Downer local centre rezoning needs reconsideration

According to the planning officials, they are aiming to achieve "a more compact city", which is a fantasy on their part and unwarranted, because the spatial plan policy and strategy is something different, namely to increase residential densities in Civic, along Northbourne Avenue, Constitution Avenue, in Barton and Kingston and around town centres with limited change to existing suburban areas – in other words, selective rather than "broad-brush" intensification.

The officials refer to Downer as a "strategic" location in relation to a light rail corridor, which, in fact, does not exist and might never exist. Nor can the officials explain how more intensive housing development in the Downer local centre will be a significant input to light rail patronage, but if they can validate their strategic thoughts in this regard, then by all means rezone the Northbourne Avenue light rail corridor in the Territory Plan, all the way one kilometre on either side of the tracks between Dickson and Civic so that everyone then knows that not only local centres will all be changed at some stage to RZ5 zones, but every application for more dense housing development as well.

Tony Powell, Griffith

Neville Tommy (Letters, March 25) suggests he and others like him can't move from Medibank Private health fund because of failing health. He should look at what other funds are able to offer him, as the law is clear about the individual's ability to change funds without penalty.

All members of for-profit funds such as Medibank, NIB and BUPA should exercise their legal right to change to other funds which use all of the members' money (except for administration costs) for the benefit of members. It can be a little daunting to make a change, particularly when unwell, but it is an easy process and if care is taken, one should not lose any cover. It would be advisable for anyone in a similar situation to have any proposed move checked by a competent person.

Nil desperandum, Neville – which I was once told meant "don't let the bastards grind you down".

Steve Thomas, Yarralumla

Reforming Comcare to focus on active rehabilitation and return to work rather than passive provision of compensation is a good idea ("It's time to recognise the health benefits of work", Times2, March 25, p5). But changing the legislation alone is not enough to realise the health benefits of work.

There is now a large body of research showing that the administration of compensation schemes contributes to delay in recovery and return to work, and increases the costs of compensation. Practices such as delays in approving treatment, case-file rotation, overuse of independent medical assessment and surveillance have been shown to exacerbate ill health, particularly mental health.

Some policies, such as experience rating employer premiums, can lead to claims suppression by employers, undermining the important public health objectives of compensation systems. Stigmatising injured workers, as Senator Eric Abetz does so adeptly in his article, is also a contributor to poorer health outcomes.

The Comcare reforms offer an opportunity for an evidence-informed discussion about how to improve health in our nation's compensation systems. That discussion should include a focus on how legislation is administered, and how the scheme is managed. If we fail to consider this, we will not achieve the goals of the reform.

Professor Alex Collie, CEO, Institute for Safety Compensation and Recovery Research, Monash University

Concerning the "sex-in-a-motel" claim, Employment Minister Eric Abetz is quoted as saying ("Govt crackdown on PS compo", March 26, p1), "there are too many cases like this".

Really? This certainly changes my view of the seemingly staid bureaucrats in my circle of friends. Minister Abetz, on the other hand, gets his jollies by contemplating the rejection of hosts of legitimate claims which can now be denied through one example of excessive behaviour.

Denis Coe, Macquarie

I had quite a bit to do with the late Malcolm Fraser at various times during the 1960s, '70s and '90s. I liked him (he wrote a chapter for a book of mine Looking at the Liberals, published by Cheshire in 1974). He was an austere highland chieftain of a man and very serious-minded. If someone told him a joke, someone else had to explain to him why it was funny.

Jack Waterford's article "Tiberius with a telephone" (Times2, March 25, p1) reminded me of Fraser's single-mindedness. On one occasion, he wanted to speak on the phone to a senior departmental officer and was told that the man was somewhere in Europe on his honeymoon "What has that got to do with it," snapped Fraser. "Find him!"

In 1969, I was one of a party of journalists flying with him in a VIP aircraft across Australia. Fraser was drafting and redrafting a speech he was scheduled to make in Perth the following day. Word processors did not exist then, and his efficient secretary, a girl named Heather, had to retype page after page every time her boss changed something – until she lost count.

It became a tough journey for all of us, with stopovers in Perth during a heatwave and later in the red dust of Port Hedland, Mount Tom Price and Woomera. For all of us that is except Malcolm. "He never, ever gets tired," complained the exhausted Heather during the return flight to Canberra. They were working on yet another of his speeches even as we circled the airport to land. When Fraser told Heather he wanted her to retype two pages , she burst into tears and declared that she would not do it. Fraser looked at her in amazement and asked, in genuine concern, if she was ill. She sobbed that they were about to land and she did not have time. Fraser said soothingly, "Well, never mind. It's not important."

"Then why," Heather asked him, "have we been rewriting it so much?" If Fraser knew the answer to that, he did not tell us.

Ray Aitchison, Waramanga

Fred Daly used to say that one of the most reliable thing in politics was the public's short memory. I have been reminded of this in recent days amid sentiments linking Malcolm Fraser with human rights.

Fraser was successively minister for the army and minister for defence during the years of the Vietnam conscription ballot. Of those sent to Vietnam against their will, 200 were killed and many still bear the emotional and physical scars of their experiences. What about their rights?

Heather Nash, Kingston

Like David Stephens (Letters, March 25) I have read Mark Dapin's book The Nashos' War as well as other publications written by veterans. Dapin, it has to be said, is not a Vietnam veteran. There certainly were "welcome home" parades for members of the various regiments in various cities when they returned from their 12-month deployments. However, for the vast majority who were not members of the regiments – in my case I was attached to 8th Field Ambulance at Nui Dat (1970-71) – there was no parade for us until the national "Welcome Home" in the 1990s in Sydney.

My memory of my return home on October 24, 1971, was flying into Mascot after curfew to an empty terminal and having to make my own way home. My relatives were not allowed to meet us in the terminal.

I have serious issues with Dapin's account of the war and the role we "nashos" played in it. As I have often told my friends and family, unless you were there, you can not remotely understand what we went through. I am one of those now suffering PTSD and other health issues as a result of Vietnam.

Gavin O'Brien, Gilmore

I did not appreciate Daniel Flitton's flippant and dismissive article about the Lithuanian Foreign Minister's visit to Australia ("Lithuania backs the shirt-front on Russia", canberra times.com.au, March 24). The sneering tone was set by the headline's reference to Prime Minister Abbott's "shirt-front" comment – which was totally irrelevant to the subject of the Lithuanian Foreign Minister's visit.

The belittling tone continued with a reference to "Lithuania, with a population 1million fewer than Melbourne"' and a later reference to Lithuania as "tiny". I fail to see the relevance.

Furthermore, Lithuania is bigger than Switzerland, Denmark, Holland and Belgium, none of which are ever referred to as "tiny". And when was Israel (not much bigger than the ACT) ever referred to as "tiny", or having "hardly more inhabitants than Sydney"?

Poor journalism, Mr Flitton.

Gintis Kaminskas Canberra, Australia

I think we are missing the point ("Ice addiction tearing Canberra families apart, say drug experts", March 26, p5). Surely, the problem is the desire or need to use psychotropic drugs, not the drug itself. Until we address the causes and predisposing factors of hazardous drug use, the problem will remain.

We might well take the advice of psychotherapist Viktor Frankl, who said that the search for meaning or purpose in our lives was the greatest challenge facing humanity. We might also benefit from asking why so many our young people make these life-endangering choices.

Ken Fraser, Kambah

ANZAC OBSERVATION

When is the ACT government going to "get with the plan", tune in with the rest of the nation, and observe Anzac Day on April 25?

Michael Doyle, Fraser

HIDDEN DANGERS

I note that Kate Lundy is to receive her parliamentary pension of $138,000 per year for nearly two decades of service. Does that include danger money? My husband receives a $31,000 pension for 23 years service in the ADF – some of it in dangerous places. Have I missed something here?

Patrizia Cullens, Mawson

GETTING IN FIRST

It seems once again that the Raiders are making excuses before a game. Just in case! I refer to the article "Furner frustrated by leniency of clubs", Sport, March 26, p24).

Ed (the Bunny) Harris, Bonython

DOUBLE STANDARDS

How ridiculous to hear that Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson has been fired because he allegedly punched a BBC producer when the catering staff did not do their job properly after a day's filming. This is the same BBC that employed paedophiles and did nothing about it for decades.

Adrian Jackson, Middle Park, Vic

MAJURA MAGIC

As to date there has been no response to the wonderful photograph accompanying the story "Majura mindset ... where old roads and new lead to the real bush capital" (March 24, p1), I felt I should firstly compliment the photographer. Great subject, excellent composition and a great advertisement for the so-called "bush capital". And all this only 10 minutes from the CBD!

Meryl Hunter, Murrumbateman, NSW

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