Canberra is not fire-bombed Dresden nor London after the Blitz. Civic is not even 100 years old, has had a benign untroubled history and must be the most planned, analysed and cosseted city in Australia. Where did all the planners and experts go wrong over the years, leaving us with a city that needs to be "renewed"?

One could conclude the problem has been too much planning. And here we go again embarking on another round of highly paid analysis when the one ingredient which always seems to be missing in Canberra is common sense.

Even the "man in the street" can tell you why Civic always looks lifeless — the people who used to promenade in the streets are now scuttling around unseen in the Canberra Centre. That building should never have been allowed.

Why is Civic beginning to feel not like Canberra anymore? Because all the urban vistas to our beautiful surrounding countryside have been cut off by buildings in the wrong locations.

The CRA chief's safe haven of citing the uncontroversial Melbourne and Sydney buildings, as keys to revamping Civic ("Civic's Big Picture All about the Details", September 7, p1), would seem to forecast business as usual, in this town.

Penleigh Boyd, Reid

Having a City Renewal Authority and a Suburban Land Agency is all well and good, but there is an urgent need to review the ACT Planning Strategy to place the operations of the organisations in context.

The government is required to consider whether to undertake a review this year.

Given the challenges facing the territory and the inadequacy of the existing strategy, failure to undertake the review would confirm the Barr government's inadequacy in relation to urban development policy.

Mike Quirk, Garran

Maybe President Trump should actually read the Bible where Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

It seems that for these "dreamers" the kingdom of heaven won't be the US as Donald Trump has ended the Obama amnesty for about 800,000 people who were illegal child immigrants, mostly from Mexico.

Many of these people are now adults with jobs and families leading productive lives who now face the probability of being deported.

In hindsight it is not surprising that many people chose not to avail themselves of this amnesty at the time as they doubted what would happen in the future – good choice.

With so many displaced people in the world it is wrong to deport people and probably their families because they believed the quote on the Statue of Liberty "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses ..."

Dennis Fitzgerald, Box Hill, Vic

Why are residents of Canberra so privileged ("Electric shock! ACT households zapped by soaring power prices", canberratimes.com.au, September 7)?

While some Canberrans might complain bitterly about increases in electricity prices of "up to 21 per cent in the past 12 months", they should thank their lucky stars that they weren't dealing with our provider, who recently applied tariff increases that would have lifted our bills by more than 60per cent, had we not switched "retailers".

The irony is, having shopped around for an alternate supplier, our new tariff is lower than what we were being charged by our original supplier before its increase.

More importantly, if the intellectual giants allegedly governing our country really believe that the electorate is too stupid to understand how it has been betrayed by the privatisation of essential services, I suggest they should get out more.

John Richardson, Wallagoot, NSW

Jack Wiles should do more research (Letters, September 4).

It was Hawke and Keating's (excellent) Labor governments that began the trend of privatising government assets.

The sale of government (our) owned assets such as Qantas, CBA etc, and the introduction of HECS fees, are just a few illustrations of Labor's capitalistic policies. The worst of which was the privatisation of airports — these were and are pure monopolies, without any potential for competition.

For Mr Wiles to criticise the current conservative government for the Green/Labor initiated renewable power policy initiatives which have led to the widespread massive energy price hikes is disingenuous.

J. Collet, Redlynch, Qld

Whether you elect to vote "yes" or "no" in the coming same-sex marriage plebiscite, you (if a fair-minded person) must thank the High Court of Australia for the victory for all Australians over the likes of political chameleon Andrew Wilkie who stands for anything, and everything; and for very little.

Howard Hutchins, Chirnside Pk, Vic.

In the heatwave last summer, half of the aged Liddell coal power station failed. A solar thermal power station stores heat to generate electricity by day and through the evening peak.

The LNP fossils can't bring themselves to say that South Australia is making the right choices.

Peter Campbell, Cook

Washington and Moscow have the hotline to prevent global and nuclear misunderstandings. Canberra and Washington under Trump and Turnbull have the warm line to make everybody feel fuzzy and comfortable.

Peter Harris, Belconnen

I think it's a bit unfair of V. Harris of Yass to suggest Donald Trump should read a book about the moral dilemmas and dangers of a nuclear war (Letters, September 6). After all, he has trouble reading his own autocue.

Ian Forno, Waramanga

The US's main goal with North Korea since 1950 is regime change. This is so the US can control the whole of the Korean peninsula and thus further encircle and ultimately overthrow the Chinese communist regime that came to power in 1949.

This is part of a long-term goal, after it achieved world primacy in WWII, to make the whole world subordinate to US political and economic interests.

China and Russia are the largest obstacles to that goal, and thus the main US targets for regime change, along with smaller recalcitrants such as Afghanistan (till 2001), Iraq (till 2003), Libya (till 2011), North Korea, Iran and Syria.

Since the US would never own up to these goals, it must convince the rest of the world that all these regimes are major threats to the West and must be overthrown for that reason.

Australia falls for it hook, line and sinker every time: now we're shaking in our boots about North Korea. Next will be Iran.

The real madman, the real rogue state, the real threat to world peace, is the US and Trump.

But since all that is unspeakable – even unthinkable – in Australian political circles, we seem doomed to repeat the mistakes of our involvement in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Paul Strutynski, Buckajo, NSW

Australia should primarily concern itself with Myanmar for its own protection and leave North Korea to the US, and to China – which may very well consider it handy to have a pitbull on its doorstep protecting its border.

The abuse of the Rohingya should be of very great concern to Australia, not just because of the human rights abuse of a people by the military while the puppet de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi puts her head in the sand (and how long would she live if she did anything else?), but because the continued abuse of the Rohingya is fostering an environment for recruits for exportable terrorism.

This is a bigger risk to the world than the appalling rape and extermination of many Tamils after the UN stepped back to protect itself from rampant Sri Lankan forces.

Julie Bishop has made a good start addressing Rohingya abuse, and it may be the PM needs to send Bob Hawke over there to speak to the military since he was personally in Myanmar on business some years ago and would possibly be in a position to speak to those really in power.

John Dobinson, Herston, Qld

The last time the US imposed an oil embargo on a foreign country, the result was the attack on Pearl Harbour.

The US provided most of the oil used by the Japanese. The embargo was intended to force the Japanese government to end its military adventures.

With the choice between war and submitting to the US government, the Japanese chose war, as submission was deemed an unacceptable blow to Japanese sovereignty.

If you corner a dangerous adversary, you risk the adversary striking out at you.

Any military action against North Korea would inevitably trigger a nuclear exchange – no-one wins a nuclear war. All wars end when belligerents face each other across the negotiation table.

The US Republican Party and the President's cabinet must keep the nuclear launch codes out of Trump's hands.

Talking is cheaper than war.

Rod Olsen, Flynn

Being gay is not a lifestyle choice, any more than being short or tall or black or white is. However, living one's life according to selected readings and interpretations of words uttered by illiterate men at, if not the dawn of civilisation, then not long after sunrise, most certainly is.

In our secular democracy, marriage is a legal document allowing those entering into it all the rights and privileges that such a contract affords.

Whatever symbolic importance the members of a union attach to it, is entirely their business.

Lee Welling, Nicholls

Who knew that the Crown was such a progressive institution?

Thanks to Phillip Benwell of the Australian Monarchist League for reminding us that with a bit of patience change can come even to royal marriage – the key to monarchies locking down all that inherited, i.e. unearned, property, women and children included, throughout the centuries.

It's reassuring to know that royal women can finally take their place in the line of the trough, sorry, succession, but given the times it's more interesting to wonder when a princess will ever marry another.

Seeing how progressive they are, and all.

Matt Gately, Rivett

Ray Atkins (Letters, September 7) will be pleased to learn that not only has GetUp! condemned and removed the unwarranted "campaign" (it was actually a short-lived, private online petition) to de-register a doctor because of her involvement in a misleading and provocative television ad apparently about marriage, but that Bill Shorten also had absolutely nothing to do with the petition.

Atkins' attempt to link Shorten to every petition on GetUp! because of the AWU's past financial support is vindictive and misguided.

Jon Stirzaker, Latham

Genghis Khan, Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, Mao, Idi Amin, Gaddafi, Pol Pot, Saddam Hussein. And now Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump – all driven by fear, hatred and ignorance.

The only thing we learn from history is that we don't learn from history.

Ken Fraser, Kambah

THE ROYAL MINT

Take the royals out of the UK and stop most income to tourism in the UK. Stop all the pomp and ceremony, then there will be no need to employ the"thousands" of workers. Whether you like it or not, the royals do a good job and more than ever earn money for the economy in the UK.

Barry Maher, Richardson

MAJESTIC FLIMFLAM

James Allan (Letters, September 7) claims "there's nothing special about the royals". Not true. Imagine the extraordinary skill it takes to con taxpayers into paying for their lavish lifestyle while they essentially do nothing useful.

Tom Lindsay, Monash

I MISS THE BURNINGS

I sympathise with Peter Adams' complaints of blasphemy and "ongoing swipes at Christianity". ("Picture Imperfect", Letters, September 7). Life was so much more pleasant in the days when criticism of the church and its brand of "imaginary friendism" attracted the death penalty.

Paul McElligott, Aranda

NO STOPPING STOPS

The government can put a light rail stop in Mitchell, without affecting Gungahlin-Civic travel times. Any tram that stops at Mitchell can make up lost time by running "express" past infrequently used stops like the one at EPIC.

Leon Arundell, Downer

A CAREFUL WIT

Sarcasm is not the lowest form of wit. It is merely the default position of those who find their comment on the performance of public officials constrained by law as in the editorial"Bold vision is needed for vital Northbourne gateway" (September 7, p12).

Gary J. Wilson, Macgregor

POWER PLAY

It's all very well for Turnbull to blame the Labor Party for the "colossal failure in the planning of our energy system". The principal failure occurred when Abbott abolished the carbon price.

Michael McCarthy, Deakin

RECOLLECTIONS?

We knew about the cost of the tram. We were told that our rates wouldrise. And we knew about theWest Basin infill. But will we remember these gifts from our Green/Labor Assembly? Probably not.

W. J. Berntsson, Kambah

CITIZENSHIP QUERY

The Israeli Law of Return gives Jewish people the right to migrate to Israel and take Israeli citizenship. Does that mean Jewish MPs in Federal Parliament are constitutionally ineligible to sit there?

Gordon Soames, Curtin

Email: letters.editor@canberratimes.com.au. Send from the message field, not as an attached file. Fax: 6280 2282. Mail: Letters to the Editor, The Canberra Times, PO Box 7155, Canberra Mail Centre, ACT 2610.

Keep your letter to 250 words or less. References to Canberra Times reports should include date and page number. Letters may be edited. Provide phone number and full home address (suburb only published).