Refugees are selected after a painfully long and thorough evaluation of their background, skills, abilities and motivation. Our prosperity has from early days been built by refugees determined to create a new life and new opportunities, and our society is well aware of the value of their contributions.

As Mr Turnbull formerly claimed, Australia is perhaps the most successful multicultural country in the world. It is therefore most disappointing that he has supported Mr Dutton's divisive comments. I will not vote for any party that supports the current policy on refugees, their detention and inhumane treatment, which is bringing shame on Australia.

Helen Reid, Acton

There is still time for Malcolm Turnbull to get out of the gutter and take on those in Coalition ranks who are hell-bent on bringing him down.

Many Australians, including those of us who are not Liberal voters were elated when he took over. But many now view his swing to the right in order to placate the Abbott supporters as a sell-out.

D.J. Fraser, Currumbin, Qld

Poor old Malcolm Turnbull in election mode. As a matter of survival, in a nest of vipers, he has to produce principles for all seasons and for all kinds of reasons, whilst conjuring paradoxes with a straight face.

Almost as difficult as conjugating irregular German verbs during Friday prayers.

Jon Jovanovic, Lenah Valley, Tas

I value my vote. It is very important to me and I would prefer to use it wisely. Therefore, I would like to vote for the potential parliamentarian who has had a surgical removal of his or her ego and who is more concerned about his or her responsibilities than his or her entitlements.

If there is no one with these attributes then I might be forced to not vote.

What would happen if we held an election and people either did not vote or voted informally?

Kerry Mulgrue, Belconnen

Folks say Wild Bill Shorten and his gang have rode into town, and tried robbing the bank, but it was empty. Everbody knows you can't keep a good union cowboy down.

Wild Bill Shorten vows and declares on a stack of Bibles that he should be Sheriff, dad-blast it. His horse will be deputy sheriff.

Wild Bill got this horse that on a good day can count up to nine, on account of it only having three legs, and them none too steady most times.

That horse, Deficit, is a real caution. It almost don't matter them sums don't add up, not regular-like, except coming out of the saloon.

Roy Darling, Florey

It would appear that Kym MacMillan and Janet Fletcher (Letters, May 17) misunderstand a fundamental aspect of our system of government.

The upper house is enshrined in our constitution as a "house of review" to ensure balanced government. It has appropriately performed that role for over a century and, in one case, led to the dismissal of an unpopular government.

If that role and right were to be removed, as suggested by Kym and Janet, we could end up with the farcical government that Joh Bjelke-Petersen ran in Queensland for close to 20 years with, at times, a popular vote as low as 19 per cent.

Queensland does not have an upper house.

It would be a very sad day if the role of the Senate were to be reduced to a mere rubber-stamp for the party-of-the-day that controlled the lower house.

Wages growth of 2.1 per cent is not nearly enough to compensate for the ever-increasing mercenary medical industry fees. Their increases, taken whenever it suits them and promoted by their union, the AMA, who always get the increases they want without a murmur from the government.

Once regarded as a respected profession, the medical industry is now almost the only salary increase winner in Australia, year after year.

Alan McNeil, Weetangera

Regardless of what one feels about the sad disposition of the multi-millions of refugees, the five people refusing to stand up when requested in the court in Melbourne, an Australian tradition so it seems, is yet another glaring example of the inability of a minority of such people to ever assimilate in this country.

While these people will "only stand for Allah" they will never be citizens here and we all know it. It is time to implement selection standards that dismiss consideration of anyone who subscribes to a law that will never be accepted locally. Sharia Law is not Australian. They need to know this and the sooner the better.

Rex Williams, Ainslie

Why does Greens MLA Shane Rattenbury "welcome" the signing of a contract for a project whose construction will cause 60,000 tonnes of greenhouse emissions, that will not reduce public transport operating emissions because, as the Chief Minister said, buses will simply be reallocated to "more buses on more routes," and that will discourage public transport use by removing bus stops, and replacing direct services with connecting services that require walking between stops, waiting for pedestrian signals and wondering if the connecting service has already left?

Leon Arundell, Downer

So the dairy industry may be heading down the gurgler. It should have happened long ago. It's an industry based on the use, abuse and killing of cows and their calves. It produces a food we can do without and perpetuates this ludicrous practice of humans drinking milk well past weaning age – milk intended to quickly grow a calf into a 600kg animal.

All its nutrients are readily available in various other foods – without the saturated fat and cholesterol.

But instead of using a levy to help those finding it hard to stay in the industry, I, and I'm sure many others, will gladly pay an extra 50c per litre for our soy milk (or almond, oat, coconut milks etc.) towards a fund which assists dairy farmers who want to transition out of that moribund industry.

Mike O'Shaughnessy, Spence

Thanks for the well-merited tribute to Romaldo Guirgola ("Architect's legacy is a national landmark", May, 17. p1). Given his Roman birth, it would be appropriate to remember him with the poem by Gaius Valerius Catullus, Ave Atque Vale: Through many countries and over many seas/ I have come, Brother, to these melancholy rites, /to show this final honour to the dead,/ and speak (to what purpose?) to your silent ashes,/ since now fate takes you, even you, from me./ Oh, Brother, ripped away from me so cruelly,/ now at least take these last offerings, blessed/ by the tradition of our parents, gifts to the dead./Accept, by custom, what a brother's tears drown,/ and, for eternity, Brother, 'Hail and Farewell'.

Si monumentum requiris, circumspice.

Peter Graves, Curtin

Laurel Gress (Letters, May 18) is shocked and saddened by the culling of beautiful kangaroos, and the fact that they'll be used as bait to control foxes. She's right about the wolves and coyotes of the American west – they do control the deer which otherwise graze out whole watersheds.

Sadly, the ACT wolf equivalents, marsupial lions and tigers and aboriginal hunters, are long gone. Luckily the ACT government is prepared to step in as the top predator to help balance the kangaroo population.

Chris Doyle (Letters, May 18) feels that unchecked livestock and weeds do more damage to grasslands than out of control kangaroo numbers. Perhaps, but it is the cumulative effect of all stressors which will wipe out the Golden sun moth and its confreres. Proper management addresses all the issues.

Peter Marshall, Braidwood, NSW

In "What if Trump goes rogue?" (Times2, May 17, p1), Peter Hartcher suggests that a President Trump could pull out of the Darwin deal for rotating deployments of US marines and – horror of horrors – might even want to renegotiate the ANZUS treaty. I can't see the downside of either proposition. Why do we need another American base in Australia even if it is (wink, wink) only a rotating deployment? As for ANZUS, what could be more useless than a treaty that binds its signatories only to "consult" in the event that either is attacked? Yes, a President Trump would be a disaster for the US and, probably, the world but I can't see him as the instigator of any Australia-specific harm, even if someone does happen to show him where we are on a map of the world.

After all, he'd have his hands full dealing with the Mexicans and Muslims.

Bronis Dudek, Calwell

Recent contributions to the Letters page have lamented the 'fact' that overall home illumination has dimmed somewhat in the years since fluorescent and other low energy bulbs became popular.

After years of seeing though a glass darkly (1 Corinthians 13:12), I am now the proud owner of a 100 watt 'bad ass' bulb I bought (ironically, I suppose) at the Green Shed. Call it a guilty pleasure. It's not just the brightness; there is something about the warm, full light in my kitchen that just draws you in.

Ross Kelly, Monash

SICKENED OVER TAX

Thank you, Jenna Price, for your very comprehensive, and simply put, analysis of such an important issue ("Sick lies over sickness tax", Times2, May 17, p1). The government's behaviour is really sickening.

John Rodriguez, Florey

DUTTON DILEMMA

Malcolm Turnbull does himself no favours by continuously supporting his very underachieving Minister for Immigration. Surely he realises that the continued support of such a xenophobic buffoon reflects poorly on himself and reinforces any perceptions of a hard, uncaring and out-of-touch government.

Annette Gilmour, Melba

BUDGET TREBLED

In his letter 'Remembering the GFC and the economy Abbott inherited' (May 18), Ray Armstrong forgot to mention that since gaining power Messrs Abbott and Hockey and Turnbull and Morrison have managed to treble the budget deficit.

Roger Terry, Kingston

TOP TRANSPLANT

It's nice to hear that the first successful addadictomy has been performed in the US.

Mike Dalton, Gowrie

WINS ALL ROUND

What a nice double-barrelled stunt in that backpacker's tax proposal! Made the budget look slightly less bad on the way in, and justifies Barnaby Joyce's existence on the way out. Does that make it a perfect catalyst?

S.W. Davey, Torrens

FLYING UNDER RADAR

Today in History (May 19, p8) does an injustice to World War I ace Stanley Goble by transposing letters in his name (Globe vis-a-vis Goble). He played an important part in the formation of the RAAF and has a street named after him in Hughes.

Norman Lee, Weston

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