Yet our Prime Minister, faced with the greatest existential crisis in human history, is happy to consign his children and everyone else's to a world of increasing misery and destruction as climate change wreaks havoc in Australia and around the world. This not only defies any logic but it also calls into question whether he genuinely wants the best for his own children.

Australia's role at COP26 has been nothing short of disgraceful. At a moment when even the old men of China and the United States realise that they must act before it is too late, Scott Morrison would rather placate the National party, the right-wing media and his mates in the fossil fuel industry than have the courage and conviction to stand up for the children of the world, including his own.

Scott Morrison, if only for the sake of your own children, there is no more time for obscuration, lies and platitudes. Do not be this kind of Prime Minister and parent.

"And I brought you into a plentiful land to enjoy its fruits and its good things. But when you came in, you defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination." Jeremiah 2:7

From time to time, writers of letters to The Canberra Times are instrumental in one's penny dropping. So it was with Graeme Rankin's letter on November 11. In recent times, Ben Morton has seemed oddly familiar to me, and I could never work out why. Then, Graeme Rankin gave the Minister for the Public Service the moniker "Mini Me Morrison". The penny then dropped, and I realised why Ben Morton seemed so familiar to me. All this time, Ben Morton seemed to me to be, consciously or unconsciously, channelling the Prime Minister. Mystery solved!

Your report ("Crunch time at Glasgow climate talks", November 12) contained both good and bad news. The good news was the new commitment by the US and China to step up efforts this decade to fight global warming. The bad news was Australia's likely response to Summit president Alok Sharma's draft of the agreement that all countries are expected to sign. The Australian delegation is expected to argue against the section which calls on countries to phase out coal and subsidies for fossil fuels.

Meanwhile Australia has received its first Gold Fossil of the Day award at COP26 for: "no new policies to reduce emissions or phase out fossil fuels; failing to deliver ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs); approving three new coal projects in the last months; ruling out signing the Global Methane Pledge; an "inaction plan" for EVs in favour of gas guzzling cars; rolling out the red carpet for gas-giant Santos in their COP pavilion; inviting consultation on ten new areas for offshore petroleum exploration; and not updating the 2030 target." Australia's performance at COP26 is shameful.

Matt Gately says he yearns for some wit, quirkiness or a new skew on things in letters to the editor (Letters, November 12) and yet he singled out one that actually contained some (Phil Jackson, Letters, November 11).

I am not going to quibble over whether or not Phil Jackson's letter was a proper or valid quibble, but it stood out to me as a decent effort amidst the usual stream of dross that attempts to pass itself off as informed comment on this page.

A typical day's reading of the letters' page now consists of: "I know everything about light rail, listen to me", followed by "No you don't, I know everything about light rail, listen to me", interspersed with recycled pithless tweets, observations from amateur armchair defence technology enthusiasts, and the senile ravings of ageing white males with very poor self-awareness. I know, I know - if we wanted all letters to the editor to be interesting, properly researched, accurate, well written, articulate, and precise - then we sure as hell can't rely on the public to write them.

Quibble on, I say.

The raising of London Circuit for the light rail is not only "a costly, ugly mistake" (Letters, November 12). It also exposes the hypocrisy of Labor and the Greens attempting to garner votes with their "Net Zero Emissions Policy Forum" and similar "blah, blah, blah" as Greta Thunberg would call it.

As long as the government insists on producing large amounts of greenhouse gasses by trucking 60,000 cubic metres of soil into Civic and blowing up access to the iconic arterial road connecting Civic with the inner south to replace this well-designed layout with traffic lights - resulting in long lines of cars waiting with idling engines - all assurances that it is committed to taking effective measures reducing CO2 emissions are suspect.

Your correspondents, most recently David Hobson (Letters, 12/11), continue to cite the Australia Institute for the erroneous claim that fossil fuels receive a $10 billion subsidy each year. Over 70 per cent of the Institute's claimed subsidy is the exemption from excise of fuel used for non-transport purposes or in heavy vehicles that are subject to a road user charge. This is not a subsidy. If fuel excise was abolished and all vehicles instead subject to a road user charge, exactly the same economic outcome is achieved. However, as there is no longer an excise to exempt anyone from, the supposed subsidy vanishes into the thin air whence it came.

C. Lendon (Letters, November 12) thinks Paul Keating is no longer a statesman but just a grumpy old man. Yet he reminds us that we fought wars along with our allies in SEATO to defend ourselves from the red peril of communism. Wars driven by the imperial powers that Keating referred to in is his comments and wars we didn't win. Had we had a leader like Keating at the time of the American war in Vietnam we might sensibly have stayed out of it instead of trying to prop up a corrupt imperial French regime that raped and pillaged that countries assets while the vast majority of the population lived in abject poverty.

I actually found Keating's assessment of the region was quite insightful especially with regard to India and its natural defence provided by the Himalayas. Interesting too that India was not a signatory to SEATO. No doubt they had some empathy for the people of countries like Vietnam.

Paul Keating goes "troppo" over the decision by the Australian government to cancel the French contract to build 12 diesel subs in favour of the nuclear British/US option. He has a long history of attacking Britain, probably based on his Irish background.

He can't see the ruthless behaviour of China. China has been picking a fight with every neighbour in the region, grabbing islands in breach of international arbitration decisions and is stealing food stocks from neighbouring countries. It crushed democracy in Hong Kong in breach of promises he made at the handover of Hong Kong to Chinese rule and has also threatened Taiwan to bring it back into Beijing's fold by force. China is also punishing Australia because it had the temerity to ask for an independent investigation into the deadly virus which has killed over 5 million people and infected over 500,000 million people worldwide and disrupted the economies and livelihoods worldwide. Is this a "benign" China, Mr Keating?

I can see very little merit in this expensive Woden tram indulgence. The tram journey will take twice as long as an express bus service and will have an underscoring benefit-cost ratio. The disruption to London circuit and the beautiful treescape destruction along Commonwealth Avenue is deplorable.

Canberra has been planned mainly for easy car transport and we will have in the near future self-driving smaller electric cars that could even utilise narrower lanes and thus provide an increase in car capacity. The Gungahlin tramway had an initial benefit cost ratio of about 0.5. Then a plan to densify Northbourne Avenue with high-rise buildings was conceived to bring the ratio up to about 1.5. So, apart from a very expensive lake bridge, are we also planning to densify Yarra Glen with high-rise buildings? Before any disruptive and destructive construction works are commenced on stage 2a, the government ought to provide an economic statement to clearly demonstrate its benefit cost ratio and any other intentions are acceptable.

There are alternatives. I found electric trolley buses in Kathmandu, years ago, quite quick and successful; this may be a more efficient and certainly much less costly option. Let us be mindful of all the implications and developments in urban transport technology. We must have other projects more beneficial to the Canberra community and with better benefit cost ratios.

Regretfully my thoughts for the fallen and the service men and women on Remembrance Day were clouded by recalling the past performances and statements of our Prime Minister and his Defence Minister. If I was unfortunate enough to be in a trench under enemy attack, the last people I would ever want to share it with would be Peter Dutton and Scott Morrison.

I was reminded of what the 500BC Chinese sage, Sun Tzu, wrote in his essays, The Art of War: "... there has never been a protracted war from which a country has benefited."

Whether it is a "lie", a "backflip", or one of Sir Humphrey's "considered and careful re-evaluation", when a politician says it, you can be sure they'll end up facing exactly the same way as before.

Mokhles K. Sidden (Letters, November 12) , must be joking when he suggests that we build the subs in Australia. I would have thought that by now we would have learnt our lesson when we built the Collins class submersible white elephants.

Hospitality workers in bars, clubs and restaurants all around the country are required, by law, to satisfy themselves that patrons are legally old enough to drink alcohol, are not intoxicated and are behaving responsibly.

No one objects to that. So why do some think it so onerous to require proof of vaccination status before customers can be served in any establishment?

As if the Australian flag didn't already need to be replaced, seeing the Prime Minister wearing a cut down version as a mask shows disrespect to our flag and our citizens. Our flag as a national symbol is now irreparably damaged. We need to replace it and move ahead with a new, uniquely Australian flag, one that we can ensure by law will never be disrespected by the Prime Minister or anyone else in such a way.

It's hard to reconcile the description "recreational", which suggests there's no real harm involved, with the numerous Colombians, Mexicans and Americans continually murdered in the provision of the product.

Canberra has managed to get through this stage without the scare-mongering and public shaming rife in the states. We don't need our government and our media to start putting children in the proverbial pillories of Garema Place to prove how seriously Canberra is taking the pandemic.

We are getting back to normal at last. More holidays ahead, more plane travel, more shopping and consuming. More CO2 pouring into the atmosphere, more likelihood of hellish conditions for future generations. Just because we can do something does not mean that we have to.