Despite calls by the UN for some show of humanity for those trapped in Ghouta, Assad will not halt the bombardments.

From 2011 to 2014 four attempts were made in the UN aimed at finding a solution but on each occasion the draft resolutions were vetoed by Russia and China.

Between 2016 and 2017 another three received similar treatment.

The most recent resolution has come to nothing as Assad ignores it while Russia pretends to help but appears not prepared to pull Assad into line.

One can only hope that in due time Assad and Putin are hauled before the International Court of Justice and, even if they refuse to attend, are sentenced for war crimes.

Russia's role is not surprising. Putin clearly wants to be the main player wherever he can. His statements about restoring the USSR, the Russian role in Ukraine, his bellicose statements on Russia's military strength and his role in Syria all point to a man who is all about power and his profile as a strong leader.

Is he Stalin in a suit.

The use of the veto starkly illustrates how any one of five countries can stop efforts by other members of the UN to do something to bring an end to conflicts whether in Syria or elsewhere.

Perhaps the 193 members of UN need to have a frank discussion as to why the veto power held by five countries should be maintained.

J. R. Smith, Watson

I was underwhelmed and disappointed by last Monday's Four Corners coverage of Australia's unprecedented population growth over the past decade.

Carefully selected snippets of interviews with various public figures seemed designed to convince us that this level of growth is inevitable and that to oppose the current level of 190,000 permanent migrants plus hundreds of thousands on various temporary work and student visas is "racist".

This line was continued on Q and A.

In fact we have the highest immigration rate of any advanced country. It used to be about 70,000 a year.

A recent opinion survey showed that more than 70 per cent of Australians believe that Australia is now full. Apparently this is only because we are afraid of changing. So much for the respect shown to the will of the people in our so-called democracy.

Many of us want to own our own houses, preferably on a block of land.

Apparently we should be prepared to sacrifice ourselves on the altar of (other people's) economic growth. These decisions are of course made not by the people, but by those on high incomes whose leafy suburbs are safe from encroachment by sub-standard high-rise apartment blocks and likewise the four-hour daily commute from outer suburbs.

The idea that we simply need to improve our policy settings is a furphy.

We either force people to live in high rise or concrete over more of our prime agricultural land and destroy millions of native animals and plants.

Pauline Westwood, Dickson

Alan Cowan seems to think that the victims of sexual abuse testifying to the recent royal commission and applying for compensation should have been cross-examined (Letters, March 14).

While Cowan says that showing a "reasonable likelihood" of abuse is a departure from usual legal standards, it would be a departure from moral standards to subject these already severely traumatised people to a humiliating attack by lawyers, where their integrity, character and honesty would be questioned.

The nation would have been treated to the unedifying sight of a long series of breakdowns in the witness box and quite possibly further tragic instances of self-harm.

It may well be impossible in many cases for still-living perpetrators to be brought to book by the justice system for these reasons.

I would rather a few undeserving cases get compensation than for tens of thousands not to receive recognition of their suffering, which was allowed to continue due to the negligence, indifference and lack of oversight of state and federal governments in the past.

David Roth, Kambah

I doubt Richard Glover, author of "The P76 and other protected species," (canberratimes.com.au, March 10) was old enough to have enjoyed working prior to Whitlam, who foolishly reduced all tariffs by 25 per cent.

Australia's golden years began after equal pay for the sexes was introduced and ended after the election of Whitlam.

We had full employment, low inflation, affordable housing, strong unions and good working conditions.

And it was primarily a result of our industries being protected by draconian tariffs. Glover is correct in indicating the P76 car was a lemon, but it was not a result of a lack of competition.

I had a pre-Whitlam HT Holden that gave me almost 300,000 miles with only minor problems.

Of course it couldn't be compared to modern cars, but that's a result of modern technology and not a lowering of tariffs.

Yes, stuff was relatively expensive prior to Whitlam because we preferred to employ Australians rather than compete with exploited third world labour.

And because the distance items travelled between manufacturer and buyer was small, and because we repaired rather than replaced, we produced far less greenhouse gases.

I hope we do have a global tariff war.

Nancy Tidfy, Chisholm

Peter Dutton has developed a compassionate side and some true-blue Aussie values that he so often trumpets loudly to all who will listen: "If people are being persecuted, regardless of whether it's because of religion or the colour of their skin or whatever, we need to provide assistance wherever we can." (2GB, March 13).

For white South African farmers "deserve special attention ... and need help from a civilised country like ours".

South African expatriates, he says, "integrate ...work hard" and "contribute to make us a better country".

Isn't that what migrants of all colours and stripes have always done in this "land of the fair go"?

But of course the asylum seekers rotting away on Manus and Nauru or the dark-skinned people from Myanmar or the bombed cities of Syria just don't fit into Dutton's fairy-tale land where only the white-skinned are capable of contributing to this nation of immigrants and the descendants of immigrants.

Phyllis Vespucci, Reservoir, Vic

The Chief Minister says that the government needs to completely overhaul the way it communicates. I agree.

Take for example its communications about how the number of "Precinct Maps" in the Territory Plan went from 0 to 127, on the day that Technical Amendment (TA) 2012-06 came into effect.

Precinct Maps can prohibit land uses that would otherwise be permitted, or permit land uses that would otherwise be prohibited. Take for example the Ainslie Precinct Map. It prohibits retirement villages and supportive housing, on blocks where they would otherwise be permitted.

According to the Director-General of Planning, "there is nothing further that I can usefully add" to the government's explanations of the changes made by TA 2012-06.

His previous explanation was that TA 2012-06 "merely relocated provisions to precinct map and/or codes."

A prior explanation by the Executive Director of Planning Delivery made no reference to precinct maps: "TA 2012-06 ... simply relocated existing provisions in the Territory Plan into precinct codes."

That explanation was endorsed by the Planning Minister and by the former director-general.

But Notifiable Instrument 2012-622 says that TA 2012-06 not only relocated provisions, but also created new Suburb and District Precinct Maps and amended zone development tables.

Precinct Maps derive their authority from those amendments.

That delegate who signed off on that Notifiable Instrument is now the Director-General.

The government might make better use of the journalists from our daily newspaper.

They can get their stories straight, and can even correct errors.

Leon Arundell, Downer

The article by Jenna Price, "Road to serfdom paved with CEO bonuses" (March 16, p 41) pointed out how well the CEOs of our four major banks are doing in terms of recompense for their "labour" compared to the people who work for them.

These are the ones doing all that nasty hands-on stuff and (although rarely these days) having to deal with customers.

Ms Price gave the examples of Ian Narev (now former CEO of the Commonwealth Bank — CBA) and Andrew Thorburn, CEO of NAB.

More recent information, published in The West Australian online on November 14, 2017, shows that in 2017 the salary package of Ian Narev was $12.3million, 150 times the average full-time wage (FTW). Andrew Thorburn was paid $6.63million (80 times the FTW), Westpac's Brian Hartzer was paid $6.68million (82 times the FTW), and ANZ's Shayne Elliot was paid $5.07million (62 times the FTW).

According to the Business Insider of November 6, 2017, the banks' earnings in 2017 were: CBA $9.88billion, Westpac $8.06billion, ANZ $6.94billion, and NAB $6.64billion.

These are the banks and their leaders who have, for example, been selling unwary and/or ill-informed customers housing loans that they either cannot hope to pay off, or that make them paupers in the process.

One hopes that the Banking and Financial Services Royal Commission can put a stop to this outrageous "Gordon Gecko" behaviour of the banks which we used – perhaps naively – to trust.

Douglas Mackenzie, Deakin

Another example for the royal commission into banks.

On May 5 I made two foreign currency payments using my credit card.

The first was for £380 which was converted by the UK company (or their Bank) at an exchange rate of 0.5584 pounds to the Aussie dollar, costing me $680.43. The CBA exchange selling rate to the pound on that day was approximately 0.5327 which converts to $713.35. Had I requested CBA to make a transfer I would have been $32.92 worse off!

The second transaction was in Euros also through a UK company and their bank. Need I say more — the same result!

Bernie Walsh, Kambah

The doomsday critics of Canberra's light rail, which they attempt to describe as 19th century technology, seem to be out of step with planners and citizens of other smaller Australian cities.

Stage Three of the Gold Coast's very successful light rail system is to be extended from Broadbeach to Burleigh Heads.

Newcastle's light rail system is to begin operation early next year from Wickham to Newcastle Beach, and Stage Two is already being planned to operate from Wickham to Broadmeadow.

John Davenport, Farrer

The Phillip 50-metre swimming pool is not the only such pool under threat from the ACT government's land sale frenzy ("Save the pool", p18, March 14). I expect that unless the community speaks out the government will readily sell off the 50-metre pools at Civic and Dickson (both prime sites, for yet more apartments), and tell us that the pool under construction at the ANU (apparently 25 metres) is a perfect substitute for swimming laps.

I don't think that people need to be over 34 years old to know that is not the case.

It appears the Chief Minister is deaf when it comes to appeals for saving community facilities.

Perhaps enough of his party and/or the Greens will step up.

If they do not, they should be tarred with the same brush as the current Chief Minister.

Bruce Paine, Red Hill

How ironic. Here we have Chief Minister Andrew Barr, one of the leaders preaching tolerance and acceptance of same sex marriage (a thoroughly laudable goal), now displaying a variant of bigotry and bias himself — ageism.

His main target is those of a certain age who object to a degradation of their living environment.

It may surprise the Chief Minister to know, however, that many Canberrans from all age groups don't support the Melbourne model of urban "densification" that is being imposed on us by stealth.

This model enriches developers not the lives of the locals.

A. Mulgan, North Lyneham

You know, when you get to a certain age, some of your old friends begin repeating themselves, frequently, over very short periods.

That's what's happened to me with ABC radio. It seems every time I switch it on recently I hear the same thing again. And again.

If there's not radical intervention soon, I'll be forced to treat the ABC like the oldies in nursing homes: visit rarely.

Bruce Wright, Latham

So white people fearing persecution and harm are an urgent obligation for Australia, but coloured people fearing the same are not and can rot offshore. Nice one, Peter.

Bruno Yvanovich, Waramanga

I am not opposed to the harassment allegations about Barnaby Joyce nor the claimant's understandable wish for privacy, but unlike Sue Dyer (Letters, March 10) I am uneasy about anonymity for those making such claims. Exposure without public identification is neither honest nor transparent.

Greg Cornwell, Yarralumla

So what will the Dutton Border Force do when boatloads of desperate white Christian South African farmers start to arrive on the West Australian coast after fleeing their terrible suffering?

Doug Steley, Heyfield

It's a shame that Donald Trump is exempting Australia from steel and aluminium tariffs. I was hoping that a tit for tat ban on Harley Davidsons would see two benefits; the removal of motorcycle gangs and also that wandering tribe of grey headed pensioners that infect our roads and highways.

Peter Harris, Belconnen

Chris O'Keefe (Letters, March 15) it's a pity you couldn't let your dog get at the cause of your dilemma, ie the morons who had no control and no apparent interest in the behaviour of their dog, it might have resulted in a more positive reaction.

Alex Wallensky, Broulee, NSW

Unlike Peter Snowdon (Letters, March 12) some of us make the time to be outraged at the way animals are used for unnecessary food. At the footy where, as far as I've seen, it's not possible to get a plant-based hot dog, we simply have the beer – and maybe some chips.

Mike O'Shaughnessy, Spence

So the ACCC has found signs of "oligopoly-like behaviour" by the big four banks. That wouldn't have been hard to do I suspect. The real question, and one that needs a quick answer, is what do they plan to do about it?

M. Moore, Bonython

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