Turnbull lacked proper advice on subs

Many years ago the Naval Technical Services within the Navy Office had a large team of naval architects, mechanical, electrical, weapons and communication, civilian and service engineers, and technical officers trained and experienced in submarine design and maintenance.

This pool of expertise was allowed to run down due to retirements and no suitable training or recruiting arrangements were put in place to replenish it. Unfortunately the Department of Defence had lost its ability to be an informed customer in these matters.

If, as I understand it, the French submarine selection was based on a concept "design" to replace existing nuclear machinery with a diesel electric/battery arrangement, it beggars belief.

The proposal shouldn't have got past first base as the risk should have been assessed as extremely high.

The Woden Town Centre Master Plan supports the 70 per cent infill policy by zoning for densification. It is a blunt instrument that provides for a hierarchy of residential towers, from 16 to 28 storeys in the centre, around the town square. It does not provide for sunny public spaces, exacerbating overshadowing and wind. The small site for the CIT is also overshadowed by a 26 storey building.

Woden's recreation precinct was also zoned for towers so the basketball stadium, bowling greens, tennis courts and pitch n putt have gone. We expect the ice rink and pool will close when the ice rink is built in Tuggeranong. The Phillip Oval is gated and not available to the local community.

The Melrose Drive car yards do not have a limit on building heights and the rest of the Phillip service area is zoned for apartments up to six storeys. We have already lost the hardware shop and it remains unclear what services will co-exist with residents.

Our town centre is being diminished.

While the WVCC supports residential development, it needs to be planned well and balanced with social, economic and environmental attributes.

The ACT Government's current Planning Review will provide an outcome based model. Please come to the WVCC zoom meeting to discuss outcomes for Woden.

I knew Dick Cater, aged 82 and the murder victim of a 17-year-old male's drug fuelled crime spree, as a stalwart citizen, local water skiing advocate and passionate sports man from when I was sports minister.

I agree with your correspondent (Letters, September 24) that the ACT Court of Appeal erred in reducing the killer's sentence to such an extent he will likely walk free within two years.

The reasons given were that he had no idea what he was doing due to the LSD he took, his youth and his strong prospects of rehabilitation.

I caution the ACT courts about giving too much emphasis to rehabilitation. It is a long and difficult road even for those with the best of intentions.

I also agree with your correspondent that there should be extra penalties imposed for committing crimes against elderly citizens.

The DPP needs to appeal this to the High Court and the ACT sentencing laws need to be amended accordingly.

This case also highlights the need for caution in changing our drug laws to decriminalise the possession of hard drugs as such a step has the very real potential to encourage young people to use hard drugs.

There is an expectation the Prime Minister will soon announce details of the new targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Morrison-Joyce government's current targets lag way behind all Australian states and the US, the UK, the European Union and Japan.

It is an absolute must that the PM set appropriate 2030 and 2050 emissions targets ahead of the Glasgow climate summit. The United Nations has warned that while 2050 targets are extremely important the crisis is so serious much more must be done to slash emissions this decade.

Time is no longer on our side. What is done this decade will make all the difference.

While 41 Australian soldiers lost their lives in Afghanistan almost 500 have taken their own lives since that war for American expansionism began. Now, as we embark on yet another US initiated warlike venture, this time in the Pacific with the quad and AUKUS, we should spend more time and money on mental and physical welfare and rehabilitation for our serving personnel.

Resources could be drawn from the military chaplaincy programs, a totally ineffective means of support. The record shows our soldiers need genuine help, not 2000 year old irrational delusions. They certainly deserve nothing less.

The Coalition's Nationals rump sounds increasingly desperate and dangerous as it rails against much needed emissions reduction targets ("Nats under pressure to back net zero", canberratimes.com.au, September 30).

Senator Bridget McKenzie's cheap shots this week about climate crisis mitigation targets being just an "easy" and "cool" pursuit in "vacuousness" for some of her more concerned Coalition colleagues suggest that tunnel-visioned and lazy National Party puppets would rather have us roast on earth.

No, John Webster ("Use the Check In CBR app", Letters, September 30), we are not all lazy, uncaring and stupid idiots, putting lives at risk.

Some of us clearly just commit the mortal sin of not owning a smartphone or other device with the capability of using these and other apps.

Did it ever occur to Mr Webster that in bypassing the check in stations some of us are making our way to the shop counter or service desk to manually check in?

Please don't be so quick to judge.

There are two obvious flaws in the Chief Minister's stance on refusing to mandate vaccination for disability support workers and hospital staff. Both groups service highly vulnerable people often in a group environment.

The first flaw is that anti-vaxxers can continue to work in a hospital or disability environment, the second is the generally held view that vaccinating the final 10 per cent of the population is going to take some time.

Chief Minister please do not roll the dice with vulnerable people's lives, as you risk being tarred with the same brush as Senator Zed Seselja, whose penchant for ignoring majority community views is breathtaking.

Taking into account the problems being encountered in Canberra Hospitals due to the current Delta variant and so on it may be a good idea for the NSW premier to consider not spending millions on bigger and better football stadiums. Building more hospitals around NSW to relieve some of the burden placed on Canberra hospitals would make more sense.

But that won't be considered because unlike footy stadiums, hospitals don't make money.

The federal ALP under Albanese has seemingly rolled over and played dead. They somehow have assumed that "that fella from down under" (Scomo) is so weak and insipid the Coalition will lose the next election.

It's high time the tired, stale and ineffective Albo was dumped and his deputy Richard Marles, a fresh, intelligent and progressive face, showed the populace what Labor has to offer. Ridiculous and out of touch comments from their last - and also uninspiring - leader are not helping the cause either.

If Labor doesn't show some substance Scomo will continue his cake walk.

I noted last week that police were facing riotous mobs of youths protesting about the order to stay home; they want to be "free". I also recall primary producers are having to plough crops in because of the backpacker shortage.

Can we not solve one problem with the cause of the other? Why don't members of judiciary give these lawbreakers the "freedom" they demand by ordering them to labour on the farms?

Millions of Australians want decisive action to combat the climate crisis, but a handful of hayseeds from the "Big Hat Party" are thwarting this. It's time the PM explains to the "Big Hats" that farming will be more affected by droughts, floods and wildfires than any other industry.

Um - yes, Felicity... (Obscure Humour?, Letters, September 29).

Yes Felicity (Letters, September 29) I did enjoy the joke, but it is not new. In the Absolutely Fabulous movie Patsy and Edina are staggering in stilettos somewhere in France. Patsy remarks "I am thirsty I wonder what's the French for champagne? It was the best line in the movie.

During the weekend's rugby league, Manly's Aloiai and Penrith's Cleary made similar cruel tackles. The relatively unknown, Aloiai copped sin-binning and suspension. The League's Match Review Committee decided the Penrith darling had no case to answer. The MRC should be investigated by the League's Integrity Committee.

The PM gifted $1600 worth of presents to foreign leaders and now the media wants to portray this as excessive spending. Are we that stingy? I think he should choose more expensive gifts next time. I would even be happy to help pay for them.

Committing to net zero by 2050 is necessary but not sufficient. We also need substantial intermediate targets for 2030 and 2040. These should at least match Europe and the US and be consistent with the reductions that the science has shown to be necessary.

First there was "horizontal refreshment" and now, according to NSW Deputy Premier and Nationals MP John Barilaro people in NSW will soon be able to indulge in "vertical drinking". What other delights await the lucky residents of NSW? Oblique references to Parliamentary responsibility or an inverted sense of social entitlement perhaps?

I am relieved Scott Morrison hasn't been appearing masked with what looked like a surplus pair of Tony Abbott's budgie smugglers printed with the Australian flag. I really did not like the idea of the PM's nasal secretions moistening our flag. What was he thinking?

Kevin Rudd's comment on France being stabbed in the back by Australia comes from someone well versed in the art of back stabbing.

Anzacs had to be vaccinated (It was question 15 on the AIF enlistment form). Men afraid of a needle desecrated the Shrine of Remembrance last week. Heart-breaking ignorance.