The electorate voted for what they thought was the lesser of two evils. Now we are not sure we made the right choice. It is a pity we don’t have the ability, unlike Abbott and co, to change our minds and implement an immediate solution, e.g. a double dissolution. The behaviour of Abbott, Joe Hockey, Scott Morrison and Christopher Pyne is a disgrace and an international embarrassment. When will the other Coalition members take action to fix the problems their leaders are creating and give us leaders who deserve respect and can deliver on the promises made in opposition?

Neil Thacker Ryde

I estimate the savings from the repeal of the carbon tax for me to be about 30¢ a day. At that rate it will only take me just over three weeks to save up for my first co-payment.

Denis Goodwin Dee Why

I was extremely disappointed to read today how far behind Australia is in cutting carbon emissions (‘‘Minister insists 5pc target by 2020 in reach’’, July 18).  Our target is to reduce 2000 emissions by 5 per cent by 2020, but between 2000 and 2012 we instead increased emissions by 2.5 per cent. This means that to reach the target we will need to reduce emissions by 7.5 per cent in six years. Considering our track record, the Abbott government's lack of policy, and the sacking of various climate change bodies and programs, this is not very likely. Unless something changes, when 2020 comes around we will probably be among the world's worst carbon polluters and the brunt of derision from other countries such as the US, Europe and China who are making significant progress.

John Frith Paddington

The carbon tax may be dead, buried and cremated. So will be the earth.

Elliott Savdie Darlinghurst

The boats have stopped, the tax is gone. Despite the bloody-minded stonewalling of Bill Shorten and his comrades, the Australian people are getting what we voted for. Thanks and congratulations to Tony Abbott and his team. Now for the greatest challenge of all – to repair the damage done to Australia’s financial standing by six years of incompetent, irresponsible government. Good luck, Mr Abbott.

David Knowles Chittaway Bay

I checked my map today and saw that Whyalla is back on it again.

Peter Stuart Carlingford

Now that the carbon tax is gone it seems that little bit warmer already.

David Vale Pymble

Tony Abbott’s victory in repealing the carbon tax is an illusion similar to George W. Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” victory speech in 2003. This victory will turn Australia into a pariah state in the international community and haunt us for years to come. If one of the wealthiest countries in the world cannot afford a cost-neutral carbon tax to save the planet, which country can? Shame on you, Abbott.

Bill Mathew Parkville (Vic)

Can I become a climate refugee on an Abbott-free planet, please? Thanks to Tony Abbott, our tax on carbon pollution is dead. We have gone from having one of the best schemes in the world to tackle climate change to one of the worst.

What will the rest of the world think?  The US and China, the two major fossil fuel carbon emitters, are taking steps to price carbon, while we have just consigned our carbon price to history. Today, I am ashamed to be an Australian.

Robin Gunning North Tamworth

A sign outside a church in Gosford says it all: ‘‘Now the planet pays the tax’’.

Jerry Stiel Lilyfield

Ah, Australia. A nation dominated by comfortable, gullible idiots who are content to heap the price of stupidity on their own children. Fools.

Gary Stowe Springwood

True believers, do not despair. Like everything in life, Tony Abbott and his government will pass.

Ken Thornton Rathmines

Renewable energy a must if we care about children

As the father of three children under the age of 14 and a resident of the Hunter region I find the current debate about the future of the conventional energy sector as opposed to the renewable energy sector astonishing.

In this region we have benefited from the upside of the coal boom. With above-average unemployment we are now seeing the other side of the equation.

Three things are clear from my vantage point. The future of a coal-based energy sector is finite. An alternative means of powering our ever-more power-hungry lives is necessary. The renewable energy sector is the only answer. In other words, there is an industry there for the taking.

When will short-term politics be replaced with foresight and vision for the future of our children?

Julien Castaldi Hamilton

Cowboys and penny-pinching airlines act with manifest folly

It is a sad day for the world that innocent people travelling on a commercial flight should meet their death in this tragic way (''MH17 shot down over Ukraine'', smh.com.au,  July 18). The folly of this unnecessary conflict in Ukraine, together with the attitudes of the "cowboys" involved in the fighting, has now been exposed for all to see.

Anyone viewing this scene in Ukraine, as well as other trouble spots in the world, would doubt that we really are homo sapiens.

James Athanasou Maroubra

Surely this tragedy will put a spotlight on the global organisations that manufacture these appalling killing machines responsible for so many deaths. There is little doubt these organisations are hugely profitable, but are completely hidden from public view or scrutiny. Superannuation companies could easily be investors, but we would never know.

Michele Brooks Bellevue Hill

It is assumed by most airline passengers that discipline and logic runs behind all the security measures and this provides the safest possible passage by air given the vast sums of money spent collectively by governments on ''security'' around the world. They would, however, be incorrect. As has now been demonstrated by the recent loss of an aircraft flying over a war zone to save fuel, money is spent primarily to make us all feel safe regardless of whether or not there are less obvious (and far cheaper) ways of achieving greater levels of safety (''MH17 disaster: Flights over war zones 'because it's cheaper' '', smh.com.au, July 18).

You know when the security guard insists that the water bottle the toddler is drinking from is a security risk and must be dramatically thrown into a bin visible to all, just before you hop on a plane that then flies over a war zone (conveniently out of sight), that you are now an actor in the theatre of flight.

Luke Fennell Mosman

If, as suspected, the Malaysia Airlines aircraft shot down over Ukraine is found to be consequential on the activity of either Russian separatists or the Russian military, it would be appropriate for President Putin and the entire Russian parliament to be declared persona non grata by all governments, but in particular by Australia, western Europe and any other free democratic countries in the world. For too long we have watched Putin's bully-boy tactics which are reminiscent of the behaviour of Germany 70 to 80 years ago when military force was used to subvert legitimate governments. No Russian delegation should be allowed to attend the G20 summit in Australia, and I would urge the Australian government to take such action on a unilateral basis if necessary if this appalling act of murder can be attributed to Russia or Russian-supplied weapons to Ukrainian separatists.

Greg Angelo Balwyn North 

Secrecy takes priority when cruelty reigns

Ron Sinclair writes about the government's asylum seeker policy being "born of a political expediency" (Letters, July 18). Its policy of secrecy and scant information is certainly different from the shout-it-out policy that saw Coalition members in 2013 construct a giant billboard on a trailer, which displayed a rolling total of the number of boats that had arrived under Labor. No thought then about "providing aid and comfort to people smugglers".

Joan Brown Orange

It didn't take long. Anthony Wood (Letters, July 18) blames refugee advocates and left-wing lawyers for the unsatisfactory conditions for 153 asylum seekers left in limbo and confined to windowless cells on an Australian customs boat.

Those who support and promulgate these acts of cruelty should take responsibility for their actions. For the foundation of the Ruddock-Morrison regime rests on blaming those who have no power over events – the boat people themselves. They should not project their guilt onto those who fight to improve conditions.

Ross Devine Mallabulla

Schoolyard practices a lesson for us all 

I trust that Kevin Donnelly and all the letter writers who are advocating the return of corporal punishment in schools are prepared to apply the same standards in the event that they are guilty of a transgression which inconveniences others or shows a lack of respect for their peers in their workplace, at home or in any other social setting (''Review partner rejects Donnelly view on school punishments'', July 18)?

It's reassuring to know that if someone in a crowded train carriage is speaking unnecessarily loudly on their phone, I can simply administer a punch in the face so they know that they've irritated me when I was hoping for quiet; if someone is walking slowly on the footpath when I'm in a hurry to get somewhere, I can shove them to the ground and therefore out of my way; and if someone interrupts me during a work meeting, I can drag them out of their chair and beat them with my leather belt a few times in front of co-workers until they know what they did was inconsiderate.

After all, if physical assault is a suitable method to modify inappropriate behaviour in school students, surely it will work on adults, too.

Daniel Kell Mascot

One smack saves a thousand words (Letters, July 18).

Alicia Dawson Balmain

Murdoch in business of running governments

Rupert Murdoch thinks ''business knows best'' and lambastes ''self-serving politicians'' (''Business knows best, Murdoch tells politicians'', July 18). History, however, has shown that politicians do work in the public interest most of the time, whereas working in the public interest has never been a priority of business.

Ian Nicholls Baulkham Hills

I see Rupert Murdoch asked how many of his audience knew a politician who could run a business. Presumably he was speaking in his role as a business person who likes to run the odd government.

Lloyd Swanton Wentworth Falls

Big end of town decides people's harbour fate

How very disappointing of the NSW state government again handing over planning and control of an iconic Sydney location to a lobby group representing developer interests ('' 'Ambitious' plan for harbourfront overhaul sparks concerns'', July 18). We were promised an international design competition for Barangaroo, only to see the winning design binned when the lead developer chose to go ahead with its own plan.

I suppose the only consolation we can take is that there probably won't be a casino on the site; on that topic there are too many vested interests to protect.

David Farrell Erksineville

The NSW Minister for Planning has stated that another casino has been excluded from the redevelopment of the harbour foreshores around Glebe Island and Pyrmont.

To avoid another abomination like Barangaroo, which was hijacked by developers, James Packer and Paul Keating, it would be wonderful if the minister also implemented and stuck with a ruling that no building be higher than three storeys and that at least 60 per cent of the area be left open as parkland. Unfortunately, I doubt the big end of town, which pulls the strings of our politicians, would allow a gentle development and will be keen to squeeze in as many ugly buildings as it can get away with. Another part of our wonderful foreshore doomed.

Victor Marshall Erskineville 

Puff the magic twist on plain packaging 

Who would have thought? What marvellous news from the tobacco companies that plain packaging laws have actually increased cigarette sales (''Cigarette sales up with plain pack, say makers'', July 18). We can now look forward to the Australian tobacco industry enthusiastically endorsing our plain packaging laws. Why, it might even consider spruiking the idea with its misguided overseas counterparts who are curiously opposing similar legislation there.

David Mackinnon Kings Cross

James Moore (Letters, July 18) has it precisely right regarding big tobacco's concern regarding the flow-on effects of plain packaging in other developed countries. It's the same reason that multinational mining companies vehemently oppose our Minerals Resource Rent Tax. The very last thing they want is for governments to seek reasonable returns on national mineral wealth during times of extraordinary profits. It will be interesting to see if Clive Palmer and associates are as eager as Tony Abbott to hand over the Australian people's mineral wealth at a minimal price. Big mining's confidence would undoubtedly be sky-high after Palmer's actions on the carbon tax.

Jon Stirzaker Latham (ACT)

First Nation preference

Thank you, George Williams, for a wonderfully comprehensive account of the arguments for the need for a referendum on recognition of the Aboriginal people in the Australian constitution (''Time to fix a stain in the constitution'', July 18). The three changes recommended by the special parliamentary committee would, as he says, ''fix a major problem with the [constitution] document''. Let us hope and pray the referendum goes ahead in 2015.

Just one addition – could the constitution please officially refer to the people who have been here and cared for this land for 60,000 years or more as our First Nation?

Jill Chambers  Port Macquarie

All children precious 

Had it been four little Israeli children killed on a beach by a Palestinian rocket I am sure the world's outrage would have been deafening (''Strike kills four boys playing on a beach'', July 18). Why is there such an imbalance when it comes to the loss of human life? When did everyone decide that an Israeli child's life is worth more than a Palestinian child's life? Children are precious regardless of their parents' beliefs, religion or political leanings. Stop this cruel madness now!

Ron James Berowra Heights

Brandis shows lack of professionalism

George Brandis should resign as Attorney-General for his biased comments suggesting that Julian Assange is "a sexual predator" (''Julian Assange loses court appeal in Sweden'', smh.com.au, July 18). Mr Assange is merely wanted for questioning and Mr Brandis' slur shows a lack of the professionalism required for the position of Attorney-General.

Diane Davie Rose Bay

Hardly a maverick

During his time in the Senate, Barnaby Joyce was constantly referred to as the "maverick senator". Some maverick. He never once failed to vote along party lines. Always lots of bluff and bluster, this helped his profile but in the end he's just a run of the mill conservative.

Clive Palmer has shown we can expect much of the same from the PUPs. Bluff and bluster will be common, followed in the end by a vote along Liberal Party lines.

Bill Gillis Hallidays Point

William be warned 

When I was young (long, long ago), whenever I did something silly my mother would say: ''Don't be a Silly Billy.''

So my message to Bill Shorten is, you are being silly, so stop being a "Silly Billy". If you keep being silly, Billy, I will continue to ask every Coalition pollie to adopt your nickname, "Silly Billy". I guarantee it will stick.

David Yule Chevron Island (Qld)

Surely unintentional

Joe Hockey's claim that his reputation had been brought into ''disrepute, odium, ridicule and contempt'' (Letters, July 18) makes for an appropriate acronym.

George Manojlovic Mangerton

Postscript

Many long for a time when a celebrity coming out no longer attracts attention. As we learnt this week with Ian Thorpe, that day is not today. But the comment his revelation garnered on our page was overwhelmingly positive, with some quibbles over the Olympian’s decision to put a price on it.

Many hoped his honesty would bring him happiness, and several felt the blame for his past suffering falls on us. Philip du Rhone observed: “How sadly ironic it is that Ian Thorpe felt he might let his country down whereas in reality it was his country which let him down.”

Kicking off the week, writers went where judges may in future fear to tread. “Not too late to include “Incest is morally justified” in the Festival of Dangerous Ideas program, is it?” Hendry Wan, of Alexandria, asked dryly. “Herald letter writers show an appetite for it – for public discussion of the topic, I mean.”

Of course, many readers were putting aside questions of morality and asking if, conducted between consenting adults, incest should be a legal matter, punishable by jail. Judge Garry Neilson’s comments prompted the debate.

Rob Hofman of Young summed up the argument: “Any sexual act – however abhorrent we are conditioned to perceive it – between consenting adults should no longer be the concern of courts.”

But Julie Robinson touched on an important caveat: how frequently are incestuous relationships entered into without coercion or abuse? She asked any woman in such a relationship to consider if it truly had been freely entered into.

If the St James Ethics Centre still has a festival spot to fill, this could be the ticket.

Julie Lewis Letters co-editor