Prosecute those alleged to have leaked classified information

Three of the four individuals he mentions are accused of publishing classified information.

Perhaps he does not understand the reason that certain information is classified; its disclosure can lead to our servicemen and clandestine operatives being in danger of attack and injury and accordingly revealing this information is regarded as a serious criminal offence.

Bernard Collaery, David McBride and Julian Assange have all been charged with inproper disclosure of classified information. I regard the action by the newly elected Attorney General of dropping charges against Mr Collaery to be inappropriate. It is for the courts to decide, not a government minister.

The fourth person he names, Richard Boyle, is in a different category as he disclosed actions of the ATO, generally described as inappropriate, against Australia taxpayers.

No Australians or allies were put at physical risk by this exposure although perhaps some ATO operatives should join the unemployed. Commercial-in-confidence is very different from classified information.

Having had, in my working days, a security clearance and being privy to classified information, I am acutely aware of the reasons for non-disclosure of this material and consider that those who are accused of breaches should be judged in the courts.

Listening to numerous economists in recent weeks I think I have now worked out what's going on.

If we give workers pay rises it will increase business costs and so prices will rise. However if we give workers a pay rise they will spend it which is good for the economy (code for increased profits for business).

If we don't give workers a pay rise they will descend further into relative inequity and demand more government benefits requiring higher taxation which will reduce incomes or raise prices.

We can apparently contain price rises by raising interest rates as that will increase what businesses pay for investment and home owners on mortgages.

We cannot mitigate against war, environmental disasters or international energy cartels that are really driving up prices.

What have I learnt from all this? I should stop listening to economists.

The departure from the world stage of first Trump, then Scomo, and now Boris, brings to mind the old curse "may you live in interesting times". I have a suspicion the world is about to get a lot more boring - and that's not a bad thing. Only Xi Jinping, Putin and Rocketman to go.

For decades historians have been pressing the Australian War Memorial to recognise, interpret and commemorate frontier conflict.

Successive directors of the AWM have refused even to debate the question. Individuals advocating that the AWM acknowledge the truth of our history have repeatedly received letters full of denial and obfuscation.

Rather than offer more denial and falsehood, it's time for the AWM to make clear the basis for its decision and respond publicly to those who have the authority and responsibility to speak out.

I challenge the AWM's director to debate this question openly, no longer hiding behind inadequate excuses. When will the Memorial explain clearly and honestly why it refuses to acknowledge the facts of history?

Why does the Australian War Memorial still fail to remember the first Australian war?

The American police have what they call the "perp walk", where a suspect (alleged perpetrator) is marched past the assembled media.

The NSW Police have developed a strip show, where people arrested in dawn raids are trundled, near-naked, from home to paddy wagon, in front of police cameras, with the footage handed to the news networks.

These may well be "bad people", but they are presumed innocent , and they are entitled to basic dignity. What is the problem with letting them get dressed? Or would that spoil the show?

Leon Arundell (Letters, July 11) details beautifully how electric transport, be it buses or cars, can reduce emissions substantially in Canberra.

But why go to the trouble of installing electric trams, when electric buses can do the job much more flexibly with zero emissions?

For those of us who are captive to car transport with jobs, kids, friends and relatives in places other than town centres can also be zero emissions by using EVs.

Even the humble transition, range-anxiety free, plug-in hybrid electric vehicle can cut the public transport emissions to a tenth of those quote by Leon. A pure EV drops emissions to zero. Go electric.

I have never felt such pride in our national anthem as when it was sung at the Wallabies/England match in Brisbane.

The anthem was sung in the Yugambeh language, then in English, before kick-off. The Yugambeh Youth Choir led the singing, but they were wholeheartedly joined by every member of the Wallabies team.

A proud moment indeed for our nation, as tribute was paid to Uncle Lloyd McDermott, the first Wallabies player to identify as a First Nations man. "Our" team also wore their First Nations jersey in recognition of Naidoc Week.

We have at last caught up with our Kiwi and South African brothers and sisters; fully recognising our country's origins.

In the late 1980s I worked for an Australian Democrats senator from South Australia. He had three staff full stop because there is simply not really enough work for any more than that outside sitting weeks; and that was pre internet and Zoom and Skype.

The independents need to stop whining about more staff because the cost alone would be prohibitive.

If they actually had eight staff working in the office in Canberra all year round they would die of boredom, the heat of the building, the distance from anywhere and the regular Bogong moth outbreaks; not to mention require extra staff to cater for them.

They would be working on top of each other and then would need bigger electorate offices; all of which dumb tax payers would need to pay for. If I could do the job without modern resources I feel sure five staff can manage with them.

I'm not a Nick Kyrgios hater and in fact I concur wholeheartedly with much of what coach and director of Tennis Canberra Robbie Manzano said in the article "Tennis feels the Nick Kyrgios effect" (canberratimes.com.au, July 10),but I must take issue with his hyperbolic claims that "he'd be one of the biggest athletes we've ever produced" and "if he won it would be one of the greatest achievements a sportsperson from Canberra has ever had".

Now, by the time anyone is reading this we'll know whether he won or not, but that really isn't the point. Canberra has produced a great many outstanding sportspeople in a wide range of sports. The achievements of many saw them reign supreme at the top of their fields for many years. It's not just a small handful as Manzanos caveat "one of" would suggest. There have been in fact so many it would be a guarantee of failure to remember them all to even try.

Without implying any detraction from Nick Kyrgios' achievements in general, this Wimbledon in particular or the impact he's having on tennis in Canberra, I would suggest Manzano pays a visit to the ACT Sports Hall of Fame before again making such grandiose statements about Nick's place in Canberra's sporting history.

Thank you Crispin Hull for your interesting article "We're losing faith, its a good thing" (canberratimes.com.au, July 5).

As a Christian, we do have one thing in common. You cannot prove that there is no God and I am unable to prove there is.

You say "God does not work in mysterious ways because he does not exist, except as a human construct", you also say while the late Kerry Packer's approach to life might have been found wanting his approach to death was not. He said, after a heart attack, "I've been to the other side, mate and there is nothing there".

You and Mr Packer may hold a certain view on life after death but there are also millions of people who practice a faith in the living God who promised that "whosoever believeth on him (Jesus) should not perish, but have eternal life".

Putin's attempted seizure of Ukraine brings to mind Tacitus's lines on Rome's invasion of Britain: "They give the lying name of empire to robbery and slaughter; they make a desolation and call it peace". Does anyone seriously believe Russia's economy will be devoted to the re-building of the salted earth of the liberated Donbas?

H Zandbergen (Letters, July 9) defends Philip Lowe's backflip on cash interest rates because no one knew when he made his prediction, that rates wouldn't rise until 2024 or that there would be a war in Ukraine. However, this is why economists shouldn't make predictions. We know there are unknown unknowns in the future.

Clive James's 1996 observation about the British philosopher and public intellectual Bertrand Russell seems tailor-made for Boris Johnson: " ... no matter how brilliant a mind may be, its stupidity will still break through, if that is what it takes to assuage its solitude. With his eyes on the heights, [Johnson] never noticed that his trousers were around his ankles: but now we know".

We are witnessing how a comedian turned president (Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine) can galvanise a country and a clown turned prime minister (Boris Johnson of the UK) can cause disunity. Obviously went to different drama schools.

The reason for the global patriarchy (and frequency of wars) is possibly because men are foolish risk-takers, overestimate their ability, leave important drudgery to women, invest themselves with self-importance, and consider females to be the weaker sex.

Keith Hill's letter (Letters July 4) saying my recent letter reminded him of when he delivered newspapers on a bicycle reminded me, in turn, of when, as a child, I delivered prescription medications on a bicycle. At the risk of sounding like a Monty Python Yorkshireman, try telling young people today the local chemist used to send out young children on bicycles to deliver prescription medications.

Thank you Kym MacMillan (Letters, July 4) in supporting the contention that most of Canberra's electricity consumption is fossil-fuelled, with the AEMO Dashboard figure of 74 per cent, on June 30 22 being generated by coal or gas. My estimate of 63 per cent was based on 2020 figures (but it does fluctuate).

Re Peter Moran's opinion that only opinions and not facts should be in letters to the editor (Letters, July 7). It's my opinion that he is wrong, and that's a fact.

Nev Sheather, Bonython

About that disputed stage-two tram to Woden. Will it actually take significantly longer to travel on it than the non-tram public transport alternatives possible? If yes, what's the rationale?