Why would you do that when the UK has recently experienced four shocking terrorist attacks in three months at Manchester, Westminster Bridge, Borough Markets and Finsbury Park?

Sadly failings in their system were exposed. In Australia our system has protected us, with only several lone-wolf attacks occurring with tragic outcomes.

The Lindt Cafe siege exposed serious flaws in the management of the siege by NSW senior police as well as inthe Attorney General's department run by Mr Brandis. Lessons will have been learnt. And we must acknowledge the many potential terrorists who have been thwarted by our active counter-terrorism bodies.

No system can be perfect, especially from lone-wolf attacks by men who often have mental problems and/or a history of domestic violence and drug abuse. But by any measure Australia has a much better system than the UK in protecting its citizens.

A review of security matters by senior experienced people did not recommend this change.

It is hard not to question the political motives of our PM. He needs to shore up support for his leadership and Minister Dutton is a key conservative. It is disturbing that personal politics are behind this drastic change to be led by the divisive Mr Dutton who has too often been loose with the truth.

Lucille Rogers, Kingston

Earlier this week we had the SWAT team arrive. A tenant inour part of a Lyons public housing complex was experiencing 'drug-induced psychosis'.

He is known to ACT Policing and is a recent arrival to our stairwell. I want to commend ACT Policing for their professional conduct. No shots were fired and the man was taken into custody.

The young female negotiator showed great skill in getting the man to open his door. The alternative would mean a destroyed 2-hour rated fire door. Cost: three grand fitted.

Housing ACT would have had to add that to their already horrendous maintenance bill.

While this went on there were numerous support services waiting on the ground outside. Patience was the key that day.

Francis Bucknell, Lyons

We're now into the fourth year of mandatory detention of asylum seekers who come by boat. One might be tempted to ask readers for suggestions as to on what else we could have spent well over $4.5 billion the policy has cost us – so far.

There are other costs, of course, such as Australia's international reputation and the misery of the physical and sexual abuse revealed by Senate and Immigration Department enquiries but I suspect these don't count in the minds of government.

I have this vision of Peter Dutton arriving at the Pearly Gates and being asked by St Peter how he spent the time on earth God granted him, and him replying that he had taken frightened, desperate people who had chanced all and then separated families, put them in concentration camps and left them to the predations of their minders, local populace, dodgy local governments, and other inmates.

There would be a short, silent pause before St Peter leaned forward and pulled the lever on the trapdoor.

Dallas Stow, O'Connor

Recent difficulties with Section 44 of the Constitution concerning "dual citizenship" reminds me that there is an unresolved problem with Australia's first Labor prime minister. John Christian Watson.

He was born in Valparaiso, Chile as Johan Cristian Tanck in April 1867, the son of a New Zealand mother and a Chilean/German father.

Chris, as he became known, at age two went to New Zealand with his mother [dad had disappeared!]. He became John Christian Tanck and then John Christian Watson.

He came to Australia in his early 20s and became prime minister in 1904 without any evidence that he had abandoned his Chilean citizenship. Should his descendants be summonsed for his ill-gotten parliamentary earnings?

Ray Blackmore, Pearce

Could it be that the controversy surrounding the resignation of Greens senator Scott Ludlam for having dual citizenship with New Zealand will put the Australian legal system under the microscope more than it will the former senator for not doing his homework.

On the day the Australian Constitution was drawn up in the late 1800s, New Zealand was expected to join the federation.

WA had yet to decide to.

It would not be unreasonable to assume that in the minds of the Constitution drafters, NZ was not a 'foreign power' of the type warned against in section 44.

From my recollection of legal studies, judges go to lengths to determine the mindset of the lawmakers before coming to their decision.

If that is still the case it would seem to be very much in Mr Ludlam's favour.

Frank Cassidy, Kambah

With house sales above $1 million in the ACT now commonplace my heart goes out to young families seeking a home of their own.

Are future generations destined to be life-long renters and apartment dwellers?

There goes the great Australian dream.

M. Moore, Bonython

Apropos John Hewson's "The true source of wasteful government spending" (July 21, p 19), Michael Leunig says it all on page 385 of "The Wayward Leunig: cartoons that wandered off".

He suggests four suitable national infrastructure projects: The Dull Cube Project – a giant concrete cube for every town, city and suburb in the land; The Arch of Nothing – gateway-type arches on a grand scale to be constructed in civic spaces across the nation; The National Toothpaste Grid – a pipeline looping around the continent to deliver toothpaste to every bathroom in Australia; and The Solar Sausage Sizzler Project – sausage sizzle panels to be installed on every rooftop in the land.

Kevin Bray, Belconnen

Adam Gartrell ("These outdated rules belong to a different world", July 19, p2-3) makes plenty of good points about the rule on politicians' citizenship being outdated, but we simply shouldn't let it go.

Sure, we have a more multicultural society than when the constitution was drafted, but asking a politician to symbolically and literally indicate their first loyalty is to serve their adopted nation is no small thing.

No one has suggested ex-senators Ludlam and Waters were agents for New Zealand and Canada, and their resignations are unfortunate.

However, checking and denouncing citizenship and dual citizenship is easy. If the nomination process for political parties and the Australian Electoral Commission needs to be tidied up and encompass this step, then that is a simple and effective solution.

Their resignations aren't the first for this technical breach, and they won't be the last. But they should.

Symbols matter. Given that voters actually care that their elected representatives lives in their electorate and community it's not beyond belief that allegiance to Australia is important.

So, to all aspiring candidates, retain a pride and affection for your heritage, whether it's anything from another country where you or your ancestors were born, or simply the suburb a few blocks over where you used to live, but on election day be ready to say and to show that the people you're asking to elect you are your first priority.

Kel Watt, Canberra

Surely the great new Border Protection Force is capable of supervising those poor souls currently incarcerated on Manus Island and Nauru if they were brought to Australia for much-needed rehabilitation?

Apparently the Americans are in no hurry to take them, so they may linger there for years waiting to die. Their only crime was to flee their war-torn countries and seek asylum.

Border Force must be capable of turning boats back if they were to resume coming, else they don't deserve their name or their fancy uniforms and equipment.

There is no excuse for continuing with the threadbare policy of offshore detention on the grounds of national security.

We are told that Australia has a problem with expenditure, and our own needy people have benefits cut back to pay for the offshore detention facilities.

These contain 1200 people for a cost of $5billion Australian taxpayer dollars already spent, with more to come.

Just think what those dollars could do to alleviate homelessness in our cities.

Meanwhile, we are also told that 64,000 people who arrived in Australia by plane on visitor or student visas have overstayed by up to 20 years.

They are all here illegally, in spite of prime ministerial grand standing about deciding who shall come to our country, etc.

What will Border Force do about these individuals, who apparently have caused very little in the way of problems during their illegal stay, but are reported to be occupying at least 20,000 Australian jobs?

K. L. Calvert, Downer

Richard Johnson's (CT, July 20) comments on density are apt.

Over the last 20 years the demand for higher density housing has increased in response to the ageing of the population, decreasing household size, increasing centralisation of employment, the undersupply of land for detached dwellings, increasing congestion and reduced housing affordability.

The shift in demand is reflected in the 50per cent increase in the number of dwellings in North Canberra between 1991and 2011, much of it in the Northbourne Avenue corridor.

Clearly the transformation of the corridor began well before the announcement of lightrail.

By increasing demand in the corridor, the light rail project has accelerated the need to upgrade infrastructure, contributed to difficulties experienced in the housing renewal program and diverted demand from other locations including the town centres.

To meet the community's housing needs the Barr government urgently needs to consider the best locations for higher-density housing.

Such a review would provide context for the government's centres and housing policies and the light rail project.

Mike Quirk, Wanniassa

Malcolm has let himself down yet again. ("PM labels coal opponents 'delusional"', canberratimes.com.au, July 16).

Malcolm, in pandering to a conservative audience, puts people who want to phase out coal in the same basket as left-wingers and inner city Green voters.

Malcolm is smart enough to know this is not true.

For example, I and many others are not rabid greenies or left-wing ideologists but are deeply concerned about the impacts of climate change.

And as for clean coal technology ,which Malcolm was also advocating, he is also smart enough to know that "clean coal" cannot be anything but an oxymoron when looking at the total impact of coal production on farmland, water quality and the atmosphere.

And how unfortunate that Malcolm is still blaming renewables for high energy prices when reputable studies attribute it to other causes.

Malcolm is smart enough to know that what he is advocating are non-evidence-based falsehoods.

With a PM acting as an advocate for the coal industry, no wonder the electorate is so disillusioned.

Robyn Vincent, McKellar

As humans we have the right to eat cattle if we choose to. We don't have the right to torture them during the slaughtering process. Apparently those NT cattle barons now demanding compensation of $600 million for the temporary export halt called by the then Labor government in 2011 didn't see the scenes of torture of Australian cattle in Indonesian abattoirs that the rest of us saw.

John Davenport, Farrer

HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?

All of a sudden the ACT has a crime wave between two bikie gangs.

Mick Gentleman please explain how you have allowed this to happen when you had the powers to stop bikie association.

If you had thought outside the square and represented the ACT as you should then this war would not have occurred.

Innocent citizens will get killed and I for one will hold you responsible.

Mark Urquhart, Palmerston

ELEVATED FEAR

I hope that the elevation of Minister Dutton to security supremo has made would-be terrorists and immigration queue-jumpers as scared as I am.

Ed Highley, Kambah

So, former Queensland walloper and detention centre specialist, Peter Dutton, is tipped to head the federal government's new security "super-portfolio", consisting of ASIO, the AFP and Border Force.

Certainly gives added meaning to the term "police state".

John Richardson, Wallagoot, NSW

With the appointment of Peter Dutton as the new Super Minister of Defence against the Dark Arts, a quote from former US Secretary of Defence Robert McNamara springs to mind: "How much evil must we do in order to do good?" What kind of good is to actually come out of it, is anyone's painful guess.

Luca Biason, Latham, ACT

CONFUSING VALUES

Christopher Pyne says the United Arab Emirates "shares many of our values in terms of the geopolitical issues".

I thought Australian values were things like a fair go and compassion for the underdog. What has this to do with exporting defence equipment to kill people?

Michael McCarthy, Deakin

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