The so-called teals are not a monolithic entity, they are community independents (“Teals in advanced talks to form new political party”, May 25). They don’t all agree on policy, and their constituencies differ. Allegra Spender’s more right-wing policies appeal to her eastern suburbs voters, which may well be at odds with the more centre-left views of the lower north shore and areas of the northern beaches. How would they elect a leader? Would the policies they now hold be watered down to suit the group as a whole? Any such group may actually lose its influence within parliament and the support of its constituents. Would members be signing their own political death warrant and go the way of the Australian Democrats? Their appeal within their constituencies is that their supporters feel they have an MP who respects their individual community. Any influence by Malcolm Turnbull may be the kiss of death for a nascent independent group, so he’s best advised to keep right out of it. Judy Hungerford, Narraweena Photo: Cathy WilcoxI have long expected that the Liberal Party’s conservative and moderate wings would eventually split because their positions on climate change are irreconcilable (“Turnbull endorses teal party as Monique Ryan rules herself out”, May 25). The teals are simply the product of the inability of the Liberal Party to modernise and be inclusive and supportive of women. Ex-PM Malcolm Turnbull could yet redeem his political legacy by leading such a movement. Shadow treasurer Tim Wilson appears not to grasp that it is not the teals facing an existential crisis, but the Liberal Party itself.Salvatore Sorbello, CampsieIt appears that David Pocock has begun a campaign to have every seat in the House of Representatives occupied by an independent. Speaking on ABC’s Insiders, Pocock expressed a desire for high-profile, local community independents to campaign in all 150 House of Representative seats across the country. Following that to its logical conclusion, should the respective campaigns be successful, all vestiges of the existing parties would be eliminated. The consequence of this outcome would be utter legislative chaos. As we have recently observed, even longstanding coalitions are not necessarily stable. Imagine if there were to be 150 independents, each with their own agenda, all lobbying each other for support of their individual projects. It would make herding cats seem like child’s play. I would urge Senator Pocock to be careful about what he’s wishing for. Ian De Landelles, Murrays BeachThe creation of a progressive, centrist party of intelligent women with real-world experience, and the impressive David Pocock, is just what we need. The timing is so right, given the recent gains of One Nation, not to mention Tony Abbott assuming the role of president of the Liberal Party. That’s the final nail in the coffin, for sure. If moderate Liberals stick with Angus, they’ll surely be doing a Thelma and Louise. Jennifer Bacia, NewsteadTeals are supposed to be independent politicians, so forming a teal party doesn’t really make sense. It’s illogical and contrary to the definition of being truly independent. George Zivkovic, NorthmeadIndependent senator David Pocock was approached to join the new party.Alex EllinghausenYesterday’s menNice try, George, but I doubt that many people will be convinced by your attempt to improve the image of an ex-Liberal PM whose chief talent was to emphasise what he was against (“Liberals’ unlikely pair of saviours,” May 25). Tony Abbott will be remembered mainly for his ability to give the term “opposition” a more combative nature. When he wasn’t engaged in that task, he proved how obsequious he was to the anachronistic British monarchy, with disastrous results. And as for Jim Chalmers, if he can provide clear emphasis of just how different his policies are from his Coalition opponents, most people will consider that to be a very good thing. Tony Abbott is one of yesterday’s men, and the electors may be rapidly coming to the conclusion that the party he represents should also be consigned to history. Derrick Mason, BoorowaGeorge Brandis puts Abbott on a pedestal because he “claimed the scalp of Kevin Rudd and drove Julia Gillard into minority government”. The real problem is that Brandis doesn’t identify anything positive and lasting that Abbott achieved in government. What did he do? He got rid of carbon pricing. He canned the Minerals Resource Rent Tax. He gave us the infamous 2014 budget. He deferred making a decision on submarines, and we’ve ended up with AUKUS. Altogether, nothing positive to move Australia forward. Abbott may make rusted-on Liberals happy, but the rest of us will shake our heads and take our votes elsewhere. Steven Lee, FaulconbridgeAfter reading the latest George Brandis column, I realise that I’ve been misjudging him. I now realise his writing is not buffoonery but comic genius. His whimsical suggestion that Tony Abbott will be the Liberal Party’s saviour made my day. Rob Mills, RiverviewFormer PM Tony Abbott and current Liberal leader Angus Taylor.Alex EllinghausenI, for one, welcome the return of Tony Abbott to the Australian political scene. His tenure as opposition leader and later as prime minister was a golden age for letter writers as he provided great material on an almost daily basis. Welcome back, Tony. I look forward to hearing your opinion on any issue, but particularly your latest thoughts about climate change. Bill Gillis, Hallidays PointGeorge Brandis asserts, without qualification, that Tony Abbot was “the most effective opposition politician Australia has ever seen”. Perhaps Brandis is too young to remember a chap named Gough Whitlam, whose parliamentary and public performances outshone three prime ministers – Holt, Gorton and McMahon. He then led Labor into government after 23 years. Although his own prime ministership became chaotic, Whitlam’s effectiveness in opposition is unparalleled since federation.David Salter, Hunters HillBe careful what you wish for. Tony Abbott may have been an effective and destructive leader of the opposition, but he led a government that was rejected by the nation and, more significantly, by his own electorate. Most electors value leadership with a vision for the nation beyond just defeating the government of the day. Catherine Turner, CremorneYou’re right, George, Abbott did turn things around for the Liberals when he became leader in 2009. He then proceeded to poison the well of public trust. He is hardly the person to lead them out of the wilderness again. Gordon Lambert, Kiama DownsPub test failDescribing National Party senator Bridget McKenzie’s taxpayer-funded trip to a family wedding as failing the “pub test” sets the bar dangerously low (“Senator billed public to attend son’s wedding”, May 25). This isn’t about public relations, it’s about a systemic culture of entitlement. Our representatives seem to have stopped asking the fundamental question of public service. They only seem to ask if they could, not if they should. It is time to replace the loose standard of the pub test with a rigorous ethical test. Until then, public trust will continue to erode. Phil Tolhurst, OatleySenator Bridget McKenzie at Parliament House in Canberra on Monday.Alex EllinghausenMcKenzie seems to have a casual attitude to expenses. We know of her previous 16 flight upgrades charged to the Australian taxpayer, now we learn that she charged us to attend her son’s wedding in Tasmania. When will politicians learn not to treat the public with such contempt? Michael Davis, Balmain EastWith an annual salary of more than $264,000, surely Senator McKenzie could have afforded her own flights to attend her son’s wedding? Paul Reid, CampsieAI threatAs an educator, I have been worried about potential misuse of artificial intelligence by students since I first heard of the technology (“AI poses ‘urgent threat’ to student learning and the HSC”, May 25). This is particularly a threat for students who are less academically inclined and find AI relieves them of the effortful task of proper research and being able to paraphrase or summarise their findings. The only strategies I have that don’t rely on students’ honesty are the completion of draft assignments in class under supervision, checked and stored for comparison with the final submission, complete bibliographies and Q&A sessions with the students about their final submissions. However, all this is simply not sustainable practice given the sheer number of students involved. My overarching concerns are the threats to the concept of original thought, of problem-solving and of deep learning. Most of the great discoveries of the world involved months or years of research and experiments, as well as deep thought. If we as humans lose this capacity, what then? Sharon Everson, WyomingWith students and teachers using AI to bypass cognitive input into learning, perhaps it is time to reintroduce fully invigilated assessments into high schools and universities. Apart from preventing AI from completing the set assignment, it would also level out the playing field between students with fewer resources and those who can afford private tutoring. It is not only AI which has skewed HSC results. Widespread use of private tutors, whose input into take-home assignments often blurs the parameters of “a student’s own work”, also creates an unfair advantage for those students with financial means. The money spent by the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) on programs to teach students the rules of cheating and to pay education experts would be better spent on holding all HSC assessments in class. Students are already well versed in what constitutes cheating and don’t need more education about it. HSC stakes are high and students will continue to take advantage of weaknesses in the system. It is time for NESA to face this problem head on rather than plug the holes with more “contemporary data, evidence and research”. Irene Nemes, Rose BayThere are a couple of simple solutions to the AI problem. First, try using in-class assessments using some things called pens and paper. Instead of only three to five large take-home tasks, which is the current standard, use multiple smaller tasks. These actually provide better feedback on the level of student understanding. Too much marking, I hear the teachers exclaim. Then do away with the ridiculously complex marking criteria and pages of feedback. Keep it simple and regular. Of course technology has an important role in schools, but perhaps a return to some old-fashioned methods has a place, too. Peter Cooper-Southam, Frenchs ForestIn schools, AI stands for anti-intelligence, anti-individual, anti-imagination and absolute insanity. No one who is interested in children’s mental development should touch it. Peter Fleming, NorthmeadA bad betWhy are we still having a discussion about poker machine cuts (“Minns faces internal push for poker machine cuts”, May 25). The evidence has been in our faces for decades. The greatest concentration of pokies is in the lowest socio-economic suburbs and the social harm cannot be ignored. There is also ample evidence of money-laundering through pokies. NSW has one of the highest concentrations of poker machines in the world, yet our politicians still prevaricate. The time to act is now. A suffering community demands it and the bleating of the gambling industry must be ignored. Bob Edgar, Moss ValePremier Chris Minns is under renewed pressure to rein in the pokies industry.Peter Braig and Dominic LorrimerCustomers on noticeIt was most encouraging to hear that customers in restaurants can be charged for sexually (or otherwise) harassing hospitality staff (“Sexual harassment case that left a customer with a hefty damages bill, May 25). Now that this case has gone before the courts, hopefully we can expect a flood of other cases brought by airline staff against passengers who think that it’s fine to touch them up. Bring it on. This common and unwelcome behaviour also needs to be stopped. Mia David, WollongongPrivate advantagesJenna Price questions the value of health insurance (“Private health insurance is not worth it, let’s start again”, May 21). For most people, the answer becomes clear the moment they or someone they love needs hospital treatment. When you are sick or in pain, rapid access to treatment in the private system matters. Health insurance gives millions of Australians faster access to care, choice of doctor and the ability to get on with their lives sooner. Its value should not be measured by how much you get back on your spectacles, but by being there when you need costly hospital care most. Another positive is that it frees up beds, doctors and operating theatres for people who rely entirely on public care. Abandoning health insurance will not strengthen Medicare, it will simply push more demand onto already stretched public hospitals and make it harder for everyone to access timely care. Dr Rachel David, CEO, Private Healthcare AustraliaSmoke and mirrorsI do wish the media would stop reporting every thought bubble Donald Trump has about the war with Iran (“Trump says deal to end the Iran war almost signed”, May 25). None of this is news, just distraction. He has no plan, his negotiations are all bluster, all for show. Fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice, shame on you, fool me dozens of times and let’s all stop listening. When are the adults in the room going to get all this sorted out? Neil Ormerod, KingsgroveUS President Donald Trump changes his tune too often to believe him.AP Brunos on paradePost-war migration influenced more than just food and employment (“Angus Taylor takes shelter with a weird mob from a fictional past”, May 25). On the northern beaches of Sydney, it found its way into teenage slang. The short polyester swimmers we call “budgie smugglers” were in the latter part of the ’50s and early ’60s always known as “Brunos” and were shunned by the first generation of teenage boardriders. This was because these cossies were worn only by European male immigrants. I still call them Brunos and, of course, I wear them exclusively. Peter McNair, NewcastleTo submit a letter to the Sydney Morning Herald, email letters@smh.com.au. Click here for tips on how to submit letters.The Opinion newsletter is a weekly wrap of views that will challenge, champion and inform. Sign up here.