Cult of masculinity a construction health and safety issue

Much of what I have seen of this culture involves conditions and work practices which are nothing short of medieval. Excessive working hours (often with no breaks), lack of basic site facilities, dangerous levels of fatigue, antagonism towards occupational health and safety issues, disregard for personal health and wellbeing, and blatantly sexist attitudes towards women are all incredibly common.

The male culture is very much about "sucking it up", as pushing back against exploitative conditions would be tantamount to an admission of personal weakness and not being able to do what was required to "get the job done".

In 2012, following a spate of ACT construction site accidents, the wife of another ACT construction worker drew attention to the evidence about how masculine attitudes can and do impact occupational health and safety.

Unfortunately, it seems that little has changed in terms of this dominant culture and its impact on health, wellbeing and relationships. It is time for these issues to be seriously addressed. Whether, and to what extent, initiatives such as the Construction Industry Culture Taskforce will have any effect is very much an open question.

Australia Post must return to daily letter delivery services after we have seen what can happen to other communications through the global IT outage last Friday.

What have the PM and Mr Dutton got to say?

Restore regular and efficient daily letter delivery services for private citizens and for businesses. Indeed, give us seven day deliveries.

When recently referring to an inner north semi-government school still mired in very serious financial accountability and payments problems, the ACT Education Minister donned kid gloves and advised "The last thing we want to see is a school closed".

Yet public primary and high schools were shut down in Canberra well before the "mistakes" of the 2006-08 closures, including in the late 1980s and 1990 in Downer, Watson and Hackett. Large suburban tracts of well-sited public land have now been lost forever to medium density "renewal" development and little else.

The main beneficiaries have been commercial, private and "non-profit" developers plus the ACT Treasury. Sub-par long term, education policy development and infrastructure planning and vision has been one consequence. So too has disinterest in retaining and reusing public land over the longer term for flexible and changing public educational and multi-use allied purposes.

This, along with rapid urban densification and new population targets, led to years of overcrowding and dependence on demountables in the few remaining public primary and high schools.

The inner north student population will keep growing as new residents with families move to thousands more new homes both under construction in, or being formally planned for, the gateway corridor.

Creative and innovative public education thinking, and financial negotiations are needed to achieve better outcomes for the well-respected yet crowded Lyneham High School and local public school students, as well as for the nearby semi-government school.

After many hours of reflection and contemplation in my Thought Garden I decided to establish a local multidisciplinary linear and parallel conceptual critical thinking firm to be titled The Clown Lounge.

I'll be looking to recruit incomprehensible geniuses to provide the obvious guidance required. I have videoed myself climbing the northern slopes of Mt Ainslie and Black Mountain unassisted to reinforce the power of The Clown Lounge.

It would be an economic multiplier for the local economy retaining most of the millions available in the corporate coaching spaces.

We are seeing at Wallaroo the limits of the social licence granted to renewables and their never ending demands for scarce land in pristine regional centres.

Environmental degradation will not end with Wallaroo. Renewables are not scalable without more land, more power lines and more renewable infrastructure (including massive battery farms).

Next on the agenda are more and more windmills dotting the landscape and the exodus from once safe towns to avoid the mental health impact of foreign owned intruders.

Renewables will not survive without massive upgrades to and an expansion of power lines.

Any benefit from Wallaroo is flowing to a small group of privileged insiders and investors only interested in profits.

Wallaroo is not part of the New South Wales Renewable Energy Zone (which is located well to the north). Why has the ACT ended up with this environmental disaster right on its doorstep without consultation?

The use of nuclear power stations (claimed to have low emissions) to replace our ageing, and highly polluting, has prompted a debate about political, safety and economic aspects. But what about the thermodynamic consequences?

Coal fuelled power stations burn coal to produce steam to drive turbines connected to electricity generators. The steam is then condensed back to water, cooled usually in cooling towers, and the process repeats.

Some (hot) water is lost, mainly as evaporation necessitating makeup, usually from ponds or rivers. As well as the obvious discharge of pollutants such as furnace ash, chemically contaminated water, microbial growths in heated water waste and the like, there is also the issue of the heat itself. It has to go somewhere and ends up in the environment.

While greenhouse gas emissions are a concern, the original problem that humanity faces is that of global warming. Fuel-fired power stations, while having played an important role in the past, are very substantial contributors to this warming.

Nuclear power stations operate in a similar manner to the coal-fired ones although the fuel used differs. The heat is also passed into the natural environment, largely also within cooling towers.

The report "$259 milllion tax break for 'dumb utes'" (July 23) notes the "'big, dumb' American-style utes "such as those made by Chevrolet and Ram" are now a common sight on Australian roads.

In Canberra large dual-cab utes are a must-have. Apart from Chevrolet and Ram these are also badged Toyota, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Ford, and even Mercedes-Benz.

The Ram 1500 is 5.8 metres long and weighs just over 2.5 tonnes. All these monsters are as aerodynamic as a brick. This is recipe for high fuel consumption and emissions, and damage to roads.

There's one aspect of the US elections that could become quite worrying for Australia. What if Scott Morrison succeeds in his cosying up to a President Trump?

Can we imagine a Scomo who is Trump's "special advisor" on Australia. Then there's the possibility that Scotty might also be well suited to be Trump's liaison with God.

They both have a close affinity with the man upstairs. And Scomo has shown no reluctance to take on more than one job at a time.

Unlikely maybe, but pretty scary nevertheless.

Given the forthcoming election, the hottest year on record, and the energy transition, the results of ACM's recent survey are most timely ("Regions want greater clarity on climate", July 22).

A survey of 1300 Australians who live in the areas most affected by both climate change and the energy transition is rare.

The support for solar and wind "in your community" (73 per cent and 69 per cent) compared to nuclear power (19 per cent) is in agreement with The Australia Institute's annual Climate of the Nation survey of over 2000 Australians.

The nuanced analysis of the ACM survey comparing inland and coastal responses to wind generation and transmission showed how proximity affects approval. For example, 55 per cent of coastal respondents strongly approved off-shore wind generation. While 42 per cent of inland respondents strongly approved of on-shore wind.

The Coalition would do well to take these results on board.

Is Tel Aviv no longer the Israeli capital? Is that why it is described as Israel's economic hub?

Surely Barbara Fisher (Wee. Wee, Wee, Letters, July 22) missed the nuance of the headline "Oui, Oui, Oui" by a country mile. The insertion of a "u" in "Oi", giving the same meaning to the chant, was a clever bit of journalism. I hope the subtlety didn't escape many others.

It's claimed that the main object of the Olympic Games is participation, not winning. Twaddle. The medal is king, for individual reward and for mass media coverage. Bring back the olives on a stick.

If we think this latest union revelation will bring the Commonwealth Labor Government down, we are mistaken. The Labor Party is perfectly capable of bringing itself down. At this stage I still won't be voting for them.

Donald Trump said at a rally on the weekend: "I took a bullet for democracy". If that doesn't prove he is delusional, I don't know what does.

The article, "Flag-waver tax cuts among ACT Young Liberals suggestions" made me check that the date was not April 1.

Israel just struck Yemen a day after a drone attack on Tel Aviv [that killed one person]. Israel always retaliates if it is attacked, even by a stray bullet. Have the Israeli's heard of "tolerance" or "restraint"?

I'm glad I didn't spend all of my tax cut last week. I've just received emails from my gas and electricity providers announcing an increase in their charges from August 1. So thanks Mr Albanese, but you can probably stop those tax-payer funded ads telling us about the tax cuts.

The electronic signature, you might say, is a sign of the times, but as an authority, it's a joke. There's greater guarantee of validity when X marks the spot.

Until Friday evening I thought CrowdStrike was no-one turning up at the Raiders because it is too cold.

Re JD Vance's well groomed facial hair. I was once told men with beards had something to hide - and that it was usually a lack of chin.

I've lived through the Y2K bug non-event and now the CrowdStrike catastrophe. Where and when do I get my Zombie apocalypse T-shirt?

Letters to the editor should be kept to 250 or fewer words. To the Point letters should not exceed 50 words. Reference to The Canberra Times reports should include a date and page number. Provide a phone number and address (only your suburb will be published).

Responsibility for election comment is taken by John-Paul Moloney of 121 Marcus Clarke Street, Canberra. Published by Federal Capital Press of Australia Pty Ltd.