Murky water provides clear case for more cleaning

Those few water birds actually swimming in the polluted water were clearly having trouble making headway.
I couldn't help but think that the bloom has been contributed to (caused?) by the failure of the ACT government to regularly clean the sullage trap and grate at the northern end of the lake, where Village Creek runs into it.

It hasn't been cleaned for many months. As a result of the grate being clogged, all the detritus that is carried down the creek when it rains is not trapped by the grate as it is supposed to be, but flows straight over the top and into the lake thus polluting it.

The ACT government should take a leaf out of its own book. It is currently building a whole lot of filtration ponds around Canberra.

On the fences surrounding such works are signs saying something like "only fresh water down the stormwater drains". The ACT government needs to do more to ensure only clean water enters Lake Tuggeranong via Village Creek.

Regular cleaning of the grate and sullage trap where the creek enters the lake would be a good start.

Don Sephton, Greenway

Frank Jotze ("Canberra's future commute", Public Sector Informant, March 5, p.12) suggests that substandard footpaths should be reported to the ACT government. Presumably he has not had to do this, yet.
If he had, he would realise that this is a futile action.

The TCCS staff are most accommodating and will come round and mark the area with white arrows. If particularly hazardous, minor treatment will occur, such as grinding down raised edges to minimise the trip hazard.

Full repair will occur after the item has been placed in the queue and adequate funding is eventually supplied.

This could be the budget two or three years later, if you are lucky.
In the meantime, contractors will come to the neighbourhood to do repairs to areas listed earlier but cannot do other obvious repairs nearby because they are not in the contract.

Truly efficient.

The ACT government sanctimoniously promotes active travel which involves walking along these dangerous footpaths.

The bus service proposed to start this year is based on the premise that people will walk up to 800 metres to catch a bus.

The government conveniently ignores the reality that many existing footpaths are dangerous due to neglect.

After all, they have more important priorities, like spending a fortune on Civic infrastructure to enable revenue-generating towers under the mantra of densification.

Robyn Coghlan, Hawker

I wonder why the ACT government does not want any Christian influence in our public schools through the work of school chaplains?

It never ceases to concern me, ACT Labor politicians drive past homeless children and men every day along Northbourne Avenue and elsewhere or begging in shopping centres in Canberra and do nothing to help them. Or help the other 1785 homeless children, women and men in the ACT, the second highest number of homeless people in Australia after the Northern Territory.

Contrary to the indifference of the ACT government, the beautiful little Anglican, heritage Church of St John's at Reid has a truly compassionate program called St John's Care.

Here, anyone in need of help – such as free food, clothes, bedclothes, outdoor sleeping equipment, bus fares home, help with bills, counselling and advice on where to get help – does that work, like other Christian organisations rescuing young and older people in need.

One of the saddest stories I read in their weekly newsletter recently was of a teenage boy who became homeless after leaving his dysfunctional family. He died aged 15.

If all the kids having troubles at school were rescued before it was too late and had the same compassionate help of school chaplains, St John's and other Christian organisations give, these young people could be saved from being homeless and dying on the streets.

Penelope Upward, O'Connor

The Canberra Gambling Reform Alliance (Letters, February 28) has taken issue with my assertion that DrCharles Livingstone is an anti-gambling advocate whose shortcomings as a gambling expert were highlighted in a recent Federal Court case.

For the benefit of your readers, Her Honour Justice Debbie Mortimer found: "Dr Livingstone has no capacity because he has, candidly, disclosed that he is an advocate for the cause of the applicant ... I add I have no reason to believe Dr Livingstone would even consider attempting to proffer the declarations of independence required, or the acknowledgments of the need for independence ... His opposition to gambling as a lawful activity is made clear in his affidavit."

Canberrans can make up their own mind about the independence of Dr Livingstone when it comes to gambling, but I think clubs have every right to raise concerns when Dr Livingstone is cited as an independent expert on gambling.

That is clearly not the view of the Federal Court of Australia.

Gwyn Rees, chief executive ClubsACT, Barton

I write re: your editorial "Mr Fluffy Inquiry must proceed" (March 5, p14).

The comparison between the immediate government instigation of an inquiry into the horrific 2003 bushfires and the complete lack of action over Mr Fluffy is valid.

Mr Fluffy will ultimately be linked to as many, if not more, deaths than the bushfires.

It has devastated many more lives.

The Canberra community deserves to know why, since 1968, successive governments (Commonwealth and ACT) have ignored all warnings of the dangers associated with loose-fill asbestos.

The simple fact is that they have many more years to wait as there is evidence to suggest blocks are not being properly remediated and we know mesothelioma might not present for 30 to 50 years.

Given about $300 million of the $1 billion they borrowed will not have to be spent apparently, the government could spend some of that money to establish an inquiry.

Or perhaps they don't want to know the truth.

Felicity Prideaux, Murrumbateman

I write as a a former president of Residents Rally for Canberra Inc, which got four seats in the original (1989) ACT Legislative Assembly.

Rally was always doomed in our stupid left-versus-right party-political set-up, even withthe creative if complicated"modified d’Hondt"electoral system ("Thirty years ago history was made", March 4, p6).

Firstly, it wasn’t long before one Rally assembly member left the party, and sat on his own. The remaining Rally parliamentary members eventually formed an alliance with a major opposition party, irking a lot of the Rally grassroots membership.

The other "major" party in our stultifying two-party system had been governing in minority (earlier sort of supported by the Rally).

The Rally was wiped out at the following election. However, the defector got back in, after forming a "party" with his own name in its title (considered an opportunistic, misleading, and even illegal, device by many), but he then joined with the above-mentioned major opposition party, to form "government".

Naturally, many parliamentary party members may have contrary views on their own party’s policies, reflecting the community at large.

The rigid party political system continues to drag us backwards at all levels of government, and is becoming more and more destructive of democracy.

Regardless of organisational and policy-formulation difficulties, that system should go, if we’re to move forward and solve the huge problems facing us (climate change, energy, water, transport, property development, population, health, education, communications, asylum seekers, etc).

Jack Kershaw, Kambah

So some government ministers are "very disappointed" and choose to berate Glencore for capping its coal production at current levels citing climate change risks. ("‘Very disappointed’: Ministers berate coal miner over climate change commitment", canberratimes.com.au, February 21).

What a pity that the ministers should feel this way.

And what right do they have to berate a private company simply because their views may differ?

Glencore’s decision is nothing to do with "latte sipping greenies" but rather was one made in the interest of the company, its investors and shareholders while taking environmental and social issues into consideration.

It is my view that the company has taken a responsible approach while positioning itself for a lower carbon future.

Glencore’s action is a challenge to the current government which now needs to break out of its "ideological straitjacket", act in a more enlightened way and also position itself for the lower carbon future which is now inevitable. If it takes "latte sippers" or others to move things along, so be it – that will not be a bad thing.

I am not a latte sipper – I much prefer tea – but it seems clear to me that the community and some private companies are now well ahead of the government on these issues.

It is time for the government to step up to the plate and follow the lead being shown by industry.

The development of a coherent long-term energy and climate change policy aimed at net-zero emissions by about 2050 would be a good start.

Darryl Fallow, Stirling

My son has suffered anxiety and depression from the age of 13, but for a long time he kept it under control.
He was an honest and hard-working high achiever with his own successful and very highly regarded business.

Unfortunately his mental state took a bad turn due to his enormous workload and his depression and anxiety resurfaced.

This started his spiral downward into drug use where he was self-medicating to numb the pressures of life and escape reality.

For the past three years his life he has been in and out of jail with misdemeanours and drug-related offences.

This has made his life a revolving door. He has been made to look like a monster that he is not.

Not all addicts are criminal-minded. Even Blind Freddy can see the current system is a failure. The system does discriminate against and victimise drug users.

He was court-ordered to a rehab facility, and really wanted to go, with a place offering him a bed twice.

Instead the system went against that and kept him in jail. How is this justice? His biggest offence is being an addict.

Instead of helping my son and many like him, the system sets them up to fail. This could be you or one of yours one day. Addiction has no name or a postcode.

If you are rich and famous it is classed as a mental health issue and you go straight to rehab. But if you’re poor you go straight tojail.

This is a broken system that really needs to be fixed.

S. Black, Queanbeyan, NSW

My only complaint about Nicky Ison’s otherwise excellent article ("Coalition pretending to care about climate", February 26, p19) was that it failed to really call the Coalition’s climate and energy policy for what it is: utterly, profoundly inadequate.

The report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that came out last October on 1.5 degree warming, said we are likely to exceed 1.5 degrees in about a decade. ]

It said there is no carbon budget (we cannot emit any more carbon) for 1.5 degrees without including negative emissions (measures to draw carbon from the air).

Even if the pathetic Paris targets of the Coalition are reached, in a canter or not, if all other countries did as little, it would lead to 3 to 4 degrees warming.

Yet anything beyond 2 degrees will see global economic meltdown on top of widespread environmental collapse.

Scientists have now agreed that they have reached the "gold standard" of proof that current warming is man-made, so it is time for all climate denialists to come to the party and implement strong policies on climate change.

Jenny Goldie, Cooma

REVOKE APPOINTMENTS

With barely two months to go the Morrison government has appointed Liberal Senator David Bushby and veteran Liberal Patricia Forsythe to plum diplomatic jobs in Chicago and Wellington. Neither has any obvious qualifications for positions normally occupied by senior officers of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. In the likely event of a change of government, the Labor Party should include in its election promises the prompt cancellation of these appointments.

Chris Smith, Kingston

THE TRUTH IS ...

Don’t Pyne for me, Australia; I never left you ...

Peter Baskett, Murrumbateman, NSW

FACIAL EQUALS RACIAL?

I would like to register my protest regarding possible racial and offensive connotations that may occur from any balloon colouring, whether it be white, pink, yellow, dark brown, light brown, red or rainbow. If it’s facial, it’s racial.

Colin Whittaker, Torrens

HORSING ABOUT

Thank goodness Black Caviar has been retired as no doubt she would have to be banned from racing in the ACT.

Ann Darbyshire, Hughes

POLITICAL KARMA

Good to see that the main people that tried to destroy the Australian Liberal Party are now out of it. Malcolm Turnbull and Julie Bishop were the two main protagonists in the outing of sitting prime minister Tony Abbott, who had steered the Liberals to an overwhelming majority over the Labor Party. What comes around, goes around.

Ian Pilsner, Weston

KEEP IT SIMPLE

How long before the Western Sydney International Nancy-Bird Walton Airport, is shortened to the Badgery Bird.

Gail McAlpine, Griffith

CATTLE CONUNDRUM

What irony! The ABC TV headline on Monday stated "Livestock to benefit from FTA with Indonesia". As reported in the ABC’s own Four Corners program, these cattle will be shipped over to endure terrible cruelty before finally having their throats cut while fully conscious. What sort of "benefit" is that?

J. Sever, Higgins

WORLD SUFFERING

Gods and religions were invented thousands of years ago to control local populations. The world has been suffering ever since.

B. Middleton, Fisher

BISHOP’S LEGACY

Julie Bishop served the Liberal Party well and was a good foreign minister. On any other subject she was a policy vacuum. As for beating Bill Shorten at the next election, it is debatable as to whether she could beat him at tiddlywinks.

Mark Sproat, Lyons

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