant influence on major issues. Now, at last, let justice prevail. Ron Sinclair, Windradyne
Kate McClymont – characteristically fearless and committed. Arguably, a journalist crusader exemplar? Edward Loong, Milsons Point
Kate McClymont on the arrest of Alan Jones.Credit: Artwork — Marija Ercegovac/Tom McKendrick
David Leser notes that Alan Jones was comfortable “discoursing on the Bard”. So as he faces court, Jones will understand that “in the end, truth will out”. Rob Phillips, North Epping
Malcolm Turnbull broke my heart as PM, but he has my respect forever for refusing to cave to Alan Jones. Have a great day, Malcolm. Integrity is gold. Send out a search party for Abbott and Howard. Dorothy Kamaker, Whale Beach
Could there be a more damning indictment of an Australian public figure than the loud endorsement of Teena McQueen (“Ex-senior Lib goes it alone to defend Jones in group rant”, November 19)? Colin Stokes, Camperdown
I’m sure Alan Jones, with a major in English from Oxford, is familiar with the lines from Longfellow’s poem Retribution. “Though the mills of God grind slowly; Yet they grind exceeding small; Though with patience He stands waiting, With exactness grinds He all”. Elizabeth Denny, Watsons Bay
I have always disliked the television news segment of accused people walking in or out of court flanked by half a dozen gabbling reporters thrusting microphones in their faces, saying “no comment”. However, the sight of Alan Jones being subjected to this unpleasant treatment has me making an exception. Daniel Flesch, Bellingen
Alan Jones should also be charged with sartorial inelegance – that tracksuit is a shocker! Alicia Dawson,Balmain
I don’t think AJ will be receiving a reference from Cardinal Pell. Robert Smith, Inverell
Mr Jones prevented the Harbour Trust privatising Middle Head for a large commercial aged-care home, approved by then (2014) environment minister Greg Hunt. Middle Head has immeasurable cultural significance to all Australians, pre and post-colonisation, if not the world. Mr Jones understood the unfolding catastrophe, campaigned with the local community and finally convinced the government to back-flip. Middle Head’s history would have been grievously damaged if not for Mr Jones. Linda Bergin, Millers Point
Missing the moment
Angus Delaney laments the interfering impact of mobile phone use at a Coldplay concert and how visual distractions encourage this (“It’s time to pocket our phones and just watch the show”, November 19). I had a fabulous five-hour plus night last Friday at the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s concert performance of Wagner’s opera Die Walkure, with no staging, strictly formal wear for the singers and orchestra, minimal dramatic gesturing, and a modest occasional use of the hall’s lighting. This is the great psychodrama starring the heroically empathic Brunnhilde, without the kitschy horns, and her tortured patriarchal dad Wotan, with one of the many highlights being the Ride of the Valkyries music used in Apocalypse Now. All conducted by the truly great Australian Simone Young. Iron discipline and concentration were held by the very diverse audience throughout, with a wild, stomping, shouting, standing ovation at the end. No phones or photos during the performance as requested at the start. A night to remember. Tom Mangan, Woy Woy Bay
The Sydney Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Simone Young.Credit: Jay Patel
I enjoyed Angus Delaney’s article on phone use at concerts and his admission of never actually looking at what he filmed. I particularly remember a group of Chinese tourists walking without stopping through the Roman ruins at Bath but filming it as they went. Similar incidents at art galleries and museums lead me to the same question; why? If all you want is a film of it, why leave home these days, as so much is available online? It probably did not happen back in the day when film cost money and one had to ration out just what one could take on a roll. And you could have a slide night! My dad loved that. Tony Sullivan, Adamstown Heights
Phones interrupting a performance have also hit the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House! At Saturday’s Anthony Callea and Tim Campbell concert, audience filming was an annoyingly common behaviour. I might add the average age at this show would have been about 55, so certainly not Millennials and Gen Z. Philip Smith, Waterloo
I really hate this obsession with phones. Are people not able to live in the moment any more? It’s the same on NYE and at Vivid. It is also very irritating when I go to the gym, and someone is looking at their phone while hogging the apparatus between sets – and not for a short time. I wish gyms would insist that phones are put in a locker – is that too hard to do for an hour? Saĺly End, North Sydney
Trump’s cronies
The US Senate gets to advise and consent on all cabinet nominations (Letters, November 19). Let’s just hope Elon Musk is not in charge of advice and Matt Gaetz is definitely not in charge of consent. Jeremy Brender, West Richmond (SA)
The appointment by President-elect Donald Trump of Chris Wright – climate change sceptic, fracking magnate and champion of fossil fuel production – to lead the Energy Department is the latest abomination for those who take seriously the science of global warming. Trump’s frequent little dance slogan, “Dig, baby, dig” was the same as Gina Rinehart’s, but without the movements. Are they unconsciously referring to our own graves? Bernard Moylan, Bronte
Now that President-elect Trump has nominated an anti-vaccine advocate to run health and a fossil-fuel advocate to run energy, I shudder to think that a flat-earther (or similar) will run science. You could not make this up. Michael Costello, Peakhurst Heights
US Ambassador Caroline Kennedy demonstrated everything great about America – kindness, a sense of humour, generosity, and a passion for helping people. I fear Trump will replace her with the exact opposite – Rudy Giuliani. He’s bankrupt and needs a bolt-hole far away from Washington. Frank Walker, Coogee
Outgoing US ambassador to Australia, Caroline Kennedy Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
Paul Keating famously said, “when you change the government, you change the country.” Donald Trump is well on his way to doing just that. George Fishman, Vaucluse
Cashing in
I am used to seeing younger people miss out at our local takeaway shop when our little rural town has its all too frequent internet/mobile phone outages, but recently when an older couple were saved from the same fate by their young adult grandson who paid with a $50 note, they were gobsmacked and asked how this came to be (Letters, November 19). Sheepishly, he had to admit that after they had retired to bed the previous night, he had snuck up to the pub and won it on a poker machine. His mixture of pride tinged with embarrassment was wondrous to behold. Andrew Brown, Bowling Alley Point
Rethink housing
I agree with Michael Koziol, but the impact of conventional approaches to car infrastructure is absolutely key (Letters, November 19). Minimum parking requirements, outdated car-centric design standards and the prioritisation of road space for vehicles inflate land costs, drive up development expenses and increase the scale needed to accommodate mandatory parking. The result is larger, more expensive developments and fewer affordable options. We need to rethink how we accommodate cars if we are serious about improving affordability and creating a more sustainable city. This means challenging the assumption that every dwelling needs a parking space, and instead focusing on efficient land use, active transport, and public transit solutions. Matthew Benson, Killara
I suspect the hidden motive behind NIMBYism and bureaucratic resistance to development stem from fear of unfriendly clusters of residential towers (think St Leonards and Burwood) and an apparent blank cheque given to profit-driven developers. Add endless rows of McMansions without a tree in sight, and Sydney’s future is a turn-off with or without development. A central planning authority with genuinely attractive alternatives and designs sensitive to local conditions may not offer a magic wand but at least remove the curse. Peter Farmer, Northbridge
Michael Koziol’s article is an excellent overview of Sydney’s housing crisis with a clear call to reform the planning system. But this would take far too long to achieve and new approval systems that bypass the complex planning process are required. Already the premier has announced a Housing Delivery Authority and a “pattern book” approach for mid-rise housing, and large projects are now determined as being state significant. To really ensure cheaper housing options will require a relaxation of the many well-meaning controls on amenity and home sizes. Victorian architect Robin Boyd in 1947 launched the Small Homes Service to provide plans for affordable homes, and New York City has championed micro-apartments. We need a focus in Sydney on ways to reduce the cost of homes and apartments to reflect the price threshold many future home purchasers have. Chris Johnson, Millers Point
The NSW government has revealed the winning designs for its housing “pattern book” for terrace homes and small apartment blocks.
Safer service
I’m old enough to remember travelling on suburban trains in the early hours of the morning (“Rail union told to drop push for 24-hour trains”, November 19). It was an uncomfortable experience being all alone or with maybe one other person in the carriage. And there were the occasional horror stories of assaults of passengers travelling in those almost empty carriages. The move to NightRide buses through those early hours was a sensible move. Since when did unions get to dictate service policy? There’s no place for 24-hour trains, but that doesn’t mean no late night public transport. Con O’Donnell, Randwick
Lead the charge
As an electric vehicle owner and enthusiast, I am all too aware that access to charge points is one of the main factors holding back the uptake of EVs (“Kerbside EV boost for inner west”, November 19). Where I live there are plenty of public chargers nearby, so although I power my car from my solar array, I know where to go if I need to power up quickly. However, other parts of Sydney are not so well serviced. There are currently just five charge points between Chatswood and Waitara. It’s a chicken-and-egg situation. Until we get the chargers we won’t get the cars, and until we get the cars we won’t get the chargers. This is why initiatives like that of Inner West Council are so important. Once there are enough EVs on the road, the market will take over and public charge points will be as easy to access as petrol bowsers. Ken Enderby, Concord
Trumpy tactics
The decision of the Coalition to stridently attack overseas student numbers but then oppose measures to cut them is grubby politics (“Labor’s foreign student cap shot down”, November 19). It has got little attention despite or because it reveals so much of the cynical opportunism that underpins their grasp for power. Parallels to Trump are obvious, given the Republicans denied legislation to reduce migration so that Trump could shout about migrants. Dutton’s motivation must also be to keep numbers up for the attack. So much for the “nothing like Trump” spin. Dutton has used the phrase “modern-day boat people” for overseas students to further signal his mindset. Nick Wilson, Palm Beach
Back in May, US Senate Republicans (having previously offered support) twice blocked a bipartisan bill to control immigration over the southern border. This obstruction was demanded by Trump, who knew that immigration was a strong point for his campaign and wanted to maintain a sense of crisis by preventing effective action. Earlier this year, Peter Dutton offered bipartisan support for Labor’s proposal to cap student numbers as a method of reducing immigration pressures on housing and inflationary pressures on the economy. He has now reversed that position and sided with the Greens (again) to vote it down. It’s clear that he senses a political advantage and will copy Trump’s tactics, no matter how destructive to families and the nation they may be. Between here and the election, he and his colleagues will spruik cost of living, cost of housing, etc, as failures of the federal government, while they actively work against measures to deal with those same issues. Pure Trump tactics, of which any true Liberal would be ashamed. Don’t be surprised if there’s a follow-up social media misinformation campaign claiming foreign students are eating people’s pets. Gary Stowe, Springwood
Parents’ responsibility
As a father of two children who love their screens to the point of significant frustration, I own my role in the development of their reliance on them for entertainment (“To stop screen addiction, this school will give out phones. But there’s a catch”, November 19). My wife and I use the screens as babysitters and tools of distraction so we can do our own thing without juggling their needs. Parents are a part of the problem and at the end of the day, we need to hold ourselves to account for a generation that has unprecedented access to potentially harmful technology. Don’t solely blame the kids for this societal issue. Guy Klamer, Vaucluse
ABC loses its way
Wayne Burns has highlighted a major problem with ABC News (Letters, November 19). The presenters of Q+A, Insiders and Afternoon Briefing seem more interested in their own opinions rather than those of the guests. The nightly news programs feature trivial items which flood the commercial magazine-style programs. I feel sorry for the serious presenters who have to deal with this “stuff”. The new website likewise includes many items which are lifestyle offerings rather than hard news. There needs to be a change of those in charge of the news department. The ABC is no longer a creditable or reliable source of serious news. Ted Hemmens, Cromer
Digital solution
If Con Vaitsas wants to store his old Herald letters and articles securely and free from family ridicule, he’ll have to get with the times (Letters, November 18). Scanning and digitising the originals will give him a safe and searchable (and legible!) archive, and his family is sure to welcome the return of his sanity as well as the extra space. Jenifer Nicholls, Windsor (Vic)
I recently checked my first Herald letter published (one of few copied and retained). It was a light-hearted defence of Kevin Rudd, who was being roasted for attending a Hooters bar in New York. Fast-forward nearly two decades, Kevin should easily pass muster in the corridors of US power. Brian Jones, Leura
When I first had a couple of letters published some years back I was delighted, but discarded them thinking they would be of no possible interest to anyone. Then a friend persuaded me otherwise, so now I keep them in an envelope in a drawer, and the fact that they are turning yellow gives them an air of antiquity and significance. Coral Button, North Epping
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