Only two out of every 1000 Victorians went duck shooting this year, but it seems the government considers these people more special than our native wildlife.

Joan Reilly, Surrey Hills

Ill wind blows some good

The emission "targets" we are missing are themselves a disgrace ("Australia to miss emission target", 22/12). When the targets were initially set 20 or more years ago I remember my horror at the way our government sought every loophole to create spurious or dubious avoidance mechanisms in order to minimise our poor commitment.

These loopholes included overseas offsets over which we would have no jurisdiction and the fiction that forest plantations sequester carbon (only until the next harvest).

This from a wealthy nation whose contribution to the carbon dioxide already affecting our climate and ocean acidity had been disproportionately high.

Twenty years of procrastination leaves our children facing rapidly escalating dangers and costs. The only cheering factor has been the rapid development of wind and solar technology to the point at which they have become the only economically rational choices.

John Poppins, Mount Waverley

Who said vaudeville was dead?

Federal Environment Minister Melissa Price and Energy Minister Angus Taylor would have to be the George Burns and Gracie Allen of the international stage regarding the environment. Who else in Australia feels they are being treated like a mushroom by these two pretenders?

John Cain, McCrae

All so old hat, really. No, really

So, Ms Price, if Australia doesn't have to worry about emissions reduction now because we did it years ago, does that mean I can be really naughty this year and Santa will still bring me a present, "cos I was really, truly, cross-my-heart good 10 years ago"?

Rosemary Davison, Moonee Ponds

Feathered factor in wind chill

Bloody brolgas ... how are we supposed to meet our energy targets and save the planet if these birds keep getting in our way. We must stop the birds before Australia's integrity is ruined ("Wind farm clipped for native brolga", 22/12).

Jane Currie, Jan Juc

THE FORUM

Labor plan falls short

What may come across as a magnanimous gesture by Bill Shorten, in a pre-election pledge, falls short by a long way (Shorten pledges $6.6b for housing, The Sunday Age, 16/12).

Housing, in general, requires a massive shake-up, public housing in particular. Stamp duty in each state on an $800,000 house varies between about $45,000 (Victoria) and $22,000 (Queensland).

Dr Joseph Toscano has come up with an ingenious plan. Why don't we use this money to alleviate the shortage of public housing, freeing up property for those who are, at present, locked out of the property market? Housing is one of those quintessential requirements for a safe and secure life. It provides not just shelter but stability as well.

As long as we view housing as a form of investment we will never address the issue of the homeless or those caught in the never-ending cycle of having to move, uproot, destabilise children, etc due to the whims of a landlord.

The benefits to society are beyond our imaginations. Let's face it, stamp duty is money for jam. Use it for the greater good. It's time the state and federal governments stopped grandstanding and worked together.

David Legat, South Morang

Take away the cups

It was disconcerting to see the picture of the Labor hierarchy (The Sunday Age, 16/12) Bill Shorten, Tanya Plibersek, Chris Bowen and Penny Wong all carrying takeaway coffee cups, all destined for landfill. Lift your game, Labor, get yourselves permanent cups and lead by example.

Ian Oshlack, Guildford

Not a pretty picture

Congratulations to Alex Ellinghausen on his fine selection of 2018's "The Year in Pictures" photos, although my favourite one was on page 4 (16/12) showing the Labor Party heavyweights clutching their takeaway coffees in matching cups.

With all the attention given The Chaser's infamous War on Waste tram filled with takeaway cups, I hope these particular items were not of the disposable variety?

John Paine, Kew East

Prioritise democracy

The cure for widespread mistrust of "representative democracy" (It's time to put the House in order, Editorial, 16/12) is to put less emphasis on "representative" and more emphasis on "democracy".

This need not mean citizens' initiatives. It could, for example, mean allowing either house of parliament to refer contentious issues to the people for their final approval ("popular veto"). It could mean allowing either major party, or significant minor parties, to initiate a public vote on matters the government of the day refuses to address ("legislative initiative"). It could mean allowing states or local governments to put matters before the people if the federal government refuses.

Ultimately it is the people who are sovereign. It is, after all, their country.

Stephen Morris, Coorparoo, Qld

A beleaguered leader

Matt Golding's cartoon in The Sunday Age (16/12) beautifully sums up the predicament confronting the beleaguered British Prime Minister.

Theresa May is trying extremely hard and deserves a lot of credit. She is not between a rock and a hard place; she is between many rocks and many hard places. In her own party there's the likes of Boris Johnson (all rhetoric and no substance) and the snooty Jacob Rees-Mogg (who tells the PM to hand in a letter of resignation to the Queen without offering solutions himself).

Then there is Jeremy Corbyn, who on every occasion I have seen him launches attacks on Mrs May without offering a credible alternative. And there's the members of the Democratic Unionist Party, who are quite rightly concerned about any changes to the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic. If that's not enough, she has to extract more concessions from the EU.

Where will this ever end and what will become of Mrs May's domestic agenda, which has been put on the backburner thanks to her government's understandable obsession with this one issue?

Ivan Glynn, Vermont

An easy 50-50 chance

The state Liberal Party has managed a 40-fold over-representation of Mormons elected to party positions without resorting to quotas. They should be able to manage 50 per cent female representation in a canter.

Ken Machin, East Geelong

Role model for Shorten

Critics of Bill Shorten's "wooden" style should remember Britain's least charismatic Labour leader, Clement Attlee, of whom Winston Churchill said, "he is a modest man with much to be modest about". But he defeated Churchill in a landslide to create Britain's welfare state.

Nicholas Low, Port Melbourne

A point well made

Gideon Haigh's superb review of Andrew Roberts' new biography of Winston Churchill, ("Long march through an epic life", 22/12), makes a telling point that, beyond the broad military and political sweep of the great statesman's life, the more intimate familial connections should not be overlooked.

His citing of Clementine Churchill's advice in 1940, in Britain's "darkest hour", that her husband should shed his "rough, sarcastic and overbearing ways" reminded me of a poignant 1945 letter from his daughter, Mary, displayed in London's preserved Cabinet War Rooms.

In it, she explains delicately to him how his comprehensive postwar election loss had more to do with the British people's war-weariness than animus directed at him. Haigh is correct: an academic emphasis upon primary historical sources, however impressive, often misses the "interior emotion" vital to a rounded biography.

Jon McMillan, Mount Eliza

What border problem?

So the public trusts the Prime Minister over the leader of the opposition on border security. (The Age, 22/12). Do we really have a security problem with our border or is this just a beat up over the past 20years by the government of the day trying to act tough?

Ukraine has a border security problem, Northern Ireland could have a border security problem, but not Australia. Wake up, Australia, to fear-mongering.

Bruce Cormack, Kilsyth

Nod and a Winx

As someone who has been following horse racing since the age of six (my father was obsessed) I have some gratuitous advice for the owners of Winx – retire her now!

There's an old principle – quit while you're in front. Another one, two or three wins will not alter her extraordinary reputation – and there is a significant chance she will lose a race if she were to continue. I'm sure my dear, departed father would agree!

John Brennan, Surrey Hills

The bridge is the issue

I was standing on the footpath next to the Montague Street bridge with a sales client in the mid-1980s when a furniture truck smashed into the bridge.

The impact was so severe it tore the complete rear from the truck – luckily no one was injured.

I was dismayed to read of the Gold Bus accident and the heavy sentence given to the driver, a person with a good driving record.

It is obvious that merely installing signage has not been successful in stopping more drivers hitting the bridge.

The government and road authorities must take responsibility and either close the road or alter it to allow enough clearance.

Geoffrey Wadge, Halls Gap

All the gory details

The recent public exposure of the sordid underbelly of our politicians has more to do with a changed perception of what constitutes "in the public interest" than indicators of a deteriorating moral code? This sort of thing has been happening for eons with our political leaders. I don't excuse the behaviour, but it seems that we are entering a period where "gore dominates grit" when it comes to newsworthy content.

Jaroslaw Kotiw, Strathfieldsaye

Heed history's lesson

As a person born in the late 1930s and growing up in the '40s I am only too aware of the circumstances surrounding our descent into the carnage of the Second World War.

The rhetoric that I hear coming from the leaders of some nations today and the rise of right-wing jingoistic nationalism is very reminiscent of the rhetoric that was spouted by the leaders in the '30s and is remarkably similar.

An appeal to nationalism, and a whipping boy to blame all your ills on, can you see the similarity today?

Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Peter Ellingsen, Ulverstone, Tas.

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