Conditions applicable then provided for an open auction at which anyone could bid, and a restricted auction available only to buyers who had never owned land in the ACT, who agreed to commence building within six months, and complete it within 12, and agreed to reside in the home and not sell for five years. There were provisions to permit a sale in special circumstances, such as departure from the ACT.

Allowing for the vagaries of internet speeds, it would also be much fairer to ballot, rather than use the dubious first-come-first-served option of the Moncrieff debacle.

This system would give legitimate first-home seekers a much better chance of gaining a block, leaving larger greenfields releases to upgraders, investors and developers.

Michael J. Adler, Gungahlin

Of all the illogical , hare-brained schemes to be decided by the ACT government, it is relocating the Canberra Visitor Centre from its current site on Northbourne Avenue to Regatta Point ("Visitors' centre heading to new site at Regatta Point", December 14, p2).

Northbourne Avenue is the direct access route into Canberra from Sydney and currently there is ample free parking (How long might that last?).

Visitors using hotels in and around the CBD have no rhyme nor reason to journey out to Regatta Point, where parking meters have been installed, for local information and directions. Furthermore, moving the centre will no doubt cost ACT taxpayers some considerable amount; add that to the light-rail project and the overall cost will be well in excess of $1 billion.

This type of illogical project is synonymous with ALP practice of spending money they do not have and throwing good money after bad.

N. Bailey, Nicholls

The ACT Heritage Council Act states it is an independent, statutory body responsible for a range of provisions under the Heritage Act 2004 including: identifying, assessing, conserving and promoting heritage places and objects in the ACT, making decisions about the registration of heritage places and objects and encouraging and assisting with their appropriate management, encouraging public interest in, and awareness of, heritage places and objects in the ACT.

In light of the above, I – and the majority of Canberrans who give a damn – fail to understand why the magnificent heritage home

No.6 Mugga Way is being demolished by a wrecking ball as I write, whilst on the other hand, the vile blocks of festering, hideous, embarrassing government-funded dog boxes at the entrance of Northbourne Avenue were earmarked as "heritage listed", with a pursuant fight – at ACT taxpayers' expense – to try and save these squalid buildings. Am I missing something?

Judy Diamond, Narrabundah

The divergence of the Sullivan's Creek drain at Dickson created a great space for water birds to flourish – and they have. For families and the local community, however, the report card is less favourable. The public toilets are a cesspool, with illegal drug-use items only 20 metres from the children's play park – that is if a rusted slide and a tired tyre swing counts as a play park.

There is no car park despite the available space, no soft surface for children to play on and the grass and bushes are overgrown. Little seating exists to sit and supervise children or view said ducks. The non-superlatives could continue ad nauseam but sad, unfinished and dilapidated come to mind. What began with an expensive bang has now ended with a whimper.

Anthony John, Ainslie

Carly Gordyn's article, "It does not matter who runs our detention centres" (Times2, December 14, p5), raises some fundamental questions which Ibelieve deserve closer consideration. To suggest, as Ms Gordyn does, that private prison companies, such as Broadspectrum (formerly Transfield) which is Australian-owned and earns four-fifths of its income from detention centre contracts, is "more vulnerable to social outrage" than larger companies, such as Serco or Ferrovial, which have extensive contracts in many nations, seems a fairly superficial comment.

Whether any of the companies seeking to obtain Australian detention centre contracts are large or small, have international connections or not, should not make the slightest difference to the compliance required to meet Australia's obligations specified by the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, or the UN Human Rights Committee.

Provided that the contracts accepted by the successful bidders for detention centre contracts spell out the key performance indicators, including the financial penalties which will be automatically imposed for failure to comply with the KPIs, the size or political clout of the contractors must be totally irrelevant.

The pity is that the federal public servants responsible for drafting these contracts seem to have dropped the ball and are not being nearly as demanding as their counterparts in the states. In Australia, the vast bulk of expertise with custodial matters is to be found in the states and territories, not the Commonwealth.

David Biles, Curtin

May I correct some of the hyperbole in the wake of the Paris climate conference. Whatever happens with the climate, the earth is not in jeopardy, having survived far worse climate change through millennia, it will no doubt adapt to the current challenge, whatever that may be.

Human beings are also very resourceful when the need arises and I have no doubt that we will continue to adapt to changing circumstances. We must. Scientific discovery doesn't stand still, and we can't begin to imagine what marvellous inventions will be supporting mankind in the year 2100.

However, we need to think like 21st-century adults, rather than medieval zealots, to deal with any existential threats.

Prominent academic Bjorn Lomborg cautions that if every commitment was honoured at the Paris conference, this would amount to an abatement of some 56 gigatonnes of CO2 by 2030, a tiny fraction of the 6000gt needed to restrain global warming to 2 C. If this estimate is realised, we should hope the current hiatus continues indefinitely, or we had better start saving our money for adaptation, rather than wasting it on futile efforts to control the climate. Lomborg also reminds us that that if a fraction of the trillions being wasted on remedies to arrest global warming were directed towards research into new forms of clean, abundant and affordable power that were accessible to the poorest nations of the world, we would stand a much better chance of actually dealing with the problem.

H. Ronald, Jerrabomberra, NSW

A non-binding unenforceable agreement, costing Australian taxpayers $1 billion, with no control over how it will be spent. All to prevent a warming that has plateaued for about 19 years.

Owen Reid, Dunlop

Is this a joke ("Women call election rights a 'huge step"', December 14, page 7)? For a start, there are only local elections in Saudi Arabia. Being an absolute monarchy, there are no regional or national parliaments. More importantly, women (and men) face the death penalty for "crimes" that are not even recognised in democracies – adultery, apostasy, witchcraft and sorcery, homosexuality, and blasphemy.

For the vast majority of Saudi women, not being able to vote in municipal elections was probably the least of their worries.

David Bastin, Nicholls

Malcolm Mackerras ("Party list unconstitutional", Times2, December 9, p1) does us a service in pointing out that the senate must be directly elected, and advocating for a proper PR-STV system in which electors have much greater influence.

Now, the constitutionality of multiple group voting tickets being submitted is so dubious that the Commonwealth Electoral Act has fallback provisions saying in the event of problems that could only be legal, they are to be treated as being numbered only as far as all agreed. Western Australia, whose Constitution Act also specifies its MPs be directly elected, allows only one group voting ticket to be submitted by each party or group.

After the tablecloth ballot paper of 1999, NSW abolished group voting tickets and introduced preferential voting above the line. Because lists have to be of length at least 15 to meet its entrenched formality provisions, 300 or more candidates have usually nominated since, most of them securing fewer than 100 votes at exclusion. Mr Mackerras is right to resist the spreading of the "NSW disease" to the federal sphere, where a further major proliferation of senate candidates could be expected, because smaller parties and groups would seek the shortest route to a formal vote.

Far better than the Victorian approach would be the taking up of the opportunity foolishly scorned by Dr Evatt when he introduced proportional representation for the senate in 1948: party boxes are not needed if electors can easily register a formal vote, and electoral advertising could then concentrate on how electors can make the most of their single transferable vote, aware that the marking of further preferences cannot harm the prospects of those whom they support most strongly.

The federal parliament would also do well to give the Court of Disputed Returns wider powers to achieve just remedies when mishaps occur in senate polling or scrutinies, something completely overlooked when the change to proportional representation was originally made, and not rectified to date, as became obvious when Western Australian papers were lost in 2013.

Bogey Musidlak, convener, Proportional Representation Society of Australia (ACT Branch)

POLITICAL REFUGEE

So, poor old Ian Macfarlane's attempt to jump ship has been "turned back". Politically stateless whilst becalmed on a sea of troubles, he is now considering his options. Alas, the life of the political refugee is never easy. Not even in this faux new age of agility and enlightenment.

Bob Bennett, Gowrie

ABBOTT'S BLUNDERS

Professor Hal Wootten's impressive article "Abbott is as clueless about history as he was in power", (Forum, December 12, p5) articulates with astute and erudite measure my concerns about Abbott's cringeworthy foot-in-mouth disease on everything – particularly Abbott's Christian supremacist myopia and hypocrisy. Avery powerful piece.

Dr Vacy Vlazna, Collaroy, NSW

DOUBLE DIPPING

Joe Hockey will receive both a pension, as an ex MP, and a salary as ambassador to the United States. Sohe will be simultaneously retired from and employed by you and me, the taxpayer. What price the credibility of MPs when they are able to control their own entitlements anddouble dip in this outrageous fashion?

Charles Smith, Nicholls

SUITABLY QUALIFIED

Evelyn Bean (Letters, December 14) says Joe Hockey is a likeable man with a cheerful face and, therefore, a good choice to represent Australia in Washington. Well, Evelyn; I am told by many that I am a likeable man with a cheerful face. I wonder if I could be your next choice for the plum job.

John Whitty, Hawker

I don't have a problem with Joe Hockey's appointment. A jolly fat man who does what he's told is just perfect, I would have thought. In this, he represents exactly our place in the US hegemony (or what is left of it).

S.W.Davey, Torrens

BEHIND THE MASKS

Why is it that the public are comfortable with the police wearing the equivalent of a niqab, visibly armed to the teeth ("Teen on terror plot charge a risk: police", December 11, p5) but are uncomfortable to the point of racist attacks against Muslim women wearing very similar garb?

W. Book, Hackett

GREATER DANGER

A non-binding, unenforceable climate change agreement, costing Australian taxpayers $1 billion, with no control over how it will be spent. All to prevent a warming that has plateaued for about 19 years. Meanwhile, Islamist zealots from the "religion of peace" create havoc around the world.

Owen Reid, Dunlop

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