October 4, 2025 — 9.00pm

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Jacqueline Maley hits the nail on the head (“Trump doesn’t shock us any more and that’s what’s really shocking”, September 28), but thanks, Jacqueline, for the image of US President Donald Trump not wearing clothes, I didn’t need that. I was initially blown away by the way Trump’s persona seemed to resonate with everyday people in the US. It became clear, though, that they were looking for a saviour and were prepared to accept the snake oil salesman with all his nastiness. Surely, people couldn’t be that stupid. Of course, it’s got worse, as his personal crusade to be rude and get rich at the world’s expense is working. The Republicans have sold their soul for a few pieces of silver, and their gerrymandering would make Joh Bjelke-Petersen blush. Geoff Nilon, Mascot

I’m not quite sure whether to blame Trump, the people who voted him in, the ones who didn’t bother to vote or the sycophants he surrounds himself with. Jacqueline Maley points out that we are no longer shocked by what Trump does. The question is, when will America stand up to this narcissistic dictator and remove him from office? Peter Miniutti, Ashbury

Enough with the nanny state

What’s wrong if students receive extra tutoring outside schools (“Urgent calls to regulate private tutoring industry”, September 28)? We always hear complaints from teachers who can’t focus enough in the classroom because of extra load of teaching, larger class sizes, paperwork and preparation. This obviously affects teachers giving their best. This is compensated by students taking outside coaching. When students want to be selected for sports to play at the higher level of any kind, they often receive additional coaching, paid for by their parents. They give the same amount of stress to both students and parents as the coaching for a selective school preparation – the same social isolation, the same anxiety. It is up to parents and students to decide how much stress one can take, rather than creating a bureaucracy with millions of rules to comply with and let the nanny state make decisions for you. Maybe we should regulate private coaching in sports as well. Mukul Desai, Hunters Hill

Unfortunately, many families are entrenched in the “opportunity” for private tutoring and feel the competitive advantage is necessary, no matter the cost. For many young people, the local comprehensive public school system offers so much more. Leadership opportunities, wellbeing and mixing with a wide range of people in the community. If only all our public schools offered an opportunity strand to allow the hard-workers and the gifted to push forward in a selected stream without stressful testing procedures. Wellness for our young people should be of the highest concern at all levels and this is one way forward. Janice Creenaune, Austinmer

Cheers for the chair

How shocking that climate change may not be a political issue, but is simply one of the biggest challenges on the planet. Chair of the Climate Change Authority Matt Kean says, “I have always believed in the science of climate change, from when I first joined the Liberal Party” (“Former Liberal pushing renewables”, September 28). Mining billionaire Andrew Forrest called out Trump’s climate change denial as bulldust. Why is it so hard for some to acknowledge the problem? The Labor government could take a leaf out of Kean’s promotion of all the economic advantages to be had via a renewables-led revolution. It is making heavy weather of its bid to reach targets, but at least it acknowledges climate change. Meanwhile, back in the Coalition doldrums, its latest pin-up, Andrew Hastie, is promoting old cars. I await the news that all our weekends will be ruined. Fiona Colin, Malvern East (Vic)

I support Matt Kean in his efforts as chair of the Climate Change Authority, but when asked when electricity bills would come down, he intimated it would be sometime between now and 2050. The Coalition has been thrashing the Albanese government over its failure to bring prices down by $275 per annum by the last election. Be prepared for more thrashing. Ian Adair, Hunters Hill

Godly suggestion

The prime minister’s grand announcement of a ban on social media for those under 16 posits the question of what the problem is (“What if it’s not social media?”, September 28). Everything from climate change, to home ownership, to rental anxiety, to young people not having a voice are presented as alternate theories for our young people’s poor mental health. Given the absence of scientific rigour in all of them I’ll suggest something slightly more radical. Progressively, we have all lost faith in our institutions – religion, government, banks, marriage – the list goes on and on. You don’t need to find God, but know you are a spiritual being at heart. Maybe we could look there first. Brian Barrett, Padstow

Significant register

As I was reading the article about the 2450 trees on the City of Sydney’s significant tree register (“Nature’s air-conditioners leave city in the shade”, September 28), I reflected sadly again on the disgraceful decision of Gladys Berejiklian and Andrew Constance to have 760 trees, including 60 precious mature Moreton Bay figs, cut down in the middle of the night to build the light rail in 2016. This decision was made to avoid having to pay compensation for land from the Randwick racecourse car park that could have been used instead. The loss of those mature trees and their microclimates is incalculable. Pauline Croxon, Earlwood

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We are no longer shocked by what Trump does