Albanese between a rock and a hard place at the protest march

To those who complained that Prime Minister Albanese failed to respond to their request for him to address the protest group on anti-violence, he was between a rock and a hard place.

Firstly he was called a liar that he did not respond to the invitation as invited. At the later invitation of the gathered crowd, they subsequently allowed him to speak, which he appropriately and kindly did.

Compare his response to that of the non-attendance outside Parliament House of his predecessor on a protest about sexual violence to women and children.

Mr Morrison told those women: "Not far from here, such marches, even now, are being met with bullets. But not here in this country".

I suspect we will achieve more these days.

Perhaps Pedal Power would do more good by teaching their members, not only to have a bell on their bike, but also how to use it ("Northbourne needs fewer car lanes and more room for bikes: Pedal Power", April 28).

So often, when walking a dog, I am approached from behind by a bike, doing at least 20 kmh, and, until they pass, I have no idea they are there. This is dangerous for myself, my dog, and the rider.

If my dog suddenly decided to walk across the pathway, in front of the rider, I have no way of stopping him if I am not aware of the approaching bike.

Some riders appear to believe they have the unalienable right to total ownership of the walkway. The walkways are shared environments. Education would help.

I disagree with the suggestion by John Hogbin that violence towards another person might be beneficial if it provides a pressure valve (Letters, April 30).

Violence is never beneficial. A better pressure release valve is to walk away from the situation, either literally or by suspending the interaction until participants have had time to become more clear headed.

If a person often finds themselves losing their temper they need to develop (perhaps with professional help) mental practices that enable them to calm themselves down.

Whilst not by any means condoning physical abuse by men toward women, it would not require a study by university academics to determine that hundreds of male suicides are caused by psychological abuse from their female partners every year. Balanced reporting would be appreciated.

It's good to see the increase in clean energy production linked to a drop in wholesale electricity prices. But unfortunately this coincides with a rising demand for electricity.

One way to minimise this demand, is to reduce, re-use and recycle our goods rather than continually making new things and throwing them away.

I was interested recently to read about a shopping mall in Sweden, based next to a recycling centre, where everything is second-hand. Less energy used in production, fewer items going to landfill.

If there was a shopping mall like this in my local area, I would be the first in the door.

I make these comments fully acknowledging the limitations of commenting on news reports rather than a full knowledge of the facts. That said, I am appalled by the circumstances of the story 'Murder remains murder..." (April 29). What possible purpose is served by prosecuting and then jailing this poor man?

There is no threat of reoffending. I seriously doubt that this case would serve as a "general deterrence" and any such deterrence would be minimal at best.

Surely this is a case where judicial discretion can be exercised rather than blind observance of a moral or legal imperative.

Eric Hunter (Letters, April 24) finds it exceedingly weird that some correspondents are critical of Sam Mostyn's nomination as governor-general on "unsubtle and unspecified grounds".

I don't.

To "specifically" enlighten Eric, Ms Mostyn has been very closely associated with the ALP as a former staffer, also as a senior policy adviser to Paul Keating, Bob Collins and Michael Lee.

One of the boxes that has to be ticked is "impartiality", something Ms Mostyn may find hard to fulfil.

To ensure that the G-G selection is above board and not give the perception that it is politically motivated, it has to be done on a bipartisan basis.

Gender has no bearing on the issue.

You're not thinking hard enough Eric Hunter (Letters, August 24) if you think Sam Mostyn's gender is why some people are critical of her appointment as governor-general.

Critics identify two main reasons why she should not hold the position.

The first is her conviction that Australia Day should be renamed "Invasion Day", thereby implying that the nation she personifies has an illegitimate taint, and secondly her support for a republic, a debate that her position should prevent her from joining.

As the Brittany Higgins circus and all its macabre sideshows continues to roll in and out of town, other victims of rape and sexual assault are sadly forgotten.

These are the people, who don't have access to expensive legal counsel, are not friends of media hacks, not the recipients of million dollar government pay outs and who can't arrive at court entourage in tow.

Many of these victims are among the lower socio-economic classes. Their stories do not offer the political intrigue, perverse titillation and sensationalism that is lapped up by the tabloid media. They only attract media attention when they sadly become murder victims, as we have seen recently in the tragic death of Molly Ticehurst.

Statistics, ignored by the same media that were quick to brand Bruce Lehrmann a "rapist" based only the judgment of a civil court case and "on the balance of probabilities", show almost two million Australian adults have experienced one sexual assault since the age of 15.

In 2018 the rate of police reported sexual assault was almost seven times higher for females as males. According to the ABS, almost 90 per cent of sexual assault victims don't go the police.

Where's the media outrage and the journalists who are allegedly the champions of women's rights when you need them?

I applaud the Canberra Liberals for committing to a plan for reimbursing Canberra families seeking assisted reproduction.

However, while I don't believe it is necessarily a malicious "prioritising of healthcare for some over others based on ideology", I am very disappointed that same-sex couples will not be eligible.

We already face financial inequality and access constraints at the federal level so it would be nice to see the ACT following the NSW example and initiating a discrimination-free scheme at this level.

Without getting into the debate about a suitable site for a stadium I want to correct a comment in Jack Kershaw's letter of April 25 in which he claims the existing Bruce Stadium is suitable for athletics.

After the 1985 World Cup in Athletics Bruce was one of only two stadiums in the world with more than one current world record set on the track (the women's 400 metres and 4x100 metre relay).

The other was Bislett in Oslo with seven or eight world records.

Unfortunately the government of the day decided to renovate the stadium to make it more suitable for sports requiring a rectangular field by raising the playing surface and adding more seating. This made the arena too small for an athletics track.

The crackdown on political opposition on university campuses in the USA is the leading edge of a systematic effort to dismantle freedom of expression in the US. This campaign is spreading to workplaces. Google fired over 50 employees for protesting its ties to the Israeli government.

One would hope that such practices do not get repeated in this country based on the now daily practice required of a vassal state like Australia to copy all activities that develop in America.

The Prime Minister should be aware this is not America, that freedom of expression does not justify calling out the police and the military. Let us continue to at least maintain this one very important distinction.

Stephen Byron, the chief executive of Canberra Airport, really shouldn't be encouraging people to travel by air between Canberra and Sydney. Apparently a plane trip produces 100 times more carbon dioxide per hour than a train or bus trip and short-haul flights are even worse.

We must ensure teachers teach truth and respect, not stupid opinions. We need legislation to censure teachers and others who teach falsify or distort our military history and who condemn, ridicule or disparage our Anzac tradition.

Rob Ey, (Letters, April 25) after urging Mr Albanese to channel Ms Gillard's "misogyny" speech (Letters, April 17) does a great job of channelling her himself.

The dawn service is a moving gathering for many Canberrans. Speakers reminded us of brave young soldiers joking ahead of their deaths. How appropriate to have our laughing kookaburras join in as the new day broke. Lest We Forget.

Albo certainly showed those pesky women what he really thinks about who's the boss. He didn't miss that opportunity to put them back in their place [with the claim he was not allowed to speak].

Pledge to stop the wholesale slaughter of kangaroos and my vote is an easy decision.

As a left-leaning voter in the Kurrajong electorate my quandary in the forthcoming ACT election is who to put last? It's a choice between Barr or Rattenbury. At this stage it's Barr by an arrogant nose.

Might Mike Pezzullo get his guernsey back under the new CALD strategy? Or have I misinterpreted the meaning of cultural and linguistic diversity?

Right-wing journalist Tucker Carlson who peddled Trump's "big lie" that the 2020 election was stolen from him is coming for a speaking tour of Australian cities. Tickets are $200 a head. Why would anyone with a clear thinking head want to spend that kind of money to listen to a lying journalist?

NSW Environment Minister Sharpe's $4.5 million for the Wildlife Health and Conservation Hospital is cynical. NSW Forestry enables the logging of native forests for chips and cardboard destroying large swathes of koala habitat.

The Canberra Times should give Danny Levi a break. A headline, a back-page close-up, and excessively detailed in the match report. Rather than the Raiders' "biggest" lost opportunity (as declared by the CT), it was, sadly for Levi, the "most obvious" one.