WHAT a lot of rubbish columnist Michael Moore writes in claiming that banks have been ripping off ordinary Australians for years through outrageous interest rates and sneaky fees (“Crocodile tears amid banks’ greedy hypocrisy”, CN July 6).

There has been plenty of competition for years in Australia for many years now in both the bank and non-bank sector. Customers are free to choose between either. As for “outrageous interest rates on credit cards”, there is no need to pay a cent in interest if you pay off the balance within fairly generous interest-free limits. I have never paid a cent in interest on a credit card and I use them all the time. If you don’t want to ever pay any bank fees, use cash as many people do.

Royal Commissions rarely benefit anyone except lawyers and cost the taxpayer a fortune. All Michael Moore is doing is jumping on the Bill Shorten bandwagon, the perpetual whinger about the banks. They employ more than 30,000 Australians and pay very good dividends to between three and four million others. Perhaps Michael Moore is not one of them! He should stick to commenting on health matters; hopefully he knows more about that subject.

The salaries paid to their CEOs are another matter and very questionable, but to so savagely criticise the banks because they are very profitable is a very weak argument.

Colin Lyons, Weetangera

Macklin’s view is ‘extreme’

I THINK columnist Robert Macklin needs to seek anger management for his extreme response to Donald Trump’s “spurning the Paris Climate Change Accord” (“When the world put Trump to one side”, CN July 6).

I agree we need to do something about our polluting of the atmosphere, but let us be realistic about this.

Firstly, every country has to participate and China is one of the worst for pollution yet Robert did not have a go at them. Unless every country participates it is a waste of time and I do not believe China will change. Secondly, contrary to popular opinion, the seas are not rising. The land is sinking in some places and if the seas were rising, we would see a difference all over the world, not just in certain places. We have not seen a rise in Sydney Harbour for instance or other coastal cities.

Vi Evans, via email