Although the language was Orwellian, the ideas of fake news, alternative facts, constant surveillance and withdrawal of human rights were all there.

The imagery of white-suited men in masks on stage was topped by Peter Dutton the other day at the launch of the Home Affairs Mega Department, when our Prime Minister was surrounded by faceless man in black helmets and gas masks.

Minister Dutton tells us the merging of all the surveillance and spy agencies is worth it for the extra safety it will bring.

It sent a shiver down my spine to see life imitating art to such a degree.

Marilyn Chalkley, Wright

Re "Govt wants greenlight", July 22, p1.

As the article states, normally, developments which affect threatened or endangered species must have an environmental impact assessment.

Yet the government's land agency has applied for an exemption from this requirement and states that "despite the presence of uncommon species" (little eagle, superb parrot, swift parrot, pink-tailed worm lizard, box gum woodland, temperate grassland), Molonglo 3 "does not represent an important location for their conservation".

The suggestion that the Kama Nature Reserve and the Molonglo River corridor be offered as offsets is misleading as presumably these areas would be quarantined from development anyway.

What is the opinion of the ACT Greens and what actions are proposed to address the government's intention to ride rough-shod over protections for these vulnerable and endangered species of flora and fauna?

Heather Stewart, Weston

Smokers have an outstanding deal in the ACT.

Only a mere 10 per cent of the total ACT population smoke, and the smokers have more than 99 per cent of the territory land area to do their smoking thing.

Less than 1 per cent of the total land area of the ACT is declared non-smoking.

For the rest of us who do not smoke, we have to huddle up in these declared non-smoking places to protect ourselves against an ACT government that gives free concessions to big tobacco by not declaring the ACT to be smoke-free.

Smokers should celebrate this conjuring trick on the majority of ACT voters by lighting up, but not in the miserly five-meter exclusion zone at light rail stops.

Etienne Hingee, Weston Creek

Two things spring to mind in the aftermath of the Raiders game on Saturday.

First, in the spirit of true sportsmanship I hope the Raiders management immediately substituted Sia Soliola and left him on the bench for the rest of the match to show the public and the game generally that it did not condone such conduct.

Second, following on from the various post-game comments about the referees' performance, has the code considered having a couple of spare referees on the bench and if it is apparent that a referee is not performing up to standard they are, like the players, benched by the referee's co-ordinator and another referee sent on.

Malcolm Paterson, Greenleigh, NSW

If the ACT government has any concern or compassion for the elderly, the infirm, pregnant women or mums with littlies, it will install, or allow Coles and Woolworths to install, adequate trolley collection bays in government car parks .

Supermarkets must have rubbed their hands in glee when the government cracked down on stray trolleys.

It allowed them, under the excuse of ACT government enforcement, to sack or cut the number of trolley collectors.

The Hawker Woolworths is a perfect example. Trolleys must be returned to the shopfront if you wish your coin returned. I would assume many other shopping centres also have a woeful lack of collection points.

Paul O'Connor, Hawker

Since the political contrivance of self-government, imposed on the ACT by the self-styled "Great Conciliator" Bob Hawke (who ignored two referendums which comprehensively rejected it, but was bent on ridding the Commonwealth of an artificial territory), we have endured the parody of what passes for "governance" in Lilliput under Barr, et al.

All of these have been seriously deficient when it comes to the utterly basic provision of good health, education and public safety in this community.

Unless and until basic services in the ACT are secure and guaranteed, light rail — as an example — is the Indulgence of an Emperor without clothes.

A. Whiddett, Forrest

Aftia-Tuli-Karim Mahmood (Letters, July 20), states "It is not the rule of any party or government to dictate to individuals about their dress codes".

I agree with her except for the wearing of garments with offensive images or slogans on them.

I trust she has written a similar letter to the press and governments in Saudi Arabia and other Middle East countries who dictate to their citizens and visitors a most strict dress code, especially for women, with legal sanctions for non-compliance in most cases.

Mary Hope, Weston

Re: "The real migrant story", July 27, p.16).

Yet another economist with no imagination tells us we need pump the economy by bringing in more people.

It's sloppy to crank up the indicators and damn the consequences just by boosting the population.

It sounds so manly doesn't it, "big Australia".

Real nations have rippling six-pack abs, overcrowded cities, and denuded landscapes.

Humanity is in serious trouble, and the best we can think of is endless growth?

What part of "finite planet" don't you get, Peter?

Rod Taylor, Giralang

Drewe Just (Letters, July 27) asks for a reliable source for greenhouse gas concentrations over the past 100 years. I sympathise; getting to the raw data generally means getting access to articles buried in university libraries, and that is not always easy.

Accepting more accessible second-hand evidence assumes you can trust the author, which means I cannot suggest A Short Introduction to Climate Change written by myself because Drewe Just has no reason to trust me.

Nonetheless, several works that are freely available do include the reliable data for these gases.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's 5th Assessment Report (chapter 2 page 166) gives some data and can be downloaded from the internet, as can some early 20th century measurements compiled in 1957 by G.S. Callendar in a paper: On the Amount of Carbon Dioxide in the Atmosphere.

I am happy to provide more information to Drewe Just if so desired.

Tony Eggleton, Emeritus Professor School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University.

Glad you asked Drewe. A bloke called Keeling was measuring Co2 concentrations in the air in Hawaii (nice clean air straight off the ocean) in the 50s.

Those same measurements continue today. You can find the full record here: esrl.noaa.gov

Keeling's observations led him to the hypothesis of human-induced climate change, which has been assiduously tested, debated and confirmed by thousands of scientists across many disciplines in the ensuing decades.

Kieran Lawton, Ainslie

As one of the deplored protesters concerned about refugees (not "illegal immigrants", as described by B.M. Cooke, "Penalising battlers", Letters, July 25), he may be surprised to find I agree with many of his comments.

The fact there are thousands of Australians unemployed, homeless people sleeping on the streets, children in foster care, prisons bursting at the seams and hospital waiting lists worse than ever, is indeed a situation that needs to be urgently addressed.

But the cause of these crises is not refugees, but rather the government taking their lead from the corporate sector rather than from people.

If we required big companies to pay their fair share of tax, got rid of subsidies to fossil fuels, adopted a Tobin tax on international speculative financial transactions, enforced environmental regulations, including stopping irrigators rorting the system, and reduced our overblown "defence" budget, e.g. for useless submarines, we could go a long way to addressing these urgent social issues.

Reducing overall immigration levels, (while increasing refugee intake) to reduce pressure on housing and infrastructure would also be a good idea.

We are a wealthy country, becoming more unequal by the day, and the issue is not the few desperate refugees who have sought our help, but governments which place more importance on political donations and doing corporate bidding than they do on the welfare of the people.

Kathryn Kelly, Chifley

The Canberra Times editorial (July 26, p.14) said: "The only real argument in favour of moving ASIO and the AFP away from the Attorney-General's department seems to be it would facilitate greater communication between them and Border Protection."

Another reason could be to remove them from the control of the Attorney-General. George Brandis has made a few faux pas but his insistence all requests for advice from his department had to be addressed to him was critical.

That indicated a couple of worrying possibilities. It could be his complete ignorance of public service protocols.

That is of the limits of his authority, essentially his ability to give orders to fellow ministers.

His demand could also indicate complete rebellion by his staff, their refusal to forward all such requests to him or to obey his directions to deny valid legal opinion to the rest of the bureaucracy as is the function of the department.

The current state of opinion polls would prohibit direct sacrifice of another senior minister.

Better just to move him sideways.

Gary J. Wilson, Macgregor

Ross Gittins ("Falling for the big scam", July 26, p16) writes that "intelligence and law enforcement agencies had successfully interdicted 12 imminent terrorist attacks since September 2014. There's no way of checking that claim."

Surely the perpetrators of imminent terrorist attacks are either cautioned, charged and brought before the courts or "disappeared" in some Orwellian way.

Presuming the first and last procedures are unlikely, surely the would-be terrorists are brought before the courts.

A simple reading of the charge sheets would validate whether or not those people may have intended to commit acts of terrorism.

Any reporter should be able to check the claimed numbers of interdicted terrorists since September 2014.

Or is something more sinister going on here?

Penleigh Boyd, Reid

Well, now the world knows for certain. ("UN agency says Dutton reneged on refugee deal", July 25, p3). Peter Dutton, and the Australian government for that matter, are not to be trusted. The understanding reached by the UN with the minister must have been cause for merriment in Dutton's office.

W. Book, Hackett

RATES PAIN

Graham Downie (Letters, July 27) has good reason to object to his exorbitant rates. But Rattenbury's kingmaker price is only one reason for the extortion. Let's not forget Barr's schemes which we have already paid dearly for ("Auditor lets loose on LDA", July 27, p1).

Maria Greene, Curtin

MUMS IN FIRING LINE

Did Matt Canavan's mum also give him diet pills?

Tony Judge, Woolgoolga, NSW

WHO TO BELIEVE?

So, President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, says he "did not collude" with Moscow during the 2016 US election campaign. Reminds me of the time Clinton said he "did not have sex" with Monica Lewinsky.

John Richardson, Wallagoot, NSW

'ILLEGALS' ON RISE

Have all the illegals invading our Parliament been sent back to where they came from yet?

John Passant, Kambah

HOME ADVANTAGE

I would like to know if the ACT government is using Australian-manufactured steel in the light rail construction. If not, then how can the ACT government justify using imported steel and ignoring the importance of Australian industry?

E. F. Byrne, Queanbeyan

DETAILS, DETAILS

Barnaby, you miss the point completely ("Matt Canavan citizenship resignation: Barnaby Joyce defends 'exemplary person' amid new questions", CT online, July 26). It is not about legalities, it is about technicalities.

John Rodriguez, Florey

OPPORTUNITY MISSED

Would it not be "luvverly" if someone were to discover a second citizenship for Peter Dutton? Just a thought.

Meta Sterns, Yarralumla

THE REAL STAR

Your article "Champion of indigenous music dies" (July 27, p.4) says Dr G Yunupingu "played with Sting, Missy Higgins and Delta Goodrem". In the cases of Missy and Delta shouldn't that be the other way round?

M. Moore, Bonython

EXTRA IMPOST

I understand why power prices have increased, but can anyone explain why the recent 20 per cent price rise applies to the supply charges as well?

Rob Elliman, Fraser

NATIONAL HEROES

Forget greedy cricketers. Spend more funding on athletes who are proud to represent Australia as shown by the para athletes in London this week.

A. Roberts, Garran

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