» Winning votes isn’t shallow, it’s how the whole thing works

Election on repeat
How much more effective would both the Labor and the Coalition election campaigns be if the public could become more familiar with the ministers and shadow ministers? The day after day photo-ops of Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton, neither of whom are particularly inspiring, is becoming tedious. Political parties need to sell themselves as a competent team not part of a one-man band. And it would make the evening news a lot more interesting.
Rod Mackenzie, Marshall

Leading from the front
The most revealing unanswered question from the leaders’ debate (“As Albanese and Dutton fought it out, these were the questions they couldn’t answer”, 17/4) was Peter Dutton’s response to the greatest threat to our security: climate change. His retort of “I’m not a scientist” reminded me of Scott Morrison’s “I don’t hold a hose, mate” response to his absence during the Black Summer fires. Whoever leads this country from now on is going to have to be on top of the climate science and be able to judge the safest and most economical way out the sorry mess years of inaction have landed us in.
John Mosig, Kew

Pumping up prices
It’s bizarre – both major parties are promising more money for people to splash on houses, while claiming to make dwellings more affordable. The Age editorial (“Silver bullet slogans are not going to fix our housing crisis”, 17/4) nails it: dishing out even more taxpayer dollars to be thrown at auctions can only inflate prices further. Admittedly, this has been happening for decades — but isn’t it time to rethink outdated habits?
The social damage caused by unaffordable housing is well-known. To boot, it is clearly unfair to splurge public money on an overpriced housing market already heavily subsidised via negative gearing and other largesse. The policies should be abandoned. Let’s use the money for better purposes.
Peter Freckleton, Hampton

Prefab potential
The two major parties have proposed lacklustre policies to assist first-home buyers — policies that many experts warn may actually drive up prices. Housing Minister Clare O’Neil acknowledges a key challenge is supply. She regularly highlights the challenges of building new homes, particularly due to labor shortages.
As a nation known for innovation, why aren’t policymakers exploring modular and prefabricated housing? Globally, these modern construction methods are expediting housing development and cutting costs. It is high time for both businesses and governments to invest in these innovative housing solutions.
Darren Baker, Campbells Creek

Hard border
Re “Entering the US has become more fraught. Here’s what you need to know” (12/4), I visited the US last year on my brother’s coattails for the fifth time in 10 years. We were quizzed at the passport check because I was visiting for a month unlike my brother’s three months. After a self-deprecating joke about our relative finances, we were in with nothing more serious than a raised eyebrow. Last month my brother got the “enhanced vetting” experience for nearly three hours at San Francisco International, ostensibly because his way of making a living (photography) was deemed “unusual” by the immigration official. While he sat in an interview room, his laptop, phone, camera and banking records were taken for inspection. I compare this experience to my holiday to Russia back in 2014. Sure, lots of uniforms and submachine guns on display, but the officials were professional, efficient and a few seemed genuinely happy to see us. Unlike the current situation travellers experience entering the home of the brave.
Peter McGill, Lancefield

People power
In noting the injustice of Donald Trump pressing El Salvador to accept evicted innocents, your correspondent asks: “Does the US Congress still exist?” (Letters, 17/4). Sure does! Problem is: Trump controls both its houses — the Senate and the House of Representatives. And we must not forget this: it was the American people, in the exercise of their democratic rights, that enables Trump to do what he does.
Jim Lamborn, Doncaster

Holding Trump to account
China is copping the wrath of Donald Trump simply because it has outperformed the US in many ways. In Trump’s mind, they have cheated their way to the top. The US, and now the world, has a huge problem. Do you placate or call his bluff? One can only hope the US courts are resilient enough to apply the law whenever Trump oversteps the mark. Congress and the army also have a role to play in enforcing the Constitution. Otherwise Trump will reign supreme and the US will become a second rate country run by a cartel of criminals.
Paul Chivers, Box Hill North

AUKUS is obsolete
Defence economist Marcus Hellyer finds the cost of AUKUS could rival that of the navy, air force and army combined (“How AUKUS is consuming the defence budget”, 17/4), yet it is arguable that AUKUS is already technologically obsolete. Palmer Luckey, chief executive of defence-technology company Anduril, was quoted in The Economist: “Fifty years from now the seas are going to be transparent. The skies are going to be transparent. We’re going to know where every sub, every airplane is. So then it’s a matter of: who’s going to make enough stuff to beat the other guy’s stuff.” Ukraine is giving us a glimpse into the future of battlefield technology where multimillion-dollar weapons are found and destroyed by $500 drones. Former PM Paul Keating has called AUKUS “the worst deal in all history” and says it will cede sovereignty to the US, and former defence official Michael Shoebridge argues that America’s abdication from the global rules-based order means Australian defence policy must be rethought.
Self-sufficiency in drone and missile production would make our island nation relatively easy to defend at a fraction of the cost of AUKUS; we have no need to project power into the furthest corners of the globe with nuclear subs. Riding shotgun with the US into a conflict with our major trading partner China is both unthinkable and undoable, and AUKUS must be scrapped.
Charles Shepherd, Brighton

Friends like the US
Rather than us preparing to hedge our bets if President Trump demands extra payments for the joint military and intelligence facilities based on our soil we should be the ones setting the terms of engagement. If Trump casts himself as the master of all deals then we too should have a firm position from which to negotiate, preferably by not buying the submarines and then a reconsideration of the tariff imposition. With friends like this, who needs enemies?
Denise Stevens, Healesville

A heavy debt
The news that the cancellation of the Suburban Rail Loop will cost billions should come as no surprise (The Age, 17/4). From its instigation this project has been a paragon of waste. The state government has essentially wrapped Victorians in a blanket of debt that will take a generation to rectify. Remember, the SRL was cooked up as a political weapon before the 2018 election and has no support from Infrastructure Australia. Now we discover the government has signed contracts that will cause the pay-out of billions in the event of a future government deciding to cut our losses. In a state with a mountain of public debt the only responsible course is to end the SRL.
Greg Gardiner, Brunswick

Stick with the SRL
Building infrastructure is expensive. Melbourne needs the Suburban Rail Loop. Twenty years ago it wouldn’t have cost as much, but it’s being built now and we have to pay today’s prices to build it. To stop the project would be an immense waste of the money already spent, and involve spending further billions in compensation. It is hardly unusual for projects of this size to suffer blowouts. Even building a house often costs more than the original quotation, for a host of reasons, such as an increase in the cost of building supplies. Although they are clearly more significant structures, the Eiffel Tower and the Sydney Opera House had problems with cost blowouts. The Melbourne SRL must be completed and we will pay the debt eventually.
Elizabeth Sprigg, Glen Iris

Gambling damage
The gambling industry has again destroyed a number of people’s futures, although with the help of a willing assistant (“Financial planner who fleeced family of millions to fund gambling addiction jailed”, 17/4). So many parts of the story are the same as previous cases but with different names, the lure of the big win, the investment with promised high returns, the vampire-like behaviour of online betting sites sucking out every last dollar and a financial company being misused. There is also the usual sadness, mistrust and a lot of regret.
If you have money to lose, give it to one of the many charities that need it, just gamble on the occasional Tatts ticket and the Melbourne Cup and, like I do, the occasional, small punt on a slow horse.
Dennis Fitzgerald, Box Hill

Protect MPavilion
I could not agree more with Norman Day (Opinion, 10/4) that the MPavilion designed by Tadao Ando must remain where it is in the Queen Victoria Gardens. It is breathtakingly beautiful in its simplicity with a meditative and almost spiritual quality. There is no other example in Australia of the work of this internationally renowned architect. We are so fortunate to have this building in Melbourne for all to appreciate. It would be an act of vandalism to destroy such a fine addition to our cultural landscape.
Mary Wark, Hawthorn

AND ANOTHER THING

US relations
Is there anyone who still believes Donald Trump is a stable genius who knows what he is doing?
Tony O’Brien, South Melbourne

So AUKUS is now costing as much as a branch of our armed services? Do we have to go bankrupt before it is reviewed/dumped? Trump’s bizarre policies are clearly showing the risks of continuing with it.
David Hood, Richmond

Trump isn’t changing the path of history. He’s just accelerating it.
Paul Perry, Fitzroy North

Federal election
I tried to watch the leaders’ debate on Wednesday night, only to find that both annoyed me intensely (admittedly one more than the other). Much easier to read about them with less aggravation.
Les Aisen, Elsternwick

Regardless of who did better or worse in the contest, I am so grateful that we can watch a leaders’ debate conducted with respect and that argues about ideas instead of demeaning each other. Thank you Peter and Albo.
Anna Evans, Thornbury

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Peter Dutton says he opposes the government’s proposal to cut student debt by 20 per cent because it favours elites. Would a Dutton government abolish negative gearing, capital gains discounts and franking credits that also benefit elites?
Richard Aspland, Rosanna

Petrol prices vary from day to day and from suburb to suburb, often in excess of 40 cents per litre. Hard to believe that the 25 cent excise discount wouldn’t be trousered by the fuel companies.
Keith Beamish, Canterbury

Thank goodness we have brilliant cartoonists (Wilcox, Golding, 17/4) to lighten the tedium of an election campaign that seems to be going on forever.
Jane Ross, San Remo

Finally
For Thomas Mitchell (“Why the worst day of the week is the best day to work from home”, 16/4), in my early working days, this was how my lovely boss viewed the week: manic Monday, terrible Tuesday, woeful Wednesday, tiresome Thursday, finally Friday. Amen.
Maree Harrison, Nerrina

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