Watson residents pay a high price for Summernats

While I understand the financial desirability for the ACT, I have had no response to the issues I have raised with the Chief Minister concerning environmental impacts. Is the government able to ignore its own laws and environmental standards for the duration of this event?

The two main issues effecting me and other long suffering Watson residents are noise and air pollution. I trust the event is monitored for noise pollution compliance, but I despair of our noise protection laws if it is found to comply.

Last year, as the event progressed, a foul smelling and visible smog settled over the whole of Watson. The smell of unburnt fuel was overwhelming and I had to keep my doors and windows shut to prevent it impacting on my lungs.

Is this compliance? Is there no effective monitoring? What protective or preventative mechanisms should be enacted in such circumstances? Would these triggers ever be pulled or does the economic benefit trump all other concerns?

It's bad enough to be besieged in one's suburb by the crowds attending this event. Dangerous driving seems to be a matter of pride for attendees. But to be expected to endure the lung wracking pollution is beyond the pale and, I presume, beyond the law?

What measures will our environmental defenders use to protect me from this invasion of our clean, green bush capital?

As a former long-serving member (including deputy principal member) of the former Refugee Review Tribunal, I have watched with dismay the increasing politicisation of relevant appointments since its absorption into the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) in 2015. This has been matched by the non-reappointment of experienced and qualified members who have handed down decisions unfavourable to the government.

I welcome the Attorney-General's cleansing of the Augean stables and the foreshadowed institution of an arms-length merit-based selection process. The AAT (and not least its refugee and immigration division) makes decisions affecting the lives and liberty of vulnerable people who deserve a more competent and impartial process than that which we have seen on occasion over the last few years.

Many Australians, particularly those who live in the eastern states, will be happy to see the back of 2022. The severity, frequency and extent of the flooding brought extreme hardship and loss of income to thousands, mostly those in regional towns and on the land. Data released by the Insurance Council of Australia on November 30 shows that the cost of this year's February-March floods has now reached more than $5.65 billion making it the "most expensive natural disaster in Australia's history".

But just how natural were these events? NSW's independent inquiry into the floods found that "as the climate warms, heavy rainfall events are expected to continue to become more intense with consequent increased chances of flash flooding". In its recent report, The Great Deluge, the Climate Council argues that because the natural drivers, La Nina and the Indian Ocean Dipole, were "climate-fuelled", the term "unnatural disaster" is more appropriate.

According to science organisations, such as the Australian Academy of Science and NASA, today's climate change is primarily human-induced. These extreme weather events are amplified by human activities and therefore are no longer natural in the usual sense.

The federal government's focus has been on mitigating climate change. Clearly, this money and effort must be matched by helping communities adapt as well. The 28 recommendations from the NSW inquiry into the floods provide an excellent model.

I refer to recent reports on a levee failure in South Australian and an alarming increase in the amount of plastic waste going into land fill.

Couldn't the unused plastic waste be used to manufacture structures to improve the strength and height of earth levees.

This should be possible given there solid bench seats made from recycled plastic outside Woolies in Kippax.

Rod Matthews calls for an end to military support for Ukraine (Letters, December 17). This time, he's actually said: "We must sacrifice the Ukrainians in the interests of saving the world."

Abandoning Ukraine and its 41 million or so remaining residents would leave other countries in Europe in danger of attack by Putin.

Rather than learning a bitter lesson, Putin would be emboldened into biding his time, rearming, and then launching another "special military operation". This time, it would be against NATO countries and the threat posed by the satanic western hegemony he keeps talking about.

Closer to home, this would send an alarming message. If the west abandons that many people, how long would it stand by the nearly 24 million or 26 million in Taiwan and Australia respectively?

China's President Xi is known to play the long game.

Rhetorically, what, to him, is a year or so of western support for Taiwan and maybe, by extension, Australia if it ends in capitulation?

Russia's ongoing failure has very likely stayed Xi's hand.

If, in effect, it causes him to wait for a diplomatic solution to Taiwan, then continuing to arm Ukraine is well worth it.

From the reported ongoing questions asked of the National Capital Authority by the Joint Standing Committee on the National Capital, getting the Woden tramline from Civic to Capital Hill, on its currently planned route, has always been an intractable problem.

There's the expensive and disrespectful ruination of City Hill south's important infrastructure and open spaces; related intrusive property development and the unresolvable problems of expensively crossing the lake on, near, or between the carriageways of the iconic Commonwealth Avenue Bridge.

Then there is also the destruction of the cultural landscape of Commonwealth Avenue; costly roadworks at State Circle; and required expensive facilities to avoid overhead power lines.

It's time to stop the roadworks at City Hill; and, with the added advantage of wider Central National Area coverage, and some sensitive "land value capture", to take the tramlines, with sensible overhead power, along the north reserve of Edinburgh Avenue.

This would serve New Acton, with its easy pedestrian link to Acton Foreshore and beyond. From there it is straight on into the ANU; across the existing Parkes Way land bridge; on to the national attractions at Acton Peninsula.

Then we need Griffin's elegant missing third central lake crossing, made yacht-friendly; over the lake to the "notch" (purposely located for a bridge abutment close to Flynn Drive) in Lennox Gardens North.

After that it is up Flynn Drive to State Circle and on to Woden as planned.

Express trams could be catered for.

Your editorial of December 16 "Albanese govt has set a cracking pace" omitted one thing: a "how to vote Labor" card.

You said nothing about the very dubious energy bill which will have negative repercussions down the track, the alignment with the Greens which Albanese said he wouldn't do, and the hasty payout to Brittany Higgins where former minister Linda Reynolds was effectively coerced into not attending the mediation on threat of not having her legal fees paid.

How about some balance?

John Sant laments the lack of competence of our senior public servants and their failure to give frank and fearless advice (Letters, December 14).

It should be remembered that this is a legacy of the Howard government's workplace relations laws and changes to the employment arrangements for APS senior staff.

Essentially, they became minions of the government and not servants of the public.

I recall Sir Lenox Hewitt remarking on national television at the time that senior public servants are going to have to learn to do a lot of brown nosing.

It is apparent that frank and fearless advice is not what the recent LNP government wanted.

As for the admission of the former secretary of the Department of Social Security that she hadn't read the relevant act, this suggests incompetence and should result in dismissal.

2022 has seen some remarkable events. Labor won the federal election. COVID-19 is still with us. The unnecessary war between Ukraine and Russia drags on and Julian Assange is still incarcerated. Let us hope 2023 will be a better year.

I can only hope that the Labor-Green government absorbs the common sense in David Brudenhall's advice to the Canberra Liberals on public transport redesign ("Canberra Liberals' light rail opposition must include a better alternative", canberratimes.com.au, December 18). Some clear thinking here from someone with expertise.

David Brudenall says some very common sense things about the negative impact of proceeding with stage 2B. He offers sensible suggestions. Is the Assembly listening?

Why did the Public Transport Association of Canberra feel the need to take a pot shot at The Canberra Times (Letters, December 16) for daring to question the rationale of and transparency about light rail in its editorial of December 12? I am still waiting for the PTAC to produce any solid case for light rail, rather than simply parrot the government's line.

Senator Katy Gallagher promised to take care of public servants. Yet when Defence asked to increase its public service pay rise from 2 per cent to 3 per cent (to match their military colleagues) she refused. Does she only pretend to care about the APS? Do we need two independent senators if the APS is to be supported? No complaints from the CPSU, of course.

Applause for a sensible and balanced article by Mark Kenny criticising Piers Morgan rants and the UK tabloids for their unrelenting attacks on Harry and Meghan. A rerun of the treatment of Princess Diana. ("Contempt for women lurks under the racism in the Meghan Markle debacle", canberratimes.com.au, December 18),

So an older brother is supposed to have screamed at a younger brother while dad sided with the older brother and grandma sat there and said nothing. Sounds like a lot of families to me. My reaction? Toughen up, prince.

So much for the headline "Labor accused of political 'purge' after abolishing AAT" in Saturday's The Canberra Times. Even many Libs support scrapping the AAT in its current form.

I read with interest Chris Kennedy's review of Emancipation (Relax, Sunday, December 18) and look forward to eventually seeing this film. However, I cannot support Kennedy's pious, self-righteous view of Will Smith's slapping of Chris Rock. Rock was well out of line and fully deserved the public admonishment he got.