Trump is a bully. You do not counter bullies by doing nothing. I am not suggesting a "tit-for-tat" trade war. BUT – Trump would crow that no response to his tariffs proves he was right.

Trump's supporters only believe what he tells them and when he tells them reports of his lies are "fake news", they cheer him.

His supporters believe Trump that US steel jobs go when China dumps its steel in the US – he says nothing about most US steel imports not coming from China.

One answer may be for the rest of the world to immediately cease US armament imports and to expel US troops from their soil (the US makes and exports more weapons that the rest of the world combined – think of the scale of potential US job losses in its armaments industry).

Close ports to US Navy ships (NZ survived despite banning nuclear-armed/propelled vessels).

The bullying ends when the bully realises what he will suffer by continuing as a bully.

Rod Olsen, Flynn

Given that in the past year both the federal National and Liberal parties spent much energy on covering up and excusing the behaviour of Barnaby Joyce, would the public ever have been apprised of the formal harassment complaint against Joyce if it had not been leaked just before the Nationals' deadline for deciding the leadership last month?

The Coalition government is still reeling badly, and deservedly so, from these Joyce-focused debacles ("Turnbull needs a late vote", canberratimes.com.au, March 9).

If more complaints are received about Joyce, will the National Party executive reveal the existence of additional cases warranting investigation, as a matter of public interest?

No identifying details of complainants need be provided but the integrity and trustworthiness of the National Party will be destroyed and polls will worsen even more for the Coalition if that party fails to manage sexual harassment complaints honestly and transparently.

Sue Dyer, Downer

"The great progress that women have made is under threat", proclaims Virginia Haussegger ("Beware the male backlash", March 8, p. 20), yet deep in her article she bemoans the parlous state of the place of women in Australia and ends by saying "That's not progress people!"

Her article would have perhaps made a worthwhile contribution to the discussion if she had attempted to answer why "That's not progress people!" after the many years of active feminism.

Despite the obvious progress women have made in all walks of life why, as she says, are they still so poorly placed in Australia?

Is it because of those misogynists "hate trolls" she mentions or has the feminist movement managed to shoot itself in the foot? And while on the subject, when are we ever going to hear about the misandry also rife in this country, the misandrist trolls, and the effect that they may have had on male/female relationships. She could well be right about a male backlash. Would it be deserved?

M. Silex, Erindale

So the Australian Mines and Minerals Association and Master Builders' Association are making a bid to prevent the merger of three unions.

What a surprise. These associations have a history of appearing not to care about workers – or clients.

I believe they simply have one aim, and that is to spend all their energies on the protection of big business and builders so that they can have their name protected and make a profit.

It does not matter to them if clients and workers are ripped off or have their safety compromised.

One would think the associations would be smart enough to welcome the merger.

They could then constructively make efforts to work with the new union so that not only do the industries prosper but workers also become valued members of their industries, instead of the mythical hindrances the associations make them out to be.

Geoff Barker, Flynn

If Trump wants to start a trade war with the rest of the world Australia can retaliate by first kicking the US Marines out of Darwin, banning US car imports and finally evict US personnel from Pine Gap communication facility near Alice Springs NT and a similar facility at Exmouth WA.

Trump's trade war will draw Australia closer to China, India and Asia trade-wise, which is just fine.

You can't arrange a trade deal in the US with Trump without getting it in writing – and even then it might not work.

Most of these overseas trips appear largely just for show. Nothing concrete comes of them.

Adrian Jackson, Middle Park

Snowy 2.0 has the potential to deliver multiple benefits including for the regional economy, for ongoing national water and energy security, for Canberra's water supply and of course environmental outcomes, provided those are crafted into the legislation at the time of transfer of Snowy Hydro P/L to one public shareholder, the Commonwealth Government.

Key to ongoing public ownership is that the Commonwealth is also the sole guarantor for any loans that SHL may procure from non-government financial sources within Australia or internationally.

The loan structure can become the Trojan Horse for another sale attempt of this vital asset if careful eyes are not cast over the terms.

Acacia Rose, Thredbo

The ongoing problems some of us are having with our telephone and internet services are usually found in Third World countries.

As I am currently experiencing another episode of outages, I am not taking comfort in being told by my provider my telephone line may be fixed within the next 10 days or so. If it does not work by then I should contact them again.

We seem to dismiss that many people, including some of my elderly relatives, depend on a reliable communication system.

We don't ever ask how in the world we end up with an unstable and intrinsically flawed billion dollar communication systems we all pay for.

The reason is that ignorance and incompetence on such a large scale is easily dismissed because there is no way we, the end user, understand or get to know the contributing factors.

I hope that in time we find a a way to make those responsible accountable.

Dr Gunter Brandstetter, Queanbeyan, NSW

Speed-abatement measures in the territory are being driven too far, complains one motorist.

Isn't it about time the ACT government gave motorists a break and stopped its incessant clampdown on speed limits and other speed-abatement measures?

From my perspective as a Canberra motorist who regularly uses our roads I want to acknowledge the greatly improved driving manners and behaviour over recent years of my fellow road users.

Surely this needs to be taken into account in plotting future road safety strategies. Why is it necessary to implement more and more draconian measures?

Have selected increases in speed limits ever been considered?

A glimpse into our wider future may be found in the case of Flinders Way in Manuka.

This relatively short, 1.7 kilometres, has been blitzed with the following "safety measures": nine two-way speed humps, three pedestrian crossings, three STOP signs, two roundabouts, six speed humps to intersecting streets (Murray, La Perouse and Monaro), a number of peripherals such as pedestrian islands, and two separate 40km/h speed zones.

Whew! Maybe I'll walk next time I go to the shops. It could be quicker.

Mark Francis, Griffith

Re: your editorial on bicycle helmets of February 26 and the many responses.

Some of your cycling readers might be interested in how this whole helmet law issue started in Victoria.

In the 1980s, two members of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (Melbourne) reckoned that pressuring the federal government to introduce mandatory helmet-wearing would be a "fix-all", unfortunately without understanding the long-term psychological and technical issues that would plague it.

The only reason the hard-up Victorian government introduced the law was a $20 million bribe from the Feds.

Consider that eight critical requirements of the most comprehensive technical report undertaken on helmet design and testing (FORS 1988, 173pp) – including softer liners and a realistic test rig – were never implemented, because governments wouldn't pay for them, every research study into improving helmet performance in this country has been ignored (including Don Morgan's Conehead design).

There has never been a co-ordinated ongoing research program for helmet improvement nor real cost-benefit undertaken before or after the law.

None of some $1 million a year the Victorian government gains from non-wearing fines goes back into research and development. It cares more about covering its mistakes than helmet safety.

Simple exercise – how many cyclists suffered severe head-related injury say in the past decade, against how many just that you know of who have developed cardiovascular disease or died from a heart attack?

Ian Redfern, Melbourne, Vic

Overall I have always agreed with your editorial comments. However on this occasion ("It's time to build houses, not units", March 7) I cannot agree with your views.

Please, allow me to use an old saying to preface my disagreement with your views: "Affluence causes waste.".

Indeed, thousands of acres settled by three, four, five-bedroom houses inhabited by couples with 1.9 children, or single parents with a child, or a couple of pensioners, or even a single person, is not the most efficient way to use the land and resources available to us. Nor is it the best residential strategy to create communities. Endless rows of "golden cages" with a local pizza takeaway does not make a community.

In these days, when we are so concerned with the effect of our actions on the environment, it is difficult to reconcile the perpetuation of the quarter-acre block culture given the environmental consequences of meeting all aspects of the infrastructure required to ensure reasonable comfort for the residents. So, for example, on a city of scarcely 400,000 people we already "need" a light rail system to move a handful of people from their quarter-acre blocks in woop woop to the city centre every morning! Aside from the dollar cost, in a city like Canberra, to swap a flexible bus system for a rigid rail system makes the same environmental sense as building one house where six units could be accommodated. Well-planned and priced units developments bring people closer together.

John Rodriguez, Florey

"It's time to build houses, not units" (Editorial, March 7). Hear, hear!

You note that people are indicating this preference by moving to Googong and Murrumbateman, while developers are encouraged to spoil the bush capital by concentrating employment locations (Mike Quirk, March 8), by spoiling the Northbourne vista (Bob Salmond, March 8) and by the destruction of the lake foreshore (Heather Stewart, March 7).

You did not address the question of where these houses would be built – Ginninderry, Molonglo, Kowen, even south of the Murrumbidgee?

For a century now, people have looked for their own space knowing that the motor car makes it possible. No fleet of trams running between Gunghalin and Woden is going to curb this phenomenon.

Wherever the houses are built, Canberra will remain a sparsely populated region in terms of transport planning, inappropriate for light rail but with basic mobility needs able to be met economically by a well-planned and well-managed bus system.

The car will always be the primary means of mobility. Those of us who follow the rapid development of the driverless car and its deployment as a shared resource have no fear that everyone who wants a backyard can have one without creating traffic congestion or a never-ending demand for road space.

John L. Smith, Farrer

It is shocking that there is no direct bus from Crace to the priority enrolment school of Crace — Palmerston Primary School.

Many families are hugely inconvenienced and cannot send their children to school due to this fatal error in planning by ACTION.

ACTION has a duty to provide direct school bus services to priority enrolment schools.

Bus route 54, which passes through Crace, must pass directly through Palmerston School so that Crace families can use this route to send their children to school by bus.

Please action this ASAP.

David Jones, Canberra

Once again, the signs pleading save our shops, Mr Gentleman ("Save our Shops": new Curtin protest", CT, Feb 23, p8) have appeared. They're now on the Carruthers Street median strip. Yet still we have not seen a finalised master plan for the shops and the heavily disputed redevelopment. So long ago it was promised "soon".

Minister Gentleman – please explain.

Peter Graves, Curtin

ODE TO AN AVENUE

An ode to Constitution Avenue:

The Minister decreed there'd be

A Grand Boulevard for all to see

From Civic to Russell it was to run

And shortly the work begun

Alas! The building took too long

And that's why it all went wrong

A small and narrow lane we see

An example of what Northbourne is to be

Murray Upton, Belconnen

HOP TO IT JOYCE

Pat Barling (Letters, March 9) said politicians taking climate change seriously was an oxymoron. Barnaby Joyce now has something more to do on the backbench other than wondering how to get on the front page without making an even bigger fool of himself than he already has. He can now wonder what welders have to do with climate change.

Well done, Pat, job done!

Rory McElligott, Nicholls

WELCOME SIGHT

Thanks for printing a half-naked man on the front page for International Women's Day.

Alena Almassy, Lawson

ENOUGH ALREADY

Why are some men still complaining about equal rights and opportunities for women when men have been top dogs for centuries?Patricia Saunders, Chapman

NO CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION

So tell me Mr Dutton, how did the women held in Australia's concentration camp on Nauru enjoy International Women's Day?

John Passant, Kambah

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