In recent times, in most of the states and the territories, there was a relatively small election loss, then followed an absolute slaughter to the point where the Coalition parties barely exist (WA and the NT), or are just an ineffective rump (Qld, Vic, SA and the ACT).

Labor runs a very efficient publicity machine in government, employing many in government media departments (funded by the taxpayer) to push out endless good news stories. And the ABC is firmly in their camp. Labor is backed by huge union resources. Big businesses, the traditional financial backers of the Coalition, have been targeted and threatened by activists to the point where they cower into making minimal donations to the Coalition or making equal donations to Labor.

It is not healthy for democracy for one party to dominate; witness the allegations of corruption in Queensland.

The election of the Labor team, the Greens and the teal independents with so many talented and positive people, particularly women, is a great outcome. They will take Parliament to another level. There can now be hope that government will deal with the important challenges after nine lost years of negativity. Abbott, Morrison, Dutton and Joyce have done so much damage. The "miracle" in 2019 was because the electorate did not know Morrison. Now, like Macron, they know.

When I arrived in mid-1963 as the ABC Canberra's first current affairs reporter, Caroline Jones was the part-time front-person for our local weekly TV magazine program broadcast from cramped studios set atop the Ansett bus terminal in Civic. Even then Caroline was a TV "natural" - a highly personable and intelligent interviewer and we very quickly got to appreciate her talents and her warm and friendly personal outlook.

Early on, Caroline also determined to develop her journalism career and work to help raise the status of women generally. I know she felt it was the right decision for her - for Australian TV and for women generally it undoubtedly was.

When, in 1967, I moved to Melbourne to work full time on This Day Tonight, Caroline took over my job but she soon transferred to Sydney to also work on TDT. In short time, she gained national prominence starting with a startling expose of the Sydney Anglican Diocese's role as a "slum landlord" of a number of inner city properties.

Caroline later fronted Four Corners for a number of years and, after officially retiring, returned to join the ground breaking "Australian Story" where she was its "public face", adding much to the program's credibility and widespread success.

Some of Caroline's TV "targets" may not have thought quite as warmly about her as her colleagues did but they would all have to admit that Caroline Jones was a true professional. She always maintained the highest level of integrity and, critically, left no doubt about it in ABC audience's minds. She was the very epitome of a good journalist - she could, when necessary, be assertive, but she was never aggressive and she treated everyone with equal respect (which also added to her credibility).

Caroline Jones adhered to professional and personal integrity standards which many of today's generation could profitably follow. I am very proud to have known and worked with her.

Labor won the federal election with tactically small target policies. In particular, it has welded itself to a weak target of 43 per cent reduction in green house gases by 2030. Given the widespread support for bolder climate action evident in the election results, Labor could now surely respond through gutsier targets for 2035, for example.

This would allow it to step around its "43 per cent by 2030", helping it to comply with the Paris undertaking for actions in line with 1.5 degrees of planetary warming, garner useful parliamentary cooperation from the Greens and teals, and respond to all those who have been deeply disappointed with Labor's current anaemic climate policy, including many inside its own ranks.

The Canberra Times reported on May 24 that the ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith tested positive to COVID-19. So how did the Minister allow herself to be infected with COVID-19? I ask because on February 23 the Minister announced that mandatory face mask requirements would be eased in the ACT. Not withstanding this announcement, the Minister iterated that "although public health social measures were further easing masks were still highly recommended to mitigate COVID-19 transmission".

So has the Minister followed her own advice since then and continued to wear a mask when in crowded spaces or when meeting people, including social distancing and hand hygiene?

And now that the Minister has been infected I wonder how many other people she unknowingly infected with COVID-19 during her infectious period, especially if she or others were unmasked.

Perhaps the ACT Government needs to revisit the issue of mandatory mask wearing due to the almost a thousand daily infections in the ACT and high hospital admissions.

Rajend Naidu (Letters, May 24) is wrong about Dai Trang Le on about every level.

Dai is not Diana, she was born in Vietnam and arrived here as an 11-year-old refugee. She was not born in Australia.

The idiot idea that dropping an American into a largely Vietnamese populated seat is the real problem with Keneally. Life is hard enough in this country for many migrants and refugees without having their true history whited out.

Whether Barnaby Joyce and his Nationals colleagues want to admit it or not, this election was the climate election ("It was all about the climate, Barnaby", canberratimes.com.au, May 24). The huge swing toward the Greens and pro-climate independents are clear evidence of this.

The Nationals' position on climate change is completely at odds with climate science, international consensus, and the Australian people's wishes.

To remain relevant, the Nationals and their Liberal counterparts need to do some deep soul searching about their position and approach to many issues: none more so than their blatant disregard for the pressing concerns of climate change and environmental degradation.

There are references by media and politicians to Anthony Albanese as Australia's 31st Prime Minister. This is incorrect, he is the 31st person to hold the position, but he is the 38th Prime Minister of Australia. Deakin and Fisher were elected to the position on 3 separate occasions, and Hughes, Menzies, and Rudd were each elected on two separate occasions. Let's start the 47th Parliament with the right numbers.

Raiders have beat the PM's team in successive weeks. Must be a record.

With climate change causing an escalation in the number, duration and severity of natural disasters it is time to develop a better solution than depending on volunteers to handle these crises.

I lived in the Blue Mountains and nearly lost my house in the fires in the 1970s. My husband was in the local brigade and had government employment. Many of his colleagues where self-employed and had to abandon their businesses to continue to fight the fires.

It is time for the government to form a new force specifically for handling major environmental emergencies. Something like the ADF Reserve could be set up under the same conditions. It should be fully funded and have highly qualified leaders to train recruits. Any recruits would receive payment for time spent learning and to replace lost earnings when needed in an emergency.

Local fire brigades are often short of the best vehicles and equipment to carry out their duties. A government force would not have this problem (hopefully). If governments aren't courageous enough to tackle the root cause of these catastrophes the least they can do is set up schemes to handle them when they occur.

Climate change is here now. Our children and grandchildren will pay the price of our inaction.

I was reciting the alphabet on Sunday morning to a three-year-old from the caravan next to mine and I stopped at "Y". The little girl looked puzzled and then proclaimed "you forgot zed". To which I responded, "oh, there is no Zed anymore... the people of Canberra have voted to dump Zed". She didn't get it but her father had a good laugh.

Three deaths on ACT roads in a 48-hour period. When will the Barr government wake up out of their cosmopolitan light-rail dreamland. It's high time Canberra road designs are radically altered. Traffic signalling every intersection and using speed cameras will never address the ill-conceived road designs in Canberra.

I read through Michael Dillon's letter (Letters, May 17) suggesting that all Commonwealth agency heads be replaced with military personnel and that the heads of PMC, Treasury and DFAT should have SAS operational experience. I missed the punch line, so I read it again. Nope, apparently he was serious.

I hope there will not be many references to Mr Albanese as an Italian-Australian. He may have an Italian surname but he is as Australian as they come. His own description of his upbringing in Sydney supports that conclusion.

While there will be countless dissections of the of the election outcome and some sympathy for some who lost their seats such as Josh Frydenberg I doubt if Tim Wilson will get any. When conceding defeat he did not mention Zoe Daniel or congratulate her as an individual. Instead he just ranted about all the other seats lost to the teals.

How wonderful is it to see two of our leaders heading overseas to represent Australia, and not feel embarrassed and ashamed? Quite a change.

Monday's Broelman cartoon mocking Mr Albanese was a humourless failure. At a time when positive change is sweeping across Australia a funny celebratory cartoon would have been the way to go.

All democratic political leaders, on being elected, claim that they will govern for the whole constituency. Lamentably, that's usually one of the first promises they break.

Surely one of the first things the acting Attorney-General will do is make the right moral and cost saving decision to drop all charges against Bernard Collaery. The apology and compensation can come later.

The court case against Bernard Collaery regarding bugging of the Timor government must be dropped. He must be compensated for years of lost income.