Palmer's 'freedom conference' with Tucker is anything but

The conference is about anything but freedom.

They are being invited to treat with a person whose hero is an out-and-out dictator and indicted war criminal.

He has been involved in the assassination of dozens of his opponents and directly involved in the inexcusable, indiscriminate murder of the 298 people on MH17, including 27 of our fellow Australian citizens, children, women and men.

I am hoping the lunch proves unforgettably manky but, given the venue, that's unlikely.

Roderick Holesgrove (Letters, June 3) shows as little knowledge of prescribed burning as Dr Philip Zylstra.

The rapid regrowth following the 2019-20 fires in Namadgi (as mentioned by John Raison) is a result of a "high intensity" wildfire under extreme weather conditions.

Prescribed burning is the art of achieving a patchy mosaic using "low intensity" fire implemented under planned weather conditions and lighting patterns - basically copying the process utilised for thousands of years by our traditional custodians.

Correctly applied prescribed burning using national best practice (as is the case in ACT parks) does not result in rapid regrowth of vegetation and indeed prevents this occurring by reducing the intensity of the inevitable uncontrolled bushfire.

Reports about Bill Shorten's $620,000 speechwriter contract must make many of us ruminate on the whole political process.

Thinking about the task of such a person, we realise that they must express in words how the latest government action can be seen in the context of its vision for the whole country, show how on balance the action will be for the common good and hence acceptable on as many fronts as possible, and finally how it can be seen as a logical step to take, bearing in mind the other things that are happening to the people in the audience.

Sometimes I wonder why the so-called speechwriter wouldn't be better placed in the role of minister herself.

Sometimes it can be difficult to believe in what a person is saying when you know it's been scripted by a clever writer. And how will we feel when speeches are even scripted by AI?

Will the unique and wonderful human experience of sincere, honest and direct communication become increasingly rare?

The annual kangaroo slaughter is commencing shortly.

Thanks to the ACT government's relentless and inhumane killing of kangaroos, Canberra's beautiful natural bushlands are becoming wastelands of weeds utterly devoid of wildlife and character.

The Conservator of Flora and Fauna and the Minister for the Environment like to congratulate themselves on their so-called conservation initiatives in the ACT.

They should get out into Canberra's nature reserves and take a good look around.

The havens of wildlife and natural bushland that were once central to Canberra's character are progressively being degraded.

As a former cruising aficionado I for one will not be mourning the demise of P&O cruises after 90 years of operations.

From its former glory days P&O Cruises (Australia) has slowly degenerated into a sub-standard cruise line that was giving the industry a bad name with food and service that was below par.

It only survived as long as it did because it had a substantially lower fare structure.

You get what you pay for.

Hopefully the merger with its parent company Carnival Cruise Line results in much-needed improvements.

Will it be followed by a corresponding fare increase? Only time will tell.