I was thinking only moments before the incident how curious it was that crew continued to distribute chocolates to passengers despite strong turbulence.

A recent international flight with Singapore Airlines showed a very strong response to crew and passenger safety with service suspended and everyone strapped in every time we approached turbulence.

My best wishes go to the crew member in her treatment and recovery and also to her very distressed colleagues, who handled the situation so well.

We were lucky to have a medical doctor on board and the ACT Ambulance Service was waiting for our arrival to treat and transport the crew member.

Robyn Lewis, Chapman

It was with great comfort that I read the information provided by Meegan Fitzharris (on the ACT government website) about the impending disruption to all and sundry daring to drive, cycle or perhaps perambulate along Flemington Road for the next nine months.

This could be 12 or more given the experience with other Canberra roadworks.

I particularly appreciated her suggestion we, the suffering public, should seek alternative routes in order to reach our desired destinations.

What bloody alternative routes?

Every road in and out of Gunghalin is undergoing major road works.

Perhaps Meegan could charter one of Bronwyn Bishop's spare choppers to ferry we Gungahlians to our destinations over the coming months.

No doubt the $1.7 billion direct construction cost of the tram hasn't accounted for the cost of time lost by the general public in negotiating the disruption caused by this white elephant.

Peter Toscan, Amaroo

Although Transport Canberra's Light Rail Business Case contains multiple references to traffic congestion all of those references relate to the promised benefits of the light rail project in reducing future congestion.

The business case doesn't seem to take into account any of the additional costs of traffic congestion that will be caused during the project's construction phase.

It will be very interesting to see whether the over-hyped benefits of light rail in reducing future traffic congestion will outweigh the undisclosed but all too real costs of significantly increased traffic congestion during the construction phase.

Bruce Taggart, Aranda

I fully agree with Mark Pepper (letters, March 14). The traffic light lobby won't be satisfied until there is a set of lights on every suburban street corner.

The proliferation of traffic lights around this city is gradually choking the flow of traffic along arterial roads.

Lack of co-ordination is not the only problem. The complete lack of a modern intelligent sensor system can mean a large number of cars sitting emitting green house gases while the lights go through their regimented routine of arrows and light changes even when no cars are in the adjacent streets.

Also, I fear that a malevolent A.I. has hacked into many of the light control systems.

They will change to red on approach with no other cars within sight. When the window is wound down a metallic snigger can be heard coming from the control box.

Robert Bruce, Fadden

Well said Mark Pepper ("Lights no answer", letters, March 14). There will now be eight sets of lights on the 3.5km of Hindmarsh Drive between Streeton Drive and Melrose Drive and 13 sets on the 5.5km of Hindmarsh between Streeton and Palmer Street, Garran. Absolutely brilliant.

Paul E Bowler, Holder

As a resident of Chifley I welcome traffic lights at Eggleston and Hindmarsh. I have found that trying to access Hindmarsh can be both very frustrating and dangerous, particularly at late afternoon. I have waited up to 10-15 minutes to turn left to go to Weston.

Ian Reynolds, Chifley

In the article "$35m project in Manuka nearly finished" (March 4, p12) the Canberra Times outlines the extent of a $35 million redevelopment of the St Christopher's Cathedral precinct in Manuka.

The Catholic Church project features two three-storey office buildings, 44 units and an underground carpark.

The units are for sale to anyone over 55 years and if the projected sale prices are realised the church will recoup $32.4 million.

The Archbishop waxes lyrical about the harmonious Spanish-Romanesque style and community consultation on the design.

I would like to ask why is the cashed-up Catholic Church anxious to make a profit out of its Manuka site.

Why are some of the units not made available for the Canberra homeless? Surely this would be a Christian thing to do?

Michael Lucas, Conder

It has been six months since Andrew Barr and the Greens resumed control of the ACT Assembly.

I can't see any sign they have learnt from their mistakes or intend to implement key election commitments.

For example, the too close and opaque relationship with developers continues and there is no sign, apart from inaction, of an independent commission against corruption.

The one glimmer of hope that excessive development may be reined in comes from the National Capital Authority – a federal agency!

None of this should be surprising. The Liberals alone do not have the numbers (11/25), and the two Greens are joined at the hip to Labor and not willing to hold Labor accountable or support the Liberals even on ideas that would help Canberra.

The Assembly would be performing better if it included quality members of independent mind who were dedicated to helping Canberra reach its potential rather than to being pawns to a political machine.

Bruce Paine, Red Hill

Following the announcement by the South Australian government of the steps that they plan to take to ensure power supplies in that state, the people should rejoice.

I have memories of the blackout miseries endured in most Sydney suburbs and other areas of New South Wales from late 1949 and lasting well into 1952, for reasons that were not solely due to the coal miners' strikes.

The official position concerning the rotational blackouts was that specified suburbs would be without electricity for only one period per week on a weekday (morning or afternoon) for about three hours.

Only in the most critical circumstances would there be a further weekday or a weekend blackout. A hospital or other essential facility was excluded, and your luck was in if your house was located in the same block.

The suburb where I lived (geographically large but at the time with a small population) had two weekday blackouts every week, from about 4.30pm to 7.30pm, and often a third one.

Cannot the Commonwealth and state governments work together to ensure reliable energy supplies for this country, at reasonable cost?

R. Richards, Cook

I was amused by the appearance of Senator Hanson-Young on the Saturday news outlets with the contribution of the "Lets Talk" tweet to Elon Musk's offer to provide a battery farm to SA.

The concerns with this simplistic approach to a complex issue are: Australian companies such as Lyon Group are also offering battery storage options in Australia already; any consideration of the SA government considering the battery option should be by open tender thus ensuring transparency and best value for money outcome for the people of SA and not an exclusive approach as proposed by Musk and championed by Hanson-Young which merely reaffirms her status as an apparent policy lightweight who would be better advised to shut down her twitter account.

De Natale as Greens leader would be better advised to shut down the freelancing by the weaker members of his generally opportunist team but this would expose the internal battle within the Greens which remains little commented upon by the fourth estate.

Rohan Goyne, Evatt

One hopes Mark Wakeham's assessment ("Fossil fuels didn't win", March 10, p. 22) that it is game over for fossil fuels is correct. Removing fossil fuels from their respective thrones will not be easy.

The International Energy Agency in its Key World Energy Statistics series points out that in 1973 renewables (excluding hydro) were responsible for 0.1per cent of world energy supply. In 2014 renewables were supplying 1.4per cent. Coal had increased its share of supply by almost 4per cent and the world's total supply was dominated by fossil fuels. On all IEA projections to 2040 fossil fuels retain their global dominance of supply. Clearly, a lot will have to change if these forecasts are to be proven false.

Peter Drahos, Turner

According to a usually unreliable source, the Australian government's Treasurer, the Hon Scott Morrison MP, has recently gathered up an armload of coal and sequestered it in the top drawer of his desk at Parliament House.

He is reportedly running a longitudinal trial with 226 hand-picked participants to validate his theory, recently voiced on the floor of Parliament with a lump of coal in-hand, that "It won't hurt you!" Typically, there are some sceptics on the other side of the house, who have questioned the efficacy of his desktop study on the puerile grounds he doesn't appear to realise the need to light it.

John Garnett, Bruce

Last week the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said atmospheric CO2 rose by 3ppm in 2016, just as it did in 2015, making this the first time it has risen by 3ppm for two consecutive years.

It is also the first time CO2 has risen by more than 2ppm for five consecutive years. The rate of CO2 growth over the last decade is 100-200 times faster than the rate of change during the transition out of the last ice age. Truly alarming!

Also last week the Climate Council released their report on this summer, indicating 205 records were broken in just 90 days. They found "Canberra had its hottest summer on record in terms of daytime temperatures and recorded temperatures of at least 35°C on 18 days, already far higher than what is projected for 2030 (12 days), and in January Canberra recorded temperatures of at least 30°C on 23 days, while reaching 35°C on 12 days, the highest on record for both cases".

Government ratified the Paris Agreement late last year which agrees to limit global temperature rise and reduce greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible.

So far action from this and previous governments has been far too little, and the current target to reduce emissions by 26-28per cent on 2005 levels by 2030 is not enough to prevent many more angrier summers for Canberra and Australia.

Stuart Walkley, Lyneham

After One Nation exchanged preferences with the Liberals and their vote fell from 13per cent (expected) to 4.7per cent (actual) in a month, Pauline Hanson said: "A lot of people do not understand the preference system."

Perhaps it is Pauline whose understanding of the preference system — indeed of the electorate — is particularly slender.

Michael McCarthy, Deakin

So The Greens want a four-day week? That would be a step up for some of their supporters, I reckon.

M. Pascoe, Barry NSW

SEX EDUCATION

Re: "ANU college students offered 'consent' counselling", (March16, p.9). If ANU students need to have the concept of "consensual sex" made clear to them with the help of nifty cartoons, are they really capable of assimilating higher education?

M. Moore, Bonython

SNOWY JOB

In reference to Malcolm Turnbull's idea of increasing the generating output of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme. Lots of luck PM. The tree-hugging greenies will have a field day.

Graham Gittins, Cook

PAINFUL EXAMINATION

I assume that Father Robert Willson (letters, March16) is a functionary of a Christian church. That being thecase, his invitation to letter-writer Geoff Barker to examine Christ's "terrible punishment" for those who hurt children is stunninglygratuitous.

Peter Moran, Watson

HEALTH FREELOADERS

Not only are health insurance funds massively subsidised by taxpayers, but they freeload by their members' use of public facilities while not declaring their insured status ("Coughing up on gap charges", CT, March13, pp.1, 3).

Albert M. White, Queanbeyan, NSW

COMMENTATOR PM

Our Prime Minister appears to have decided leadership is too difficult and has opted for commentary instead.

Tony Judge, Woolgoolga

EXPENSIVE TRAMS

Interesting South Australia plans to fix its power problems for less than one-third of the cost of Canberra's first tram line.

Chris Emery, Reid

BARRIER TO ACTION

Crispin Hull in his article ("The Reef: the dying and the dead", Forum, March11, p.6) labels the government's inaction as criminal. How dead does the reef have to be before a politician notices?

Robyn Vincent, McKellar

TOO SHADY

It's lovely seeing locals and visitors enjoying what Canberra has to offer in the daily Take5 (photo gallery). Monday's (March13, p.40) looked like an ad for sunglasses. Let's see the happy eyes.

L. I. Roberts, Kaleen

PRICELESS QUOTE

Treasurer Morrison says that "in Australia our [house] prices may be high, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne, but they're real". What an intellect.

Ed Highley, Kambah

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