The ACT government's decision to defund the Green Shed and to replace it with a contract to St Vincent de Paul on the grounds that the latter can provide "value" to the ACT Community is a bad decision.
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It is also a kick in the guts for community.
It is beyond belief that the government's procurement team truly think a huge, centralised, welfare organisation could match the value the Green Shed has provided for more than a decade.
What is St Vincent de Paul's track record as a provider of innovative services in the circular economy?
The Green Shed has regularly made significant contributions into the broader community fabric of Canberra.
Its directors Sandie and Charlie Bigg-Wither are loved by the local community and their employees.
They pay many of their valued staff above award wages, employ people with disabilities, regularly provide free goods and clothing to people in need and make monthly donations to community service organisations.
They are innovative and run events the community values. This decision signals a complete lack of regard for what the Canberra community cares about.
It is a lazy approach to procurement and another bad decision that grinds away at the heart of community.
Does this mean no small entities will ever again be able to succeed in the ACT procurement process?
Karen Gardner, Hackett
Green Shed wasn't broken
Re the Greenshed closure.
My feeling is that it is a mistake to toss something that has been working well for a long time onto the scrapheap because some other outfit says they can do a better job.
Transitions are usually more expensive and troubled than anybody expects.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Avery Andrews, Hackett
It's about control
The reason that the right is so enamoured of nuclear power is not because of climate change.
It's simply because, unlike renewables, it concentrates, of necessity, ownership in the hands of wealthy corporations which they rightfully expect will make generous "donations" to the party in return for services rendered. Of course renewables can be owned by wealthy corporations too. But they don't have to be.
Rooftop solar is a great example of this.
Fred Pilcher, Kaleen
Confirmation bias?
I was struck by the pejorative "elites" in the heading to the opinion piece, ("Opposition to nuclear power among elites is short-sighted", March 12).
The article is laced with some odd "facts", supposedly contradicting the mass of experts (including "elites") who have clearly demonstrated that nuclear power isn't the best option for Australia, especially given our accessibility to cheaper and more efficient renewables.
So, what is the "Coalition for Conservation", whose CEO authored the article? It is an "independent environmental charity" that "bridges policy-making with climate expertise". So far so good, but then we see that its chair is former Nationals federal president Larry Anthony, followed by a long list of executives and "ambassadors" with direct connections to the Coalition.
This gives its title another meaning entirely. One familiar name is former NSW liberal lead Kerry Chikarovski.
I wonder, does its "policy-making" role include advising Peter Dutton on the yet to be released details of his pro-nuclear policy? If so, I can't wait.
Nothing wrong with any of the above in principle, but surely ethics would demand that any such organisation provide full disclosure of such associations in any similar article, just as journalists are required to do.
The other obvious and critical question is just where does this organisation's money come from?
Eric Hunter, Cook
EVs aren't that green
Dennis O'Hara's point about EVs not having exhaust pipes and hence we are all breathing cleaner local air, is a good one (Letters, March 14).
However, I notice some EV owners seem to be unaware of the dirty underbelly of the mining for metals used in EV batteries and elsewhere in the vehicle.
Recent books on this issue make troubling reading. The Rare Metals War by Guillaume Pitron has the subtitle "the dark side of clean energy and digital technologies" and Pitfall by Christopher Pollon has the subtitle "the race to mine the world's most vulnerable places".
As soon as whole-of-life cycle accounting is used, EVs are not as clean and green as some would think.
The exhaust pipe is just a little bit further away.
Murray May, Cook
Shallow shadow ministry
I found Graham Wright's analogy of the Coalition rather amusing ("LNP lacks talent", March 14).
The mental image of being out of one's depth in a shallow pool conjured up the related image of toddlers playing in a children's wading pool.
Highly appropriate for this bunch of shadow ministers who make a lot of shrill noise, sound like they're having fun but are prone to fighting over the toys (appointments).
I'm guessing they'll all be well and truly wrinkled if playtime ever ends.
Keith Hill, New Acton
EVs the obvious choice
Further to James Lee's letter regarding car owners who choose to go the EV path. To me the choice was pretty obvious for anyone who cares about our environment:
You wouldn't plug your diesel exhaust pipe into your home, yet the world is our home.
On the subject of servicing costs, I was really annoyed when I had to top up my windscreen washer bottle last week. The only thing I have had to do in two and a half years of owning an EV.
Byam Wight, Kingston
Pope nailed it
In his cartoon of March 14 ("The last of the Pacific cargo cults") David Pope has yet again hit the nail on the head in his depiction of the stupidity of our pursuit of AUKUS and the US nuclear submarines.
If it proceeds it will be the trigger for a failed Australian economy and create another US war zone in Southeast Asia.
Rex Williams, Springwood, NSW
Vanity, sheer vanity
It seems that every government (or aspiring government) needs to have a foolish, egregiously expensive project.
The federal government has AUKUS, as time goes on looking more and more like a hugely expensive white elephant.
The federal opposition has its plan for nuclear energy generation, widely and expertly acknowledged as inappropriate for Australia, far too expensive (compared with renewables in particular) and not realisable for decades.
The ACT government has the tram (sorry, light rail), in particular its Stage 2B to Woden, clearly enormously expensive, destructive and inflexible.
Oliver Raymond, Mawson
Just let them come
Why has the Australian government cancelled visas for Palestinians seeking to escape the genocide in Gaza? This is a cruel and unfathomable decision that should be rejected by the Australian community.
I urge the Australian government to continue to offer Palestinians fleeing genocide in Gaza the same equitable access to visas that it offered Ukrainians, Afghanis and Syrians in past years.
Allen J King, Hoppers Crossing, Vic
More LNP thought bubbles
Bravo Crispin Hull (March 12) for his informative and colourful piece on housing and nuclear energy.
He's right, the thought bubbles emerging from the Coalition don't last long.
In Mr Dutton's 2023 May budget reply speech he said that "next-generation, small modular nuclear technologies are safe, reliable, cost-effective, can be plugged into existing grids where we have turned off coal, and emit zero emissions".
He had in mind the American NuScale small modular reactor (SMR) experiment, one which had received $4billion in government subsidies. But already in January 2023, Nuscale had announced the target price for power from the plant was $US89 per megawatt hour, up 53 per cent from the previous estimate of $US58 per megawatt hour.
Then the company ran out of customers willing to pay; in November 2023 the project collapsed.
Whoops that didn't work. Let's try the big, old nuclear reactors. More costs to the taxpayer, more lead times, more expertise which we don't have; more pipe dreams.
Fiona Colin, Malvern East, Vic
TO THE POINT
COURT WIMPED OUT
Jennie Goldie (Letters, March 13) is right about abortion, except for one point. The US Supreme Court actually took the coward's way out and said "not in our brief" and pushed it off to the states. As someone said in another context, "making things illegal doesn't stop people doing them".
Stewart Bath, Isabella Plains
ON ACTIVE TRAVEL
Perhaps the Assembly members who urge us to use public transport could live somewhere other than the inner north and travel everywhere, including to weekend and evening events, solely by "active travel". It could lead to a public transport system which all Canberrans can use.
Maria Greene, Curtin
THE FOREVER WAR
The Gaza disaster is part of a "peace process" that dates back to 1947 and the bombing of Jerusalem's King David Hotel.
Leon Arundell, Downer
DEEDS, NOT WORDS
Peter Dutton is using more moderate language in his pursuit of nuclear power. Still his arguments are going to always hampered by the simple fact that, in nearly a decade in power, the Coalition did absolutely nothing to advance nuclear power when they were in a position to do so.
Ross Hudson, Mount Martha, Vic
AGED CARE LEVY
Our complicated aged care system may seem fair for those who need a subsidy but many people have legally arranged their finances so that they are pensioners despite having significant assets. An aged care levy would ensure all these users contribute.
Gail Allen, Pearce
THIS IS PATHETIC
The really sad thing about that "altered" royal photo is that there are apparently people who have nothing better to do in life than examine an otherwise innocuous family photo with a very large magnifying glass for "gotcha" moments. Actually, it's beyond sad; it's pathetic really.
Don Sephton, Greenway
AND INTEGRITY?
A touchstone to which politicians seem unable to commit is integrity.
M F Horton, Adelaide, SA
PRICE OF SCOTCH
Great to hear that tariffs are being reduced, but will it help consumers? I thought last year's free-trade agreement with the UK would have reduced the price of scotch whiskey but that hasn't happened.
S W Davey, Torrens
STEP BY STEP
I was thrilled to learn the ACT will receive another $188 million in GST revenue. If my calculations are right, that's another 350 metres of tram track right there.
John Howarth, Weston
EQUALITY FOR ALL
Kathryn Spurling (Letters, March 13) is right. Racist, drunken, bad behaviour is not determined by gender. Equality for all.
Mark Sproat, Lyons
NOT FOR PROFIT AGED CARE
Aged care is far too important to be privatised. It should be provided by the government as a not for profit service, available to everyone when they need it. The same goes for health care. And don't get me started on education and a long list of other things.
Anne Willenborg, Royalla NSW
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