A Labor voter, I strangely see myself siding with former PM John Howard on gambling reform (“Albanese, Taylor hammer out deals on gambling and tech”, August 11). Howard’s call that both major parties should act in the “public interest” should be par for the course. His statement that “If that means disappointing big companies, then disappoint them” resonates from a time when politicians prosecuted good policies such as compulsory superannuation, capital gains tax and gun control reforms, regardless of vested interests. Recent changes to housing policies, despite the bleating of some wealthy property investors, were a good start. The government must take on the bloated gambling industry and multinational gas companies if it is serious about working in the public interest, not just appeasing big business who clearly work for themselves and their shareholders, not the Australian public. Craig Jory, Albury

In the government’s latest attempt to curb gambling advertising, PM Anthony Albanese says he wants to get the balance right between restricting gambling advertising and those who like to “have a punt on a Saturday”. This statement confuses access to gambling with its excessive promotion through advertising. Gambling is legal and any adult so inclined can easily find the gambling outlets. The concern is the power of advertising to create further demand for a product that can influence children and lead to gambling addiction. The community would be better served if gambling advertising was banned or further restricted. Leo Sorbello, Leichhardt

Over-ripe

Angus Taylor insists that the PM apologise to his Japanese counterpart over the “melons” reference in a podcast aired in July (“Taylor demands PM apologise to Japanese leader over ‘beautiful melons’ comment”, August 11). Cue Jane Hume and Barnaby Joyce to join in with predictably full-throated condemnation. But it didn’t occur to any of them at the time. The pearl-clutching only happened after the matter was raised weeks after the event by the Japanese ambassador, and Taylor et al saw it as an excuse to have yet another go. With so little of their own to talk about that matters, I guess all they’re left with is mock-pious indignation about stuff that doesn’t. Adrian Connelly, Springwood

You know it’s going to be a difficult day when you have to agree with Angus Taylor and Barnaby Joyce (“Takaichi will brush off melon joke. She shouldn’t have to”, August 11). What was Anthony Albanese thinking when he agreed to appear on the Deep Bush podcast, where he proceeded to diminish himself and humiliate this county? Fifteen-year-old boys don’t vote, so he can’t have thought it was a vote catcher. Tanya Plibersek shouldn’t have had to mount a case to defend his indefensible behaviour. Party loyalty gone a step too far, methinks. Lyn Savage, Coogee

Having seen some parts of the Bush Deep podcast, I think Angus Taylor has totally misrepresented the prime minister’s remarks. In fact, the only thing that I find outrageous is that the PM actually appeared on a podcast like that. Whoever suggested that it would be a good idea should lose their job. And in future the PM might also consider avoiding podcasts by the likes of Kyle Sandilands and Karl Stefanovic. Caroline Davies, Annandale

Sign language

Strathfield Council wants to mandate English shop signs to “foster unity” (“Sydney council plans to make English compulsory for all shop signs”, August 11). But unity isn’t fostered by telling 73 per cent of residents their languages rank second. Liberal councillor Esther Kim says English is “our common language”, but it’s not. In Strathfield, it’s “a common language”. That’s not a failure of integration, that’s a feature. Yet the council voted 4-2 to regulate signs that business owners say aren’t causing problems, at a cost nobody’s calculated, using rules that don’t yet exist. This isn’t policy, it’s pure theatre. It proves that you can’t legislate unity. You can only legislate conformity – and hope nobody notices the difference. Raj Kamath, Castle Hill

One can only wonder where Strathfield Council’s proposal might lead. We would need to abandon “restaurant”, “cafe” and “bistro” (French), “pizzeria” (Italian), “delicatessen” (German) and “kiosk” (Turkish, ultimately Persian). Then there’s “salon” and “depot” (French), “emporium” (Latin), “galeria” (Spanish), “casa” (Italian/Spanish/Portuguese), “spa” (Belgian), oh, and “bric-a-brac” and “antiques” (French again). We would also need to remove “manicure” and “pedicure” (French) and of course “kebab” (Persian). Sheesh, I need a “sedative” (Latin) just thinking about it. Ross Duncan, Potts Point

Judgment

I cannot believe Chris Minns decided not only to appear on Kyle Sandilands’ new show, but also to cut the ribbon (“A premier, a psychic and Pauline Hanson join Kyle Sandilands for debut”, August 11). Mr Minns, you just gave this excuse for a broadcaster legitimacy and credibility. According to Sandilands, the prime minister was also supposed to call in but thankfully never did. The premier has shown poor judgment. Doesn’t he read the papers? Tim Douglas, Hurlstone Park

Medical reality

Pauline Hanson says Australian workers are lazy. She then says migration is the reason “why hospitals are turning away sick people” (“Hanson hits out at Burke on migration numbers”, August 10). Given that a large proportion of nurses and doctors in our hospitals are migrants or the children of migrants, who will keep our health system running if we don’t have adequate migration? By her definition, lazy Australians won’t be able to fit the bill. Hanson says she will “go around Australia” gathering wish lists, asking people what they want. She says she will “even visit a few fish and chip shops” to get their requests. If she visits me, I will ask her to pop out of her plane and take a walk with me through the wards and theatres of Gosford Hospital to meet some of the staff. Then I’ll ask her to get real. Bernie Bourke, Ourimbah

WILCOX TOON

Thinking inside the Square

The artist’s impressions of the proposed Town Hall Square say it all: it’s a vanity project poorly thought out and designed (“First look at the divisive plans for Sydney’s $150m Town Hall square”, August 11). The square is dominated by a Victorian fountain, the dark pavement portends a heat trap, the tree types provide poor shade and shed limbs. Rather than an open space for the people, it looks like an opportunity for al fresco dining and a corporate pavilion. Ironically, the square is cut off from the Town Hall by the city’s last great project, the George Street tram, a reminder of cost blowouts, prolonged time scales and disruption. What’s missing in the picture is the last proposed vanity project, the Cloud Arch, the throwaway bikes and Sydney’s famous homeless citizens. Please, Clover, spend the money on social housing instead. Bruce McGarity, Bathurst

Good thinking, Clover Moore. There is no doubt that this is a very bland corner of the city. No current building has any merit, so the bulldozers can’t come quickly enough. The Town Hall needs to finally take centre stage, and clearing the space opposite seems like a good start. I hope we aren’t still only talking about this plan in five years’ time – like the permanent outdoor music bowl in the Domain area, a William Street boulevard or the reimagined Circular Quay. Let’s hope that the city council can get started on a midtown vision to show what’s possible. Greg Vale, Kiama

Eucalypts in the square in front of the Sydney Town Hall? Surely a species of native tree more appropriate to this setting can be used. Lilly-pilly and blueberry ash come to mind, and I am sure there are others. Eucalyptus trees are known for dropping large amounts of leaf litter and branches around them to prevent other plants growing nearby. The sudden branch falls are hazardous and the oils in leaves can stain footpaths. The shade provided in summer is dappled at best. This oversimplified reference to a romanticised bushland heritage seems lazy. John Perry, Newtown

Copycat problem-solving

As a former teacher of HSC students I can affirm that plagiarism is an old problem (Letters, August 11). Ethics isn’t a major concern for many students – marks are their focus, and also for their parents. One good way of sorting out those who think and evaluate for themselves is making it a requirement that footnotes and bibliographies are used. This must be taught and insisted on in hand-in assessment tasks. Students will always look for shortcuts and share with their friends, and teachers have limited time to sort out where this is occurring. Fewer take-home assessment tasks helps sort some problems out but it doesn’t promote research skills and the critical evaluation of evidence. Vivienne Parsons, Thornleigh

Unhealthy system

Bulk billing has climbed to 84.1 per cent but, as the Herald reports, growth has lagged for older patients whose consultations are typically longer and more complex. That detail deserves more than a passing sentence (“Free GP visits on the rise as 1400 clinics ditch out-of-pocket fees”, August 11). The bulk-billing rate is a ratio of bulk-billed attendances to all attendances. The measure counts only the consultations that happened and says nothing about the ones that didn’t – the appointments never offered because a doctor cut their hours, retired early or left the practice. So the measure can improve while the amount of care given actually decreases. If the GPs who leave are disproportionately those who charged a gap in order to run long appointments, their departure lifts the rate more. Nor does 84 per cent of attendances mean 84 per cent of all patients. Fewer than half of Australians were bulk-billed for every visit last year. A rate counts services, not people. Affordability is a price measure and we are reading it as an access measure. A free appointment you cannot get is not a health system. Dr Elly Goodsall, Newcastle

Tech worth its salt

On the contrary, Dennis Bluth, more solar and wind farms can provide cheap power to run more reverse osmosis desalinators (Letters, August 11). Instead of building more dams to harvest more water despite declining rainfall, as you suggest, we should be using abundant seawater to add to the environment. It could even pay for itself via expanded agricultural output if it were put in the right place. For example, a cluster of 250-gigalitre desalinators built near Port Pirie in South Australia could pump water into pipelines to Bourke via Broken Hill, which would drought-proof most of the Murray-Darling basin by adding a teralitre to the river flow. Alan Stanley, Upper Corindi

Dennis Bluth urges the construction of more dams as an aspect of climate change adaptation and contends that no additional water reserves have been secured for 40 years. Well, they have, in the form of the desalination plant completed in 2010. For more dams to be constructed, watercourses and land will be submerged. Destruction of environment was the primary reason for plans to raise Warragamba Dam wall being shelved in 2023. Kate Lumley, Hurlstone Park

Safety check

In the many media reports about the recent near-collisions at Sydney Airport we have had comments and criticisms from the chief executives of Airservices Australia, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, Airlines for Australia and New Zealand, the Australian Travel Industry Association and others (“Air traffic agency warned over Sydney Airport chaos”, August 11). Among all these groups and their highly paid executives, one wonders who is actually responsible for the safety of passengers, staff and airlines? Rob Phillips, North Epping

Base liabilities

As Peter Hartcher points out, the US bases in the Middle East were once thought to be protective assets for the host countries but in fact have turned out to be liabilities (“Middle East may be entering a post-American era”, August 11). Lessons for Australia? Richard Tainsh, Potts Point

Now that America has basically lost the war in the Middle East and couldn’t even defend their Gulf State allies (as well as Ukraine), what on earth is the point of AUKUS? Tony Lewis, Mount Victoria

New role model

Amidst the obfuscation, the rampant memory losses, the multiple pleas of “I can’t recall” Peggy Dwyer SC maintains grace, professionalism and cool in the face of the utterly non-sensical answers being offered by the witnesses at Operation Rosny. Ms Dwyer is my new role model. Anthony Frazer, Camperdown

Losing my religion

As a person of faith, I haven’t found a religion despite decades of temporary involvement in mainstream Christian churches. Noting the penalty for wrong information, I ticked the “No religion” box on my census form. By default that counts me as an atheist, which I certainly am not. Geez. Andrew Cohen, Glebe

Telling evidence

It only took 20 hours for police to work out that a suspected murder victim was actually just a sex doll (“Body in suitcase was a sex doll”, August 10). Wow. Denis Suttling, Newport Beach

Letters from Balmain

The Balmain Teachers College class of ’63/’64 included Warren Marks, Denis Suttling, Ian Roberts and Ted Hemmens, all still writing letters to the Herald (Letters, August 11). How many other contributors can lay claim to belonging to this illustrious cohort? Own up. Ted Hemmens, Cromer

Sign of spring

This morning I saw a bee. Just one, but perhaps there are more if I sit very still. Keith Russell, Mayfield West

• To submit a letter to the- Sydney Morning Herald, email letters@smh.com.au. Click here for tips on how to submit letters.
• The Opinion newsletter is a weekly wrap of views that will challenge, champion and inform. Sign up here.