But the infrastructure can only be fixed with an immense amount of money. The first main problem is between Picton and Mittagong, where the train climbs the range via an alignment with many curves in order to reduce grades. It has a speed limit over most of its length of 80km/h.

A major study was done on this section in the 1990s and it was found that, to realign the track to allow 100km/h running would cost about $1.2 billion and save 10 minutes. The present track is fine for freight trains so it wasn't done.

The second problem is between Bungendore and Queanbeyan where the track runs along the range just south of the Kings Highway and parallel to it, including a tunnel with a speed limit of 10km/h. The only solution there is to completely rebuild the track on a new alignment adjacent to the road. This would cost hundreds of millions of dollars but the section is used by only a handful of trains a day.

I won't hold my breath but, if Andy had spent the billion dollars he is wasting on the tram fixing this section, it at least could have been done.

Stan Marks, Hawker

The "no" campaign now has a banner showing a gagged child and the slogan, "Who will speak about my right to a mum and dad?" I burst out laughing when I saw it.

Like everyone born and raised in the country, I know that there is only one way to make babies, and that gay sex isn't the way. So what children are we talking about here? The city-based "no" campaigners really do seem to think that babies are brought by the stork.

When the realisation of their idiocy hits the "no" campaigners, they will have to find a way to divert attention from their embarrassment. So they will start shrieking that children are the purpose of marriage, therefore couples that can't have children don't deserve all the same legal rights as couples that can have them.

After that, of course, the "no" campaigners will start hunting down the customers of IVF clinics, and telling them that they too can't have the same legal rights as other couples. Couples where one partner is sterile shouldn't have full control over their own property and each other's bodies because they can't have children – that's what the "no" campaigners will say. The only way to make these vicious idiots treat everyone equally is to vote "yes".

G.T.W. Agnew, Coopers Plains, Qld

Thought crime? Is that the best the self-appointed leaders of the "no" case against marriage equality can do in their pathetic Chicken Little scaremongering? Their greatest thought crime is, of course, the stupidity and poverty of their pathetic assertions.

Anyone with any intelligence can see through this nonsense by what has or hasn't happened in other countries that have made the transition already: Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Columbia, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, UK, USA and Uruguay.

But, you know, perhaps "the end of the world" could still come to pass in Australia.

David Jenkins, Casey

Unlike many others, I had no qualms about participating in the non-compulsory, non-binding same-sex marriage survey.

It provides the government with a reliable snapshot of the private views of Australian voters. When my ballot paper arrived, I was reassured in the covering letter that my response was confidential, as indeed it should be.

But what's that lurking down the bottom of the ballot paper? A barcode! And look, there's a warning next to it that my vote may be invalidated if the barcode is missing or altered. I can understand why the ABS needs to be satisfied that the returned papers are not forgeries. But why a barcode and what exactly does the barcode contain?

So I asked the ABS. I duly received a response that failed to answer the question. Since the ABS is obviously reluctant to disclose what is contained in the barcode, I can only conclude that it identifies the recipient. This means that the ABS and therefore the government can find out how you voted. We have a tradition of secret ballots in this country, something that should not be discarded lightly. Barcodes may well have a place on supermarket shelves, but not on ballot papers.

Peter Ellett, Scullin

Gary J. Wilson (Letters, September 18) did not mention the physical property of synchronism when debating the descriptive terms "baseload power" and "dispatchable capacity" applied to the national electricity grid.

Synchronism is crucial and is implicit in large fossil fuel and hydro-powered generators. It remains a technical issue for wind, solar and batteries. Indications are that the technology already exists to deliver large-scale synchronous wind and solar power, the problem being one of changing an extremely large and complex system that embroils the population, industry, government, politics and private enterprise.

The behaviour of the ACT government in this context has been to pursue its passion and obsession for renewables, seemingly oblivious to the real problems surrounding this almost fictional village.

On the other hand, the resistance to change apparent in our Great Gatsby government's light rail project is akin to building a new coal-fired generator. The ACT could take the lead in addressing the urban transport problem by following the only practical approach to the electricity conundrum: maintain and modestly expand the existing bus system, while giving every support possible to the introduction of the new transport technologies.

John L. Smith, Farrer

The article "ACT government extends Foy settlement date to October 20" (Canberra Times, September 18), now proves beyond doubt that Minister Gentleman and the government have no intention and have never had any intention whatsoever to stop the Foy proposal at Hume, in spite of the findings of the inquiry it commissioned itself, that found the plastics-to-fuel facility to depend on unproven technology and to be too risky to residents of Canberra. Even if Foy fails to meet the extended deadline of October 20, this pathetic government can be expected to extend the deadline even further. Why?

In respect of the report "Proposed FOY Group plastic to fuel facility in Hume industrial zone —review of the Environmental Impact Statement, 28 April 2017" (made public on May 4) that he had commissioned, Minister Gentleman said that "following the independent inquiry panel's report to the government, the Foy Group would need to consider all matters raised in the panel's report and make a decision about whether it wished to pursue this project any further in the ACT". Hardly a clear rejection of the Foy proposal. Now he has confirmed that the government intends to give Foy every opportunity to pay for the land and build the plant.

In May 2017, Minister Gentleman was formally asked to clarify the government's position on this serious matter but has never bothered to reply (but nothing new about that). So, exactly what is the government playing at? Is this government so desperate for money to pay for the highly wasteful Gungahlin-Civic tram that it is prepared to jeopardise the health of Canberrans against the findings of an expert panel that it had commissioned itself, and which has now been shown to be nothing more than a shameful farce?

M. Flint, Erindale

As is the general case with people who live in proximity to open-cut coal mines and/or coal-fired power plants, the majority of people who live near the Liddell power plant do not favour its operation being extended beyond 2022 ("Coal even on the nose in strongholds", September 19, p4).

AGL, the owner of Liddell, apparently favours switching to a mixture of gas-fired and renewable sources to cater for ongoing demand. This both makes business sense and shows that the company is conscious of its responsibility to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Gas-fired plants are just as capable of providing baseload power as are coal-fired plants.

The supposedly business-friendly Coalition government should, in this case at least, stand aside and allow business to do what it thinks best.

Douglas Mackenzie, Deakin

The government proposal outlined in the Canberra Times (Bulk-buy power plan, September 19), whereby landlords would be able to set up embedded networks with an electricity supplier enabling the savings to be passed on to tenants, sounds good. The proposal would be even better if it provided for the owners corporations of strata complexes to be able to do the same.

Were an owners corporation able to enter into a single contract with an electricity supplier on behalf of all owners in the strata complex – rather than each owner having a separate electricity supply contract (but still having individual meters as at present) – then it is likely that significant savings would be able to be made.

That would be of particular benefit to retirees living in strata complexes.

Don Sephton, Greenway

On Monday, September 11, I discovered that the Dickson Shopfront had closed. This leaves central Canberra and the Kurrajong electorate without any government shopfront. Each time I have visited the shopfront there have been significant queues. The media release put out by Access Canberra stated that the number of people visiting the shopfront had declined by 30 per cent over the last three years to a mere 10,000 but omitted to say by how much visits to the other shopfronts had changed. Many residents in central Canberra are aged or disabled and do not have the option of online transactions, whilst other matters need to be dealt with in person. My rates have increased by over 30 per cent over the last three years, our footpaths are in very poor condition and now I will have to travel to Gungahlin or Belconnen to visit a shopfront. Why are the residents of the Kurrajong electorate being discriminated against?

Carol M Keil, Ainslie

Unlike Jenna Price, I did not dance naked down the hallway when the children left home. I did not want to scare the cats. ("Suffer the older children: no home, no job, no life", Canberra Times, September 15). My concern is where my children are gainfully employed in very secure positions. The elder daughter is a journalist located in Westminster London who uses the underground and also travels to places such as Nigeria for work commitments.

The second daughter works in a very large building in Sydney next to the Lindt Café in Martin Place.

Any breaking news stories always bring us to attention in this age of terrorism.

Once a parent always a parent and I am sure all parents have connections to their children after they leave home whether it be financial or safety.

Robyn Lewis, Raglan

Can someone explain the rationale behind the banning of greyhound racing in the ACT, while horse racing is permitted? As I saw a couple of kangaroos racing against each other last week in Canberra suburbia, I was wondering if kangaroo racing was likely to replace greyhound racing.

John Milne, Chapman

GG MUST ACT

For the first time a clearly illegitimate executive government in breach of constitution S44 is unrestrainedly disbursing public funds while ignoring evidence that its senior members are not MPs. The Governor-General should immediately dismiss it and dissolve Parliament for new election.

Bryan Lobascher, Chifley

ERASING HISTORY

I share Jorian Gardner's despair in his article ("Destroying Canberra's built beauty", September 18). The speed at which bland homes and apartments are replacing old houses in what one would have thought would be heritage-listed areas in suburbs like Griffith is perplexing and sad. Most of Kingston's residential history has been erased. Are we going to let this continue?

Kathryn Stuparich, Wanniassa

JUST VOTE

Top marks to TCT for the editorial, "On same sex marriage, the only wrong answer is not voting" (September 19). We can do a bit better than Ireland's "who gives a (insert expletive of choice)" response.

Gary J. Wilson, Macgregor

THINKING VOTERS

Recent polls indicate support for the "yes" case is ebbing. The reason is best encapsulated in an anecdote about Adlai Stevenson, an American politician and spellbinding orator. After a powerful speech an audience member remarked: "What an eloquent speech. You'll certainly have the support of every thinking voter." Replied Stevenson: "Thank you, but unfortunately I need a majority."

Thos Pucket, Ashgrove, Qld

POWER OF ATTORNEY

Anne Marie Delahunt, in her letter (Letters, September 16) believes that her experience with the ACT Health system would have been easier if she had been married. This is not so. My wife and I were recently legally advised that, despite the fact that we are married, we could not make health decisions, one for the other, without a power of attorney. We now have one.

C. Rule, Gilmore

STATUS SHIFT

In the late 1800s a married woman and her wealth legally belonged to her husband. As a male I cannot help but feel this state of matrimony is no longer the case. This is what comes from "change".

Gary Frances, Bexley, NSW

DOM PROWSE

Following the outcome of the postal survey on same-sex marriage, Archbishop Prowse should retire gracefully to an ye olde world French monastery, take a vow of silence and devote himself to the cultivation of fine wines. Dom Prowse has a real ring to it, don't you think?

John Galvin, Weston