How is protecting Aussie jobs from cheap Chinese workers any more racist than protecting Sydney harbourside mansions from wealthy Chinese investors ("Abbott accuses Labor of peddling 'racist lies' over China trade deal",   August 21)? This is just more proof that the Abbott government rules for the rich alone, while the rest of us suffer the consequences.
Peter Newberry Rose Bay
Leaving aside the question of whether the Chinese people are a "race", it is certainly not a "racist lie" that Australian workers might be excluded from domestic labour markets as a result of the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement or the Memorandum of Understanding in relation to "Investment Facilitation Arrangements", since neither the ChAFTA nor the memorandum of understanding require labour market testing to occur before visas are granted to Chinese workers. 
The decision to grant such visas lies within the discretion of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection.
It will be interesting to see how this process plays out in light of section 10 of the Racial Discrimination Act, which relevantly provides that a right conferred by a provision of a Commonwealth law shall be enjoyed by persons irrespective of their national origin.
Jon Michie Russell Lea
More shrill, overblown nonsense from an increasingly desperate prime minister. How much longer will his colleagues tolerate this man?
Brian Palfrey Surry Hills
I'm confused. Just which section of the electorate is Tony Abbott trying to appeal to?
Brian Collins Cronulla
Grass for the rich
The relationship between corporate Australia and our decision-making politicians is far too cosy ("Field of cars - build it and they will come: MP",   August 21). The sports administrations and entertainment businesses around Moore Park will never stop trying to grab public land. And they will continue to schmooze politicians into spending public money to do it.
Many of us suspected that the publicly funded $38 million pedestrian bridge over Anzac Parade was for precisely that purpose.
The Art Gallery is similarly intent on building on a hectare of grass of Australia's most historic park, the Sydney Domain. Environment and heritage groups appear powerless to stop the onslaught. Australia seems destined to become a cultural desert in which a few rich people can afford to play on their own private grass.
Kevin Eadie Drummoyne
No religion in marriage
Julie Bishop has shown support for marriage equality but is concerned how change would affect religious institutions ("Bishop hints at support for same-sex marriage but says bill doesn't address religious issues",   August 21). It is understandable both Christian and non-Christian religious institutions will be concerned about marriage equality.
There is already concern among the churches about the number of weddings being conducted by marriage celebrants, therefore avoiding church weddings. However, a marriage certificate is not a religious document. It is a legal document issued no matter where a person chooses to be married.
Robyn Lewis Raglan
He's missing the point
It must be getting pretty crowded under Tony Abbott's bed ("Danger! There are Greens under the bed!"   August 21). The reds of course have always been there ever since he was a young disciple of B. A. Santamaria. Now he's borrowed Dyson Heydon's great big torch and found hordes of Greens lurking under his mattress.
Once again those famous ears appear to be picking up highly selective messages from the electorate. The Prime Minister appears to be deaf to farmers' concerns about the threat from big mining to prime agricultural land. In dismissing legitimate environmental challenges as "vigilante litigation" and "legal sabotage", he misses a fundamental point about how democracy works in this country compared with how some governments overseas behave towards their people and the land they live and work on.
Nick Franklin Katoomba
Working girls find dating sites a great help
When business is slow, some working girls join dating sites that profess to find married women wishing to engage in an affair with a married man ("Wife told on live radio husband had an account",   August 21). It is a great way to find new clients - the only thing is, the men are not aware they are "clients", but rather think that they are meeting up with a frustrated married lady.
The modus operandi is thus: the "lady" in question books a hotel room and arranges to meet a number of men at intervals during the day; all she asks of her "lover" is that he pays for the room rental; after a quick liaison, she gets rid of him on the pretext that she has to meet her husband/take a child to an appointment, etc., then gets ready for the next man. It is a lucrative and guaranteed earner for a savvy professional girl, and some sites turn a blind eye - or even actively engage women to play this role - so that they can fulfil their guarantee that any man signing up to meet a certain number of ladies actually gets to do so.
Another scam is "coffee ladies", who are paid a small amount to meet married men for a drink, but no more - the lady saying there was no "spark". This again allows the agency to claim it has met its criteria. As the saying goes: "There is a sucker born every minute".
Alicia Dawson Balmain
Let's stop stigmatising Ashley Madison account holders as cheating adulterers. There is no such thing as an adulterous affair in the age of individualism and sexual freedom.
As you make your bed, so you must openly lie in it.
Hendry Wan Alexandria
Homeless vanishing
For at least the past 12 months every morning and evening I have walked past the homeless who sleep on the footpath outside Woolworths opposite the Sydney Town Hall.
However, one night last week I saw several police talking to one of the homeless who with his dog has been a permanent fixture.
The next morning all the homeless had mysteriously disappeared and have not been back. Perhaps they have been provided with proper accommodation.
Or have they been asked to move away from the public eye due to complaints. Does anyone care?
Con Vaitsas Ashbury
Ripping off the workers
The saddest part about the parasitic activities of the despicable Kathy Jackson (Letters,   August 21), and prior endorsement of her by Coalition dimwits, is the deliberate disconnect from honest working people.
When the Health Services Union scandal was being exposed I was based at RPA Hospital.
To avoid Sydney's hopeless traffic, I always arrived at and left work early, along with the cleaners, ward, maintenance, domestic and kitchen staff. The engine room of the hospital.
Every morning I was met with cheerful greetings from these people, mostly migrants, including many with limited English language, who openly displayed dignified pride in and sensitivity to the context of their work. I remember one afternoon sharing the lift and exchanging goodbyes with a group of cleaners, and as we parted in the foyer, I noticed their HSU carry bags over their shoulders and my eyes suddenly and unexpectedly welled up.
A physical reaction to this stark reminder of who the likes of the HSU scammers were ripping off. People who are a fundamental, but often invisible, part of my workplace community.
As I read that the truth about Jackson was finally out, again my eyes filled up. Clearly Jackson et al have never been part of any dignified, honest community who work for a living.
Robyn Dalziell Castle Hill
Recipe for disaster
What a terrible waste of money and time is the state upper house parliamentary inquiry into the removal of a registered nurse on duty in nursing homes ("MPs seek to suppress hearing into homes",   August 21). It is obviously a purely economic decision on the part of nursing home owners and it is absurd that this is even being debated. Common sense must prevail.
Nursing homes have multiple patients on prescription and S8 medications, a multitude of often complex medical requirements that need qualified experienced trained nursing supervision. As with many care institutions, from children to the elderly, we must be vigilant. It is important that standards be improved not eroded. To have only unqualified staff supervising multiple elderly both day and night is a recipe for disaster.
Christina Foo Wahroonga
Bell, we're grateful
"Let us speak of men who are truly great" and commend the work of John Bell, actor, director and founder of the Bell Shakespeare Company ("Sweet Sorrow: Bell bids the Bard Farewell",   August 21).
As he steps down from the company that has been a constant in the cultural life of our city for 25 years, we may express our gratitude for Bell's excellence in performance and interpretation. He will keep the Bard on his bedside table, he says, and thanks to his efforts many of us who did not really appreciate Shakespeare at school now keep some of his words in our hearts.
Pamela Chippindall Woollahra