Peter Dutton faces an uphill battle persuading voters that he isn’t Australia’s answer to Trump (“I’m no Trump, says Dutton”, February 17). He is mean-spirited, self-serving and appeals to the baser human instincts. Lacking any substantial policies of his own, he unashamedly borrows page after page from Trump’s political playbook. He is obstructive, not constructive, by nature. He uses misinformation as a tool, ignoring a leader’s duty to keep voters factually informed. When social disharmony occurs, Dutton seeks to use it to undermine the government rather than calm the waters. He boasts of being in the John Howard mould, as if that’s a good thing. It might explain his lack of integrity. Australia needs and deserves a leader who puts voters’ welfare ahead of themselves – someone who brings out the best in us and who seeks to unify, not divide. Sean Kelly’s article provides a crystal-clear picture of the real Dutton, the man who would be prime minister (“The hard edge to Dutton’s softer side, February 17). And that man has no place in the Lodge. Albo’s policies may not be bold enough for some, but at least he has policies. Until the Libs come up with a leader with integrity and worthy of representing Australia, we’re better off in Labor’s steady hands. Graham Lum, North Rocks
Peter Dutton has rejected comparisons of him to Donald Trump.Credit: AP, Alex Ellinghausen
The numerous soft interviews that Peter Dutton is taking on remind me of the captcha tests where a responder must prove that he/she is not a “bot”. Maybe Dutton is not a robot, but with his overly cautious “never say yes” mien and his soulful droning voice, he doesn’t have to be a Trump clone. The reconstructed Dutton 2.0 scares me enough without the Trump idiosyncrasies. And like the Snowy 2.0 scheme, the new Dutton holds no water. Trevor Somerville, Illawong
Biennale brouhaha
The dubious dumping of Khaled Sabsabi from the Australian contingent to the Venice Biennale was always going to polarise the public (“Anger grows over sacked Venice Biennale artist”, February 17). The federal member for Watson in western Sydney, Tony Burke, is also the federal arts minister, yet he claims to have played no role in Creative Australia’s decision to remove Mr Sabsabi, who has a Lebanese background, like many constituents in Burke’s electorate. Burke has a history of delegating the hard stuff to others – just ask Senator Murray Watt, who was given the role of placing the CFMEU construction divisions into administration. I wonder who at Creative Australia was on the end of Burke’s latest hospital pass? Paul Taylor, Murwillumbah
The peak body for Australia’s cultural development now must change its name to Decorative Australia or replace the board. Real artists challenge us to think about our world, sometimes in provocative ways, but always after deep thought. When the body established to nurture and support them does the opposite, it undermines Australia’s creativity and cultural resilience. Self-censoring in this instance only encourages those who will not allow us to distinguish between true antisemitism and disapproval of the Israeli government’s behaviour. Brian Mahoney, Gordon
Thirsty nuclear a water disaster
Despite the destruction due to the recent flooding in Queensland, other parts of the continent experienced devastating drought in 2024. With climate change threatening water security, an increase in water extraction from our rivers for nuclear power plants is unacceptable (“Coalition nuclear plants ‘a threat to farm water supply’ ”, February 17). This is particularly the case given that, with increasing temperatures and population, water is becoming an even more precious commodity. Australia has experienced catastrophic droughts in the past and researchers predict the nation may be overwhelmed by mega-droughts due to global warming. In this context, solar and wind electricity generation, with no requirement for water, are infinitely preferable to the incessant thirst of nuclear plants. Roger Epps, Armidale
Once again, the Coalition is trying to pull the wool over our eyes about nuclear energy. Both coal and nuclear use huge amounts of water. Opposition energy spokesman Ted O’Brien cites “dry cooling” as a more water-efficient option for nuclear power. He neglects to mention that this costs up to five times more than “wet cooling”. While the nuclear power plants are being built, the ongoing maintenance of coal-fired power stations will also cost taxpayers millions. Just more money wasted. On top of that, the pollution from coal-fired generation would amount to around a billion tonnes. We are already experiencing hefty insurance hikes to pay for the effects of climate change fuelled by pollutants like coal and gas. Dutton’s nuclear pipedream will not reduce the cost of living. Nor will it solve the problem of global warming. Anne O’Hara, Wanniassa
Scientists inform us of the facts. “Peter Dutton’s proposed nuclear plants will suck more water from rivers than the coal plants they would replace, posing a challenge to maintaining drinking supply for local communities and irrigation for farms.” If a nuclear plant is to be built near you, get the facts from experts, not politicians. Water is the necessity of all life. Solar and wind power don’t need water for cooling. Get the facts. Bea Hodgson, Gerringong
Nuclear energy’s high water consumption will be a problem in the future as water becomes more scarce. Credit: Getty Images
Given the struggles in the building sector, no one seems to have called Dutton out on how his nuclear “plan” will make these problems so much worse (“Building go-slow a drag on economy”, February 17). If you think it’s difficult to find tradies now, the construction of seven nuclear power plants in an impossibly short timeframe would be a black hole that would vacuum up tens of thousands of tradies until at least 2050. Not only would it push up building costs even more, all other infrastructure projects would suffer cost blowouts and delays. And since we have no domestic nuclear power expertise, it’s estimated we’d also need to import something like 50,000 foreign skilled nuclear workers. These people would need permanent accommodation for at least 20 years (a new city the size of Port Macquarie) while we are in a housing crisis. It’s completely insane. Brendan Jones, Annandale
Long-term rorting
Thanks to Megan Gorrey for her excellent article on Airbnb/short-term rental accommodation in Sydney (“Plan to put more homes up to rent”, February 17). We in Millers Point watched as numerous homes freed up from social housing were “released” into the Airbnb/STRA market before COVID. After a lull and an influx of new neighbours post-COVID, our suburb again experienced an influx of short-term rentals with new neighbours turfed out of cottages built for workers early last century. In one street alone, more than 60 per cent of homes are full-time short-term rentals. Too many of these “homes” are commercial operations year round when Sydney is suffering a housing shortage. Millers Point is one of several city suburbs impacted. The original concept of sharing your home was brilliant – spare cash and better utilisation of property. For those who only use a home for part of the year, the ability to let it out at other times provides a similar set of benefits. However, the original annual day limit is now subject to significant non-compliance. Property investors are being encouraged to buy homes specifically for STRA on the basis that all the work will be done by someone else – you just sit back and enjoy the benefits, including tax concessions. It’s time for a more nuanced and effectively designed approach to legislation and enforcement that considers the immediate need for more homes for key workers in and near the city. Margaret Wright, Millers Point
Stand by Ukraine
The parallels between the discussions about Ukraine’s future at the so-called Munich Security Conference in 2025 and the historic betrayal of the Czechs at the infamous Munich Conference in 1938 are chilling (“How did Europe get so blindsided on Ukraine?”, February 17). The more so because even NATO’s most senior military officer warns that Ukraine “will not be Vladimir Putin’s last target”. British PM Neville Chamberlain was duped into believing that the Czech Sudetenland was Hitler’s “last territorial demand in Europe”, and claimed the Munich Agreement of 1938 would maintain “peace for our time”. We know how tragically that ended in 1939-45. Europe must strongly stand with Ukraine in this current crisis so that history is not disastrously repeated in plain sight. Rob Phillips, North Epping
My Ukrainian father came to Australia as a displaced person after World War II and credits US Lieutenant Thomas, who ran a displaced persons camp near Regensburg, with saving his life (“For Ukrainians like me, a Trump-Putin ‘peace deal’ is a sickening betrayal”, February 15). Lt Thomas delayed the forced repatriation of many Ukrainians to Russia, allowing them to find alternate routes to safety. On this basis, my father taught us that Americans do the right thing when it matters most. He found them to be decent, honourable people. Looking at the Putin/Trump alliance with growing dread, I am glad my father is no longer alive to see it. Ann Panylyk, Seaforth
President-elect Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.Credit: AP
Kateryna Argyrou either suffers from amnesia or is ignorant of Ukrainian history. Many Ukrainians supported the Nazis in World War II. They murdered Red Army prisoners of war and ethnic Poles in the Kresy region of Poland, formed their own SS formation, the SS Galicia, which rampaged throughout Ukraine murdering Jews. Some of these people retreated to Germany in 1945 and then made their way to Britain, Canada, the USA and this country as “innocent victims of Soviet oppression”. Mark Propper, Bondi
Gittins on point
Good on you, Ross. Thank goodness we’ve got someone not afraid to speak the truth and thank goodness we’ve got the Herald, which is happy to publish it (“We may be short of leaders, but we’re not short on false prophets”, February 17). Don’t expect to see any Murdoch papers doing the same. But with polls telling us that Dutton may be our next PM, I’m concerned that we’ll be quickly heading back to the bad old Coalition days of looking after big business first and “let the devil take the hindmost”. Think stage 3 tax cuts before Labor. Think 30 days of emergency fuel supplies thousands of miles away in storage in the US. Think back to stagnant wages etc. The list goes on. It’s scary to think of the future under a Coalition government when the best proposals they can come up to earn our vote is halting the transition to renewables, giving us a nuclear option decades away and small business tax write-offs for long lunches. Surely, our voters can see that this potential emperor has no clothes either. Ian Ferrier, Long Jetty
End the HECS index
It’s fair enough to make students pay for their degrees, but why does the debt have to be indexed (“Drowning in debt”, February 17)? If students just had a certain amount of debt to pay, an end to the problem is possible. A time limit could be imposed (10 years?) after which interest could be charged. And if debt is such a pressing concern, maybe it’s time to reassess the cost of popular degrees, which were made more expensive under the Coalition a few years ago. This was intended to direct more students to take science degrees. Is this still relevant? Judith Rostron, Killarney Heights
Even though we cannot go back to free education, a thorough clean-out of HECS debt is required. Why not remove indexation each year the graduate works in their field of education? Then, after 10 years service or more and at an appropriate income level, remove the debt altogether. Students and the bank of mum and dad do vote. Michael Blissenden, Dural
Welcome improvement
Peter Wotton may be on to something when he questions adding the New Zealand haka for consideration by those who oppose our Welcome to Country (Letters, February 16). Indeed, for those who really want to save money and reduce tokenism, we could cease the routine performance of our national anthem at various sporting and other events, and cease the use of the Lord’s Prayer at the opening of our parliaments. No? Or maybe it’s only Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ceremonies that some people want to remove? We should concentrate on the first word – “welcome”. It is a message of goodwill and inclusiveness. In today’s world, we surely need more of both, not less. David Hind, North Sydney
Welcome to Country ceremonies have become common practice ahead of major sports and cultural events.Credit: Getty Images
Peter Dutton sees Welcomes to Country as a divisive pandering to a minority. In the same vein, I look forward to his condemnation of the continued recital of the Lord’s Prayer at the start of every parliamentary day, particularly as the last census showed fewer than half of Australians are Christians. Michael Berg, Randwick
Groper on the brink
The affable blue groper is yet another species to take on the mantle of canary in the coal mine in relation to raising the alarm of climate change and ocean warming (“Gropers vulnerable again as fishing ban to end”, February 17 ). Ending the fishing ban on the species will only exacerbate the plight of this curious, good-natured seaside neighbour. Ironically, we are making a rod for our own backs. Steve Dillon, Thirroul
False economy
Surely the search for economic advice (Letters, February 17) was answered by Winston Churchill. “Give me a one-armed economist. All my economists say ‘on one hand … but on the other hand’.” John Crowe, Cherrybrook
Napoleon Trump
How interesting that at the weekend the US president posted to his social media these words, sometimes attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte: “He who saves his country does not violate any law.” Should we eventually expect the coronation of Emperor Trump, Napoleon-style? Sue Walsh, Woollahra
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