Foreign diplomacy 101

The US president-elect has vowed to “drain the swamp”. It will be interesting to see whether Australia’s ambassador to the US will get caught in the whirlpool.

Riley Brown, Bondi, NSW

Ambassador Kevin Rudd would have saved himself grief simply by observing the diplomacy 101 rule of saying the nastiest things in the nicest way about president-elect Trump. Something about act in haste, regret at leisure.

Steve Ngeow, Chatswood, NSW

Ambassadors are like judges. When they accept the job, they forgo the right to publish their personal opinions. Rudd has to go.

David Roberts, Wembley, WA

Apparently it’s perfectly acceptable for JD Vance and Donald Trump’s virtual treasurer, Elon Musk, to have rehabilitated themselves from once being aggressively Never Trumpers. Seemingly, Australia’s US ambassador, Kevin Rudd, has no such right. Illogicality comes in many forms and political correctness knows many faces.

Kevin Burke, Sandringham, Vic

Why on Earth does Australia bother to get involved in this ludicrous COP charade? That China can claim to be a developing country and demand others pay up for climate change action is both preposterous and a joke on every single Australian. Xi is laughing at us.

Michael Fishpool, Carindale, Qld

So, technically, China is a “developing country”. Seriously? Dominates the world in trade and military spending, but is crying poor and demanding $1.8 trillion in so-called climate handouts while being one of the world’s biggest emitters. What kind of crazy world do we live in?

Peter Lynch, Hamilton, Qld

What are we to make of the 17-year-old who smashed glass and spray-painted anti-Semitic slogans on Josh Burns’ office avoiding conviction and taking an Australian sign language course? Is this a case of the magistrate being deaf to the seriousness of the offences?

John Lake, Mosman Park, WA

Memo to the Victorian Attorney-General. Justice should be blind as to who the parties to a case are. It should never be blinded as to the facts of the case.

Andrew Lake, Edwardstown, SA

As Anthony Albanese floats down to Peru, he could well regret leaving Chris Bowen in the rarefied air of Baku as a one-man band with the unrestrained freedom to toot his flute for net zero.

Susan Peatfield, Brisbane, Qld