David Crowe (Good Weekend, "In his own words: Malcolm Turnbull on old battles, personal and political, and new beginnings", 18/4) shows Turnbull for what he is. Turnbull's life is one of privilege, detached arrogance and obvious bitterness at being "short sheeted" by his duplicitous parliamentary colleagues. Turnbull should content himself with his "hard-won" wealth and stop being a "sook".

Mark Bennett, Manifold Heights

Breathtaking naivety

Malcolm Turnbull is guilty of the same treachery as was drawn down on him. He used polls consistently showing an LNP loss, so he challenged Tony Abbott's prime ministership and won. But when he lost the confidence of his cabinet, the witches were stirring their cauldron; double trouble was brewing. Had he called his party's bluff by threatening to ask Governor-General Peter Cosgrove for an election, he might well have gained a new authority. Instead he called for a secret ballot that ScoMo won. For him not to have sensed that loss is breathtakingly naive.

Graeme Lee, Fitzroy

Disturbing lack of trust

Turnbull's memoir is to be published today with an expose of Australian politics on the Liberal side. Nothing that I have read so far surprises me; it is a dirty world full of puffed-up ambitious, hollow men ready to stab anyone in the back to satisfy their hubris. But what disturbs me was the advice given to Turnbull by a fellow politician: don't trust anyone. I despair at where politics has ended up, where trust has disappeared: trust between politicians in the same party, trust between parties and trust within the community for their elected representatives.

Sandy Jeffs, Christmas Hills

Sad image of someone I admired

I used to admire Malcolm Turnbull, seeing him as a moderate, thinking person. However, there is nothing admirable in seeing Turnbull lashing out in all directions, aiming to hurt as many past adversaries as possible.

Arthur Klepfisz, Toorak

Heightened sense of individualism

That Malcolm Turnbull's defence of his undistinguished tenure as prime minister should be dominated by shots at those he believed betrayed him should come as no surprise. It simply reflects his own heightened individualism and that broader sense of individualism into which so much of Australian politics has degenerated. One might think that on this reading of politics it is "great men" who determine the fortunes of a country and shape its destiny. But surely this overlooks how strongly group interests determine the course of a country's progress. As is now well established, it is the financialisation of the economy that pits those with capital resources, property and secure jobs against those with low income, no property, no capital resources and casual work. This allows society to be broken up into specific identifiable groups, some having much greater lobbying power than the others, and guaranteeing the continuation of their privilege.

Greg Bailey, St Andrews

THE FORUM

MSO board's bum note

I was distressed to learn that the MSO is standing down its musicians, blindsiding them; it is the "only orchestra in the country being treated like this" (The Age, 15/4, 16/4) according to one musician. I hoped the board would communicate with subscribers and the public, but there has been nothing. The board's mission was to keep them together and to maintain their trust. To this end, subscribers were asked to donate the value of their tickets to cancelled concerts. The MSO board has no excuse for failing to work with the orchestra to find a solution that maintains continuity and trust.

Charles Sowerwine, Moonee Ponds

Tackle pollution next

Brett Sutton is to be commended for his management of the COVID-19 pandemic in Victoria. The interview with Noel Towell ("Fans locked out until 2021", 18/4) revealed the human side of health management. Once this is over, I'm hoping that the Chief Health Officer turns his attention to air quality. An EPA report in 2018 revealed there were about 650 premature deaths in Victoria from air pollution caused by traffic, power-generating industries and smoke episodes. In the same way that Professor Sutton has managed the epidemiology of the pandemic, we need him to turn his talent to reducing the pollutants from the air we breathe.

Ray Peck, Hawthorn

Share the rental pain

My mother is in a nursing home. Her unit is rented out to a tenant and the rent pays for the nursing home fees. Should the tenant lose their source of income, what is my mother, and thousands of other people in nursing homes, supposed to do? I applaud the federal and state governments for their handling of this crisis, but they are leaving the ramifications of a moratorium on rents up in the air. If the government picks up the nursing home tab for six months, then there is no problem if the rent stops being paid, but if it doesn't, is the buck stopping with a 97-year-old lady?

Victor Pellegrini, Kew

I'll stick with the experts

"Just 42 people in the entire country on respirators!" thundered News Corp pundit Andrew Bolt this week. "Meanwhile, it's these bans that are becoming the real health risk." Would anyone go to Bolt for a medical opinion? I prefer to get my advice from doctors and epidemiologists.

Peter Hendrickson, East Melbourne

North East Link rethink

Indeed it's time to rethink the $16billion North East Link project ("Call to rethink $16b road as economic slump looms", 18/4) and allocate those infrastructure funds on desperately needed and long overdue affordable social housing.

Henk van Leeuwen, Elwood

Bring in the Kiwis

Writers to these columns urging the government not to provide handouts to Virgin Australia make sound arguments; the airline is majority-owned by overseas interests, so why prop up a foreign business? It is also a valid point that if Qantas is the only large Australian airline it is likely to take advantage of its monopoly position. The solution is to grant Air New Zealand, which is listed on the Australian stock exchange, exclusive rights to operate on domestic routes.

Ken Barnes, Glen Iris

Bailout a win-win

The looming failure of Virgin Australia offers government a golden opportunity to acquire a stake in return for a bailout. This would provide equity in exchange for the large payouts that it will have to make anyway. The benefit would be twofold: taxpayers would get something back for the expenditure, and Qantas would be denied a monopoly of air travel in Australia, which would have predictable outcomes.

James Ogilvie, Kew

Figures a furphy

For decades the monthly ABS unemployment figure has been a furphy. Firstly, the 5 per cent benchmark has now been accepted as "full employment", enough to justify low wage increases. In past times, 3.5-4 per cent was seen as a sign of a healthy and active economy. Secondly, the seldom referred to underemployment rate (now 8.7 per cent), and the underutilisation rate (now 13.9 per cent), are much more transparent indicators of both productivity and social well-being.

William Chandler, Surrey Hills

Property shift needed

Judging by the articles about the pitfalls of the property market it may be time for a paradigm shift. Negative gearing is counter-intuitive. Why should I subsidise someone who owns more than one house? This drop in market value may be the cure for the many who have been unable to buy a home. Houses are homes. They should not be seen as investments. We have a housing crisis. People cannot afford ridiculous rental costs or outrageous mortgage repayments. Politicians don't want to scrap it because they are among the about 1.3 million Australians who negatively gear property, a small slice of the voting public incidentally.

David Legat, South Morang

Policies pipedream

Commentators who suggest that post-virus economic policies will be more humanitarian, conciliatory and socially equable are kidding themselves. The commentary now is about changing the industrial relations system and you can bet, despite the Labor Party and Sally McManus supporting present strategies, any changes will only advantage the wealthy. Any assurances will be forgotten. There will be no changes to proposed tax cuts for businesses that remain profitable, no removal of negative gearing, franking credits and capital gains concessions that would put more money into government coffers.

Jenny Callaghan, Hawthorn

Aiming at the source

The reopening of the wet market in Wuhan by the WHO might be a tacit acknowledgement the coronavirus emanated from a different source. For example, China's largest biological laboratories are also in Wuhan.

Harriet Farnaby, Geelong West

Numbers don't add up

The big four banks are taking out ads, espousing how "they are here for us". But are they? We are increasingly being encouraged to move into a cashless society, using credit cards to buy our goods and services. Yet not one bank, that I am aware of, has reduced the inflated interest rates these cards impose. Surely, when I can only get less than 1 per cent interest on my savings, there is absolutely no justification for charging 18-20 per cent on my spending.

Andrew Connell, Newtown

MPs could lead by example

It surprised me when the Premier suggested landlords and tenants get together to reduce rents and that in doing so there would be a 25 per cent reduction in land tax, if this rent was reduced by 50 per cent or more. I don't see the similar reduction in politicians' salaries. Perhaps he should lead by example and reduce all politicians' salaries by 50 per cent.

Greg Snell, Sandringham

Buck stops with Dutton

Another lawyers' picnic as they try to get to the bottom of the Ruby Princess fiasco. Let's sheet the blame home to where it is appropriate. Peter Dutton wanted to head the biggest and most powerful department of government and got his wish with the creation of the Department of Home Affairs. It has complete oversight of everyone who arrives in Australia. Since the fiasco began unfolding, Mr Dutton has not been seen in public. The buck stops with you Peter.

Hans Pieterse, Narre Warren North

Exams key for ranking

Kevin Donnelly ("Exams still best solution for year 12s", 17/4) is right on the button. VCE exams do not measure against absolute standards, they rank students in a subject for that year. Marks are allocated statistically so that every subject has the same distribution. ATARs are also rankings. Taking exams at the usual time will rank the students as usual. Overall standards will probably drop so, as Donnelly says, universities and colleges must compensate for this in first-year courses.

Neil Lennie, Box Hill North

No services to cut

In this town of 1800 people Australia Post cannot reduce its letter services because it does not deliver. Instead it charges for post boxes and saves on delivery costs. During this pandemic the elderly population have to go to their post boxes.

Leonard R. Mainard, Metung

Denmark leads the way

With shared paths (bikes and pedestrians) and shared roads (cars and bikes) there are always likely to be issues. VicRoads and councils should follow Copenhagen's separation strategy and have more bike lanes. The bike lanes shouldn't disappear as they approach traffic lights or roundabouts. Car parking should not be allowed on bike lanes and can be moved off the road. Besides improving safety and lessening confrontation, bike lanes will further encourage bike and ebike use, lowering congestion, improving health and lowering emissions and pollution.

Tom Maher, Aspendale

Essential pay rise

If teachers form such an important part of society ScoMo, why don't we get paid more?

Peter Gould, Moonee Ponds

Green ribbons of sanity

Despite the pressure of increased numbers of people on trails they are still green ribbons of sanity threading through our suburbs. The little tree-fringed creek a few streets away has become an essential part of my life in social isolation. Despite walking the trail for years, I am discovering hidden pockets of subtle beauty previously overlooked. Despite the pressures some people are feeling sharing trails, hopefully we now also share an appreciation of these places and those who helped preserve them.

Paul Sinclair, Thornbury

AND ANOTHER THING

Politics

NZ's Jacinda Ardern has initiated a 20 per cent pay cut for cabinet. Could you see our lot doing that?

John Cain, McCrae

Tim Smith, I'm sorry you are struggling with being irrelevant while the community is dealing with bigger issues. But I'll be taking advice from the chief health officer.

Linelle Gibson, Williamstown

The coronavirus is despairing enough and Malcolm's memoir compounds it all. Maybe another time, Malcolm, but not now.

James Henshall, Richmond

With everything happening, all Tim Smith is worried about is no golf; thankfully he's not in power.

James Lane, Hampton East

It seems Turnbull's book is not a mea culpa, it's more an everybody else's culpa.

Chris Burgess, Port Melbourne

Tracing app

Tracking of politicians' contacts could be very revealing.

Malcolm McDonald, Burwood

Confidence? PM and all parliamentarians, let's see your coronavirus tracking app first.

Helen Freeman, Portarlington

How excited must Peter Dutton be about the new surveillance software?

Doug Clark, Hampton

Coronavirus

Sam Newman's latest rant about golf is just par for his course.

Allan Gibson, Cherrybrook, NSW

I hope for the day when a financial expert says "pay the tax. It's how we keep society functioning".

Marianne Robinson, Churchill

Surely the risk of being called a "jogger" is enough motivation for runners to keep their distance from others (Letters, 18/4).

Brittany Turner, Travancore

If teachers form such an important part of society, ScoMo, why don't we get paid more?

Peter Gould, Moonee Ponds

Finally

Americans have a Bill of Rights. What they need is a Bill of Responsibilities.

Angus McLeod, Cremorne

*Sign up to editor Alex Lavelle's exclusive newsletter at: www.theage.com.au/editornote.