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It is fair to assume that voters want to have people like themselves in parliament (“Polling booth data from Farrer teaches many lessons. These are three of the biggest”, May 11). That is, representatives who understand and know from experience the voter’s situation: their problems, needs and aspirations. Easy enough for me. I was university educated and spent my working life in a well-paid job. There are a lot of people like that in parliament. But if you have housing problems, an insecure, low-paid job and don’t have the degrees and credentials to change this, well, there are not many like you sitting on the green and red benches in Canberra. Enter One Nation. Rob Wills, Brisbane (Qld)
The most hilarious quote from the Farrer byelection would have to be Matt Canavan’s “We are back!” It’s good to see that he is happy with the Nationals’ fourth placing, with just under 10 per cent of the vote. With the Liberals faring only marginally better, on 12 per cent, could we please have less gratuitous criticism and fewer media appearances and public demands from them both on what the government “must do”. Alan Marel, North Curl Curl
After the 2022 federal election, Greens supporters spoke confidently of a new political era. The party increased its representation in the House of Representatives and there was widespread commentary suggesting that the Greens were becoming a permanent force in lower house politics. Yet by the 2025 election, then Greens leader Adam Bandt and high-profile MP Max Chandler-Mather had both lost their seats. The extraordinary result in the Farrer byelection, delivering One Nation its first-ever House of Representatives seat with Coalition preferences, has produced similar triumphalism from parts of the political right. History suggests caution. Minor parties can enjoy dramatic moments when voters are frustrated with the major parties, but protest votes do not always translate into lasting parliamentary success. The Greens discovered that political momentum can disappear as quickly as it arrives. One Nation may well discover the same reality at the next federal election. Glen Dewing, Cooma
I wonder if the people of Farrer realise that they might have totally shot themselves in the foot? Labor, with its huge majority, did not even bother to run a candidate because one seat means nothing to them. The Liberals and Nationals who did, and failed, are helpless to aid any electorate. One Nation has one seat and no policies other than negativity: how can that solve the problems that voters were complaining about? The only person who might have been a useful representative was the independent: she actually seems to care. As it is, everyone can now simply ignore Farrer – there is no advantage to be gained from it politically. Do I sound cynical? Surprise! Anne Dorey, Hornsby
The loss of services, security and employment argued to be underneath the move away from the Coalition parties and, by inference, the ALP has been going on since the postwar economic boom ended about 50 years ago, and has been worsened in regional areas and outer suburbs since the introduction of neoliberal economics 40 years ago. For good or ill, One Nation cannot reverse the trend; at the very least because its major backer, Gina Rinehart, is a devout neoliberal herself, wanting lower wages for Australians and many fewer public services. Colin Hesse, Nowra
The One Nation victory in Farrer was hardly a surprise. We haven’t been one nation for a long time; we are a divided nation. I no longer have any party allegiance and have been disappointed in the direction the Labor Party has taken for some time, which will I believe intensify the sense of being unloved and ignored, which is strong regionally. I would expect a right-of-centre coalition to grow out of this defeat between the current Coalition and One Nation, with a domestic and foreign policy agenda more in keeping with the wishes of a large number of Australians. Robert Menzies founded the Liberal Party at a similar time of disillusion after WWII, when Labor was riding high. Vivienne Parsons, Thornleigh
David Farley, One Nation’s newly elected member for Farrer, in reading Dorothea Mackellar’s 1908 iconic, patriotism arousing poem My Country to a church congregation, has inadvertently drawn attention to what the outcomes for Australia will be from acquiescing to his party’s abandonment of Australia’s target of net zero emissions by 2050. Nobody will ever admit it, but I speculate that the reason the Coalition parties “separately” decided to preference One Nation over the independent has more to do with longer-term strategy than this single byelection. One Nation has a history of blowing up in one way or another. A blown up ON member will be easier to challenge at the next election. On the other hand, once in, the record of successful independents winning subsequent elections is quite high. From there, just a case of joining the dots. Bill Irvine, Goulburn
Elections in recent years have sent a message to our major party politicians that they are not listening to us, the very people who have entrusted them to manage our country into a cohesive, motivated and productive nation. Unfortunately, the inability to think beyond themselves and the next election is so entrenched, will the Farrer byelection be enough to shift their selfish dispositions? We everyday Australians are crying out for true and credible leaders to come up with a thoughtful, transparent strategy towards an ambitious but achievable vision for our nation over the next 10 or 20 years so that we can identify a future for ourselves and our families. Hopefully, our major party politicians will spare us the usual “we are listening” platitudes and take positive action, so we don’t have to send yet another message and miss another opportunity to achieve the undeniable potential of our great country. Mervyn Cross, Mosman
Strong independent candidates are paradoxically a bonus for One Nation candidates. One Nation voters are rusted on, but other votes will be diluted between a popular independent candidate and major parties. This phenomenon – demonstrated in Farrer – has a long way to play out in metropolitan, rural and regional seats. Richard Hart, Exeter
Speaking in his first “public forum” since his election, David Farley recited Dorothea Mackellar’s poem My Country to the congregation at the Anglican church. Given some of the past antics and statements by One Nation’s leader, perhaps a more fitting verse for his audience and colleagues would have been Henry Lawson’s poem The Duty of Australians, in which he extols us to be kind and dignified. “Tis our duty to the stranger … when he’s foreign and his English very young … to give him our last spare moment and our pleasure to defer – he’ll be father of Australians, as our foreign fathers were”. Alan Keating, Waitara
The member for Farrer was the first female leader of the Liberal Party. The Old White Men who still run the party threw her out and installed, excuse me – Angus Taylor? They couldn’t pick Andrew Hastie, he doesn’t support their love child Ben Roberts-Smith. And they want Tony Abbott as their president. So, come the byelection, the voters in Farrer, knowing that their votes won’t affect who controls parliament, said to the Liberal Party, “What do we have to do before you start listening to us?” And they registered a huge protest vote against the Liberal Party. Will they now start listening? Michael McMullan, Avoca Beach
While Pauline Hanson busied herself scoring big numbers within a certain large country electorate, her seriously miffed opponents probably felt, more than anything, incredulity. How could this Ipswich upstart knock sideways their sense of righteousness? This raises the question, is the coterie of arrogant critics on the wrong tram, entirely, and, perish the thought, has Hanson’s One Nation found the key to the beating heart of the majority of ordinary-Josephine voters? Rosemary O’Brien, Ashfield
Suburban walk led to Street Stroller festive drinks
Like Ms King of Lane Cove, I too walk around my suburbs – same route, same coffee order every day – and have met quite a few people doing similarly (Letters, May 11). At first we nodded, then smiled, then exchanged pleasantries, commented on the weather – and then some real conversations. Last December, I decided the time had come to gather them all together for Street Stroller Christmas drinks. A bunch of people, none of whom knew each other but knew me turned up and had a great time finding many of interpersonal connections. Highly recommended! Peter Thornton, Killara
Jill King should up sticks and move to the Bouddi Peninsula. Here it is the norm for passing pedestrians, cyclists and even motorists to smile, wave and acknowledge those they pass. We often grumble about out-of-towners who ignore our local customs but, fortunately, they usually don’t stay long! Helen Robinson, Killcare
Jill King should move up here where almost without exception walkers on the local park trails or in the village greet us with a cheery “hi there” or “hello” . It was noticeably stronger though when walking trails in Austria that every walker greeted us with a cheery “Gruss gott” which means “May God Bless You”. It’s a very strong national custom apparently. Lance Dover, Pretty Beach
Your correspondent notes that only one in 10 people respond to her hello/good morning. If she lived in Kiama/Shellharbour she would find that figure 9 in 10, except on weekends/holidays when Sydney people are down. Chris Wiecek, Kiama Downs
In response to your mature-aged person, who is ignored on her walks around her leafy suburb, I am saddened. My experience as I pass others in my inner west suburb, day and evening, I am constantly greeted by pleasantness. Nods of recognition right through to comments like “great day”, regardless of phone screens and ear buds. This morning, in my pre-dawn walk to the bus, two of us met in the darkish space between overhead lights. But still, the familiar “good morning” broke the silence. My locality is known for its diverse society. Is that one explanation for the sense of community as we acknowledge each other in public spaces? Glenda Gartrell, Newtown
Goose talk
Not sure the reference to the Greens leader as a “creepy, gap-toothed moron” is consistent with the Herald’s “respecting others, criticising ideas, not people and no offensive language” commenting guidelines (“Despairing Brits embrace Reform”, May 11). What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, George – you puffed up, bald-headed old git. Alison Stewart, Riverview
Vanishing homeless
For quite some time there has been a growing number of homeless people camped outside the QVB. I was in the city yesterday and they’re all gone. I’d love to think that’s because they have found housing, but I fear it’s because they’ve been moved on. Out of sight, out of mind. Michael Jones, Birchgrove
Capital gain pain
The view is that the concession given to capital gains is too high. And the solution seems to be to revert to the way that capital gains were taxed previously, where only the real gain was taxed and allowance was made for indexation (“The tax change coming for Birkin bags, fancy watches and crypto”, May 10).
Sounds reasonable on the face of it. The assumption is that it just involves replacement of the 50 per cent discount by a less generous indexation factor. Which is the case for most investments where you buy it at one price, sell it later at another, and the capital gain is the difference between the two.
But investment property isn’t like that. It involves loads of little deductions, all of which are made at different times and serve to reduce the capital gain made. And all of these need to be separately indexed. They include rates, insurance, land tax, maintenance costs and borrowing costs. And then there are any improvements made to the property such as renovations or installation of solar panels.
Think of all the things done to your own home and when they were done. The same applies to an investment property. You need to ask why the taxation of capital gains was changed in the first place. Part of the reason was to make it simpler. Reducing the level of the capital gains tax concessions might be all well and good, but the greater simplicity needs to be retained.
This needs to be properly thought through. Otherwise, it will just mean more money for tax agents. David Rush, Lawson
Meal memories
If I have to abstain from fried food, red meat, cheese, pastries and butter, I’d rather develop dementia; at least I won’t remember what I’m missing (“The foods that Alzheimer’s experts want us to cut back on”, May 11)! Shane Nunan, Finley
The photo used to illustrate your story about foods that are bad for our brains is potentially misleading. While it shows a classic English breakfast, including highly processed bacon and sausages, it also features baked beans and eggs which (apart from high salt or sugar content of some brands of the former) are recommended as healthy foods by dieticians, and might even support brain health. Likewise, those tomatoes and mushrooms seen on the plate would be considered part of a healthy Mediterranean diet, especially if cooked in a bit of olive oil. Ross Duncan, Potts Point
Ted’s tenacity
Ted Turner won the 1979 Fastnet Yacht Race in Tenacious, a race in which 15 sailors died and 23 yachts were lost (“‘Mouth of the South’: Billionaire CNN founder Ted Turner dies”, May 7). Back at the dock Turner addressed the mostly British media contingent and remarked that “if it wasn’t for storms like that you would be asking these questions in Spanish.” Sean Kelly, Cremorne Point
Deeper meaning
Kudos to Matt O’Sullivan for taking the typically dry subject of civil engineering and explaining, in layman’s terms, the extraordinary work taking place deep beneath Sydney (“Launch date looms for mega tunnelling machines’ descent under Sydney Harbour”, May 11). Reading about the Western Harbour Tunnel reminds us that modern cities require ambitious infrastructure and highly skilled workers willing to tackle immense engineering challenges. Hopefully, the project’s cost at over $7 billion will ultimately be justified through reduced congestion and increased productivity. The concept of using recycled equipment from Britain’s high-speed rail project and Paris’s suburban rail expansion is also encouraging as a model for future infrastructure projects. Too often, major infrastructure projects are discussed only through the lens of cost or disruption. This article highlighted the expertise, planning and innovation required to deliver infrastructure that millions of people will eventually rely upon. John Kempler, Rose Bay
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