Tuggeranong Homestead heritage is now under threat

Not only are many suburban streets to be opened up for three-storey apartment developments but heritage sites are also under threat.

Minister Vassarotti sacked the Heritage Council, an independent statutory body to advise all members of the Assembly, last year and has not appointed the promised interim council.

Of particular concern is the plan to open up the Tuggeranong Homestead site to the development of housing to promote walkable neighbourhoods connected to nearby shopping centres.

The homestead is a heritage listed property, first settled in the 1820s, and one of the few remaining sites connected to the Territory's early Aboriginal and European history. It is also environmentally significant being part of the "blue-green" network established to repair and maintain watercourses and urban green spaces.

Is it just co-incidence that there is no independent heritage advice available to the Assembly as these plans are being finalised?

Minister Gentlemen is right when he says that under the new planning system he'll be getting rid of "a stack of rigid rules". Some of the rules that will go are ones that protect neighbours' solar access, and privacy.

Ones that will also go are the "living infrastructure" rules, which only came into effect in September last year. These require tree planting and open space in developments to help achieve the government's tree canopy goals. Yet the same minister, on June 17 last year, indicated that under the new arrangements all new residential developments would need to comply with living infrastructure requirements.

So what is it minister, will the current living infrastructure rules apply or not?

In the spring I planted sunflower seeds for the children of Ukraine moved into Russia for "safety", who were not being returned. Today glorious flowers tower above me as I read that Russia is "re-educating" Ukrainian children.

At least 6000 Ukrainian children have been adopted out or held in living facilities. Can a child survive such re-education without losing their love of family and homeland?

Then I remembered reading of the recent death Solomon Perel who posed as a member of Hitler Youth to survive World War II. His mother had told him: "You must live".

Live he did, returning to his family name and beliefs, to the age of 97.

It is possible. Shall I be planting sunflowers again in the spring?

Elizabeth Lee is right on the money when she suggests that Andrew Barr's advertising budget could be used to promote not only the current ACT government but Barr's party in an election.

I trust Elizabeth Lee's criticism acts as a commitment not to get on the same gravy train if elected? It is also noteworthy that the federal government is encouraging support for local companies but this generous contract has been awarded to a global advertising company. Mediabrands Australia is part of a global business.

If the monthly newsletter is an indication of how useful or necessary communications from the ACT government might be, then I can suggest a way for our government to find up to $25 million towards restoring our bus timetables and mowing the road verges.

A more responsive bus service and mown verges would be a more effective way to inform their constituents that they are doing something and that they have our interests at heart.

As expected, the debate on the Voice, in all its positive and negative forms, continues with fervour, passion and urgency, particularly in the light of the ongoing but recently highlighted events in Alice Springs and the Northern Territory more broadly.

Our Indigenous brothers and sisters, particularly those in remote and regional areas, suffer enormously in social, political, educational, housing and health matters with seemingly no or negligible results.

Incarceration rates continue to rise, health and education outcomes are poor and dare I say, racial separation or isolation persists. All of this, despite the billions of dollars provided over the decades in an attempt to improve the overall standard of living of indigenous Australians.

It was with mixed feelings that I read of the government's allocation of $424m in funding for its "closing the gap plan" to "improve the life outcomes for Indigenous Australians".

The 2022 Closing the Gap Report showed at best limited progress on key targets for improving life outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

What does throwing more money at the issue actually do when it clearly hasn't succeeded in the past? It is hard not to be cynical about the Voice debate but my hope is that something, anything, that can a make a tangible difference is welcome. Time will tell.

How funny to hear that Senator McKenzie wants impartiality from public servants. Was impartiality what she demanded from them as she was telling them to stuff sports funding pork into barrels?

It is on the record that Senator McKenzie, in office, expected her public servants to shut up and obey her orders. According to the Coalition, ministers decide and public servants do what they're told, except when Labor is in office.

I think I have fathomed the reason for the Greens/Labor governments strategy for increasing the tree, grasses and other vegetation growth in Canberra. It is reducing our carbon footprint.

All over Canberra there are both herbaceous and woody plants growing in footpaths, cycleways, road median strips, out of storm water sumps and between road bitumen and kerbs. Some might find it unsightly.

Whilst this may be reducing our carbon footprint, the long-term effect of this vegetation is to slowly but surely break up this infrastructure which will in time require a huge amount of funding to repair.

This greening effect may be reducing our carbon footprint but at what cost for ratepayers?

Philip Lowe is taking the brunt of the complaints when it should be aimed at both political parties.

If you lower interest rates due to a world recession then it is inevitable that more people will want to buy a house at the ridiculously low rates.

The home buyer will always be outbid by investors with their tax concessions. House prices go up and people still try to get into the market without considering what happens when rates rise.

My first mortgage in 1975 was at 7.5 per cent. Borrowing was limited to a maximum of three times one income. When interest rates went up to almost 18 per cent there was leeway to pay the mortgage with part of a second income.

For investors increased interest charges are a tax deduction.

If either major party had had the guts to cut back on negative gearing house prices wouldn't have gone up so much and home buyers wouldn't have been fighting off investors and also foreign buyers to get into the housing market.

Philip Lowe has one job only, curtailing inflation and only one tool to do it - raising interest rates. The effects on low income households is the result of government policy, not the actions of the RBA.

Nick Swain (Letters, February 15) is surely right when he advocates discouraging "the chaotic and risky school pick up and drop off ritual".

When I went to school in the 1950s all children walked, cycled or caught public transport to school, primary school and high school.

Parents should reconsider the need to drive their children to school. Nick Swain may be on less sure ground when he asks how those in units without a carpark would travel to the coast or mountains.

Surely there is a range of options. Some parts of Sydney have vehicles available for short term hire. Perhaps a similar system could be established in Canberra?

Those in units without carparks may find hiring a car for the occasional trip to the coast or the mountains cost effective.

These sorts of arrangements may not suit everyone. Personal needs and circumstances will vary. But there are options for those without a car.

Santa Claus had better be careful next time he visits North America.

It is an absolute disgrace that women are not able to walk in the grounds of the ANU at night without fear of being harassed or assaulted. Why on earth are the ANU and the police not doing something to protect them?

What was the point in you meeting with the Senate estimates committee Dr Lowe? Nothing has changed. The RBA still intends to crush average home buyers in Australia with more brutal interest rate increases. You sound like ScoMo in reverse.

I have some sympathy for Dr Lowe. the governor of the Reserve Bank. The previous government put something like a trillion dollars into the economy and he is now being attacked for raising interest rates by members of the opposition.

Being flung into opposition must have been quite an epiphany for the former government's chief grants program influencer, Senator Bridget McKenzie, given she now pushes and promotes the concept of impartiality as if she invented it ("APS commissioner grilled over the Voice impartiality", canberratimes.com.au, February 15).

Here's an idea. Since "banks are the beneficiaries of RBA's record interest rate rises" (Letters, February 16) we should all buy bank shares. Those who are ideologically opposed to greedy capitalism can donate their excess dividends and capital gains to charity.

Andrew Hastie says former ADF personnel "who have served in classified and sensitive capabilities should be prohibited from working for a foreign power". Does this apply to the US, the UK and New Zealand or just the enemy of the day?

John Warhurst's article "The colourful life after politics for former Australian prime ministers" (canberratimes.com.au, February 16) was informative. It made me wonder why audiences would turn up to listen to the bloviating Messrs Abbott and Morrison, let alone pay for the pain and suffering.

Rod Matthews (Letters, February 17) should have known Sir Henry Parkes appeared, with Catherine Helen Spence, on the $5 Federation note in 2001. In those days QEII was on the $1. Ms Spence led a movement pushing for women's rights. Together they celebrated the Centenary of Federation.

When we are dealing with human beings we need to be pragmatic. Linda Esenwozu and her son are a case in point. The Immigration Department should let them stay in this country. Let's apply the spirit of the law, not just the letter.