Green Mother's Day bloom for the lake

Kids were paddling in the shallows, a dog was fetching a ball in the water thrown by its owner and there were a few canoes further out. We had the kayaks on the roof ready for a paddle too. But lurking down at the water's edge for the first one to two metres was the thickest green scum I've ever seen. There were islands of it floating further out.

I guessed blue-green algae and googled the NCA web site to confirm. No information there, they only do testing between mid-October and mid-April.

We didn't go kayaking and stopped the kids splashing in the shallows. I hope the man's dog is okay.

What's happened to the NCA moral compass? I'm an avid swimmer but gave up swimming in the lake with my head under in about 1988 because of eye and ear infections and gave up fully by 1998.

The NCA has had plenty of notice that the lake is sick. They've had plenty of time to construct reed beds in the contributing creeks and channels, plant trees and shrubs around the lake edge, and to net out the carp.

The Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, is talking up access to the housing market for first home buyers. He wants them to be able to buy a house with a deposit as low as five per cent of the asking price.

He also wants them to be able to access more of their superannuation to help them get that five per cent ($50,000, up from $30,000). Next year, will it be $70,000, and the year after, the lot?

He has also defended the Coalition policy of lower taxes and "support for the private sector" without elaborating on the nature of that support. For a simple mug like me there are implications.

Having more first home buyers bidding for houses in a market where credit to others has not been restricted will simply increase demand. Prices will rise further and first home buyers will end up with more debt.

As for raiding super while lowering taxes; that's long-term economic vandalism. Retirees without adequate super, many still owing heaps for their house, will be increasingly dependent on the federal government's old age pension which will struggle with less money due to tax cuts to the rich and the corporates.

Frydenberg, in order to win next year's election, is passing a poisoned chalice down to future governments.

Will we see the day when a future LNP government cuts or abolishes the old age pension because it is "unaffordable".

The Brumbies have now played the Reds three times, totalling over 260 minutes, and on each occasion have lost by two or three points in the final few minutes of extra time.

On each occasion Nic Berry was the on-field referee. Those scores could hardly be called coincidental.

I defy any team reduced to 13 men to defend the line as courageously as did the Brumbies in those last few minutes where three or four penalties were awarded against them together with two yellow cards.

The Brumbies' captain and all the coaching staff should be enormously proud of the team's performance as should be all the fans.

Just remember that even when they had been reduced to 14 men the Reds were still incapable of breaching the Brumbies' defence. The breach did not occur until the Brumbies were down to 13 men well into extra time. Well done all of you.

One outcome of the LNP's two week pause and reset on Indian arrivals is that Howard Springs quarantine facility is now "The Centre for National Resilience". The PM's recent reference to this should provide great relief and reassurance to the Australians trapped in India for weeks, or even months, to come.

Perhaps the budget will fund the containers of resilience that would be needed by many once they finally arrive there.

I couldn't agree less with your editorial priorities of May 7 which placed the "Victims share toll of Robodebt scandal" report on page 11 while the "Prison boss scored new $327k job" story was on the front page.

The latter is an example of a one-off gotcha, of little long-term significance. The former was an all-too-brief report about the terrible consequences of one of the worst political and public service scandals this century.

The "robodebt" conspiracy not only devastated the lives of thousands of Australian families, many with young children, and caused suicides, it also apparently corrupted a generation of public service lawyers, from junior to most senior, across several departments, who knew it was illegal and said nothing.

From what was once described as one of the world's great public services, one might have expected the outraged views of even one senior public servant might have been rumoured abroad.

That frank and fearless quality, and the ability that went with it, apparently died with Dennis Rose, QC.

I refer to Tom Gosling's obituary "A stalwart of Canberra bushwalking" (May 10, p14) for Stan Marks. When I was a member of the Canberra Bushwalking Club many years ago, I got to know Stan passably well, despite his rather private persona.

He was a keen and capable bushwalker, and a good, no-nonsense leader; but my strongest memory is his dry, sometimes wicked sense of humour.

While I seldom agreed with his political views, he was never aggressive in expressing them, nor dismissive of other people's views.

As Tom Gosling wrote, Stan was for several years a frequent contributor to The Canberra Times letters pages, mostly to question the economic basis of the Barr-Rattenbury light rail project.

I fully agreed with him. Vale Stan Marks.

On May 7 I attempted to "check-in" on the NSW government COVID-19 QR code app at Riverside Plaza in Queanbeyan.

Unfortunately the "independent" system operated by Riverside Plaza required minutes of providing personal information I had already recorded with the NSW government website. As I was in a hurry and without my glasses, I ignored it.

Why are NSW businesses, and some ACT businesses, not apparently legally required to use a centralised system of contact tracing as used, and possibly required, by state and territory authorities?

If it is optional, and not centralised online, it is, like the Commonwealth COVID Safe App, a waste of time and useless.

Single parents, most of whom are single mothers, must have been astonished on the weekend to hear Michael Sukkar claiming the Coalition believes that "there are few more important people in our society than single parents".

One would historically have always thought the opposite.

But there's an easy explanation for Sukkar's turn within the ministry at brazen political charlatanism. Note that it came from the Housing Minister, not his counterpart for families or social services. There's never an opportunity too many for the Coalition to favour the property industry.

In this case even if the new policy is very limited in scope and will not result in significant actual home purchases by single parents struggling with a deposit. The important thing is to boost property enquiries, auction bids and the complacent universal local perception that property is the eternal Eldorado.

It will only take a small federal funding allocation to pay for those industry-approved outcomes.

It isn't just the Indian government, Rajend Naidu (Letters, May 7), that ignores the advice of scientific advisors and other experts about a forthcoming catastrophe and the need for urgent action.

Nor is it just the Indian government that's guilty of failing to take appropriate action in the face of that advice and then watch on as the country and many of its citizens pay a high price.

Two years ago Australia's scientific community and a collective of former and serving fire chiefs warned our government about the potential for a catastrophic fire season. Their advice was ignored and Australia paid the price over the long hot and fiery spring and summer of 2019/20.

Much of what Naidu concludes about the Indian government applies equally to Scott Morrison and the Australian government's position on climate change.

Re "NCA has an 'adventurous' tree plan" (May 7, p3). Is this the same NCA that approved the removal of three lovely mature trees from a house in Campbell without any prior notice or prior consultation with neighbours? We will be watching to see if, in non-accordance with its "adventurous tree plan" the NCA approves the destruction of the AWM trees.

Recently the the great announcer put Australia on a "war footing" by having national cabinet meet twice a week - but only for a week. That was quietly changed to once a fortnight and now it is (very quietly) going back to once a month. Has the "war footing" abated? Is the attention span moving to a budget cash splash to appease and divert us from the pandemic?

Could someone in authority please explain why ACT residents can only have AstraZeneca at Calvary and only have Pfizer at Garran? This is a great inconvenience to people on either side of the lake who are dependent on public transport. It could even be a disincentive to vaccination.

Our pin-up treasurer will positively target women in order to placate them in today's budget. Forget the last year of ignoring help for the arts, forget the sports rorts, forget airport financial trickery, and not to mention gas fracking and to hell with the environment as manifested by the rabid dog tactics of some government spokesmen.

When, oh when will the Williamsdale garage re-open? Does it need to be on the other side? Would that help the snow traffic?

"Thought leaders" my backside ("Planners look to thought leaders input" May 9, p4). Call them consultants and tell us how much they are being paid.

So the territory's chief planner wants to pay "thought leaders" to tell the planning authority how to make Canberra "even better". Is this an admission that its performance has been thoughtless?

The Canberra "Faders" are well and truly back.

Keep up the good work Raiders. On present form, combined with a little more dissent, you must now be clear favourites for the wooden spoon.

So seaplanes may have minimal effect on "the quiet and still heritage values of the lake" ("Two seaplane operators look to lake for tourism take off", May 8, p3). The Impacts on foreshore residents' tranquil amenity, fauna (discordant aviation engines) and flora of combusted kerosene are not considered.

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