The Reserve Bank has blamed inefficient planning and zoning laws for adding about $450,000 to the cost of an average Sydney home. We should blame the politicians who refuse to rezone land around railway stations for higher density development, rather than the planners who enforce land zoning. We should also blame the politicians who insist on building more infrastructure in well serviced corridors like that between Sydney and Parramatta, rather than expanding rail coverage in the metropolitan area and building fast rail to surrounding regions. - Peter Egan, Artarmon Chris Johnson unsurprisingly proclaims that all those supporting continued development and growth in this city are the real and only planners who can ensure the building blocks for a quality and affordable future. I have glimpsed a bit of Johnson's quality future as I witness his advocated growth in places such as Macquarie Park, Epping, Carlingford, Rhodes and so many other suburban precincts. It is a bleak and ugly one. - James Laukka, Epping The federal government breaches its international obligations by failing to extend anti-money laundering laws to funds going through trust accounts of real estate agents, lawyers and accountants ("How money launderers distort property prices", December 3). This loophole that should have been closed years ago and has a distorting effect on property prices. I hope they apply the same blowtorch to themselves as they have applied to Westpac. - Penny Hackett, Willoughby It is now quite apparent that the continual reduction in the cash rate by the RBA has caused unintended consequences ("RBA feels pressure over home price rise", December 3). The Sydney property market reaction is only the beginning. Consumers have become extremely cautious, business investment has stalled. There has to be a reset of monetary policy. Any further reduction of interest rates by the RBA will surely be the catalyst for a severe lengthy recession in Australia, if this has not already begun. - Bruce Clydsdale, Bathurst

Hazy shade of summer calls for action on global warming For the second evening in a row, the smell of burning bush is so strong that it is impossible to sit outside, and an open door fills the house with smell of charred wood irritating eyes and throats. Rural NSW? No, the eastern suburbs of Sydney ('''Serious' risk of contamination for key catchments due to fires'', December 3). The country burns. Weather forecasts predict smoke haze as if it was as commonplace as rain showers. I will not be a quiet Australian. There is something to see here. If this is not the time to take real action on global warming, when? - Michael Berg, Randwick It is a no brainer in a country with no rain to adopt a 21st-century water recycling policy (''Australia posts driest spring on record'', December 3). Our water policy is pre-historic; carrying water in buckets, saving shower water. The Netherlands recycles every drop to address their water issues. - Anne Eagar, Epping Why does being identified as a grandmother give more credence for a plea for us to do more to curb climate change (''As a grandma-to-be I can no longer stay out of this debate'', December 3)?

The brave woman who brought her charred house remains to Canberra was headlined as a grandmother. Don’t think I’ve ever read headlines referring to David Attenborough as “gramps tackles climate change”. We don’t have to apologise for being worried about our changing climate nor do older women who are concerned need to be reduced to patronising labels in order to make our views more palatable to the powers that be. - Sally Shepard, Nelson Bay What I find astounding regarding climate change is that no one ever mentions the elephant in the room: overpopulation. The climate has changed because we have overpopulated our planet and hence overdeveloped it. Earth cannot sustain the constant population growth and the demands on its resources. Our cities are choked by development which is driven by their large population demands which in turn produce high emission gases which adds to the destruction of the environment that should be sustaining. Why are we not putting the effort into developing beyond our major cities? Stop the development and population growth in the cities and push it into our regional areas. We need to stop expounding old ideas and start creating new ones. If humans are going to continue to breed heedlessly, then we need to spread the load of population so our planet can hopefully survive for future generations. - Sue Durman, Pyrmont

Weak case for medevac repeal I’d like to see more interrogation of the reasons the government is so adamant to repeal the medevac laws (''Repealing medevac will inflict needless pain on detainees'', December 3). They state national security but in my view the real reason is pure testosterone driven pride. They act as tough guys on asylum seekers to the detriment of considering the impact on human lives. They can’t stand the thought that they lost this one and irrationally now won’t let go until they can again show that they won. Oh dear. - Mark Tietjen, Redfern It will be a sad day for Australia if the government goes to the Christmas break on a high because it manages to pass legislation to stop sick refugees getting the medical help they need. Season of goodwill, indeed. - Judy Sherrington, Kensington Tied to school names The Kings School, Fort Street High School and Newington College are valuable brands. People want their children to attend these schools because they have a history and distinguished ex-students that wear their old school tie with pride (''What's in a name? For Cleveland St High alumni, it's everything'', December 3).

Kings might have been founded in 1831 but it has moved on a number of occasions and closed down in 1864 and stayed closed until 1869. In 1916, Fort Street Boys moved from Observatory Hill to Petersham and in 1975 Fort Girls joined them. Newington College was founded in Newington House on the Parramatta River but moved to Stanmore in 1880 and maintained that name. Cleveland Street has been a school in many guises since 1856 and should obviously open in 2020 as Cleveland Street College to celebrate its history and future. Sounds like good branding to me. - Scott Brandon Smith, Bowral Old ''Clevo'' has seen a number of name and location changes. Old boys and girls will have many fond memories of the past but perhaps it is timely to acknowledge the school’s future and the strong local Indigenous ties more formally in its new name? - Michael Doherty, Ashfield Quay to overheat Hardly sustainable or able to mitigate the impacts of urban heat sinks and climate change (“'A meeting place’: steel canopy to stretch over Circular Quay plaza”, December 3) . Why not re-landscape the whole precinct and install a large swathe of lush urban forest instead? - Sue Dyer, Downer (ACT)

A school's measure There are two simple measures on the MySchool website that effectively answer the questions people say they have about the performance of a school: student gain and finances per student ("Parents say MySchool website leaves them feeling confused, inadequate", December 3). Student gain shows how well students performed when they started at a school, how they performed after a certain number of years at that school and compares these results with other schools. Parents can then compare this to the money the school receives to work out how effective the school is at increasing students' capabilities. The rest is just useful for social selection. - David McMaster, Mosman Broken politics Am I alone in thinking that there is something fundamentally wrong with the Australian political system (Letters, December 3)? How can it be that much of the elected government’s program is held to ransom by two senators who have been elected by a tiny percentage of the population and hold somewhat extremist views which I very much doubt are supported by the majority of the Australian population. - Peter Dimond, Terrigal Tasmanians old enough to remember Senator Brian Harradine must be celebrating Senator Lambie’s move to the centre of power. For two decades Harradine squeezed NSW and Victorian taxes out of a succession of governments for the benefit of Tasmania. - Alan Stanley, Upper Corindi

Why all the angst about Jacqui Lambie’s position in the Senate? She only has power due to the Senate having become the plaything of the major political parties with rubber stamping of the position of the policies of the affiliated party in the lower house taken for granted. And the appointing of Senators to ministerial roles in the government of the day further undermines any review role that the Senate might have otherwise had. So those who complain about the Senate being obstructive only have themselves to blame when the Senate resists the puppet masters. - Mike Hill, East Lindfield Strip search should be last option Whether or not police officers are left to interpret the law on strip searches surely police like any professional have some baseline principles to follow in dealing with children and young people (“Strip-search law too vague”, December 3). Strip searching should be the last option and never without a competent adult to protect the rights of the young person. - Jill Napier, Phegans Bay Minimise harm Your correspondent urges people to take responsibility for their own lives at music festivals by not taking drugs, presumably by ''just saying no'' (Letters, December 3). On that logic we should cede responsibility to individuals for consuming alcohol, allowing unfettered access: allow bottle shops to open 24 hours a day, sell alcohol freely in supermarkets and convenience stores. Why is it taking the Berejiklian government so long to recognise it has a duty to minimise harm to citizens and implement controls for the substances in question? - David Martin, Five Dock

Emerging epiphets James Valentine’s proposed updates to the ''chai-slugger slurs'' was wonderful (''Update your chai chugger slurs to stay relevant'', December 3). However, this week’s Good Food supplement offered a wealth of ideas to add to the list. How about; Amaro spritz suckers or burrito, guindilla and Katsura sando munchers? - Tom Meakin, Port Macquarie Goodbye Greedy I met Greedy back in 1978 - a very approachable and funny guy and a bloody great muso to boot (''Mental As Anything's 'Greedy' Smith dies aged 63'', December 3). How many times over the years have you heard yourself singing along to a Mentals tune. He will be sadly missed but his music and zest for life will never be forgotten. - Anthony Malivanek, Bray Park First bugs of Christmas

Yesterday an upturned Christmas beetle lay struggling in my backyard (Letters, December 3). Once placed back on its feet it took flight and disappeared into the smoky air. Its survival until Christmas is uncertain. A miraculous flight of fantasy, perhaps. - Joy Cooksey, Harrington Yes, a confirmed Christmas beetle sighting at Mona Vale Hospital last week. It looked hale and hearty so it was directed to the kiosk and not urgent care. - June Dibbs, Mona Vale Christmas beetles are not as big now as they were in my childhood. In the '60s, they were the size of a 50 cent piece. Now they are only as big as my little fingernail. Why? - Genevieve Milton, Newtown A petticoat crime At my recent school reunion, a classmate reflected on her punishment in Year 2 in the fifties (Letters, December 3). The teacher deemed her naughtiness had made her unworthy of wearing the school uniform of our Anglican school, so she was made to remove it and spend the rest of the lesson standing in front of the class in knickers and singlet. - Robin Love, Rozelle

All this talk about skirts and bloomers reminds me that not so very many years ago lady bowlers had to wear “double-fronted petticoats”. - Heather Harman, Tuncurry To submit a letter to The Sydney Morning Herald, email letters@smh.com.au. Click here for tips on how to submit letters.