Canberra's lakeside vistas should be preserved for all to enjoy

Canberrans don't want their lakeside landscapes to be built over. An extensive consultation with users of Weston Park in 2013 revealed that the most valued attributes of that park were the quality of the natural landscape and a lack of manmade structures. The sentiments were typified by the following comments: "The lack of development in the area, the feeling of being out of the city while still being close to the centre, serenity, forest setting, open spaces, lake views, connection to the lake, natural beauty, unspoilt nature, peace and quiet".

Weston Park visitors numbered 1.05 million in 2012, and may be 2 million now. (Source: Weston Park Master Plan 2013).

The lake is the central feature of Canberra. Yet surprisingly, the Statement of Heritage Impact for the new boathouse states that "Lake Burley Griffin and Foreshores is not included in the National Heritage List or the Commonwealth Heritage List, but has been nominated to the National Heritage List".

It is time to complete this heritage listing, or to include the west end of the lake and adjacent parks into the Canberra Nature Park. Please can governments make it a priority?

The real parallel with the attack on Trump is the assassination of Huey Long, the populist governor of Louisiana (aka the "Kingfish"), who was running against FDR in 1935.

The events were commemorated in song:

"Oh they shot Huey Long in Louisiana,

"As he walked down the capitol steps.

"Yes, they killed Huey Long in Louisiana,

"As he took on the capitalist."

Commendably the Albanese government is indicating that Australia will now require real estate agents, lawyers and accountants to comply with anti-money laundering law (AUSTRAC, July 9).

Australia's previous governments, along with those of the US, Haiti, China and Madagascar among a very few others, ignored the repeated calls of the OECD's financial action taskforce to block the access of organised criminals to these "services", which have effectively become the principal enablers of crime in this country, along with the casinos.

These sectors had been included in the FATF's "40 recommendations" to counter money laundering as long ago as 2003. In their 2015 "Mutual Evaluation Report of Australia", the FATF noted that "most designated non-financial business and profession sectors (in Australia) are not subject to AML/CTF (Anti-Money Laundering/Counter-Terrorism) requirements, and do not demonstrate an adequate understanding of their ML/TF risks or have measures to mitigate them effectively.

This includes real estate agents and lawyers, both of which have been identified to be of high ML risk in Australia's National Threat Assessment.

So our previous governments already knew of the risk - and sat on their hands.

In fighting against their need to comply with these laws, these professions have been protecting their most corrupt members and costing Australians billions.

Money laundering is a crime that affects us all in one way or other.

President Joe Biden said in the wake of the Trump assassination attempt: "... But the idea that political violence, that violence in America like this - it's just unheard of. It's not appropriate."

It seems, Mr Biden never heard that four sitting American presidents have been killed and that three other presidents have been injured in attempted assassinations.

Reporting of allegedly corrupt conduct by senior ACT government officials with respect to the Campbell Primary School modernisation project, allegations of "serious corrupt conduct" with respect to the CIT's "systems and critical thinking" contract, and before that, the $70 million of ACT rate payers' dollars squandered on the failed HR project, recalls the series of government bungles culminating with the Khemlani affair, which led to the demise of the Whitlam government in 1975.

Eight years later, after the Fraser government had similarly lost its way, Bill Hayden said "A drover's dog could win the next election".

Luckily, we had the great Bob Hawke instead.

Given the ACT Labor/Greens government's abysmal performance in recent years, we might have to draft the drover's dog again.

Arguably the next ACT election is for the Liberals to lose, but winning is still a tough ask in this town.

As ACT residents cast their votes on October 19 I wonder how many people will remember the serial incompetence and corrupt behaviour that has occurred on Andrew Barr's watch.

How many will remember that his "leadership" has generated an annual debt interest repayment bill of $5000 for each ACT household, and that he has consigned at least the next generation to paying off the debt accumulated on his watch, allowing incompetence and corrupt behaviour to pass without the appearance of ministerial accountability?

Now might be a good time for the ACT Liberals to ensure they are match ready and demonstrate to the electorate that they are an alternative worthy of our votes.

They couldn't do any worse than the current mob.

It's either the Liberals, or the drover's dog.

Now that a Moscow court, obedient to the tyrannical Russian president, has ordered the arrest of Yulia Navalnaya, widow of Vladimir Putin's "mysteriously" deceased most feared opponent, Alexei Navalny will Ms Navalnaya be the next threat to Putin's absolute power to "disappear"?

Putin's evil influence and reach spans continents.

There have been some pertinent articles in The Canberra Times in recent weeks relating to illegal drugs.

Firstly your editorial, ("Smoke and mirrors cloud new vape ban", July 7), which recognised the probability the latest legislation will inevitably put the sale of vapes and e-cigarettes into the hands of the illicit trade.

Secondly, the article "Safe injecting rooms needed" (July 10) concerning the latest drug introduced onto the black market, a synthetic opioid, protonitazene which has already caused four deaths in Melbourne,

Thirdly, the article "A-G warns Australia is a playground for organised crime" (July 10) which reported drug offences were the single largest source of money laundered in Australia.

Illicit drug sales alone are reported to generate at least $12.4 billion a year in this country.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus is rightly concerned Australia could be "grey listed" by the global financial watchdog. In the 30 years I have been advocating for drug law reform the rhetoric has not changed much.

Mr Dreyfus wants to reduce the drug trade. Advocates for drug law reform want to save lives.

The rational thing to do is to remove the criminal sanctions from drug use, regulate the drug market where possible, increase harm reduction strategies, educate our young, and to tackle inequality by giving all people hope for the future.

It was interesting watching PM Albanese's press conference on the UK election.

He dutifully referred to the incoming PM as Sir Keir Starmer. Which of course is correct. But as Albo is a good friend of Starmer's he should know Starmer does nor like to be referred to as Sir Keir. It is of course an UK honour conferred from an earlier bureaucratic life.

I recognise that Albanese is a busy man, but he has a large office that ought to know these things. But more substantively than that, it struck me, as raising (again) the question of whether Albanese is actually too timid and risk averse to be a fully effective leader of this country.

For a considerable time now SBS has provided us with regular programs on Hitler, the rise of the Nazis and other related topics. I have to ask "why?"

What is it that someone who prepares SBS programs is so obsessed about? Do they not understand how very painful these subjects are to so many people who suffered under the German regimes at that time?

This is not just an obsession it appears to be a very sick mind.

Interesting that the Trump shooter apparently was a registered Republican. There is no doubt the event and image of Trump with fist held high will propel Trump to victory. And unfortunately America, I fear, will continue down the road of political violence. And that is not good for the world.

Donald Trump claims it was "God alone" that prevented the "unthinkable". Were I a believer, I'd be more inclined to think it was Satan who might have intervened to save Trump in order to ensure his victory in November. Let's remember, that it is Satan who seems to be able to override God whenever the fancy takes him.

Re your editorial on violence and democracy. The USA is not a democracy but a plutocracy; the USA is an empire. Its agents demonstrate daily that they use violence to achieve their ends. Consider the police attacks on pro-Palestine protesters on US campuses. Isn't that political violence?

Australian politicians of all stripes are currently wailing that violence has no place in political life. They would say that, wouldn't they?

It is ironic Donald Trump was a victim of the violence his rhetoric had encouraged and a tragedy that bystanders were killed and injured. Will he moderate his comments to reduce the potential for future violence and the perception he is a threat to democracy?

I believe that Donald, the former American President survived an attempted assassination due to very good luck whilst also holding the Trump card.

I can hardly believe that President Biden said, after the shooting of Donald Trump: "The idea that there's violence in America like this is just unheard of". He certainly has a problem with his memory and it is definitely time for him to leave the presidential race.

It will take more than this to keep Donald Trump out of the White House.

I was stunned (I hesitate to use the phrase "blown away") when Joe Biden refused to call the assault on Trump an assassination attempt, saying he didn't have enough information to pass judgement. He was kidding, right?

If Trump hadn't moved his head America could have been in the middle of a civil war today.

R Webb (Letters, July 11) raises the problem of delivering batteries to towns which don't have a rail link. Why couldn't large batteries be delivered by road?