Civic pool deserves to be saved

Ian Pilsner (Letters, June 24) rightly reminds us that unlike Canberra, (think Capitol Theatre with shame; how did we let that happen?) other great cities throughout the world seek to preserve and restore heritage buildings and attractions.

Please don't let Canberra lose yet another magnificent heritage building and replace it with another shoddily regulated and built, limited lifespan complex.

Remain sceptical of empty promises and rhetoric about community blah blah blah.

Note what happened to the Parramatta Pool in Sydney.

Once these iconic pools are gone we are all bamboozled and befuddled with wishy washy political game playing and funding complexity excuses.

Invest in whatever it needs to stop the leaks and otherwise maintain this historic treasure in this current climate of destruction in this city.

This mild-mannered, elderly, retiree heartily thanks Ken Brazel (Letters, June 24) for dubbing me a class warrior, and for his candour in arguing for wealth transfer to reward the "lifters".

However, when that transfer of wealth results in bidding up property prices and shutting out younger home buyers, surely the cost needs considering.

Nor will reducing taxes on high income earners necessarily benefit the Australian economy.

Too much of what is gained will be invested in foreign-owned companies, or spent on overseas holidays or imported cars.

Progressive taxation underpins equality of opportunity, and helps keep us from becoming a state where the poor live in seedy motels or cardboard boxes, and the better-off retreat to gated communities.

Taxation revenue can also allow farsighted Governments to fund infrastructure and applied research.

Highly progressive taxation has not crushed the spirit or dulled the incentive of the high-achieving Danes, Dutch or Norwegians.

There seems to be an increasing number of American accents encountered on what appear to be very Australian call centres. Does this indicate that the outsourcing of call centres has shifted from India to the USA, or is it a flood of American citizens wanting to dissociate themselves from the Trump administration?

I wish people criticising Labor's policies as "class warfare" and "envy politics" would read some history.

Over centuries it has been the rich and powerful who have introduced, developed, and maintained various forms of class warfare.

If you've got any doubts about this, then read up on the causes of the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution and so on.

For years in Australia it has been the Liberal/Conservative elements in politics who have waged subtle class warfare against the less well off.

There are now thousands of people who have a very nice home, sometimes a holiday home, investments, two cars and can take overseas holidays, but because of various tax concessions, pay no income tax.

It's legal, but clearly the system is not slanted in favour of say, single parents trying to raise three kids, the unemployed on a pitifully low Newstart allowance and age pensioners with significant health problems.

Call it what you like, class warfare or envy politics, but the system is not fair and that's what Labor was seeking to address in the last election.

It's clear that the crowdfunding site GoFundMe believes it's doing the right thing, and is perhaps a little clever, for shutting down Folau's attempt to raise money for his court appeal.

The problem with this however is that political correctness is, at heart, a culture of blaming others, and can therefore not avoid turning on itself.

One example of this can been seen in the AFL's recent embarrassment for having set the good manners police onto fans at games.

Many said fans would no doubt agree with what's happened to Folau, and yet now face being censored (unreasonably) themselves.

So while the people at GoFundMe and Rugby Australia might think they're having a good time for now, it's possible to see a time when that all ends.

Canberra needs population growth to support the economy says the Canberra Times editorial ("Growth is not a dirty word", June 24, p. 12).

This may be true for some greedy sections of the economy. However, we need to transition our economy to operate well without population growth. Ongoing population growth is simply impossible due to constraints of water, food, air quality, energy use, waste and habitat depletion.

When is it best to start reducing population to minimise harmful impacts on society? The answer is now. It will always just get harder and have more adverse impacts the longer we wait.

In your editorial ("Growth is not a dirty word", canberratimes.com.au, June 24) you assert that if Canberra is bigger, people will want to stick around.

Where is the evidence that if you make the roads more congested, housing more unaffordable, have more stringent water restrictions, cut down trees for ever-more development, increase noise levels, crowd all recreational areas and have longer waiting times for medical treatment, that people will want to stay?

You also assert that a bigger population brings more economic growth, which it often does, but not necessarily greater per capita GDP.

Your editorial totally ignores climate change and its implications for Canberra. We are heading for three or four degrees warming on current trends. This will dry out the southern half of mainland Australia, including the ACT, and bring ever greater risk of bushfire and water shortages.

The bottom line is Liebig's Law. Carrying capacity is determined by the resource in least supply. For Canberra that is probably water. You can build higher dam walls but you can't make it rain.

John Burns' anti-Zali Steggall polemic (Letters, June 24) may have been right on one count. His suspicion that, "...Abbott will continue to act as a surf lifesaver, fireman..." is probably correct: Tony Abbott, like many politicians, has likely been acting these parts.

As for Ms Steggall; she offered herself, in good faith, to the voters of Warringah. So far as I am aware, she told no lies, made no long-overdue promises on traffic improvements, discovered no long-existing street libraries, ducked no community debates, and was fairly elected to Parliament.

A Parliament, I suggest, where members, on both sides of the chamber, will be grateful to her for unseating one of the most disloyal political wreckers in memory.

Welcome, Zali Steggall. You may get cold in Canberra but I doubt you'll be lonely.

Brendon Kelson (not to be confused with Brendan Nelson) is absolutely right in his criticism of the proposed $498 million expansion of the Australian War Memorial ("Former memorial boss slams upgrade", June 24, p2).

As Mr Kelson suggests, large military weapons, such as aircraft, that the new building would house could be accommodated in a new building on the AWM's Mitchell campus at a fifth of the cost.

Mr Kelson's statement that demolishing Anzac Hall to make way for Dr Nelson's new warehouse-like building amounts to "architectural vandalism" supports the views of several leading architects. The hall should be left in peace.

His suggestion that some of the money saved would be better spent on preserving historic records at the National Film and Sound Archive is also a sound one.

Yes, Folau breached his employer's code of conduct, a code that would be illegal if we had laws protecting religious freedom and free speech.

You don't have religious freedom if you can't express your faith. You don't have free speech if you can't express your beliefs.

Garema Place, is an unlovely arrangement of concrete and glass. It's uplifting to walk through it to some sweet sounds such as the carolling of scores of magpies (G. tibicen, formal title). The place should be renamed Tibicentre in gratitude.

John Burns thinks Zali Stegall may have a pointless and lonely three years in Parliament (Letters, June 24). She and the electorate of Warringah are unlikely to care. The divisive Tony Abbott is gone.

For those complaining about football matches at Bruce Stadium on freezing nights there is a simple answer. Schedule matches for weekend afternoons. Attendance at afternoon Raiders matches are significantly higher than those held at night.

Brendon Kelson is a former Australian War Memorial director. Brendan Nelson is the current one. Will Brenden Pelson be the next one?

Bravo Mr. Kelson. ("Former memorial boss slams upgrade", June 24, p.2)

The Big Brother house has burnt down, the MAFS wedding rings are rusty and the attention seeking ex-wives are getting boring. Is there hope reality on TV will not involve alcohol, air heads and narcissism?

With all of the correspondence on the election result, no one has hit the obvious reason: greed. People voted against what they thought they might lose. After America we are the most selfish nation on earth.

Imagine the outrage if Iran sent drones near US airspace. Hypocrisy reigns, war threatens, and Australia continues its timid "please don't fight". It's time we said no to another war.

Viva las Matildas.

J. Goldie (Letters, June 22) loves a catastrophe. Canberra's growth has seen better health care, education, transport and life expectancy. Climate change has seen rainfall in 1871-1901 of 518mm "decrease" to 601mm.

America is not a country, it is a cancer. America is a growth on the face of the planet.

Brian Hanvin (Letters, June 10), claims to be a lifelong Labor voter who has come to the sudden realisation he disagrees with every principle the ALP stands for. He bears an uncanny resemblance to an intolerant, uncompromising, LNP apologist.

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