Jan Darby, Isabella Plains

Regarding dog racing Errol Good says, with the right rules in place we can all "enjoy our animal friends" (Letters, July 6). Errol, didn't you mean to say we can all "exploit our animal friends"?

Jenny Moxham, Monbulk, Victoria

If Susan MacDougall (Letters, July 7) thinks the tram is going to reduce traffic congestion on Northbourne Avenue then she will be mightily disappointed.

The trams will remove 20 or 30 buses from Northbourne during a peak hour, freeing up the inside lane but having little other effect on general traffic. On the other hand, cross traffic will be disadvantaged because of the priority to be given to trams.

The tram is not rapid transit, so it will be less effective in accommodating growth than in just developing the bus services.

There are two actions now open to the government to significantly reduce traffic on Northbourne: sponsor commuter ride-sharing (not the type offered by Uber) and distribute the work force to the towns. Ultimately technology will force the government's hand on both these points to the extent that the tram will only be an expensive and wasteful promotion, built in the wrong place to boot.

John L. Smith, Farrer

I am glad to say that I have bad news for Ms MacDougall (Letters, July 7) and others who think trams are a great idea for Canberra. After Shane Rattenbury's rattler starts operating down Northbourne Avenue, there won't be any relief for car commuters. In fact, it will be much worse, given additional sets of traffic lights and priority to trams at lights. Canberra's increasing population will ensure that the number of cars in Canberra will also continue to increase, including the number used by commuters. And for those starry-eyed voters looking forward to riding the Gungahlin-Civic tram as commuters each day, two-thirds of you can expect to be standing up for 30-plus minutes each way, not the advertised 24 minutes. Independent modelling puts the travel time for the Gungahlin-Civic line at from 30 to 35 minutes. Of course, it might be 24 minutes at 7am Sundays. Yes, we need fewer cars on the road but trams are not going to do it. What is needed is redistribution (not centralisation) of work places around Canberra to obviate car travel and reduce mileage and pollution.

M. Flint, Erindale

Just when words fail to describe the catastrophic Trump presidency, we have Barnaby Joyce as acting PM. What does Acting Barny say about North Korea? "We will follow the US into war on the Korean Peninsula." None of these "politicians" will be anywhere near when they start the killing. None of their families will die in uniform.

It beggars belief but Trump has his son-in-law as "ambassador-at-large" to "negotiate in the Middle East and, potentially, Korea. In the Name of All that is Good and Holy, look up the Korean War on YouTube, Barny, Trump & Co. Look slowly, carefully at the piles of corpses and the mass destruction. Now imagine that magnified by millions across Korea, Japan and who knows where else. China will not tolerate US troops on its border. In the last Korean war the Chinese army drove the United Nations troops, including ours, all the way down the Korean Peninsula. Then the Chinese did not have nuclear ICBMs. They do now. If Trump starts this, he will be unable to stop it. He could well see Washington, along with his hotels world-wide, burn. Trump, for once, tear your eyes away from the mirror and try to think about others.

Rod Olsen, Flynn

Your account of the Korean crisis ("Turnbull warns on missile threat", July 6, p1) tells it all. It includes a recent China-Russia request for the US to end military exercises nearby. That poses the question: just who is provoking, and who is reacting?

Like Rex Williams (Letters, July 6) I know of US missiles facing China and North Korea, also menacing Russia from the West, where US war games right now, with the Baltic states, also spoil for a fight. US president Eisenhower warned of the US "military-industrial complex".

Just as its missiles, planes and ships constantly circle the globe ready for a stoush, the self-centred and self-righteous US is not being provoked by any nation – it is the provoker.

Graffiti has often said, YANKS GO HOME. But US bases have remained worldwide – since 1945!

Given the ring of missiles the US has built on Russia's western borders, Vladimir Putin's stance is understandable. A similar ring points around the belt of SE Asia at China and North Korea – and potentially also at India and Pakistan. China is threatened by repeated US war games nearby, so far from California! If the eastern Pacific primarily belongs to the US, so too does the western Pacific fall essentially within China's (not America's) sphere of influence. This must be respected.

Barrie Smillie, Duffy (Member, Gough Whitlam's foreign affairs and defence committee, 1976-78)

Given the continued appalling commitment of Australian men playing tennis at Wimbledon, I propose that in future the ACT has a plebescite to nominate an ACT tennis representative to play in the men's singles at Wimbledon rather than have some angry, bored, disenchanted, petulant, wealthy, angry again pretender represent the city. I further nominate that Ian Warden, a local tennis firebrand from the Reid tennis club, as an appropriate replacement for Nick Kyrgios as Canberra's preferred nominated representative. I believe that Mr Warden has the characteristics to carry the good name of Canberra into the Wimbledon tennis arena.

With his guile and experience and a favourable draw he could well carry the colours of Canberra with good humour into at least the second week of the tournament. Let's have a vote to seal the deal.

Wayne Grant, Swinger Hill

North Korea's ICBM missile test should not be seen as an offensive test, despite their media hype, but more a defensive test. North Korea is paranoid that it may be invaded as the Korean War is not yet settled. The best defence is arming a country with offensive arms as a deterrent. The US and Russia are masters at it. If North Korea has a nuclear capacity then it will join the nuclear club of the US, Russia, UK, France, Israel, India, Pakistan and China. Nuclear deterrents have worked well since WWII. So stop panicking here in Australia over nothing.

Adrian Jackson (ADF infantry officer, retired), Middle Park, Victoria

As leader of a strong and growing union, I reject J. Coleman's narrow version of unionism (Letters, July 6).

While the protection and advancement of worker rights and entitlements will always be unions' bread and butter, we can walk and chew gum at the same time. In fact, we must.

Despite declining union membership across the total workforce, the folly of which is already becoming clear as wages stagnate and income inequality reaches a record high, unions remain the largest organisation of people in the country and an important voice for social progress. Remember the apartheid battles and the green bans that saved Sydney's Rocks? The simple fact is that a genuine effort to address climate change, a humanitarian approach to the treatment of all human beings (including asylum seekers) and greater equity for women and same-sex couples improves the lives of our members and, not coincidentally, the lives of our students. We are not workplace bargaining mercenaries: we have a broader view of how Australia and the world can be better, and we don't apologise for that.

Glenn Fowler, secretary, Australian Education Union — ACT Branch

David Teather (Letters, July 6) is quite right to be concerned about the consequences of our continuing to burn vast amounts of fossil fuels. A not so well-known example is the alarming increase in the rate of melting of Iceland's glaciers which are losing in a year up to 100 metres in length and 20 metres in thickness.

Yet this week Josh Frydenberg was talking on radio about the huge Adani Galilee Basin coal mine going ahead – with its princely total of 1464 jobs – to supply the many hundreds of new and proposed coal-fired power stations. This is at the expense of other Australian coal mines, those in the Hunter Valley in particular, but also those in Queensland's Bowen and Surat basins.

I was immediately reminded of comments made on radio this week by Andrew Blakers, professor of engineering and director of the Australian National University's Centre for Sustainable Energy Systems, that it makes no economic sense to build new coal-fired power stations. Solar and wind power plants are now considerably cheaper – and after construction they do not contribute to the CO2 emissions that boost global warming.

Douglas Mackenzie, Deakin

John Passant (Letters, July 7) has yet to experience the next step in unwanted advertising delivery.

For over a year, large bundles have been thrown on our driveway, from a car, under cover of darkness, but only on one side of the street. My complains have been to local government (not their responsibility), the Standards Distribution Board, the self-regulating body of the Australian catalogue industry (totally ineffective) and finally to a local federal member of Parliament (helpful). The practice, as well as being dangerous, has damaged the garden, left our driveway littered with unsolicited bundles and created a security issue. Our house was burgled in April while we were absent. This week's bundle (which contained two of everything) led me to confirm Selmat MediaForce as the distributor. They informed me that the material is intended to be hand delivered into letterboxes not marked to the contrary. This doesn't help the aggrieved householder when no checks appear to be made or actions taken re complaints to the regulatory body.

On advice, the next step is to contact either the Minister for Communications, Mitch Fifield, or Labor's communications spokeswoman Michelle Rowland. They have carriage of issues to do with delivered materials.

Now I have the name of the source distributor, along with the registration number of the delivery car, I am better placed to follow up. I'm happy to join any action which will stop or effectively regulate unwanted littering in private spaces.

Marie Wensing, Evatt

There's an error in calling Tony Abbott "yesterday's man" – the term assumes that he was once an effective performer. The only role in which he has performed better than "below average" was in highlighting the deficiencies of the then Labor leaders, principally by a totally negative approach to their endeavours. He is now employing a similar approach within his own party.

Tom Cooke (Letters, July 6) didn't mention his electorate of Warringah among those whose interests he is adversely affecting. Unfortunately these are the only people who can get rid of him.

Peter Baskett, Murrumbateman, NSW

"... the tram will never be faster than the express buses," writes Stan Marks (Letters, July 7). I am afraid that the express buses will be phased out when the tram comes in. Otherwise, why would anyone ride a tram?

Bruce A. Peterson, Kambah

I've read too many critical letters about the Raiders' performances. Stop it. Wait until Melbourne Storm arrive on July 22 with a full squad after a post-Origin bye. You can whine post-game.

Gerry Murphy, Braddon

Historically slaves were valued possessions, clothed, housed and fed by owners, in exchange for labour. The Australian Industry Group, archetype of today's employers, treat their slaves dismissively, demanding they forage for themselves on insultingly below subsistence stipends ("Spitting chips: potato giant accused of 'wage theft"', July 6, p10).

Albert M. White, Queanbeyan

Tony Abbott wants the Liberal Party to be "what we really are". Why does he think the Liberal Party created by Menzies is "really" more conservative than liberal? If Menzies had wanted to create a conservative party, he would have called it that.

Michael McCarthy, Deakin

Clearly Tony Abbott is after his old job — Opposition Leader.

Graham Wright, Yarralumla

Wendy Ratigan suggests cutting the size of the Federal Parliament by a third, preferably in alphabetical order. I can't agree. That would leave the Zs in place!

Peter Dahler, Calwell

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