Perhaps the boys would like a chance to have equal opportunity with the girls. Women have been wearing pants for many decades, after overcoming stiff opposition from traditionalists, and now have the luxury of choice presently denied to men. It’s not as if men have never dressed in garments resembling dresses. Scotsman wear kilts. Not so very long ago priests routinely wore their cassocks when out and about. The Pope still wears one. Jesus is usually depicted as wearing a robe. A quick trawl through Google reveals that “man skirts” are becoming trendy.  Clothing fashion changes all the time. Why not now?

Barbara Sawtell, Oak Flats

Malcolm Turnbull wants a guarantee that polluting coal-fired power stations will remain operational post-2022. He is not going to get anywhere. Even the planet’s worst carbon emitter, China where oppressive smog chokes the cities, has seen the light, in 2015 China earned the title: “the world’s biggest renewable-energy investor” after it released a cool US$102.9 billion to tackle the very hot topic of climate change.

To kick things off they built a large solar farm in Mongolia’s Kubuqi Desert. It features 650,000 (yes 650,000) fixed and sun-tracking panels that together channel 1,000 megawatts of electricity into the national grid.

And here on the home front what do we see; our Prime Minister flogging a dead horse. This is not the right approach.  We need vision enlightenment. We need the Prime Minister to sit down with a panel of advisors and take a leaf out of China’s book.

We need a powerful leader, a live wire, not a negative naysayer; we need a positive man charged with enthusiasm a person who is “switched-on” to the needs of the community – it is time to build. It is time to prepare for the future. Over to you Prime Minister.

John Macleod, Berry

I cannot pass on replying to Ms Broadfoot's letter (Illawarra Mercury, September 20).  The “messy scrub” she refers at Sandon Point and McCauley’s beach provides much needed habitat for wildlife while also serving to conserve and stabilise banks along that part of the coast. The fact that there have been brazen attempts at chain sawing and deliberate setting of fires to destroy remnant bush is to be deplored not complained about.

Marilyn Hood, Bulli

On September 8 a story written by Mitch Jennings entitled ‘Speed Demons’ unleashed started thus: It’s an old adage that you can’t coach speed. That quote must have come from Bozo the Clown. Then this gem from Illawarra Coach Matt Head "you can’t teach speed, you can’t coach speed, you can’t just find it, players have it or they don’t”. What a crock. I assume St.George Illawarra employ a sprint coach. One would hope that his/her philosophy would be the complete opposite to that statement.

I have had the great pleasure of knowing some of the legends of sprint training over the past 70 odd years, including locals Ernie Ford and Noel Perry. Their forte was taking ordinary run of the mill people and turning them into highly competitive athletes.

Many stars of rugby league and soccer in the 60s and 70s trained with these sprint squads and were very successful on the pro athletic circuit. NRL teams today start pre season training in November with the emphasis on bulking up. But with the right training methods it is quite possible to add up to five metres on an athlete. I’m sure some of these blokes would love that extra pace.

Phil Weston, Berkeley