![The condition of Smiths Road, south of Canberra, is not good enough, given its importance to local residents. Picture supplied The condition of Smiths Road, south of Canberra, is not good enough, given its importance to local residents. Picture supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/Yecs3Py5qDsXRaXHGQZdPb/2b314bf0-d279-4406-993a-ac5b0f1ce75a.jpg/r0_56_480_398_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
I can't understand that the ACT government have been continuously neglecting the deplorable condition of some of our local roads.
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First off was Bobyan Road through Namadgi, which unfortunately lost its funding due to the need to get cashed up to extend the tram line to Woden. Why not just extend it to the airport and be done with it? Now.
Look at the ongoing condition of Smiths Road. This road services quite a large number of families which consist of young children and the elderly who rely so much on this road for everyday commutes to school, work, medical appointments and work in Canberra.
It is a one-way in and one-way out road that suffers considerably after any type of weather change, especially rain. The number of so-called very costly "rectification efforts", have only enforced the pathetic lack of any sort of basic "civil works" knowledge that has resulted in this continuously. Photos show the end result.
This corner (pictured) has been in this condition for at least six months, with Band-Aid efforts every now and again. To add to this disgrace is the fact Smiths Road is also used as rally track and a burnout area.
Will it take the death of a child on their way to school or an elderly person on the way to the doctor to get some sort of attention where a permanent solution may appear? Or are we more concerned about touch-up coats of paint to the rainbow roundabout and another statue of a magpie eating a chip in Garema Place.
Maybe take your kids for a Sunday drive along Smiths Road and see for yourselves. Here's hoping.
James Hudson, Holder
Not what she would want
Re VAD for people with dementia. They have no quality of life, there is no cure for the disease and the only reason they are being kept alive is so that the nursing homes can squeeze the last bit of money out of their relatives.
My wife has dementia, is incontinent, cannot feed, dress or shower herself and has no idea what is happening to her. This is the last thing she would want to be happening to her.
It is just plain wrong.
John Foreman, Hawker
Stop the scaremongering
The scaremongering in the letters pages about what a Voice would do is staggering. A former High Court judge has already stated the wording of the constitutional change will not present a problem for our Parliament and democracy.
It certainly will NOT be a third chamber - Parliament will continue to make decisions after considering advice from the Voice. I urge the naysayers to calm down. They can have input to the legislation for the Voice when the referendum is passed.
Let's not forget this proposed constitutional change came about after more than a decade of consultations, inquiries and reports, and in response to a very gracious appeal to the people of this country to respond to the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
The distrust of First Peoples we saw following the recognition of native title in the 1990s is on show again. It's totally unfounded - our nation will be more united and a better place for us all if we can have an overwhelming Yes vote later this year.
Janet Hunt, Dickson
Condescending and wrong
I can (just) forgive Doug Hurst's condescending view the PM "lacks the intellect .. .for more complex matters" (Letters, March 23). If Doug is so concerned about the Voice creating racism, divisiveness, a breach of democracy and a lawyer's picnic, perhaps he can demonstrate his intellectual superiority and provide adequate evidence that supports his claims.
Otherwise, I recommend he read the carefully considered professional assessments of former Chief Justices Robert French and Murray Gleeson, along with top constitutional experts like Professor Anne Twomey, who lead the wide array of leading Australian organisations and individuals that all support the Voice.
Their collective judgements, overall, fully refute the misconceived claims being made by rusted-on conservatives like Doug.
I await with bated breath for the anti-Voice knockers to provide details of why they are right and so many Australian experts, leaders and organisations are wrong.
Eric Hunter, Cook
Political equality for all
Mark Kenny ("Political courage stands out from simple pandering", canberratimes.com.au, March 26) lauds politicians ignoring populism implying what people want is irrelevant to governance. It isn't. Governance is for the people and by the people.
Kenny's worried that lots of people don't want what governments, banks, corporations and the MSM tell them they should want.
Kenny avers those who campaign against "the Voice" want to "silence Australia's 'First Peoples' all over again". That may be what elites running governments and the MSM want everyone to believe, but Australians just want political equality for all.
Wanting Australians to be one people with common aspirations and goals and a unified national voice is not silencing Aboriginal people.
Aboriginal people, like everyone born here, are Australians. Most Australians have ancestors born elsewhere. That doesn't make them less entitled to equal political rights. Claiming Aboriginal disadvantage doesn't justify giving them special constitutional status. Many Australians are disadvantaged in some way.
Giving special constitutional status to people having some Aboriginal DNA smacks of Apartheid.
Ron Chapman, Yarralumla
Wrong on both counts
Your correspondent Warwick Williams uses fear-based language that the Voice will create a "legal minefield" and even "morph into a third chamber".
This is clearly wrong on both counts.
The Voice referendum proposes constitutional recognition of First Nations Australians who "may make representations to the Parliament and Executive" in the form of "independent advice".
The ability to challenge public policy is neither new or unique to the Voice. It is a feature of a healthy democracy at work, not "a minefield". A third chamber will not be created as the Voice will not have decision-making powers, nor the ability to create legislation.
Having been subjected to similar fear-based language on the same sex marriage plebiscite, which it must be said did not lead to the sky falling in or any of the other assured predictions made by its opponents, I hope Australians will again see to the truth and heart of the matter.
Stephen Lawton, Weston Creek
Parliament will continue to make decisions after considering advice from the Voice. I urge the naysayers to calm down.
- Janet Hunt, Dickson
Warm glow not worth the harm
It is welcome news indeed the ACT Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment has recommended wood heater bans to improve health outcomes ("Fresh call to ban wood heaters in the ACT", March 24, p.3).
The public health costs of domestic wood heating in NSW and Vic are estimated to be in the billions of dollars over 10 years. This is equivalent to thousands of dollars in health costs per wood heater per year.
Action has been lagging for too long, and reminds me of the struggle to remove cigarette smoking from public places, offices, cafes etc. This ban occurred two decades ago.
Unfortunately, research on the attitudes of wood heater users shows many have little awareness of, and a reluctance to acknowledge, the harmful effects of wood smoke. The "warm glow" factor overrides scientific facts about harm.
Tinkering with solutions will not work either. A 2021 paper by Robinson and others in the Medical Journal of Australia states measured, real-life emissions of new wood heaters were only marginally lower than for older models, and thus the 40,000 to 50,000 new wood heaters sold each year in Australia are expected to increase air pollution-related costs in Australia by $160 million every year.
Murray May, Cook
Shocking customer service
At last, Qantas responds to customers. After innumerable phone calls, multiple formal reviews and written complaints spanning five months, my missing funds have been credited. But alas Qantas has cancelled my booking and hung up on me ... again. Examples of a profitable business model?
Jenny Van Vucht, Weetangera
Plane sailing
I am going to disagree with B Millar (Letters, March 24). A flying boat, not a seaplane, has a fuselage, the bottom of which is shaped like a boat. An example is the WWII vintage Short Sunderland. If a flying boat also has undercarriage capable of landing at an airport, its an amphibian.
A floatplane has usually two, but sometimes more, buoyancy devices (floats) attached to its fuselage by struts. Seaplane is a generic term for all aircraft that can land on water, irrespective of the salinity level. The planes landing in our lake will be seaplanes that are floatplanes. There is a clue in the name of the company operating them - Sydney Seaplanes.
Martin Kenseley, Rivett
TO THE POINT
FACING EXTINCTION
The victory of the ALP in the NSW election has demonstrated that we need to change our position in this world appropriately and move with time. If the Liberals fail to support the "Voice" and the "Constitutional" amendments, they will be out of the mind of the electorates. They will be extinct.
Sankar Kumar Chatterjee, Evatt
HIT THE BRAKE
Beware! The Voice bus looks to be rolling back. Someone needs to grab the handbrake.
M. F. Horton, Adelaide, SA
WORDING IS NO GOOD
I agree with Don Sephton about the wording of the constitutional amendment concerning the Voice. (Letters, March 27). It is a camel. That is, a horse designed by a committee. It is not even good grammar, and has a misplaced apostrophe.
Stewart Bath, Isabella Plains
INTENT IS CLEAR
I'm puzzled by John Coulter's presumption (Letters, March 28) that the Voice amendment will become a "preamble" to the constitution. It is both illogical and factually astray; it will be a new section in the body of the document which, rather obviously, is why it is called an amendment.
Eric Hunter, Cook
NEW SECTION
John Coulter (Letters, 28 March) asks where in the Constitution the proposed Voice amendment will go. There is no mystery here: the Prime Minister's announcement last week made clear the proposal is a new section, section 129, to be inserted at the end of the Constitution.
RA Goss, Dickson
DETAIL FREELY AVAILABLE
To fulfil his wish of learning "the actual text of what would be added to the Constitution" (Letters, March 27), Don Sephton need only consult the Prime Minister's press release of March 23, freely available on the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet's website.
David Wilson, Braddon
A FALSE DAWN
How I rejoiced at the defeat of Scomo's awful mob. But as I became aware of the ALP's intention to open new coal and gas mines, to AUKUS swelling the profits of the armaments industries and to allow tax cuts to those not needing them, I wondered if we'd elected another Scomo disguised as Albo, until I realised what ALP stands for - Alternate Liberal Party.
Vince Patulny, Kambah
A RARE TARGET
People should be allowed to hunt ... unicorns.
Rod Matthews, Fairfield, NSW
ALWAYS THE WAY
Having covered rugby league for so long, David Polkinghorne ("Why Wighton's ban doesn't pass the pub test", canberratimes.com.au, March 28) must surely know that the koalas in the east and the shire always get lighter sentences.
James Mahoney, McKellar
CONGRATS IN ORDER
Parliament is to be congratulated for its leadership on climate change via the reformed safeguard mechanism. Wonderful to see Labor and Greens working to outcomes that will drive emissions down. By refusing to negotiate, the Coalition have further cemented their irrelevance.
Amy Hiller, Kew, Vic
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