The Australian record of war in the past 75 years is inconclusive. Our time in Korea ended with a truce. We secured a province In Vietnam but lost a country. Whatever we did in Iraq, security is worse despite our contribution.

Soon we leave Afghanistan but long gone is any talk of democracy, nation-building and equality for women.

In each war politicians and generals told us we were winning but where now is the winning record?

This is not to disparage the professionalism, valour or motives of the men and women who served in those theatres. One legacy of Vietnam should be we can respect our service people and admire their efforts but still question why they fight where they do and what keeps them away so long.

Let's have a robust debate in public and the Parliament before more war talk because when Australians go to war we must expect the long-term outcome to be unclear and the commitment to last for years.

A century ago the Spanish flu pandemic infected about 40 per cent of the Australian population. About 15,000 people died.

The Australian Quarantine Service implemented maritime quarantine on October 17, 1918, after learning of outbreaks in New Zealand and South Africa.

In the following six months the service intercepted 323 vessels, 174 of which carried the infection. Of the 81,510 people who were checked, 1102 were infected.

The number of infected people in India is almost equal to the entire population of Australia. Allowing for the addition of aircraft and better medications, our response has not been so different to that of a century ago.

The use of restrictive laws is a consequence of people having chosen to travel to countries where the pandemic is out of control and the risk of infection is high.

Yes, the federal government must show compassion in helping those in India regardless of the cost.

That said, I believe it is time to put a notice in the passports of people travelling to high risk destinations to the effect that "given overseas travel is a personal choice Australians (and others with re-entry authority to Australia) travelling to countries where pandemics or other dangers are known to exist will not be allowed to re-enter until all federal government requirements have been met".

To David Polkinghorne's critique "NRL's crazy conference system should follow the ESL" (April 29, p39) you could add that the Sydney press will contend that whatever team wins the "wither on the vine" conference would have struggled to make the finals in the "real" (Sydney) conference.

Thus should the Raiders make the "superbowl" playoff and win their victory would be dismissed as due to the Sydney winner having been celebrating all week after winning the "real final".

In "Deterrence means threatening China in scary new world" (May 04, p18) Steve Evans referred to the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.

He wrote: "Kennedy in his wisdom chose peace". He was very wrong; Kennedy's provocative actions nearly caused nuclear war.

In 1961 the US had nuclear warhead rockets based in Turkey and aimed at the USSR. In 1962 the USSR started to install nuclear rockets in Cuba pointed at the US.

Kennedy objected and blockaded Soviet ships approaching Cuba. Eventually both the USSR and the US agreed to withdraw their rockets. Score USSR 1, US 0.

During the blockade the US used training depth charges on Soviet submarines in order to force them to surface and be identified. One (the B-59), which had not been able to contact Moscow, was armed with nuclear torpedoes.

For these to be fired in retaliation the three senior officers on board had to agree. Two did, but the third (the commander of the deployed submarine detachment, Captain Vasily Arkhipov) did not.

Kennedy's unwise aggression almost started a nuclear war. Arkhipov's wisdom may well have saved the world.

Section 51(ix) of the constitution does not make the Commonwealth responsible for quarantine, even if Peter Hill says it twice (Letters, April 29 and May 4).

It permits, but does not compel, the Commonwealth Parliament to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the Commonwealth in respect of quarantine.

The constitution does not need to mention that this (legislative) power is shared with the states. To the extent their laws are not inconsistent with valid Commonwealth laws, the states are free to legislate on any matter the constitution does not reserve exclusively for the Commonwealth.

Murray May notes that some interviewees begin every answer with "so" (Letters, April 30). I do find this practice mildly irritating. However, more irritating to me is interviewees beginning every answer with "look".

I have listened to entire interviews where every answer began with "look"! What makes it irritating is that, in my mind, beginning a sentence with "look" is often the beginning of some form of reproach (as watchers of Fawlty Towers would be able to verify), and so is usually quite superfluous in the course of a routine interview.

I am one of those ordinary people who naturally feels anxious when thoughtful citizens are punished for speaking up about the things that go wrong in Australia.

As such I am grateful to Kieran Pender for his clear- headed article "Addressing misconduct should not be a crime" (May 3, p29).

I don't think our country should convict Richard Boyle, David McBride, Bernard Collaery, or Witness K of criminality. I personally am grateful to them for telling the truth about government wrongdoing and for achieving all important accountability and change, as Pender points out.

I really don't know how the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) works in relation to the Attorney-General but it occurs to me that, as Michaelia Cash has only recently taken over as our AG, she might well prove herself worthy of that new role by requesting the CDPP to withdraw any further proceedings against these courageous whistle-blowers.

Reports on Victoria's quarantine plan reveal much about government MPs and their (mis)understanding of roles and responsibilities.

Both Defence Minister Dutton and Federal MP Katie Allen seem concerned that Victoria would ever think the Commonwealth would pay for a quarantine facility. They'd both do well to read Section 51(ix) of Australia's constitution which clearly sets out that the Commonwealth has quarantine in its remit of responsibilities.

Articles have also quoted Katie Allen as saying Victoria "seems focused on the future...". Presumably this is in stark contrast to the federal government which is always looking in the rear view mirror and cleaning up one mess after another.

Doug Hurst (Letters, May 3) criticises the proposed gas-fired power plant in the Hunter Valley for the wrong reason. He wants it to be coal-powered instead because of the "vast coal deposits" in the region.

We must not build any more coal or gas-fired power stations if we are to stay within so-called "safe" levels of warming, namely 1.5 degrees.

Fortunately the cost of renewables is plummeting and there are now grid-scale batteries to even out the intermittencies. The front page report in the same issue "Big battery to power west Belconnen homes from May" says "the five-megawatt battery would be able to provide electricity to 5400 homes for one hour". This is exciting stuff and it's all happening very quickly.

Apart from environmental reasons for not using coal, it cannot compete economically alongside renewables. The same can be said for gas.

Even Kerry Schott, head of the Energy Security Board (ESB) agrees. She said a taxpayer-funded gas-fired power plant in the Hunter Valley "makes little commercial sense given the abundance of cheaper alternatives flooding the market".

Scomo described Slater's comment from India about the travel ban as "absurd".

The only absurdity is the Morrison government's posturing.

Threatening citizens with jail for coming home is unbelievable.

It sounds unAustralian to me.

Many nations have now either closed their borders with India or imposed travel restrictions to protect their own people from COVID-19. Most of them are not European so I guess will not be called racist (as Australia has been).

I must confess I've never had a lot of time for Matt Canavan.

That said, he went up highly in my estimation on Tuesday when he said the government's ban on allowing Indian-Australians to return was morally wrong and unAustralian.

Good for him.

Why is it that politicians can never admit they have got something wrong? Surely Scomo must realise what a bad blue he made when he criminalised people who just wanted to come home. Say you're sorry, reverse the decision, and move on. How hard is that?

What if it was the PM's wife and daughters who were stranded in Delhi? Methinks they would be flown home on an RAAF plane pronto. An Aussie passport stained in blood is worthless to the Australians who are trapped in India.

Does this government care for Australians? The apparent mindset speaks for itself. We've had the "robodebt" fiasco, the watering down of the NDIS, quarantine abrogation, the vaccine debacle, and the punitive ban on entry from India. What's next?

During the tragic bush fires last year the commonest term applied to those involved was "resilience". The same can hardly be said for the selfish, whingeing, petulance of Australian cricketers stranded in India.

So our highly paid cricketers who chose to go to India despite COVID-19 not being under control when they left, now demand special treatment to allow them to return, possibly importing coronavirus. Tough. You're out.

The world is not in a good place right now. COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc, climate change is an ever present threat and China is the new bully on the block. However, there is one thing that brings me peace of mind; Donald Trump has been largely silenced !

Ankatel and Cowlishaw streets on Tuesday. A perfect marmalade of autumnal colour. Simply brilliant and the rain is welcome too.

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