On the other hand, the Canberra Museum and Gallery (CMAG) currently houses an exhibition called Aviary. On the wall is a quote from one of Dickinson's letters, which reads, "I hope you love birds too. It is economical. It saves going to heaven." Thank you. Every day we have this heaven in Canberra and I think we should take Emily's reminder seriously. We should treasure Canberra's community of trees and shrubs which continue to foster our bird life.

And thank you, CMAG, for reminding us of our unique access to Emily's heaven.

Jill Sutton, Watson

The quintessential working class sport of greyhound racing will be banned in the ACT on the whim of a group of petty dictators, masquerading as a Labor government. Kim Beazley senior's famous dictum springs irresistibly to mind: "When I joined the Labor Party, it contained the cream of the working class. But as I look about me now, all I see are the dregs of the middle class. When will you middle class perverts stop using the Labor Party as a cultural spittoon?"

Phil Teece, Sunshine Bay, NSW

Alan Robertson (Letters, June 26) seeks an explanation of morning temperature differences in Dickson and the Airport reported by the ABC. No doubt there are good reasons for these. Not so for ABC TV's reported times of sunrise and sunset over the past month or so. These have been up to 10 minutes earlier and later respectively than the official Bureau of Meteorology times. Perhaps Dickson has been relocated somewhere north-east of Canberra where these times might apply.

David Weeden, Evatt

Rugby league used to have the motto "The greatest game of all". I don't know if it still has. But, alas, after watching NRL the other night (Tigers v Titans) I couldn't stop flipping over to the AFL Swans v Essendon game. What an exciting difference, high-paced game, hardly any bunker decisions, no stereotype repetitive moves, no useless (sorry, Gus) commentators, or no rules changes every year.

Well, maybe the AFL is now "The greatest game of all". But go Raiders!

Brian Hale, Wanniassa

Couldn't agree more with T. W. Campbell ("Fisher a bad catch", Letters, June 26).

As Einstein defined "insanity" as doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different outcome", the Brumbies once again can't think out of the box.

Stephen Larkham has shown some true initiative as a coach, but then he was coached by the wonderful innovator Rod McQueen. Always great to reminisce about the good old days, but I really worry about specifically the Brumbies' future and more generally about the dire situation of Australian rugby.

Andrew Gordon, Tuross Head, NSW

Re the letter "Where to now for Haig Park?" (Letters, June 24).

I agree with the concerns. Over the years we have seen these consultations to be a tick in the box but ultimately directed for other developments/changes not validated by the consultation.

It is of extreme concern now the government has put out for comment Draft Variation DV352 (89 pages), which is complex to read. Advice received is that DV352 would sever two codes, the Commercial Zones Code and the Parks and Recreation Code, and in doing so would make Neighbourhood plans irrelevant.

Those Neighbourhood plans contain a huge amount of good solid planning work and the results of some seriously good community consultation, so getting rid of them would be a big backward step and make it very much harder for parties to object and sustain those objections.

Geoff Davidson, Braddon

I received my quarterly bill from Icon Water and was shocked at the sum, knowing I had been miserly with water use over the billing period.

Accompanying the bill was a letter telling me that it had not been possible to access my meter, so the bill was based on previously billed periods. Strangely, my meter is very obvious and not obscured by any vegetation.

I rang the appropriate number, and was treated courteously but asked to go and read the number myself, while they held on the phone.

So I did that – not all that easy at my age – and was able to provide the current reading. My bill was instantly reduced to approximately a quarter of what I had been charged.

I do wonder how many others have been charged because of spurious claims about difficulties in reading meters. It certainly pays to check your own meter reading.

Elizabeth Truswell, Campbell

Rather than asking readers to stop pointing out the folly of the tram, Chris Aulich (Letters, June 23), or indeed the government, could silence critics with counter evidence.

They could debunk the Auditor-General's finding that the nominal cost of Stage 1 for one 12-kilometre tram line is $1.8 billion (and around $1.4billion in 2016 dollars); that the project's own modelling showed it increases congestion and commute times in Gungahlin and North Canberra; and most confoundingly, reduces public transport capacity along the route in the morning peak hour.

But they cannot. Instead, the government has backed away from the tram as a "transport solution", now casting it as a catalyst for vibrancy.

After the property bubble bursts, the need for efficient transport will remain.

That demands more than cosy handshakes with property developers and carpetbaggers.

Kent Fitch, Nicholls

The "no religion" census campaign has worked.

A record number of Australians gave this answer to the religion question in the 2016 census.

But before the sponsors start guzzling too much champagne, they should realise for many people "religion" merely means "religious denomination".

Only last Sunday a woman in my church told me she was raised a Catholic and had married a Lutheran, but now has "no religion". She meant that she does not see herself as belonging to any particular denomination but is simply a Christian.

The 2016 census religion question did not list "Christian" as an option. For the first time, "no religion" headed the options list, followed by Christian denominations, then non-Christian religions. I am not surprised that many Australians answered "no religion" given the reports of child sex abuse perpetrated by some clergy. But that does not necessarily mean that a record number of Australians have rejected the Christian faith.

Roslyn Phillips, Tea Tree Gully, SA

On July 1 the price of electricity in the ACT will rise by 20 per cent. Canberrans may be surprised the price of the contracts the government has entered into for renewable energy has no direct influence on the price of electricity in the ACT.

Also, the cost of delivering electricity to ACT customers has no direct influence on the price set by the Australian Energy Regulator (AER). On July 1 the price of electricity should not rise. Rather, it should drop to reflect the actual cost of electricity production and delivery plus a reasonable return on investment. The AER does not regulate the price of electricity. What it does is fix the price of money used for electricity infrastructure.

It fixes the price to ensure we continue to pay for the money even after we have repaid it.

Since AER's introduction the price of electricity to customers in the ACT has increased at three times the rate of inflation.

One possible way of reducing prices is to bring competition to the electricity market. Individual households with solar panels could band together to supply electricity for themselves and their neighbours.

Kevin Cox, Ngunnawal

I am astonished that in the 21st century they are still debating universal healthcare in the USA. Some call it socialism. Others prefer US taxes poured into the military/industrial complex exporting arms overseas when they are not killing themselves in gun crimes; another reason to have a good health service.

Allies of the USA like UK, Canada, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand have had excellent healthcare systems for decades and this is not socialism; it is governments doing their job and caring for their citizens.

Adrian Jackson, Middle Park, Vic

Philip Benwell (Letters, June 26) comments that to be monarch is an awesome burden. Quite so. We should do our bit to help by relieving the Queen of her Australian head of state responsibilities.

Robert Willson asks whether we would appreciate an Australian president like Donald Trump. Of course we wouldn't; and the republican model rejected by Australian voters, in their wisdom, in 1999 would have ensured that no Trump-like person would ever attain the Australian presidency.

The US's preposterous electoral college system ensured that the will of the minority of voters prevailed and propelled Trump into the White House.

Frank Marris, Forrest

With the patriot card being played in proposed new citizenship arrangements and the continued bad mouthing of refugees, especially in relation to the recent out-of-court settlement re Manus Island, I was drawn to a quote by E. A. Bucchianeri, author of Brushstrokes of a Gadfly. It reads, "It's not unpatriotic to denounce an injustice committed on our behalf, perhaps it's the most patriotic thing we can do."

Ann Darbyshire, Gunning, NSW

What possible real-world justification can there be for the pay increases awarded to our already overpaid politicians and bureaucrats? Perhaps it's about time that needs-based funding was applied to these increases.

Any comparison with the private sector is rubbish, we all know how many would look elsewhere if they were denied these unnecessary pay rises – zero.

Roger Dace, Reid

There is no way rapidly increasing house prices are good for anyone, except by feeding the ever-increasing greed of property investors.

Canberra is not the "nation's star performer" but one of those cities at most risk of a bust.

Local and international banks and financial agencies including the International Monetary Fund have been regularly warning Australia (and Canada) of the dangers of the current situation.

Stewart May, Reid

I see we may need a new fire and ambulance station in the Civic area, with access to Parkes Way "and the bridges". West Basin would be perfect. Rather than more boring blocks of flats we could have a state-of-the-art (low-rise) emergency services depot. Maybe they could convert the existing (apparently redundant) ferry terminal. And they wouldn't have to change the shoreline at a cost of $38 million.

Richard Johnston, Kingston

Keep the pokies out of our pubs. The human cost is way too high.

M. Moore, Bonython

Our treatment of animals is far from "goodness and progress" as Nigel Featherstone has described ("Animals and other human catastrophes", canberratimes.com.au, June26). We certainly do an injustice to other animals.

Chris Doyle, Gordon

PROBLEM GAMBLING

Clubs ACT has suggested there should be "a problem gambling intervention officer" who could approach people suspected of problem gambling and manage exclusions from clubs. I think a dozen would be more like it.

Karina Morris, Weetangera

LIGHT-RAIL OVERRUNS

There have been several articles and comments about the "expected" light-rail cost overruns and future costs of operations. The answer is simple. MLA's who voted in favour should have their salary and retirement payments garnished on a prorated basis to pay any differences.

Bill Gillespie, Wamboin, NSW

GOOD NEWS STORY

Congratulations to Peng Hui Wu ("Meet Mr Wu", June24, p.1) for establishing his elite mushroom business at Murrumbateman in just three years. A great achievement and an enormous asset to our area. Congratulations also to The Canberra Times for publishing a good news story on the front page.

Gay von Ess, Aranda

JUDGES WITH GRUDGES

I'd have thought Victorian Supreme Court judges had a conflict of interest in dealing with the question of contempt involving ministers Hunt, Tudge and Sukkar. The judges certainly appeared to have a chip on the shoulder.

M.F. Horton, Adelaide, SA

SNEAK ATTACK

So somebody sneaky in the Liberal/Coalition government has found a way to attack Christopher Pyne by underhand means. Politics is not a nice thing.

Susan MacDougall, Scullin

PM'S PAY PACKET

Mr Turnbull will get $5800 per week after tax. It takes me 13 weeks to earn the same amount.

V. Harris, Yass, NSW

LAND DEAL QUESTIONS

Your story about several irregular government land deals in Canberra ("ACT land deals probe", June24 p.1) caused me to wonder if the ACT is drifting towards a big-city style of business dealing. It also caused me to wonder – to paraphrase US senator Howard Baker's famous question from 1973 — what did the Chief Minister know and when did he know it?

Peter Moran, Watson

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