Coroner's inquest into Orroral Valley fire overdue

Over the last year the National Parks Association of the ACT and others have requested an investigation into the circumstances of the ignition. Multiple ACT government ministers and officials either referred on or dismissed our concerns.

Placing blame is not our issue. Future military/civilian collaboration in bushfire fighting has been suggested. The question is what procedures and communication protocols need to be put in place to prevent a similar disaster in the next major bushfire season.

Our natural environment needs decades of protection to recover.

The Coroner is to investigate the Orroral fire despite our Chief Minister's refusal to do so ("ACT Coroner launches inquiry into origins of Orroral Valley fire", canberratimes.com.au, July 28).

As one of many who lost their homes in the 2003 firestorm, I have questions about the length of time taken to inform authorities about the fire.

Having flown helicopters myself, you are in almost continuous contact with air traffic control. And, if the helicopter crew were concerned about damage to the helicopter, why did they not land it in a safe place, radio in information on the fire and damage to the helicopter, and arrange for it to be transported by road to the base if required?

There are plenty of landing spots outside the national park to land and that was the safest thing to do. You do not muck about with a damaged helicopter when they are not good at gliding.

I hope the Coroner is able to get answers to these questions and what Defence has done to ensure there is no repeat.

Among recent letters and articles, Minister Chris Steel has been the only voice in favour of Stage 2a of the fabled tram to Woden. The Greens were supposed to be the reason tram proposals were introduced but they now seem to be silent. Perhaps they are concerned at the enormous boost to greenhouse gases which will arise from three to four years of gargantuan fill and construction work just for 2a, and the zillions of hours of extra exhaust gases as cars queue to traverse Commonwealth Avenue.

Who benefits? It is hard to avoid the conclusion that it is the CFMEU and the construction industry now telling the government what it can do, while government embarrassment at pulling the plug on the nonsense is probably another factor.

Could I suggest a face-saving alternative? Take 2a around as far as Edinburgh Avenue to serve New Acton, then stop and think. By then the idea of a cost/effective tram south of the lake will so obviously be nonsense that we won't have to face the anguish and cost of arranging a new bridge over the lake, followed by another five years of southside disruption.

Maybe we could instead use some of the money for less-exciting things like improving health care.

A political flyer I recently received from Senator Seselja takes a shot at the ACT government for providing a two-year free registration incentive for those considering the purchase of an electric vehicle (EV).

The flyer is a crass piece of political mischief and reflects the federal government's attempt to defend an unsustainable energy (non) policy by fossil-fuelled dinosaurs.

The flyer states the average cost of an EV is out of reach for most Canberra families.

While the upfront purchase price of an EV may be greater than similarly sized fossil-fuel burning vehicles, once the purchase and 10-year running costs of an EV are considered, the cost differential is negligible.

If the federal government really wanted to positively encourage the adoption of EVs then they could lower the cost by removing the luxury car tax for EVs.

Finally, an image used in Senator Seselja's flyer is of a man in a left-hand drive vehicle (so unregistrable in the ACT), with a mobile phone in his hand and not wearing a seatbelt.

That was a most lamentable and unfortunate choice.

According to David Perkins (Letters, July 23) universities teach people to think rationally and form conclusions based on facts and evidence.

Many of our federal, state and territory politicians have had a university education, including the PM and opposition leader.

It's a Furphy as I cannot perceive any evidence of rationality amongst too many of them.

It appears as though we have all been conned in this regard, as our universities have now become sausage factories, churning out degrees with rapidly dropping standards.

They are only interested in revenue raising through an excess of foreign students paying excessive fees, resulting in university degrees having a lesser value than they once had.

Unlike Ian Warden ("Isn't an independent stance refreshing?", July 25, p17) Bill Deane understands the principal reason for electing representatives and Senators to Parliament.

Mr Warden wrote "I'm afraid I find (just as the mighty Burke would) the petulant letters-to-the-editor mantra that Seselja must "bow to the will of the people he represents" (my words) clichéd, tiresome and wrong".

The Westminster system of democracy adopted by Australia involves the election to parliament of people who will represent and defend the views of those who elected them; not their personal views or beliefs, no matter how sincere.

Edmund Burke was a strict Conservative and a staunch supporter of the rights of the individual - i.e., himself - rather than the wishes of the people who elected him to high office in the first place.

So young people (it looks like) have some thoughts that their "freedoms" are being impinged by COVID-19 lockdowns. And they don't want to be vaccinated.

They are free from the devastation of polio, diphtheria, smallpox etc. because of past vaccination programs.

Let's hope that not a single police person has caught Covid from the "protests" in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.

Recently I have witnessed much sneering and mentions of Darwinism in relation to anti-vaxxers and their claims to know better than people much smarter and better qualified than them.

However, if the same principles are applied to nations ignoring science at their own peril, then there is soon to be much schadenfreude coming our way. Our current government has been a leading exponent of undermining clear scientific knowledge and we will all suffer consequences more serious than those of the current pandemic.

As a nation we have repeatedly and collectively sneered at climate science at the ballot box, and maintained that we know better. Sound familiar?

The impending destruction of culturally significant trees in the Barton Highway duplication is utterly sickening ("Upgrade's potential to kill cultural trees flagged", July 25, p2).

When will all our acknowledgments of country and "respect for elders past and present" translate into genuine respect for what matters to them?

Transport NSW says in its Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) that it "values the diverse cultures and heritage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and commits to working collaboratively" with them. Doesn't sound to me like it is doing that in this case. Surely a small redirection of this road can be achieved?

Until we show we really do value these things our RAP visions are hollow indeed.

I understood Elizabeth Lee was the Liberal leader in the ACT Legislative Assembly that governs us, not Zed Seselja, but it seems this may not be the case. Zed looks like "the rooster in the barnyard". If Ms Lee is to have any standing as a leader in her own right in the ACT she must shut Zed down and obtain from the Prime Minister a commitment that the Andrews legislation on voluntary assisted dying be repealed.

A heartfelt thankyou to the lovely person who handed in a black velvet pouch at Woolworths Woden on Sunday. Inside was a necklace I had just paid off, itself a replacement for one that had been stolen.

Leon Arundell (Letters, July 28) there are plenty of ways to calculate an average. You only have to read that book How To Lie With Statistics.

Why aren't the people who are breaking health orders and are fined having their names published? John Barilaro's daughter was.

The cost and disruption of the tram to Woden reminds me of a proverb: The road to ruin is in good repair; the travellers pay the expense of it.

Sorry Nigel Thompson (Letters, July 27) I agree with John Coates. While there was little point in Palaszczuk going to Tokyo, other than to compete in grandstanding, once she was there it was only fitting that she attend the opening ceremony as a show of support for our athletes.

The reason we older folk are hesitant in getting the AstraZeneca Vaccine is because Pfizer is the safer vaccine and you are fully vaccinated within two to three weeks. AstraZeneca takes three months before you are fully vaccinated. I looking forward to the day we have a choice.

Telstra's "Australia Is Why" advertising campaign says the company is "committed to Australia and to building world-class infrastructure to keep us all connected". How about committing to Canberra and maintaining the Telstra Tower as one of our major tourist attractions?

Why do those, in the government's estimation, out of work due to COVID-19 qualify for up to $750 a week while disadvantaged, disabled, and elderly Australians have to make do with much less?

Consider the impact of COVID-19 facemasks on beards. Every time I take one off my facial hair looks very much like that of Catweazle. It is the facial equivalent of "hat hair". Surely, if they can put a man on the moon, they can sort out this problem.

ScoMo's backflip on lockdowns leaves Pauline's flip-flops for dead.

During natural disasters the Aussie spirit is usually: "We are with you mate. What can we do to help?". Now that's changed. It is "Queensland hospitals for Queenslanders" and "No, we can't let you have any of our vaccine". It is parochialism at its worst. Who is for the abolition of the federation?

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