Now is the time to invest in a world-class convention centre

As a former long-term board member and chair of the Canberra Convention Bureau and one who has in the past had the privilege of attending numerous conferences at wonderful convention centres throughout Australia and overseas, I consider myself reasonably well-qualified to comment on the convention centre section of the report.

The main reason countries and cities invest in such centres is that business tourism brings massive economic benefits.

Our current National Convention Centre, opened in 1989 and upgraded but not expanded since, is totally inadequate for our national capital, almost to the point of embarrassment.

Frankly, it's time to act and I commend Senator Pocock on his separate additional recommendation proposing an investment in a brand new centre.

Successive national and territory governments have kicked the can down the road on this one.

I challenge the two governments to get their heads together now before we sink more money in to the existing facility.

It is surely time to invest in a new world-class facility appropriate for our capital.

Canberra needs more than a new, larger stadium and convention centre to attract visitors and restore pride in our national capital ("Restoring pride in capital", May 7). An opera house-cum-concert hall would be welcomed by many Canberrans; and would also attract visitors from Goulburn, Yass and Cooma who could travel to Canberra rather than Sydney.

Another aspect of Canberra that is in urgent need of attention is its appearance. With the possible exceptions of Gungahlin and Molonglo, suburban Canberra is looking decidedly shabby after almost two decades of Labor-Greens government neglect. The sole focus seems to be the light rail project and development along its corridor.

One might well ask what is the significance of the national capital when we have six other state governments, at least three state capital cities that are international tourist destinations, two territory governments and a well-funded tourism campaign extolling the famous tourism sights of Australia.

And, as we discovered during the great pandemic event, we have a national government with no power to control the states, except through the collection and distribution of public monies.

Under the previous government, there was national control of the internal borders; an issue I will leave for another day.

I would prefer people to focus on promoting the wellbeing of the people who live and work in this national capital. Without them there is no "national capital". And, if we are promoting Canberra as the national capital of a multicultural liberal democracy we should put more effort into educating visitors about functioning democracies and their fundamental fragility.

We used to be a smart country. But the inequity that only certain professions will receive government placement payments highlights how stupid our current governments are.

Robert Menzies introduced Commonwealth-funded university scholarships. Gough Whitlam abolished university fees.

Both policies allowing more students to enter tertiary studies in all courses.

Given the recent spate of predictable hate letters about cyclists may I just say that yes, some cyclists disobey the rules and are not particularly polite.

But so do some motorists and pedestrians (with or without dogs).

Wouldn't we all love separate lanes? Oh wait, Labor's Mick Gentleman, Minister for Planning, released an active travel program in 2015 which advocated to "separate and prioritise pedestrians and bicycles from each other and from motor vehicles in high-speed, high-volume traffic".

Well, ACT Labor, we're still waiting.

I have two daughters. Both ride bikes and have no fear. But, on achieving high school status, both gave up bike riding.

The reason? Helmets, hair styles and image. Even though it now takes twice as long by bus, bike riding and helmets are not perceived as an acceptable image.

Perhaps the next survey on the subject of bike riding could include a question re helmets. If helmets were optional, would bike riding become more acceptable?

The heading to Michael Hall's letter (May 5) tells us Hamas is evil incarnate. This might well be so but it should not leave Israel's response to the October 7 attack without scrutiny.

Israel has the most powerful military in the Middle East and nuclear weapons. I'm sure it could take care of Hamas.

Its measures in retaliation, however, leave dead about 35,000 Palestinians including some 5000 children. Most of Gaza has been destroyed and up to 2 million displaced people are suffering acute shortages of food and medical assistance. The assault on Raffa will increase the suffering.

Such figures are not exaggerated and find support in reports from United Nations and agencies operating in the area. The mainstream media don't seem to be making such a fuss of of them and the picture they present.

There are, however, an increasing number of number of reliable, respected sources exposing details and providing expert commentary. As expected the students are now accessing the facts. They are ugly and the students are responding accordingly.

Two important aspects of democracy are freedom of speech and the right to protest peacefully. The question is are all protests and protesters treated equally?

Thousands of pro-Palestinian protests have taken place around the world, appearing to start in the US. Many of these protests have been forcefully broken up by police. Benjamin Netanyahu has branded them anti-Semitic. David Pope's brilliant cartoon highlighting that any criticism of Israel is portrayed as anti-Semitism nailed it beautifully.

If the protests had been pro-Israel would they have been broken up in a similar fashion?

Leading rabbis say Anthony Albanese used a private meeting to dismiss pro-Palestine protesters encamped at universities as "Trots" who were ignorant of Middle East history. Mr Albanese is allegedly from the left faction of the Labor Party.

Violence and preventing people from completing their normal business are unacceptable. Universities must be open and available. Does everyone have the right to protest peacefully or do we reserve that right for certain groups? If we do we can't claim to be a truly democratic country.

Productivity is fundamental to the Australian economy. It is also the "elephant in the room".

Taxpayers don't care if public servants or contractors do a job, as long as it is done efficiently and productively. Unfortunately the public service does not have a definition, or measure of productivity. This is why the talk is usually about numbers, not outcomes.

Productivity outcomes must eventually equate to your pay. You produce, you get paid. You don't produce, you don't get paid. We all live in a very competitive world.

Productivity challenges from other countries like China and India swamp our ability to compete on a labour basis. Australian labour is very expensive. That is why efficiency is the only option.

Like it or not, we live in a very competitive world and we must adjust to be part of it.

While we wait with bated breath to hear whether the Australian government will deliver a deficit or a surplus budget, there is another shade of meaning to the former term. It's called deficit thinking.

It may be accurate to say "I was the first person to climb Mt Cook". But we often read examples such as "I was the very first person to climb Mt Cook".

What about "never ever"? And how often are we are "running late"? And when we "save time", what do we do with it? And why do we strive be "special"?

When we swear, we use expletives. Is plain language not enough?

These examples might be identified as "deficit thinking".

We seem to be striving for more of something (usually time, money, freedom or energy).

Writer Wayne Dyer said the worst disease of the 20th century was the disease of "more".

Promoting a gas-fuelled energy system in 2024 is like riding a donkey on a freeway. It could never keep up with the traffic and inevitably it'll do a great big poop on the road.

Re "New ticketing system to deliver better timetables, card payments" (May 10). Here we go again. Another engineered loss by the minister for everything. It seems an estimated $2.5 million is chickenfeed. And who do you think is going to pay for that ticket to ride? Mr Steel should publish a book on how to lose money without repercussions.

I think Admiral Barrie is right (about climate change's dangers). So do most of the scientists.

This week, for the first time ever, I was told I couldn't pay in cash by a café in Downer. Apparently only cards are accepted. So it seems we are now on a path to a cashless society, whether we like it or not.

"You can't please all people all the time" is well-worn advice. Sadly, given a negatively single-minded opposition and a blatantly biased media, Albo is hard-pressed to please anyone any of the time.

I am surprised Eurovision is still going on. It has become a dress and fashion competition, not a singing competition. It seems ABBA will never happen again.

Interesting to read the dissenting report from Jo Clay, Greens MLA, in response to her proposed members bill regarding fossil fuel advertising in the ACT. It would appear that Ms Clay was not allowed to advocate her position, even though she was a committee member. Must be an election year.

Published figures show that while 176 purple scooter riders have been sanctioned for dangerous behaviour, only six orange scooter users have been banned. Since we know that scooter riders of both colours ride unsafely it suggests that Neuron's operators have little regard for road safety.

Doug Hurst (Letters, May 9), is wrong. Hamas didn't start this. The situation has been provoked by Israeli governments since 1948. How many deaths of Palestinians do there need to be for the apologists for Israel to to see this ongoing slaughter of Palestinians may well be the beginning of the end of Israel?

I assume Pauline May would never suggest a rape victim deserved it because she was wearing a short skirt. Yet that is the logical endpoint of her argument that people wearing religious clothing or jewellery that identify them as adherents of a particular faith are to blame for any violent attacks committed against them (Letters, May 9).