Thank you, Robert Richter (“Top barrister says royal commission ‘premature’”, December 31); in your critique of our security and police services you have clearly set out what many of us think. Respectfully, these failures and omissions will be detailed in the Richardson Report. Then maybe a royal commission should be set up to consider the general question of antisemitism. You have provided some clear air in the dense fog of opinion pieces we have seen up to now. Duncan Cameron, Lane Cove

Robert Richter, KC, says this is not the time. Now would be a very appropriate time if no current or former member of our intelligence agencies, nor current or former ministers for the agencies, were called to give evidence. Ninety per cent of the commission’s time would be taken up with the horrific genocide of Muslims and Christians by Jews in the Middle East. As the Albanese government is doing, inquiries into our intelligence agencies should be private to the government of the day. A royal commission, a public inquiry, into the agencies would be the greatest intelligence catastrophe for the West in centuries. Knowledge of sources and methods is better than facts, as it allows knowledge of the past and future to be gathered. Israel and Russia want to know if any US officials are withholding Five Eyes information from them. The UK also shares a great deal of information with Israel, but Canada, Australia and New Zealand do not. China, in particular, but also North Korea, Iran and other countries would learn Five Eyes methods, sources and information from a royal commission. Peter Egan, Adelaide (SA)

Police are investigating a break-in at the Australian Islamic House in Edmondson Park.Credit: Australian Islamic House Facebook page

Offensive and repugnant comments are frequently made about aspects of Muslim culture (“Increase in Islamophobia since Bondi Beach attack”, December 31). Similar hateful language has been targeted at “Somalian youth crime gangs”, a result of racial profiling and exaggerated reporting of events. Racism, discrimination, menacing language and behaviour extends beyond those of Jewish heritage. For this reason, I agree with the PM that a royal commission is not the answer and that all Australians need to feel safe and protected from these kinds of attacks. Tony Heathwood Kiama Downs

Those who would vilify Muslims en masse following the Bondi tragedy would do well to remember that one of the heroes of the day, Ahmed Al Ahmed, is himself of the Islamic faith. Ross MacPherson, Seaforth

Uncomfortable truths

Benjamin Preiss (“Arts must reflect on antisemitism”, December 31) highlights an issue of Jewish artists losing favour after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack. The relative casualty count of 1200 Jews and 70,000 Palestinians was mentioned without comment. Preiss says: “Many Jewish creatives have felt disavowing Israel and their Zionism was the cost of re-entry into the spheres where they once belonged”, which he says they will not do. But such re-entry will indeed require recognition of Israel as the rogue state that it has become, with its apparent determination to extinguish the land rights and the very right of Palestinians to exist. What has happened and is happening cannot be wished away. Alan Carruthers, Artarmon

Guns don’t reassure

The AFP Commissioner has said that the two Bondi assassins, father and son, were acting alone and not part of a broader terrorist cell, yet we are to see heavily armed police with long-arm guns patrolling our streets for New Year celebrations ostensibly to keep families feeling safe (“Fortress Sydney: Heavily armed police to patrol NYE”, December 31). Is this Australia, or are we aping the US with its deeply embedded gun culture where violence – which breeds even more violence – has become a way of life? The more semi-automatic rifles being carried around our streets by police or security groups of any sort, the less safe I feel. Bernard Moylan, Bronte

The prospect of seeing more police with bigger guns makes me feel uneasy, not safer. Logic would seem to say that, irrespective of who holds them, fewer guns is a better answer. Isn’t that what the new gun laws are trying to achieve? Russ Couch, Woonona

NSW Premier Chris Minns, flanked by Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon and Police Minister Yasmin Catley, provides an update on New Year’s Eve security arrangements.Credit: Flavio Brancaleone

I’ve delayed commenting about the horrendous terrorist attack on Jewish people at Bondi and what should be done in the aftermath out of respect for the victims and the collective need to reflect and grieve. Meanwhile, however, legislation has been rushed through the NSW parliament close to Christmas, part of a rapid after-the-event reaction by elected representatives. Disturbingly, appeals for social cohesion notwithstanding, some of the response is misguided, though I remain hopeful that practical and well-directed counter-terrorism will prevail amid a noisy clamour for false leads. Tighter gun controls in NSW are not a false lead. Broadly speaking, this represents a step in the right direction. But in a healthy democracy, opportunity for peaceful protest by those who disagree with such measures (or other policy reforms) is accommodated. But will it, under new NSW anti-protest laws? If not, I find that regrettable and concerning, despite my support of stronger gun regulation. And if, after public attention is distracted by other issues, vested interests lobby quietly behind the scenes for watered-down gun control, what interests does banning public protests as a form of democratic expression of dissent serve then? Maybe not public safety. It seems to me that the NSW government has reacted with too little foresight about the negative effects on a well-functioning democracy with its sweeping new controls on citizens’ right to protest.
Jim Allen, Panorama (SA)

False peacemaker

The madness appears to have no end. Putin is now whingeing to the American president that Ukraine has targeted his lavish lakeside palace Valdai, a building only rivalled in tackiness by Mar-a-Lago (“Putin’s attack claim riles Trump”, December 31). Trump’s response? “It’s one thing to be offensive … it’s another thing to attack his house”. His house? Is Valdai Putin’s house? Where’s Trump’s concern for the Ukrainian folk in the villages in the east of their country that have seen their homes obliterated by Putin’s missiles? If I was running the show (and I’m glad I’m not), the moment one cottage was destroyed in Ukraine, I would have dropped a payload on Valdai. To quote from Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction: “Did I break your concentration?” Bill Young, Killcare Heights

Reading the torturous article about the Russian-Ukrainian war (“Telling remark does not bode well for Ukraine”, December 31) made me think: Hang on! Russia actually invaded Ukraine. Looks like President Trump wants to appease President Putin. Didn’t Appeasement fail in the late 1930s? How can the Ukrainian people embrace a Russian government that is destroying their homes? Pasquale Vartuli, Wahroonga

US President Donald Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin shake hands in Alaska in August.Credit: AP

Surely, there is someone in the world with enough stature and diplomatic skill to bring Russia and Ukraine together to find a peace solution. It is not Trump. He appears to have no understanding, loves grandstanding, babbling rubbish, is way out of his depth, and is only interested in what the US can get out of a “deal”. James Mahoney, McKellar (ACT)

In response to Trump’s tariffs countries have looked for alternative markets in which to sell their goods (and in the process leaving Trump without the revenue that he is expecting). Similarly, other countries are increasing their defence spending rather than relying on the US for military support. They should now do the same on the diplomatic front (“US abandons diplomacy for a brand”, December 31). Other countries (like Australia) should step up to provide economic support to less developed countries rather than waiting for China or Russia to fill the vacuum and increase their hegemony. If the US wants to isolate itself, then let it. This just confirms that they are an unreliable ally. Find others. David Rush, Lawson

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Electorate means little to Joyce

I write from New England, Barnaby Joyce’s electorate, astonished not only by your recent article, but by the very suggestion that Barnaby Joyce and Pauline Hanson could be described as “likeable” (“Hanson, Joyce zoom up politicians’ likeability ladder”, December 31). To many of us here, that claim borders on the surreal. Mr Joyce asked the people of New England for their votes, secured re-election, and then promptly walked away to pursue a NSW Senate seat under a completely different political banner. If this was something as he said he had “thought long and hard about”, voters were entitled to know before they voted – not after the deal was done. Mr Joyce says his relationship with the Nationals had broken down. That explanation sounds less like principle and more like a political dummy-spit. Personal grievances are not a mandate to abandon an electorate. The switch conveniently benefits both sides: a Senate pathway for Mr Joyce, and party status, funding and staffing for One Nation. That this transactional arrangement involves two of the most divisive figures in Australian politics makes talk of their “likeability” all the more astonishing. New England is not a stepping stone. It is a community that placed its trust in an elected representative – and watched that trust be traded away for personal advancement. Both Barnaby Joyce and Pauline Hanson are a disgrace. Denise McHugh, Tamworth

Oh dear, Shane Wright, you got the “what can we do to fill pages in the paper” job when everyone else is coping with leftovers, holidays, kids home for ages yet, traffic, will we survive the New Year’s Eve rush to get a seat at the Sydney fireworks and are the sales worth the effort? I know it is called the “silly season” but to have to rate politicians’ likeability is asking too much. I just hope you have not caused tears among our sensitive MPs. Nola Tucker, Kiama

Barnaby Joyce and Pauline Hanson at the memorial for the victims at Bondi last week.Credit: Janie Barrett

Obesity education

Thank you, Hugh Wolfenden (Letters, December 31). You write exactly the words I’ve been espousing for years, but there has been no progress. Obesity is an illness and until there is education regarding healthy eating and the effects of exercise in school, leading to a shift away from sugar-laden foods, people will get bigger and more unhealthy. Doctors need to address obesity in their patients instead of ignoring it. Prescribing drugs for cholesterol and blood pressure medication is not helping their patients in the long term. Education is the key here. Dorothy Gliksman, Cedar Brush Creek

Wilcox on the money

Again, Cathy Wilcox tells the story of the year (Vintage Wilcox, December 31). There is one thing this government has not tackled, and that’s releasing onto the market negatively geared investment housing. Speculating on housing has brought us to this ongoing crisis – it should stop in 2026. Jill Napier, Phegans Bay

Illustration by Cathy WilcoxCredit:

House divided

Most people with mobility problems would not attempt or be unable to climb the Opera House steps, with or without a railing (Letters, December 31). Millions of dollars have been spent on restoring the concert hall to Utzon’s dream, so let’s just muck up the integrity of the rest of his creation. Peter Rose, Jamberoo

Completely stumped

After what’s been a dismal year worldwide, I despair at what’s been served up in the great tradition of Ashes Test cricket (Letters, December 31), for so long a toe-to-toe battle between these forever rivals. An English side of cavalier batsmen, a supposedly feared fast bowler weighed down with a Fort Knoxian gold necklace and sporting a sponsor’s designer wristwatch, who runs out of puff after five overs, and fieldsmen who couldn’t catch a cold. And the Aussies? A batting order as frivolous as a Sunday school picnic, and the captain a handsome fast bowler who smiles all the time and is too polite to attack with bouncers and a noose of close fielders. Remember the steely resolve of Steve Waugh, the sheer grace of his brother, Mark, the pugnacity of David Warner, David Boon and Mathew Hayden, calm elegance of Richie Benaud, unfailing determination and guile of Shane Warne, unbridled ferocity of Lillee, Thomson, Merv Hughes and Mitchell Johnson, who never smiled ’til beer o’clock, and the incredible courage of country boy Rick McCosker coming out to bat despite his broken jaw. At the end of each televised over, now, we see our players cavorting in ads for Westpac and Woolworths, flickering stars in shoddy vaudeville. It’s just not cricket. Our Test cricketers have always been regarded as demigods, a source of national pride and inspirational to youngsters. Our noble game has been perverted by acronyms – ODI, BBL, IPL and I fear ATC is on the cards. The winter of my discontent is not made glorious by this summer. Kent Mayo, Uralla

Steve Waugh holds a glass replica of the Ashes trophy after his team defeated England, on the fifth and final day of the Fifth Test Match against England at The Oval in London on August 27, 2001. Credit: AP

Matthew Hayden talks about green wickets (“Hayden blasts batting coach after MCG chaos”, December 31). The wicket is green if the stumps are that colour. The playing surface is “the pitch”. All these so-called experts need to read The Laws of Cricket #6 and #8. Terry Cook, Ermington

Two days was more than enough. Tim Schroder, Gordon

Virtuous Coral

Dear Coral (Letters, December 31) – at 90, trim, virtuous and fit as a flea, you appear to have resolved yourself out of resolutions. Might I suggest taking up a mild bad habit such as a flamboyant hat, scarf or brooch collection, a secret fondness for trashy television or a very mild flirtation? Nothing vulgar – just enough to make the rest of us feel less morally untidy. Vivien Clark-Ferraino, Duckmaloi

In response to your fit, diet-conscious, non-smoking, social-drinking, celibate, animal-loving nonagenarian correspondent, Coral Button, seeking advice on some New Year’s resolutions, I suggest that she will find inspiration in Jenny Joseph’s poem Warning. Coral, resolve to dress in purple, “with a red hat that doesn’t go”, and “pick flowers in other people’s gardens”. Determine to be outrageous and delight everyone, including yourself. Paul Casey, Callala Bay

Your correspondent Coral Button asks for advice about appropriate resolutions for New Year. For a start, keep writing letters to the Herald! Challenging and stimulating mental exercise to supplement your existing healthy physical regime – the benefits will clearly increase with age, for you and for the rest of us. Jenifer Nicholls, Windsor (Vic)

Coral Button, I may not be able to help you with your New Year’s resolutions, but you may have inspired my first ... to be “fit as a flea”. A charming, happy expression. It pays to listen to one’s elders. Marie Del Monte, Ashfield

Maybe Coral Button should resume smoking, take up binge-drinking and get a Tinder profile; if only to ensure she’s spoiled for choice when next year’s resolutions roll around. Col Burns, Lugarno

Coral, you don’t need a New Year’s resolution. You’ve just had the last word in the Herald letters for 2025. Nothing can beat that. Peter Singer, Hamilton South

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