Discarded vapes are a serious threat to the environment

The previous Friday I was very angry when I found an IGET Blackberry Ice vape discarded in dry grass in a nearby street. This was on a day of increasing fire danger which is likely to go to extreme in the near future.

Vapes are classed as hazardous waste. I had to drive halfway across Canberra to the Mitchell waste centre because I could not put it in either my rubbish or recycling bin.

I placed it in the special bin for things with lithium batteries which can explode if overheated. The IGET webpage does point out that nicotine is addictive (the page is filled with beautiful images with luscious flavours), but made no mention of the dangers to the user's health and to everyone's safety.

IGET have now written back to me saying "We truly appreciate your effort in taking the initiative to dispose of the item responsibly. While it's unfortunate that the original owner did not adhere to appropriate disposal methods, your action reflects a commendable level of civic responsibility and care for the environment.

"Additionally, your feedback has highlighted a crucial area for improvement in our customer communication. We are taking immediate steps to update our website and product packaging with clear information regarding the hazards of the components and the importance of proper disposal".

Thanks, but I hope the Australian government will show an even more commendable level of civic responsibility and care for our environment by making it illegal to import and sell vapes with or without a doctor's prescription.

The latest version of the ACT Greens' by-laws for party members, dated October 16, 2023, contains clear code of conduct expectations, including "being mindful at all times of the potential impact of my actions on the reputation and standing of the party" ("Teen 'pressured' to keep quiet", November 12).

The ACT Legislative Assembly website does not appear to list a code of conduct for MLAs and political staffers, about the behaviour, integrity, transparency, reputation, and accountability responsibilities and expectations for such high-level public office positions, nor does it refer to the use of publicly provided and funded Assembly systems and other resources.

Also, the 2020 Labor-Greens Parliamentary and Governing Agreement does not address basic conduct requirements for both parties' MLAs beyond the view that they will broadly act to provide "the ACT with stable and effective government". A ministerial code of conduct is only briefly mentioned.

All ACT parties may wish to review the need for explicit, easily understood and publicly accessible codes of conduct for the Assembly and for any future joint governing arrangements and propose improvements well before the 2024 election. Any re-contesting or aspiring MLA who feels they might be tempted to flout the codes over a four-year period would then have the time and opportunity to decide against pursuing nomination and candidacy.

Re "Greens failed to tell speaker about Davis" (November 14), Shane Rattenbury said that "for Labor to try and create a political advantage out of the most difficult and sensitive issue, reflects very poorly".

On the one hand he rebukes Labor for allegedly acting inappropriately, on the other he and his party are treating the public with contempt by not notifying the Assembly about the alleged misconduct of one of its members, despite a policy requirement for them to do so. That reflects equally poorly. What's good for the goose, is good for the gander.

So, Mike Pezzullo has been spotted walking through the rain at Kingston (The Public Sector Informant, November 13), and The Canberra Times has produced photographic evidence of same.

Unfortunately the article neglects to answer intriguing questions: Was he ambling or rambling? Was he striding or stalking? Why wasn't he using an umbrella? Was he going to or from Kingston?

If one stakes out Kingston next time it rains, would one be likely to see him oneself?

Or, does he walk around other suburbs when it rains? It's a shame that The Canberra Times teases its readers with titillating titbits of information, while withholding some of the more fascinating facets of the story.

I have been fortunate to have attended two wonderful concerts in recent weeks. The first was to see, along with 40,000 others, the legendary Paul McCartney in concert at the Allianz Stadium in Sydney.

Then I attended the wonderful Selby and Friends concert at the Fairfax Theatre at the NGA. As always, the latter was memorable; magnificent music played superbly by the brilliant Catherine Selby and her two outstanding guest artists.

Three generations of my family attended the McCartney concert and we all loved it. The vast audience added to the atmosphere, absolutely silent and still at appropriate times and showing enthusiastic appreciation at the end of numbers. It's a night I'll long remember.

I'll remember the Selby concert too. Unfortunately it was spoilt by a man a few seats along the row, who felt it necessary to conduct the Schubert piano trio from beginning to end.

Frankly, Mr Second Rower, I was not impressed by your ability to tap and wave in time to the music, nor by your perceived knowledge of the score which you were keen to show off to us all.

The constant distraction was not only exceedingly annoying, but detracted from my enjoyment of an brilliant concert.

Please stay at home next time or sit in the very back row.

I think the most likely reason for our high "yes" vote in the Voice referendum and the republic referendum in the ACT is that most voters know at least one middle or senior ranking public servant well enough to have private conversations about government.

We get to know what our elected representatives and their political staffers actually do and say out of sight and earshot of voters elsewhere.

As a mere minion I used to read on files the handwritten notes of ministers and occasionally had one-on-one conversations with them.

That gives one some insights not available to non-public servants.

Life is a combination of things that we can and can't control.

Accepting this amounts to a true appreciation for life.

Obviously, death belongs to the category of things that humans ultimately have no control over. So when the bleeding hearts - or better yet, those who would exploit them - get hold of the reins, we only get more people in charge who hate life.

As such, where some see the ACT's voluntary assisted dying laws as a great leap forward for humanity, all I see is more evidence of people who pretend to love life so as to destroy it.

This is par for the course for utopian progressives. That's clear from the carnage they've left behind them.

It is the season for electoral redistributions and, like the eastern koels of summer, schemes and claims by the major parties to gain advantage and over representation by shifting the borders of electorates abound.

All this could be ended by a policy or dare one say a referendum, to insist on "one vote, one value" by having a reduced number of multiple member constituencies and "top up" members.

The nearly 50 NSW federal seats could be replaced by about 10 metropolitan and regional seats with half the members being directly elected and the other half added.

This would ensure that a party with 38 per cent of the vote only gets 38 per cent of the MPs. The minor parties would also gain MPs equivalent to their actual first preference vote.

I observe with horror how a thinking, civilised West refuses to unite in indignation at the unspeakable atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7 while citing a spurious "equivalence" between those atrocities and the tragic victims of a defensive war forced onto Israel.

For intelligent Australians to scream with Jihadists among Palestinian supporters, "From the River to the Sea!" is saying no less than voicing support for the extermination of all of Israel.

What is happening in our streets is nothing less than a revival of the ancient Jew-hatred that led to the Holocaust.

Buses never attracted the support needed for a workable public transport system. Most won't catch a bus if they can use a car. Light rail boosted interest in public transport. It is the most promising option.

As the debate over the Voice dies away, the silence of republicans is deafening. Canberra's suburbs are a roll call of founding fathers who set a very high bar for those who would change the constitution. We will not see a republic in our lifetimes.

The Optus CEO has overseen two of the most high profile and public stuff-ups in Australia's corporate history in the space of barely one year. She, and the board, failed to ensure the security of Optus's services on both occasions. Shouldn't she accept the buck stops here and resign?

Amanda Vanstone's Arthur "Caldwell" [Calwell] and Jack Waterford's Stephen "Gagelar" [Gageler] are two recent examples of misspellings of personages' surnames. Does nobody check spellings?

Netanyahu's misadventure is beginning to resemble Vietnam. Israel's PR machine is endeavouring to win "hearts and minds" and producing "five o'clock follies" figures based on "if it's dead and Palestinian it's a Hamas terrorist".

The real story behind Albo's flying photo op to Tuvalu was to bully Tuvalu into handing over its sovereign right to decide its own diplomatic and foreign policy. Well done Albo. In one fell swoop Labor has established its credentials as a party of neo-colonialism in the Pacific.

Having, together with the PM, done nothing in the last month but, via unconditional support, fuel Israel's already traditionally gargantuan entitlement to punish Palestinians disproportionately, collectively and absolutely as it sees fit, Penny Wong now discovers a reason to retreat from the fruits of her labours on Gaza.

How the heck would Mr Hersch of Denver, Colorado (Letters, November 12) know anything about the feral horse problem in the Australian Alps? He exhibits no knowledge of the huge environmental pressure feral horses are causing to Australia's fragile and very limited mountain ecosystems.

On inflation: Max Kauffmann observed that among the many things that money can't buy is what it used to.

Monday's (November 13) editorial stated "Israel exists". What you should have said is that "Israel is entitled to exist". So too are the Palestinians and a Palestinian state. Can the world ensure neither Hamas nor any entity with such aims is ever allowed to govern Palestinian territory again?