You must be kidding. Then Labor senator Deborah O'Neill said people were "already bruised and broken" by ending up on the unemployment benefit.

Ms Orr recounted a second-hand story she heard about a Canberran too ashamed to invite people over because they could only afford instant coffee, and when the Canberran dropped and shattered the glass coffee jar, and couldn't afford to buy another one, they swept the coffee off the floor, removing shards of glass to reuse it.

Ms Orr, do you really believe that story? Surely there would be a risk to guests if they digested any unseen shards of glass.

You can only hope this is a fictitious story. I hope the bureaucrats that you were lobbying maintained a straight face as you were telling them this.

As well as receiving the Newstart allowance, rental assistance and other assistance the recipient can also earn a fortnightly income depending on individual circumstances.

People need to live within their means. When we bought our first house I worked seven days a week to afford curtains, landscaping and so on.

We still drink instant coffee, albeit from a tin. I don't recall our friends ever being embarrassed when being offered coffee from a tin.

Greta Thunberg's clarity and passion bear stark contrast to the cynical and insular tone of Steven Evans's ("Have no faith in St Greta's Crusade", Forum, October 12, p31) article regarding climate activists.

Evans should realise that disruption and inconvenience are key tactics in confronting the complacency and lack of action on the part of all of us but particularly those in power who have the capacity to address this compelling issue.

Historically too, disruption has been the means by which movements such as the suffragettes, the civil rights movement and the anti-war moratorium have broadened awareness and effected positive and enlightened social and political change.

They all disturbed the status quo. Without that impulse to react, our position becomes one of passivity and acceptance; a response which is unacceptable for future generations and the natural world.

The Kurds fight the Turkish Government because they know what past Turkish governments have done.

In 1915 Armenian fighters were accused of joining the Tsarist Russian Army, threatening an invasion of what was left of the Ottoman Empire. Using this excuse the Ottoman government "relocated" the Armenian people from what is now Turkey to today's Syria.

At the very least, hundreds of thousands Armenians died during the "relocation". The Kurds already know their fate if Turkey prevails, which doubtless it will as it has a huge army armed with the latest aircraft, battle tanks and state-of-the-art weaponry. Turkey is a NATO member. The US has provided most of its weaponry.

As always, Trump is lying about his responsibility for this. He has never met a self-styled strongman national leader he doesn't like. The atrocities to come will not trouble him. His only focus is on the re-election of his favourite "strongman", himself.

I have great admiration for the past achievements of those who have lived in modern-day Turkey, home to the oldest urban settlement (Catal Hoyuk ) and the oldest temples (Gobekli Tepe, 6000 years older than Stonehenge). Now?

Firstly, a warning. At 10.50am on Wednesday I encountered two brown snakes on the shared path near William Slim Drive, Giralang. I also saw three more travelling parallel to the shared path. Cyclists may not see them. Pedestrians; take care.

Secondly, cyclists, please ring your bell. Pedestrians can't hear you approach. I had to quickly move to the "wrong" side of the path to avoid a snake. A cyclist was approaching. I had no way of knowing he was there. He refused to use his bell, even when asked. Instead I copped a tirade of abuse.

Mate, I will do it again to avoid that snake. Cyclists give way to pedestrians. Its the law!

Recent letters praise Greta Thunberg's commitment to the environment, but where does this come from? Certainly not from her own education but rather as a tool of her environmentalist mother who, in 2017, was named by the World Wildlife Fund as Sweden's Environmental Hero of the Year.

I commend any child's support of their parents, but a 49-year-old can't tug heart strings like a 16-year-old can. The environment movement has form when it comes to using children for political purposes. Just look back at environmentalist David Suzuki's promotion of his 12-year-old daughter speaking at the UN Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.

We might have more trust in an environment movement fronted by accredited scientists than one promoted by frightened children.

Gough Whitlam once made the point an unemployment level of five to six per cent was a tool used by all governments to manipulate budget outcomes. The fact the Australian Government has increasingly used the unemployed as the social punching bag of primary preference demonstrates both an ignorance of, and abuse of, the poor.

The fact there are now five low-skilled applicants for every entry-level job highlights the critical importance and urgency of increasing the Newstart allowance, both to stimulate the economy and demonstrate some level of compassion and equity in society.

One in six children under the age of fifteen is now living in poverty. Many of these have parents who rely on government support.

Hungry, homeless, helpless people are far more expensive to support than those with some degree of financial security. On top of this, even the most simple-minded of capitalists understands that a population without disposable income makes the entire system unstable.

Douglas Mackenzie (Letters, October 14) has misrepresented or misunderstood the statement about ice ages by Howard Brady (Letters, October 8).

It is generally accepted the great ice ages hundreds of millions of years ago, of the Palaeozoic and Precambrian, occurred with carbon dioxide levels higher than at present. I understand also that observations of the life history of stars such as the sun show solar radiation was then likely less intense than at present.

Importantly, the great Permian ice age which covered much of southern Australia with ice about 300 million years ago followed a significant lowering of carbon dioxide levels, in turn the probable result of the locking up of carbon in the great coal deposits of the previous Carboniferous Period.

Architectural panache and innovation; they're both sadly missing in our brand new suburbs, where stultifying pretentious "bungaloids" are crammed in cheek by jowl, with literally no backyards to speak of.

I've seen families having barbecues on the street verge. Garages end up full of storage and cars cram the narrow streets. Privacy is in short supply.

But wait. Take a look at something like the "Mini-G" at a new display village, west of Belconnen. This striking, tiny, starter house has two levels and is very economical. Put this little prefabricated beauty on a typical new 350 square metre (or smaller) block, and you've got room for a safe private garden, a trampoline, a decent shed, a tree or two, a barbecue area, and most importantly, room to extend the house later when the family grows and the mortgage shrinks.

Beat the crippling spec/project-builder system and the banks; save the environment; improve the streetscape; and have a look at the likes of the Mini-G.

It's a good plan to disrupt the Kurdish homelands and let ISIS regroup there. There's a danger for the armaments industry otherwise of not having to provide for another protracted, merciless war in northern Syria in the near future.

American Machiavellianism in regard to the Kurds vis-a-vis Turkey bodes poorly for Australia's subordinate US alliance.

Pine Gap aside, and back-slapping rhetoric notwithstanding, despite comradeship in war it's doubtful we'd ever be worth anything to the Yanks if it came to choosing between us and Indonesia or other major Asian nations.

I agree with Don Sephton (Letters, October 16) about the marijuana legislation allegedly being the will of the people. I certainly was not asked. Nor am I aware of any consultation taking place.

Doesn't anybody in Canberra understand? Carbon is essential plant food. As populations grow we are going to need more of it.

If Australians look at USA's withdrawal from Syria; do they still have confidence in America standing by little old us?

John Murray (Letters, October 15) lists World War I and World War II actions in which America stayed at home. Hollywood redressed the imbalance by sending Errol Flynn to save the situation in both wars. He didn't look a day older in WWII.

No amount of sugar coating of the Trump presidency by apologists like Ian Pilsner (Letters, October 6) alters the fact Trump has damaged the fabric of American democracy with his megalomaniacal leadership. That's where his critics are focused and that's where the focus should be.

Behind Pope's entrance (Editorial cartoon, October 12) to "Johrassic Protest Laws" surely there's a swarm of rebellious people thinking they are just the bee's knees, buzzing around, creating a noisy drone and just waiting for a friendly apiarist to save them from extinction.

Why am I not surprised the Australian Bureau of Statistics has sounding a warning on funding? When has any bureaucrat ever said he or she needs less. If activity were restricted to matters which led to decisions, rather than just satisfying curiosity, they would get by on what they have.

China's response to Dutton's observation its communist values are inconsistent with Australia's was arrogant. If China is such a lovely place to be why aren't the world's refugees queueing up to get in? I suspect it's because they know China is just one step up from North Korea.

Australia is on the western edge of the Indian Ocean. The tidal flux is squeezed between our coast and Indonesia and Timor. This means 10-metre tides near Broome. In the Orkney Islands rafts are used to generate electricity from similar tidal fluxes. The moon is reliable, unlike wind and sunshine. What are we waiting for?

Re "Canberra Grammar gifted $20 million from businessman", canberratimes.com.au, October 16). Terry Snow should be able to claim the $20 million as a donation; a tax offset of up to $9 million and a substantial loss in revenue to the Commonwealth. I'm always cynical of large donations by mega-wealthy people.

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