Senator Pauline Hanson's suggestion to stop such migration might not be the answer but it is better than empty Churchillian-type slogans about "never surrendering to terrorism" by other politicians which achieve nothing positive.

How about pulling out of the Middle East wars or aid funding those poverty stricken nations which lead to migration after we kick out the corrupt dictators running them?

Greg Cornwell, Yarralumla

With another horrific terror attack in London, many are anxiously wondering where the terrorists will strike next.

Unfortunately, this probably isn't the last terror attack we are to see. We must combat this problem of extremism and we must do it quick.

As an Ahmadiyya Muslim, I believe we must tackle the root ideological cause of terrorism.

We must explain that Islam only allows for a defensive war and that the Koran teaches that killing a person is the same as killing all of mankind (5:32).

Khizar Rana, Walkerville, South Australia

On the subject of religiously motivated violence, Dr Peter Cooper (Letters, June 3) states that religions have been trying to deliver a message of peace and harmony for millennia and that the real problem is tribalism/economic advantage.

Leaving aside the fact that many residents of Constantinople and Mosul would posthumously disagree, and the limited economic opportunities available to successful suicide bombers, it may come as a surprise to Dr Cooper to learn that a significant proportion of the world's population is "not too bright".

Religion is a dangerous thing in the hands of idiots, and without the mythical constructs of a deity and an afterlife, and the absolutisms contained within the various religious ideologies exhorting people to carry out the work of their god, it would be nigh on impossible to persuade anyone to attack innocent civilians and forfeit their own life in the process.

In light of the recent wave of attacks across Europe, anyone still in denial of this fact can be regarded as part of the problem.

James Allan, Narrabundah

With breath-taking hypocrisy, Malcolm Turnbull loudly criticises the US for pulling out of the Paris climate agreement while he approves and plans to subsidise the world's largest coal mine. The so-called clean coal from the Adani mine and others the government hopes to approve in the Galilee basin could tip global warming past the point of no return.

Are we really that greedy, selfish and short-sighted?

George Kozakos, Barton

What effect on the climate will Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris agreement have? Absolutely nil. At last we have a world leader prepared to call the anthropogenic global warming catastrophe for what it is.

The greatest hoax ever inflicted on mankind. If only our own leaders would follow Trump's example, and at the same time get rid of the RET. Then if they abolished the AAT and HRC they might nearly balance the budget.

Owen Reid, Dunlop

The headline of Tom Switzer's article (Comment, June 5, p12) "Trump's Paris move right" is more that a play on words ("correct" and/or to the political right), it reveals a dangerous attitude to the realities of climate change.

Climate change, at least in Europe, is dismissed as "a fundamentalist religion" when in fact overwhelming scientific evidence shows it to be a real threat to the state of the earth, to society, and to world economies. The Paris climate accord is dismissed as "weak and futile", and an "article of faith" for this "religion" when it was, in fact, a serious commitment by the vast majority of the world's countries (195 signed, 144 ratified) to seriously address climate change and its proven consequences. The US is now only the third non-signatory to the accord:

Of the other two, Syria is in a war of nightmarish complexity, and Nicaragua objected that the accord didn't go far enough. Would this have been the outcome if the Paris accord were seen as "weak and futile"?

Furthermore, natural gas, oil and coal are not the great energy saviours that President Trump and Tom Switzer claim them to be. There are enormous business opportunities, which are "climate-friendly", being offered in the development of renewable energy, particularly solar PV, solar-thermal, and wind.

Douglas Mackenzie, Deakin

Interesting that Gary Wilson in his letter "Civilisation on the move" (Letters, June 3) says it is a "major point of contention" that the "hunter-gatherer tribes" of our Indigenous people could be "considered a civilisation?"

I ask the question if the first white inhabits could be classified as "civilised?"

Any reading of the first years of white settlement and it is not hard to be ashamed of the treatment given to the Aboriginal people by the first colonists.

Ferocious brutal bashings, murder, rape, hangings, slavery, starvation, chain gang work parties, and the list goes on.

There is evidence of some having brands burnt into their skin so that whites could prove ownership.

And of course they were driven off their land by the use of weapons and stealing the women for use as sex objects, especially the young women.

I personally think that to call the early whites "civilised" is a "major point of contention".

Geoff Barker, Flynn

It was with great delight I opened The Canberra Times to read the article "Counter Culture" (June 3, p8). How fantastic to see the spotlight on a family businesses that goes that extra yard to offer something different or give more personalised service than their big name competitors.

Cook Friendly Grocer (and the family behind it) have worked tirelessly for the past 14years to provide Cook residents and beyond with a one-stop grocery shopping experience. They stock brands in food and beverages very hard to find in other places. They support local businesses by selling their homemade wares, they support the local community by employing our young people for part-time jobs, and they also regularly sponsor many school and sporting events. They have found their marketing niche in a very competitive field and have done it very well. This grocer is but one shop at the Cook Shopping Centre that brings our local community together. All business owners share a great friendship and sense of comradeship, and work together to ensure Cook shops is a warm and welcoming place to visit. After many, many years of waiting, Cook Shops finally had a fairly basic makeover care of the ACT government last year — so much more could have been done, but it is a start. As a grateful Cook resident I thank all the wonderful businesses at Cook shops and long may our community business hub continue to grow and prosper.

Linda Higginson, Cook.

I was at the Conservation Council's World Environment Day dinner at the Arboretum on Saturday night. It was a great evening for many reasons, but the one I want to highlight is the delicious menu. I was so impressed and pleased that Larry O'Loughlin and his team had the courage to show real leadership on this by providing a truly sustainable meal. I have read the UN report Livestock's Long Shadow and it concerns me greatly that most environmental organisations – especially those professing to be working to combat climate change – seem to do and say nothing at all in terms of highlighting the serious level of GHG emissions from livestock, which are much greater than those from all transport combined. Five stars to our ACT Conservation Council for leading the way!

Michelle Fahy, Lyons

When remembering the anniversary of the Mabo decision we should give credit to four people who contributed significantly to this milestone — Michael Tate, then Minister for Justice, who made the at that time courageous decision that the Commonwealth would pay all Mr Mabo's legal costs and expenses for what many, if not most, people thought was a hopeless case, and Mr Mabo's legal team, Greg McIntyre (solicitor), Ron Castan QC (senior counsel) and Bryan Keon-Cohen (junior counsel), who worked devotedly for greatly reduced fees.

Peter Benson, Greenway

The CT (June 3, p30) reports "Banks cut interest rates paid to savers" because of the new tax on banks.

Banks will invent a story telling of the suffering it will bring to retired shareholders. The ex-head of Treasury, now on a bank payroll, will tell us the banks need high profits to keep the banking system sound. The banks will continue to maintain their margins. In today's Australia regulations and taxes tend to make things worse.

Instead, we could bring some competition to the loan market. We need the banks as a safe place to store our money, but we do not need them to create new money to finance infrastructure. We can use existing money in our super funds and other savings to fund our infrastructure. The cost to the community of using PPP's and banks for infrastructure loans is high.

The interest cost on the Cotter Dam will be three times the cost to build it, and the cost of financing Light Rail is one billion more than it needs to be. If members of the community are allowed to fund infrastructure projects directly, it will save money by bypassing the middle-man financiers and give safe, high return investments to all members of the Canberra community.

Today, the residents of Canberra cannot invest directly in Canberra infrastructure. If that changes we would all be better off.

Kevin Cox, Ngunnawal

No, Frank Cassidy (Letters, June 2), there is nothing contrived about Hare-Clark's effective voting: a majority of votes always translates into a majority of seats in each of our electorates returning an odd number of MLAs. Parties achieving 35 per cent or 40 per cent first preferences don't automatically get an artificial winner-take-all bonus, although the latter support level has sometimes been enough to claim three of five seats after preferences. As Jon Stanhope showed in 2004 when Labor's nearly 47 per cent of first preferences translated into an Assembly majority, voters are quite capable of giving a party rule in its own right if sufficiently impressed by policies and candidates.

Bogey Musidlak, Convenor Proportional Representation Society of Australia (ACT Branch), Narrabundah

Frank Cassidy (Letters, June 2) disagrees with retiring ACT Electoral Commissioner Phillip Green's view that Hare-Clark is a "good" electoral system. I would be interested in Cassidy's view of what alternative system "would reflect the majority view of electors" better than Hare-Clark.

Frank Marris, Forrest

The report, "Couple 'betrayed' over visa charges" (June 4, p8) told the sad tale of a Canadian engineering student.

Newly-wed to an Australian girl, he paid $10,000 visa fees but now faces "tens of thousands of dollars more for his education" because under new laws he must finance his degree through a HECS loan.

That sounds as though he could previously expect to get his degree "tens of thousands of dollars" cheaper than Australian students. It seems as though he made a dud investment. It also sounds like a loophole which needed to be closed.

I only hope that his marriage does not suffer too much strain. It would be sad if his new wife's "ongoing employment" is insufficient to support their changed circumstances.

Gary J. Wilson, Macgregor

Rex Williams (Letters, June 3) seems to be afflicted by the same inferiority complex he accuses the federal government of when he suggests Australia is acting like the United States' 51st state.

A truly confident and independent Australian would have suggested the US is acting like our 7th state!

John Clarke, Pearce

We are constantly told how the barbarous acts carried out by murdering sociopaths who specifically target children and other innocents has nothing to do with religion.

However, I don't see too many atheists blowing themselves up in the name of Darwin.

Lee Welling, Nicholls

Recently, I left a prominent national supermarket clutching a thick, 15c plastic bag containing four smaller plastic bags containing my fruit and veg. In my other hand I had a thick plastic bag from a national retailer containing non food products. I wondered how Andrew Barr's plastic bag "ban" was working.

Jevon Kinder, Murrumbateman

Julia Baird argues against the renaming of Margaret Court Arena ("We shouldn't airbrush Court from our history", June 3) citing several examples where current social mores has resulted in the erasing of a previously well-regarded person's name from prominent edifices and other prominent structures.

Two things; many of the names in Julia's article deserve a place in history – be it good or bad; Margaret Court was a sports person and could not, by any stretch of the imagination, be considered as contributing to Australian history.

Bob Tyghe, Black Head, NSW

Donald Trump says he has withdrawn from the Paris agreement because it gives other countries a "financial advantage" over America. What does "financial advantage" mean? Doesn't it mean greater wealth?

But isn't America the wealthiest country in the world? And as such, shouldn't it be trying to help other countries who are less well off – not least by doing all it can to mitigate the effects of climate change?

Michael McCarthy, Deakin

I can understand why Question Time in Parliament is not called Question and Answer Time. Apart from Dorothy Dixers, no questions posed to the government are answered. The session is a waste of taxpayer money and a poor reflection on the PM and his government.

Jeff Bradley, Isaacs

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