The national union has fought female firefighters every step of the way, using arguments like falling standards. The only credible research about standards can be drawn from health research that shows that as male firefighters age, their balance and physical strength declines. It can be safely speculated that many ageing male firefighters would fail the physical entry test that keeps women out right across Australia. This does not make older males poor firefighters - it just shows the fallacy of the UFUA position. Firefighters and the public have a right to expect entry processes that reflect the job being done. An intimidating and inflexible culture harms all workers. Hysterical notions that buildings will burn down and people will die if females become firefighters don't cut it any more. Dr Merilyn Childs, formerly director of fire services research program, University of Western Sydney, Springwood, NSW

Special assistance not on THE Metropolitan Fire Brigade is not a "closed culture" (Editorial, 13/3). The MFB recruiting process is open (and fair) to all applicants. Gender, race or ''physical strength'' are not barriers. The truth is that not many women apply. The proportion of females in the MFB is on a par with other Australian and overseas fire services.

We female firefighters in the MFB are offended by the implication of the gender inclusion action plan that females need special assistance to make it into the MFB. New recruits should be selected on merit alone. The United Firefighters Union has the full support of its female members in promoting a more inclusive plan than the MFB's. Setting targets to increase diversity artificially is patronising and taints applicants who enter under the scheme. Overseas case studies show it creates division in the workplace. We have found the MFB to be a welcoming workplace and it is a job we are proud to do. Melissa Hanson, station officer, Murrumbeena, and 23 MFB female firefighters

Wacky arguments rerun WHEN the army began widening its opportunities for women more than 25 years ago, some wacky arguments were advanced as to why women should not be given expanded career opportunities. Squads would not be able to march in step because women have shorter legs; the army would have to double its toilet allocation; combat outcomes would be jeopardised by male soldiers giving excessive attention to the protection of their female comrades; and so on.

Happily, all these objections were easily dealt with and common sense prevailed. (Some male soldiers also have short legs; unisex toilets were commonplace in aircraft; and we would be disappointed if soldiers did not look out for the welfare of all comrades.) The proportion of women then was probably not much better than the current 3.2 per cent in the MFB. Now it is pushing 15 per cent - a big change for a conservative institution. Nick Jans, Marysville Union's conduct helps foes

THE reported behaviour of the United Firefighters Union gives a glimpse of the magnitude of the task facing women seeking fairness. The barriers to equality extend way beyond the corporate world. But the union's conduct raises another issue. While it is uncommon, the flash of the jackboot from a few irresponsible unions is still frequent enough to lend credibility to the campaigns of the formidable forces arrayed against the labour movement. The success of these forces can be measured by the steadily increasing material inequality in all Western countries in recent decades. The UFU's conduct undermines the legitimate struggles of their union brothers. Of course, they couldn't give a stuff about their sisters.

Geoff Hjorth, Albert Park And another thing... ABBOTT'S credentials for prime minister are: boxer, surf-lifesaver, marathon runner, firefighter and quad-biker. He is yet to be photographed wearing an AFL jumper, taking a mark and putting one through the big sticks. Any day now, I reckon.

Maggie McFarlane, Port Melbourne Politics

VICTORIANS have every reason to be proud of their railway system. Trains keep rollin', rollin', rollin' whether the brakes are on or not. Barry Revill, MoorabbinSTILL no word on whether the Coalition would build a rail link to the airport. Has any of the $94 million of airport parking revenue been donated to the Liberals? Judith Loriente, HawthornSURELY Kevin Rudd and Peter Garrett should be held responsible for the insurance scams in Melbourne's eastern suburbs.

Bill Longden, HamptonIT'S not a housing shortage, it's a surplus of people. Graham Parton, Stanley

Lara Bingle WHO the bloody hell advised her? Howard Walter, TemplestoweMORALISTS in the patronising sporting world have it that Bingle should have refrained from having an affair because she knew Brendan Fevola was married. What about Fevola? Did he know he was married?

Fabienne Mackay, PrahranTHE Bingle is single. Can we now be fed some real news? Alex Shabs, ElwoodENOUGH about Bingle's bungle, we're just not interested.

Dennis Urbans, Forest Hill Furthermore I PRESUME Melbourne was rocked by earthquakes and ravaged by a plague of locusts for holding the atheists' convention.

Con Vaitsas, Lakemba, NSWNOW I've heard everything. The airport car park is not just a car park, it's a ''fantastic product'' (The Age, 12/3). Chris O'Neill, Notting HillTHE ABC's Maurice Newman should insist on balanced programming by inviting speakers who believe in the flat Earth theory.

Denis Sikiotis, Elwood We need a company to infiltrate cabinet THE Sunday Age reveals that our state government is employing private security firms, police and international consortiums to spy on those who question its water policy (''Desal company 'spying' '', 14/3). This highlights the way this government has gone about imposing the desalination plant on us.

It introduced the idea against its mandate, refused to debate the issue, and did not provide a single study to justify its claim that Victoria needed such a huge plant. Cabinet-commissioned studies advising against going down this route will not be released and a business case for Victoria's most expensive infrastructure project was never done. Perhaps the people of Victoria should be employing their own private security to infiltrate state cabinet and find out just what is going on in Victoria. This project will cost you and I dearly, but will not even appear on the government's books.

Neil Rankine, Watershed Victoria, Dalyston A slippery slope WHEN the anti-terrorism laws came in, we were soothed by the usual platitudes of communal safety and governmental duty of care for the ''helpless we'' needing protection from evil forces beyond.

Now, it seems the evil forces include those who protest against the desal plant. Private companies are in their rightful place as enforcers of the law, ensuring their inalienable right to seek profit at our expense. Why should we law-abiding citizens question their path? Who are we to stand in the way of more important multinational rich people? After all, it is only our state. It is only our future.

Will Hone, Richmond Ripe for conflict PUBLIC confidence in the state government's fare evasion strategies will not increase while this function is undertaken by public transport franchisees (''Ticket inspectors rated as less than fare'', The Age, 13/3). Revenue protection officers are ensuring ticket compliance on behalf of the government. This is precisely why these staff should be directly employed by the Department of Transport to avoid the potential for quotas or other incentive-based programs.

Andrew Heslop, Sydney, NSW Disenfanchised

MICHAEL Lennon writes that a NIMBY attitude is preventing social housing being built and that ''if the normal planning processes … apply it is simply not possible for these dwellings to be completed in two years''. (Comment, 13/3). These are two separate issues. What's causing pain for residents is not the thought of social housing in their neighbourhood, it's the disenfranchisement from democratic processes. And the only reason offered for having possibly inappropriate development next to your home is that a timeline, which appears arbitrary, has been established in Canberra. Next door is a large block that has been sold and everything demolished. No information was forthcoming from state government or council. Rumours were rife. Now it appears that 13 families are to be accommodated in five buildings on a block that previously housed one. Every other block in the area has one family. This will stick out as a ghetto.

Neighbours are furious at the lack of consultation. The site is nowhere near shops or public transport so doesn't seem to be ideal for social housing and contradicts the council's planning guidelines for medium-density housing near transport hubs and facilities and the federal government's guidelines. Caroline Miley, Heidelberg

Dangerous path PARLIAMENTARY committees are proceeding down a dangerous path when seeking to investigate ministerial staffers. They are endangering the viability of the Westminster system of ministerial responsibility. When senate committees sought to involve themselves in departmental matters in the early 1970s, Canberra's mandarins became very concerned. They were placated when assured that departmental witnesses would be required to answer factual questions only and not comment on policy.

The area that should remain sacrosanct is the ministerial office. The Westminister principle of ministerial responsibility to Parliament should prevail. Decades ago I had responsibility for a federal ministerial office. Every day written and oral exchanges took place between myself and the minister, and with others, much of which was confidential and personal. The thought that I, and not the minister, could be brought before a parliamentary committee to account for these would have been incomprehensible.

If we lose sight of the long-standing conventions we risk undermining the system that has sustained our parliaments over centuries. Andrew Farran, former senior lecturer in public law, Beaumaris Cuts both ways

IN DEFENDING his appearance in the place of his subpoenaed press secretary at the inquiry into the Windsor Hotel sham, Planning Minister Justin Madden cites a long-standing tradition that politicians' staff do not appear before parliamentary committees. There is another long-standing Westminster tradition that ministers accept responsibility for the activities of their department. You can't have it both ways. Allow your staffer the opportunity to tell the truth, or accept personal responsibility and resign. David Olive, Kensington

Truce in weed war MALCOLM Maiden (''Weed out the parochial fools'', BusinessDay, 13/3) is spot on. Removing willows and other exotic trees from urban precincts and waterways is a tragic mistake. Driven by an ideology that values natives more than exotics, Melbourne Water and other agencies are stripping away Melbourne's cultural heritage. There is wide disagreement as to which plants are invasive. Bureaucrats are taking a doctrinaire approach regardless of community concern. The bitter joke is that the lemon-scented gums proposed for the Shrine of Remembrance are themselves exotic in Victoria, being indigenous to Queensland. They are beautiful trees, but the heritage value of the Lombardy poplars is such that they should be conserved.

Government agencies should declare a truce in their ''war against weeds'' and recognise that Melbourne's exotic trees make a vital contribution to making Melbourne a great city. John Dwyer, Richmond

Rail good for taxis JOHN Tait (Letters, 13/3) calls for the Airport West tramline to be extended to Tullamarine. As a cabbie of many years' standing, and having sat at the airport on countless occasions, I venture there would be overwhelming support from cabbies. For many drivers, there is nothing more galling than, after queueing for up to three hours, a passenger who directs them to a suburb along that tram line or, worse, the area between the terminus and the airport. Extending the line would solve that and many more problems. Likewise, fewer freeways and a greater reliance on public transport in general could be very good for the taxi industry, with people taking more, but shorter, trips to and from stations. Youngsters, given the option of buying a car or taking reliable public transport and the occasional short taxi trip, might choose the latter. Let's wake up and see the big picture.

Mick Kir, Upper Ferntree Gully We're all affected

HAVING launched its $43 billion National Broadband Network as the monopoly wholesaler, the government has now admitted it would be allowed to do some retail business. We are also told the government intends to sell down its massive investment of taxpayers money in due course. Both represent a re-run of the Telstra story post-T3: all that's missing is an admission that once the cash is banked, the NBN shareholders can expect to be screwed like Telstra's direct shareholders and anyone whose superannuation (or managed funds) holds Telstra shares have been. It is time Telstra, investment managers and the Australian Shareholders Association reminded voters that when Telstra is being screwed, so are most Australians.

George McGregor, Malvern Media guilty of spin

SUSHI Das' article (''Political spin undermines democracy'', Comment, 12/3) is the latest in a line of media complaints about government and corporate spin. However, the media themselves are often guilty of the spin sin. This can be as overt as editorial meetings determining the ''angle'' of an article or as subtle as the selection of quotes, photos, headlines, story juxtapositions and other techniques that go beyond factual reporting - if such a thing is even possible. The fact that so many spin doctors are former journalists could lead one to wonder where they learned their skills, and why their new masters think they are so well qualified. David Francis, Balwyn