June 16, 2026 — 8:00pmCathy WilcoxTo submit a letter to The Age, email letters@theage.com.au. Please include your home address and telephone number below your letter. No attachments. See here for our rules and tips on getting your letter published.PROPERTYHouse prices are coming down (″⁣ANZ and NAB join the chorus line on falling house prices″⁣, 16/6).I thought that was the idea because the ridiculous prices had got out of hand and the taxation changes announced in the federal budget were made to hopefully help first home buyers. I call the changes a success.Patricia Norden, Middle ParkProperty investment market rideI own two investment residences in Perth, and I’d welcome a 10 per cent fall in their market value. House prices are just ridiculously high.It also wouldn’t affect me – I own two investment properties (bought before the price fall) and I would still own two investment properties after the fall.It also would reduce my net ″⁣wealth″⁣ but I make it a principle never to spend wealth, only income, such as the rent from my tenants who are paying significantly below market rents.Wayne Robinson, Kingsley, WATax change what the doctor orderedWell done prime minister and treasurer. House prices are falling and the banks are screaming because investor interest in further borrowings is cooling. Just what the doctor ordered – or what an overwhelming number of commentators and potential home buyers have been pleading for.Let’s not forget that house prices have risen about 60 per cent in the last decade* (which includes – as with all types of investments – two years of falling prices in 2018 and 2022).The government’s job now is to explain this good news story to voters rather than allowing it to be hijacked by big business (only interested in their bottom line) and political opponents (whether they be inexperienced wannabes or discredited has-beens) in their attempts to further unsettle voters at a time of national and international uncertainty.Peter Thomson, BrunswickWhat economics experts called forThe article ″⁣One in three like Labor’s budget. Taylor has other reasons to hope″⁣(16/6) in which only a third of Australians thought the budget would be good for Australia is very concerning.For years now, people who study economics have called for taxation reform. At last, we had a government who have acted on this advice, but many of our fellow Australians disagree.I despair for the future of Australia when so many people vote according to polarising social media news and emotion rather than a balanced appraisal of the information.Michael Weadon, BallaratPity home owners with negative equityAbout 250,000 Australians have now entered the property market using Labor’s 5 per cent deposit scheme. It would be interesting to poll them as to whether they are happy with Jim Chalmers’ budget which has resulted in many of them now having negative equity in their homes.I dread to think of the consequences if these borrowers become unemployed and are forced to sell their homes for less than what they paid and owe on them.William Holmes, KewMore scrutiny neededOur political pundits scrutinise our major political parties within an inch of their lives. I’m left to ponder how popular One Nation would be currently if the same blow torch was applied to it.Phil Alexander, ElthamLet me ask all the whingers bleating about the changes to Capital Gains Tax (CGT) and negative gearing if that was the only reason they voted for Labor at the last election?My guess is no, because people vote on balance for a range of policies and perceived ability to lead and manage the country successfully for the longer term.Labor did not have a policy or promise on reducing fuel excise, but did so because it was beneficial for the country, despite the hit to revenue. How many of the tax malcontents refused to fill up their cars because of that?A democracy is supposed to be about “Us”, “Us”, “Us” and not about “Me”, “Me”, “Me”, so just get over it and start thinking about people other than yourself for a change.Mark Kennedy, SebastopolModest tax changesThose who peddle trite, trivialising comments such as ″⁣politics of envy″⁣ might like to consider the ‘politics of jealousy’, in the sense of, for example, jealously guarding privileges that were afforded to them but perhaps never justified in the first place: CGT discounts, for example.No one who legally took advantage of the benefits of CGT discounts and negative gearing is having the rug pulled out from under their feet. The necessary yet modest changes to these structures are to reverse the damage done and to correct a grossly unfair system that pitched seller and investor against home buyer, with the deliberate end goal of driving house prices and rentals up, now beyond what ‘ordinary people’ can afford.I am all for investment that provides funding and fair reward, but that should not extend to unfairly burdening others.Emma Borghesi, RyeTHE FORUMEnough with the pollingIt seems I can no longer open a newspaper without a double page spread devoted to the latest poll.Enough! Such frequent polls achieve little. They feed back into a feverish loop of heated speculation about who would win government if an election were held today – this some two years before the next federal election, and five months before the state election.I have a healthy interest in politics, but am sick of reading about polls.Samuel McMahon, ParkvilleA time of polycrisisLike Prime Minister Albanese and your correspondent, I can’t see Pauline Hanson having credibility on the world stage (“Albanese takes veiled swipe at One Nation’s credentials on foreign policy” and “Hanson on world stage? I wouldn’t like to see that”, 16/6).I also can’t see One Nation forming government in Australia. The next election is two years away, and they’d need to win 74 more seats in the House of Representatives to get there.We’re living in a time of polycrisis. If we’re going to talk politics, can we please focus on policies that actually help us navigate threats like climate change and the unchecked rise of AI? As the Australian Council of Trade Unions has suggested, adding a 25 per cent tax on gas exports — raising around $17 billion a year to support Australia’s needs — would be a practical place to start. Redirecting gas profits towards climate resilience would do far more for Australians than political theatre.Amy Hiller KewBaby, bath, waterFor all the pundits suggesting that the two party political system is dead, I say be careful what you wish for. An incompetent, dishonest, openly racist party with a policy void at its centre is not the answer.Dumping a system that has served us well since Federation because we don’t like the current incumbents is surely madness. Certainly, make our leaders accountable, and insist they take their responsibilities seriously.We do have some remaining decent politicians in our major parties, so to use another well worn cliche, let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water.Cheryl Day, BeaumarisKey to happinessToday’s unhappiness with government institutions reminds me of President John F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech “Ask not what what your country can do for you, Ask what you can do for your country”.As a child of non-English speaking migrants from war torn Europe, I lived in a community where we all helped each other. We grew our own fruit and vegetables, preserved what we could, never wasted anything, we shared and helped our neighbours. We looked out for each other.This sense of community is gone. Ironically, we can talk to people on the other side of the world but we don’t talk or know our nearest neighbours, nor do we care.Australia is a lucky country. We should be grateful for what we have and help each other. This is what leads to true happiness.Maria Liew, WoodendPolitical piñata whackersOne Nation and Coalition supporters blaming Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for every contemporary Australian social and economic problem, yet providing neither a credible detailed understanding of the complex causes of such issues nor how their party’s policies will improve things, is galling.It seems they are metaphorically playing at whacking the piñata and enjoying the release of the lollies or toys piñatas usually contain – in these cases however, negativity.Fun for the piñata whackers, however a great worry for Australians seriously committed to the building of a sustainable, cohesive, prosperous, and democratic nation.Jennifer Gerrand, Carlton NorthTrump’s bottom rungGeoffrey Robertson, (″⁣Happy birthday, Mr President. You’ve had a long, low life″⁣, 16/6), as an eminent jurist and humanitarian, rightly references how Donald Trump was initially justified in his assault on Iran, by virtue of the sheer hideousness of the Teheran regime in relation to its treatment of women.The existence of a callous theocratic male plutocracy underpinned by the Revolutionary Guard Corps has since 1979 buttressed the case for viewing the recent US intervention as constituting a ‘just war’, especially in the light of Iranian authorities having shot deliberately at the eyes of protesters.Tragically, a lack of moral seriousness on Trump’s part has seen him abandon the focus on industrial-scale misogyny, instead adopting an incoherent war strategy and ceding the high moral ground to an enemy which surreptitiously continues to eliminate many of its citizens.In the historic pantheon of US presidents, Trump will surely occupy the bottom rung.Jon McMillan, MorningtonAnd, for his next trickNow that his 80th birthday party on the White House lawn is over, what trick will Donald Trump pull to impress the world? The mind boggles.Randall Bradshaw, FitzroyBillionaire perspectiveAs reported in The Age (16/6), Gina Rinehart’s acquisition of a $1.4 billion stake in SpaceX reflects her admiration for the world’s first trillionaire. Gina regards Elon Musk as ″⁣truly exceptional″⁣, and applauds his recent role in Trump’s so-called ″⁣efficiency drive″⁣, overseen by the unconstitutionally-formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).A little context is in order. In July 2025, a team of eminent researchers published a study in the medical journal, The Lancet, concluding that continued dismantling by DOGE of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) could, by 2030, result in the avoidable deaths of more than 14 million people.This figure included 4.5 million children. Another study from the Boston University School of Public Health, calculated that by early 2026 the number of needless deaths directly caused by the interruption of USAID-funded programs would reach 760,000.Rinehart’s opinion of DOGE’s performance is to quote its originator: “As Elon Musk says: ’The larger government gets, the less individual freedom you have‴⁣⁣. Bill Gates saw things differently. In May 2025, he called it ″⁣the world’s richest man killing the world’s poorest children″⁣.Nick Eckstein, Kangaroo GroundWho stands for nature?A round of applause for your letters correspondent (16/6), who tells Jacinta Allen that ″⁣She and her hunting cronies need to go now and Labor needs someone more empathetic to Victorians and their love of nature″⁣.Allan has refused to join other states in capping the number of guns one can own, and has long resisted calls to end duck shooting, as other states have done. In spite of the devastation that Victoria’s ballooning population of feral deer is causing, she has protected them for game hunters and their sport.Victoria needs a leader who will be a champion of nature.That rules out the Liberals and One Nation. The Greens can only do so much. It’s Labor that must break free and stand up for the safety and health of our natural heritage.Tom Knowles, ParkvilleBattery fire riskTo your letters correspondent (16/6) who wonders what the problem is with the transmission towers down here in Gippsland: it is not the towers that are the problem – it is the batteries connected to them and the associated fire risk that is the problem.Doug Springall, YarragonEnd of DaysThere seems to be an ″⁣end of days vibe″⁣ for Labor in Victoria but, what is the alternative? An opposition party with its own ″⁣end of days″⁣ vibe? A populist protest vote party with few policies and a sole representative in this state? A coalition of the two, or in fact, any coalition? Worrying times indeed.David Johnston, HealesvilleAND ANOTHER THINGMatt GoldingTrump celebrationsDonald Trump held his 80th birthday celebration with a desecration of the White House with his 92-foot “Claw” imposition and the Ultimate Fighting Championship combat. One might say typical of Trump and reflective of America. So sad. Some 250 years down a pathway to shallow values where “might is right”. Happy BirthdayBrian Marshall, AshburtonHunger games on the White House lawn …Marcia Little, WarrandyteTo celebrate 250 years of the United States of America, President Trump and his supporters enjoyed a $60 million cage fight. The American founding fathers must be turning in their graves after their aspirations for ″⁣life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness″⁣ bled out on the White House lawn.Mick Hussey, BeaconsfieldSurely, the Iranian regime will now build the Colossus of Hormuz. A statue of Donald, taller than his Arc de Trump, in recognition of entrenching their power for years to come. Next stop, the Trump Washington Colosseum?Peter Thomas, Pascoe ValeTrump skites that he’s secured a deal with Iran, marking his 80th birthday. No more birthdays for the 168 people, almost all of them girls, killed in that unconscionable primary school bombing.Patsy Sanaghan, North GeelongIf the Socceroos win against the US, will tariffs rise?Pete Garfield, EchucaOne NationIf some of the new, starry-eyed One Nation supporters bothered to read any of their limited policies, they may not be so enthusiastic.Trevor Street, Park OrchardsI’d like to think that the owner of any fish and chip shop in Australia could become prime minister. Until now. Paul Custance, HighettCan One Nation, with its determined ignorance of the science on climate change and the imperative for action not denial, ever evolve to embrace the idea of “One Planet”?Ian Hill, Blackburn SouthThe opinion newsletter is a weekly wrap of views that will challenge, champion and inform your own. Sign up here. More:LettersAnthony AlbaneseElon MuskGina RinehartPauline HansonABCCapital gains taxAngus TaylorTrump's AmericaAntisemitism royal commissionFrom our partners