It's a scandal this, and other health scams, "attract rebates under private health insurance policies are funded by public taxes".

Prohibition, as we've learnt over many years, never works and is always counterproductive. But apart from ensuring that they're not subsidised from the public purse or health insurance products, there are things which can and should be done, including mandatory warning labelling and comprehensive public education schemes, both of which have been so effective in reducing tobacco use.

Pharmacies that sell these products, and Pharmacy Boards that take no action against them, are odious for using their hard-earned professional reputation to mislead where they should be warning.

All suppliers of products or services claiming health benefits should be required to provide comprehensive scientific proof of their claims before they can be sold as health-related products or services in Australia.

Fred Pilcher, Kaleen

Vyom Sharma's article about homeopathy ("Homeopathy sells dangerous falsehoods", February 9, p.19) has so many errors it is hard to know where to start.

It relies on the NHMRC investigation into homeopathy which failed almost all the tests that it applied to homeopathy research.

If Vyom Sharma is looking for reliable evidence about the effectiveness of homeopathy, he needs to look elsewhere.

People use therapies because they work, not because they get the same result from a sip of water.

Just because we do not yet have the technology to analyse a remedy that has been shown to work repeatedly for bee stings or for migraines or for infertility does not prove it doesn't exist or that it doesn't work.

My suggestion to Vyom Sharma is that, next time he is ill, he tries a remedy under appropriate supervision, to find out why Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, and the British royal family have used homeopathy.

It appears that they found the evidence that the NHMRC managed to avoid finding in its investigation into homeopathy.

Jennifer Heywood, Spence

Thank you, Harold Mitchell, for your fawning advertorial on Israel ("Australia could learn from Israel's innovations", February 10, p.37), but may I correct something.

You claim that Israel "transformed desert into a fruit and veg bowl", thereby implying that Palestine was a desert under Arab control. However, according to the 1946 British Survey of Palestine, the Palestinian Arabs were responsible for 90 per cent of Palestine's agricultural output.

They had cleared and developed vast areas of land for citrus production, and developed the Jaffa orange as a major export crop long before the Jewish colonisation of Palestine began.

Paul Dixon, Fraser

There is so much more about La Bohême, Bohemia, than a few letters (Letters, February 7, 9, p.17) could try to explain. However, one fact is for sure, Bohême and bohemian are definitely related.

Bohémien was a common term for the Romani people of France , who were mistakenly thought to have reached France in the 15th century via Bohemia, at that time a proto-Protestant country and considered heretical by many Roman Catholics .

You, non-romani, or gadjo (as they used to call us on the way to school in the outskirts of Paris), could not understand.

Unconventional? No. Just a nomadic ethnic group, known as Gypsies or gens du voyage (travelling people) who live in their roulottes.

Noëlle Roux, Chifley

It seems from both letters page and the behaviour of my fellow Canberrans that a great many dog owners have never bothered to find out the laws pertaining to dogs in the ACT. It is illegal to have a dog unleashed in a public place in the ACT (other than specific off-leash parks).

If you don't think it applies to you because you think your dog is unlikely to attack, consider the fact that seeing you breaking the law encourages the idiots with dangerous dogs to flout the law as well and put your dog (not to mention the general public) at risk.

It seems to me that it is often just pure laziness on the part of the owners when they don't leash their dogs to walk them. If you can't be bothered to 1) know the law, and 2) follow it, you are a menace to other dog owners and shouldn't have a pet at all.

Anthony V. Adams, Reid

The Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds would like to congratulate ACT Labor and the ACT Greens for taking the ethical and responsible step to end $1 million taxpayer subsidy given to the ACT greyhound industry every year.

The McHugh Commission of Inquiry into NSW greyhound racing, found evidence that up to 17,000 greyhounds are killed in Australia each year. In 2015 Australians watched in horror to see trainers using the barbaric and illegal practice of live baiting with piglets, rabbits, and possums to increase the dogs' performance on the track.

In the ACT, the RSPCA revealed the greyhound racing industry's financial dependence on government funding to survive, systemic animal cruelty within the industry and the fact that most industry participants were actually from NSW.

We are therefore strongly encouraged by ACT Labor and Greens' decision to do the right thing for greyhounds and taxpayers.

Eleonora Gullone, Animal Justice Party, Windsor, Vic

Barnaby Joyce at question time on Thursday appeared to perform more like a rabid mountain lion than a reasoned member of parliament. Why not provide the designated speaker with a microphone so they can speak normally against the inevitable howling classes?

Phil O'Brien, Flynn

Ross Gittins article "Look who's talking Bill" (February 8, p.16) was indeed perceptive and prophetic.

He cited Mr Shorten's hand on heart words at the National Press Club the previous week that "people are distrustful of politicians and more than a few don't trust us to fix it" and "They're not opposed to genuine debate – but they are over the smallness of so much of the national political conversation ..." and "But this year I am going to put people first, politics last".

Listening to Shorten's personally based, blistering tirade against Australia's Prime Minister on Wednesday (February 8) confirmed Gittin's conclusion "What were you saying about voters being sick of rival politicians playing tit for tat, Bill?"

Yes, we are Bill – and very much more so after "the smallness" of such a demeaning performance.

Is it any wonder that Malcolm Turnbull hit back with such effect, after months of being accused of weakness and being too nice. I wonder how his critics will respond?

Len Goodman, Belconnen

Mr Turnbull's latest display of tactical bullying and political mendacity has left me totally disgusted.

His opportunistic and politically expedient character assassination of Bill Shorten has resulted in losing any remnants of respect I may have still had for our Prime Minister.

This behaviour is not OK. The politics of personal denigration may have become popular in the age of Trump but we certainly do not want our elected representatives to resort to this base behaviour.

Australian politics has always been considered as "robust" but Turnbull's display on Wednesday was an example of the worst kind of political bullying, egged on by his cabal of jackals in the coalition who cheered and clapped him.

If you are confident in your policy platform you should be able to argue the merits of this without resorting to mean and vindictive personal insults.

Annette Gilmour, Melba

It was so disappointing to see Malcolm Turnbull make a personal attack on Bill Shorten in Parliament on February 8.

It reminded me of the dreadful personal attacks on Julia Gillard by Tony Abbott, which I've never forgiven him for. Surely it should be about political views, not personalities.

Although I've never voted Liberal before, Malcolm Turnbull seemed to have so much promise for a fairer society that I could have changed my mind. But not now.

Maybe the disaffection of Cory Bernardi will split the Liberals into real liberals and real conservatives.

I also dislike the noddies in the background when politicians are interviewed by the media.

Susan MacDougall, Scullin

That someone who has done so inordinately well as an insider in the system should lampoon, belittle and disparage so viciously anyone else on the accusation of even just supposedly doing the same is more than a bit rich. But that is Malcolm Turnbull: bizarrely wealthy and more than a bit rich.

Alex Mattea, Kingston

Did I hear correctly that Malcolm in the middle was criticising wild Bill for getting the Melbourne rich to help with sick elephants? Maybe Malcolm should get his rich buddies to help with some of the sick elephants in his own backyard.

Ed Gaykema, Dickson

Rumour has it Peter Dutton is looking at tapping the present incumbent on the shoulder to take over the leadership. For all Turnbull's problems surely the last thing the government wants right now is Dutton at the wheel.

D. J. Fraser, Currumbin, Qld

Thank you Professor Warhurst for the article in Thursday's paper ("PM must come out ...", February 9, p. 18).

But perhaps we should remember that Dr Faustus could not get out of his bargain either.

Meta Sterns, Yarralumla

When it comes to Parliamentary invective, is it fair to describe Malcolm Turnbull as the rich man's Paul Keating?

Nigel Thompson, Queanbeyan East, NSW

Liberals, the government, the media – everyone – has been apparently 'revitalised' by Turnbull's spray against the opposition leader in question time on Wednesday.

It illustrates everything that is wrong with contemporary politics in Australia. Turnbull was responding to a lesser tirade by Bill Shorten who made several reasonable policy points. Turnbull's lauded and therefore now-famous response was a vituperative personal attack on Shorten. It was irrelevant and said nothing about policy, the thing that matters. The media reward him for it. The cycle continues.

The country is suffering badly after being essentially ungoverned for several years. Such policies as we get are chosen because they are the opposite of what Labor likes, not because they follow the evidence or the will of the people or have redeeming features. Turnbull must talk policy and he must get past his obsession with Labor.

The media must end its adulation of conflict and start rewarding good discussion of good policy.

Julian Robinson, Narrabundah

A plan "to spend $8 million" next financial year preparing "an investment-ready proposal" for a new convention centre, the "Australia Forum", has been shelved due to lack of funds ("Surplus shrinks to $5m", February 8, pp1,2).

A spokesman for Andrew Barr said, "The project is only feasible with significant financial support from the federal government." The claimed need for a "large injection of federal funds" was floated in 2011 ("City's waterside vision", April 11, p1), immediately (after) the Steering Committee for the Australia Forum Scoping Study released its report.

Their proposal was for a $328 million complex in Acton Park on the shore of Lake Burley Griffin. It has been hauled off the back-burner, just for show, now that the City to the Lake plan is hitting a few snags.

The issue is not so much a new convention centre or even an Australia Forum whose self-appointed members would tell the government what to do. It is just another demonstration of the town council's dogged determination to sell the lake foreshores.

Gary J. Wilson, Macgregor

SOLUTION IS TAXING

Personal attacks by main party leaders have done nothing to explain the failure of democratic society. Our inequality is due to owners' earnings, untaxed from lands and patents, far exceeding workers' salaries. Wealth and privilege grow generationally regardless of ability. The solution lies in a wealth tax not an income tax. Ask Shorten and Turnbull.

Bryan and Elizabeth Lobascher, Chifley

ERA OF DISRESPECT

Back in 1971 they had "McMann" as our Prime Minister. A few years later it was "John" Fraser. Now it's "Trunbull".

Bill Shorten is right: "Trump needs to show more respect to Australia and Turnbull, and can't run an alliance by Twitter."

Could it be that the USA, despite protestations to the contrary, has never found Australia worthy of respect?

Ken Maher, Ainslie

Being in the Trump era is like being an extra in a B-grade movie which no one has so far written the ending for.

Will humankind manage to survive more or less intact? If we should need anepitaph, there are these words of Bertrand Russell: "The fundamental cause of trouble in the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt."

Roy Darling, Florey

OFF THE GRID

Politicians keep using the words "baseload power" to give the impression they're informed. When it comes to coal-fired power stations and minimising emissions, the words should be "spinning reserve".

Unfortunately, this makes individual power stations uneconomic.

Thus, for the sake of grid stability, generation should not be privatised.

Alan Lay, O'Connor

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