Bring national focus back to the capital, as was intended

This commenced when prime ministers from Sydney began treating Canberra as a FIFO destination exacerbated by the demise of the annual premiers' conference when all premiers travelled to Canberra to discuss annual grant funding and other related national programs.

Much was made of the visiting dignitaries, with each premier given equal access to Commonwealth facilities and cementing Canberra at the front end of national policy debate and national media attention.

Unfortunately, the conference was judged too centralist, and was replaced by COAG in 1992 with an embedded philosophy of moving the central forum around the country. COAG failed and was replaced by the national cabinet and associated "reform council" in 2020 by PM Morrison.

A golden opportunity awaits to reset intergovernmental federal relations with a new forum firmly cemented in the national capital, as ultimately, Canberra's rationale for its very existence is to function as the capital.

One simple solution. Dispose of the secondary residences of both the Prime Minister and the Governor-General in Sydney, and Canberra's The Lodge, with proceeds directed at a high-security Camp David-style precinct with international conference facilities in Yarralumla.

This would facilitate visiting heads of state and state premiers currently forced to accommodate in commercial premises. A win all round, removing the current international focus on Sydney and its harbour views from Kirribilli.

No doubt it would appease other premiers equally miffed with the Sydney focus.

"This election is probably our last chance to make a difference on the single issue that is more vital than any other for our future: climate change." (Nicholas Stuart, Opinion, April 18). I agree, but there is an overriding requirement for this and many other issues: election of individuals with integrity.

To that end I also agree with Chris Ansted "... that political parties will not change their behaviours unless they have to do so to gain power." (Letters, April 18). On the other hand, his method of ensuring the major parties will need to get support of "independent candidates, who have demonstrated integrity" is, from my personal experience, very time consuming and fraught with the danger of getting it wrong.

So, what I intend to do this time is to take the how-to-vote card of the major party that I least want to govern our nation and vote in reverse order. Think about it - they each have an army of professional statisticians and political analysts to come up with advice that will best advantage their candidate in each electorate. You can bet London to a brick that they will put the candidates that they have assessed as having the most integrity, last.

Forced relocation of older and vulnerable tenants from their homes of decades, by ACT Housing under the Urban Renewal Program, is an abuse of power and a grave injustice.

Successive ACT Labor governments have continually reduced public housing stock in the face of growing inequality and massive increases in the cost of housing.

This gross mismanagement of public housing stock, which was one of Canberra's most valuable assets, is irresponsible negligence and simply a money grab. Taking from the poorest sectors of our community to enhance the wealth opportunities of developers and wealthy Canberrans is wrong; and it's being done without due consideration of the significant impact on vulnerable public housing tenants; that is a big fail.

It is very disturbing to me that a Labor-Greens government would treat low-income, vulnerable Canberrans with such disrespect, contempt, malice and cruelty. That's not what I thought the Greens stood for, nor the ALP for that matter. ALP and the Greens promote themselves as the caring champions for vulnerable minorities. Are they now instead the champions only for developers and the big end of town?

The Morrison government's current argument that voting for independents is a wasted vote is clearly nonsense. Senator Rex Patrick, Zali Steggall MP and Andrew Wilkie MP, all independents, have been the most effective "rort-free" voices in the Parliament since the current LNP government came to power.

Along with the Greens, if we could manage to vote to get another six or 10 independents into Parliament, we have some chance of real change, a real ICAC, action on climate change, a shift in the economy to take advantage of our wind and solar opportunities and finally take action on the Uluru Statement from the Heart. Far from Morrison's claims of a wasted vote, it is our only opportunity for real change and a positive future for our children

Plenty of teeth and gums are again on display from candidates' mugshots on mushrooming roadside corflutes. Nice smiles, but a missed opportunity. Why not photos showing them doing something more revealing?

Options include: buying bread, milk, petrol; reading books titled Economics 101 - thus demonstrating they are grounded, relatable and may even know everyday prices as well as unemployment and interest rates.

The sort of things that may attract votes from more than just the candidates' dentists and orthodontists.

A dominantly renewable energy future is an important objective, but will not as straightforward as some imagine. For example, there are likely to be issues with constructing the many large energy storage systems required. Critical minerals for battery systems are likely to become even harder to source as demand increases in the foreseeable future. Further, pumped hydro systems have significant environmental impacts, and need reliable and adequate water supplies.

Given that drastic actions are now imperative to achieve a low carbon future, new nuclear technology should be given serious consideration as part of our energy mix. Small modular reactors (SMR) are the only potentially suitable nuclear option for Australia.

A particularly interesting new-tech SMR, which has approval from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, has been developed by a US company, NuScale, which is moving to fully commercialise it. This has the reactor core, steam generator and pressuriser contained in a single vessel, streamlining construction and minimising size. It is much faster to build than large reactors and takes safety to a new level as it is designed to shut down and self-cool if a defect is detected, without any operator action, power, or additional water.

Such an innovative design should minimise anti-nuclear sentiments.

Nicholas Stuart always writes well, but his article "Most important issue is missing" (Opinion, April 18) was one of his finest. As he says, as far as the major parties are concerned, the critical issue of climate change has been airbrushed into the background. The recent budget effectively dismissed the massive cost of climate disasters on the economy, both in the future and those already wreaking havoc on our agriculture, livelihoods and homes. Fires and floods can no longer be dismissed as "once-in-a-century" events but will recur and intensify as disaster builds upon disaster.

For those of us who care deeply about the need for climate action, watching the federal campaign induces a severe case of cognitive dissonance. The Prime Minister ignored the fires, then floods, and yet Labor is not able or willing to capitalise on the issue. Indeed, Albanese barely mentions climate change.

The media concentrate on the two major parties, ignoring the minor parties and independents, many of whom do accept the reality of climate change and produce decent policies. Greens leader Adam Bandt, for instance, was a breath of fresh air at the Press Club last week, but he gets little coverage elsewhere.

It's not too late for the major parties to change their focus. If they don't of their own accord, then journalists should make them, or just ignore them and interview minor party candidates and independents instead.

Scott Morrison seems obsessed with people knowing who he is. This trait is not unknown in the high and mighty. It is said that the redoubtable Sir Arthur Tange, then Secretary of Defence, once felt the urge to go into work on a Saturday. He found the corridor to his office blocked by the outstretched legs of several workmen enjoying a smoko.

When they failed to form a guard of honour, he enquired loudly, "Do you know who I am?" One of them drawled, "Wouldn't have a bloody clue, mate, but there's a security guard on the ground floor - he might be able to help you."

We needed our A Team in Honiara. Morrison gave them Zed. Praise be!

When he could not argue on the facts, Donald Trump resorted to the use of puerile nicknames to demean his opponents. Remember Crooked Hillary, Lyin' Ted and Sleepy Joe?

I am sorry to see Scott Morrison resorting to the same tactics with his reference to Sneaky Jim Chalmers.

I wish our election could be fought on policies, integrity and vision rather than childish nicknames and personal abuse.

If accusations of misconduct by Liberal politician Tudge are false, as claimed by Ian Pilsener (Letters, April 19), how come we taxpayers are forking out $500,000, plus court costs, in compensation to the staffer?

Given Morrison claims the case is "a private affair", the question remains: why are taxpayers funding it?

The PM is not going to disendorse Katherine Deves for her views on transgender people as they mirror his own. Don't forget the Religious Discrimination Bill, which excluded transgender people, was his bill.

JobSeeker risen to $46 a week? Scott Morrison, it's easy to make a mistake.

If you want to know about being human, just ask Albo.

Scott Morrison is not ruling out negotiating with independents in the event of a hung parliament after May 21. I'm not ruling out the Libs dumping the "horrible, horrible, hypocrite and a liar" ScoMo as leader in the event of a hung parliament.

Do corflutes along our roads reflect political reality? Zed's seem to be thrown along major thoroughfares without care in a lazy attempt to gain attention, whereas the other parties', and especially the independents', seem to have been positioned strategically after careful thought and planning. Just saying.

If only Scott Morrison had chosen to take his fire-escape holiday in Solomon Islands instead of Hawaii.

I always thought that the Invictus Games were about the athletes, the injured service men and women who compete. I appear to be mistaken in that as this year's games seem to be about Harry and Meghan and their cult of celebrity.

Given our increasing familiarity with the patriotic expression "Slava Ukraini" (Glory to Ukraine), there is a certain irony to the now sunk Russian Navy cruiser Moskva initially being named "Slava"; still the class name for Moskva's two remaining sister ships.

Presumably Moskva's next name will be "dive wreck".