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I applaud the PM’s view that if they make the bed they should lie in it (“Road to Damascus”, February 21). It completes his transition from left-wing table thumper to national leader. It has a much wider application, though. Smokers with lung cancer, or drinkers with liver disease? No Medicare for you. Speeding and hit a tree? Get yourself to the nearest private hospital. Finally, tell the abusive boss to stick it? No JobSeeker payments for you. Go to a conflict zone and get injured or imprisoned? Suck eggs, sister. Imagine the savings: money that could be better used. David Neilson, Uralla
As a private citizen, Anthony Albanese is entitled to feel “contempt” for the Australians languishing in an increasingly dangerous Syrian camp. But having sworn an oath to “serve the Commonwealth of Australia, her land and people”, he does not have the right to deny procedural fairness and access to the rule of law to these Aussies. No amount of political posturing and tough-speak can cloud his responsibility. Mark Paskal, Austinmer
Our “nothing but contempt” PM, Angus Taylor and Pauline Hanson have finally achieved “cohesion” in beating down on the Australian women and children stuck in Syria. But Australia has, of course, form in this: only five years ago, during COVID-19, we threatened our own citizens in India with imprisonment and hefty fines if they dared to come home to Australia. What a timid and fearful country Australia has become. With the current “leadership”, there is not much hope for improvement. Dierk Mohr, South Turramurra
I fear our PM, Anthony Albanese, is disappointing many of those who put faith in him and his government. With a thumping majority, and the opportunity to prove that his government values kindness and decency, he has stigmatised these unfortunate women and blameless children. Instead of offering them friendly asylum, he has followed the hard right in condemning them. It seems obvious that he has done this in order not to be out of step with the noisy popularist right, who he fears might take some votes away from Labor. The Australian electorate is better than that. Rather than join in the baying throng, he should be endorsing principles contained in a progressive Labor agenda. You’ve failed us, PM. Shame on you. Derrick Mason, Boorowa
Is Australia’s public security so frail that it cannot manage the assessment and support of 11 Australian women and 23 Australian children wishing to return to the country whose passports they hold? Does the prime minister’s expressed contempt for these women extend to the titans of the gambling industry who wreak such destruction on the lives of thousands of Australians and who access the halls of Parliament House with easy confidence? Does this contempt fit with his previously avowed view that kindness is not weakness? Or does it suggest a scurrying to the right, to shore up perceived voter threat? This has been a bleak episode; the moral compass crushed under the marching heel of political expediency. Jon Fogarty, North Avoca
My mother used to say, “You learn from your mistakes.” Paree Hartley, North Sydney
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