The Barr government is going to the election with a commitment to continue to build a light rail network with the next stage being what will evidently be a very expensive link to Woden. Ahmed has estimated the whole of life cost of the light rail network, proposed over 25 years by the government, will be $14billion, or spreading over the 25 years, it is of the order of 10 per cent of the ACT budget per year.

The government is getting away with telling the electorate that the cost of the light rail is only one per cent of the budget, but that of course is only the spread of a heavily discounted cost of stage 1. The electorate should be widely informed of the financial implications of building a light rail network, not to mention the futility of adopting the technology.

A. Smith, Farrer

Even in far away Russia where I'm currently on holidays I have observed that the Can the Tram letter writing campaign has continued unabated with dire predictions of what will happen if Andrew Barr is re-elected. It may interest impartial Canberrans that from my observations, the trams used in Russia are well patronised, reliable and a lot less polluting than the diesel buses they compete with.

For example, the old Czech Tatra trams used in Yekaterinburg, in central Russia are decades old but just keep on keeping on. If the Canberra light rail is as effective we will get good value for money in the long term. I will brace myself for rebuttals from the Can the Tram letter writing factory that knows better than the rest of us.

Mike Reddy, Curtin

Baldrick of Blackadder fame has a job – financial efficiency officer for ActewAGL. The plan: Send out random overpriced bills. The "customers" read their meters and send corrected readings to ActewAGL. The supplier then wrongly "corrects" each bill. The customer now not only reads the meter but does the processing of a true bill. The customer becomes both meter reader and bill processing clerk. Meter readers and clerks are fired. Profit goes up. The app, including reminder, is out next week. Baldrick now redundant.

Roy Bray, Flynn

Texting at the wheel is stupid and dangerous – worse than drink-driving ("Tough new penalties for texting and driving", September 1, p3). Diversion of driver attention from the road ahead is the culprit, and its result is terrible when it involves some other innocent but luckless road user.

Texting aside, drivers who look their front-seat passengers squarely in the eye to convey sincerity and take their gaze off the road ahead put the wind up me. I find it hard to suppress a shout of "eyes front"!

A device for detecting when the vehicle is in normal forward motion has been proposed for truckies nodding off at the wheel. A simple adaptation to the private car should be a doddle!

Colin Glover, Canberra City

Fatuous US tradition

John Perkins (Letters, September 9) reiterates the myth that the "hand on heart" gesture, often mistakenly and inappropriately used by some RSL members, stems from Remembrance Day in 1920.

In my 30 years service in the Australian Army (five years regular army, including war service; 25 reserve) I never once observed this being done. It is a recent and absurd imitation of an American custom, not an Australian tradition.

My ex-service comrades confirm this.

Moreover, if the hand is placed over the medals, not the heart, as Mr Perkins asserts, where were the medals on the PM's chest? And why did Mr Shorten choose to simply stand, respectfully, without adopting that fatuous posture.

Still, customs must start somewhere. I would recommend that the RSL and others establish an Australian tradition.

Fergus Thomson, Weetangera

Fergus Thomson (Letters, September 6) complains that the PM placing his hand over his heart at the Black Hawk wreath laying ceremony is a craven mimicking of US practice. Having lived in the US for three years I can agree that it is indeed US practice and apparently has been for a long time. I think it is also practised in other countries such as France.

However I recall that when I first entered (state government) school in the late 1940s and through the 1950s we used to have a weekly, or maybe monthly, school assembly at which we were taught to recite the pledge "I honour my God, I serve my king, I salute the flag".

On the final phrase we were taught to place our right hand over our left breast. We also learnt that only a person in uniform should actually use the hand-to-forehead salute – for mere citizens/subjects the hand on chest was appropriate. Perhaps this came from the days when most people wore hats and the proper thing to do was to place your hat across your breast — I believe there is a photo of Prime Minister John Curtin doing exactly that.

I don't know when these ceremonies ceased in public schools – perhaps after/during the reigns of those vicious revolutionary comrades Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser?

If they had not then maybe people would realise this gesture is not uniquely American and therefore feel less offended. But clearly, customs change.

Charles Ellis, Weetangera

I see our Public Service Commissioner, John Lloyd, moaning at the number of over 50s in the Commonwealth Public Service ("Public service in need of new blood", September 10, p18) and wanting to ease them into retirement. There is certainly one bureaucrat over the age of 50 who needs to go and that is John Lloyd. Where did they get this bloke?

The over 50s will go soon enough and the public service will miss their experience and knowledge. But what the public service needs now, more than anything else, is a period of stability, free of the endless cuts and restructurings which are the things that sap morale and hamper efficiency.

John Lloyd has shown himself remarkably unable to see this, or doesn't want to, and for that reason is the first person who should be shown the door. If he were replaced by someone who really understood the way things work (as distinct from hard right ideology), then the public service and Australia as a whole, would benefit.

Stan Marks, Hawker

Roger Clement's comments (Letters, September 10) about the undue influence of the mining and oil and gas industries on government climate policy are all the more pertinent in light of the Dastyari affair.

Rumours and innuendo about the corruptibility of politicians through political donations have been all but confirmed, and Senator Dastyari might find he's the most unpopular person in political circles, forever remembered as the villain who took it too far and ruined it for everyone else.

The scale of the moral crimes that have been perpetrated by both sides of politics will become clear when corporate political donations are banned, as seems likely, and genuine climate mitigation steps are finally implemented, 20 years too late.

Let's have a discussion about retrospective political accountability laws and capital punishment.

James Allan, Narrabundah

So Australians aren't world competitive, and must give up time off and work 24 hours, according to Harold Mitchell ("Australians, we can't afford for you to relax on your days off", BusinessDay, September 2016, p31).

These would be the same Australians who have 120 million days off untaken, in formal leave eligibility, and who routinely work beyond time in lieu or paid time.

These would be the same Australians who lead the major economies in labour productivity over the last 5 years by a big margin. And who lead over the last 10 years, more narrowly from second-placed South Korea.

Yes, we should imitate "Asia" (apparently it's all one place, rather than a number of different countries) and work "harder and smarter". Go on, Harold. Imitate "Asia": reduce our labour productivity and take more time off.

Christopher Hood, Queanbeyan, NSW

Further to Sir David Smith's misleading comment about our head of state (Letters September 9), the High Court in 1907 said that a state governor acts as a "Head of the State", not as an agent of the sovereign as the governor is acting upon a power given by the state constitution, in that case to issue writs for Senate elections. She is our head of state. As my first cousin four times removed appeared for the Governor of South Australia, the case was well argued.

Brian Hatch, Berrima, NSW

David Smith uses his esoteric knowledge and understanding of the constitution to designate which angel dances on the head of our pin.

Where was this expert when Sir John Kerr conspired with Anthony Mason to depose the elected government – all the while deceitfully pretending to co-operate with the PM whose advice he was constitutionally bound to follow? Or when Kerr asked Prince Charles what the royals would think if he dismissed the government? Or when Kerr refused to accept that the House of Reps had passed a motion of no confidence in his appointee PM, Fraser? Is that enough, or need I go on?

S.W. Davey, Torrens

Conservatives seeking to repeal section 18C of The Racial Discrimination Act 1975 in the name of "freedom of speech" should heed the words of the hero of conservatives everywhere, Winston Churchill.

He had clearly witnessed decades ago the same hypocritical behaviour we now see displayed regularly by conservative shock jocks, commentators, and politicians: "Everyone is in favour of free speech. Hardly a day passes without its being extolled, but some people's idea of it is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone else says anything back, that is an outrage."

J. Adams, Curtin

The article "Barnaby Joyce won't release analysis of forced relocation of public servants to Armidale" (canberratimes.com.au, September 11) is yet another example of how successive Coalition governments have turned their use of opacity into an art form. But it does not quite fit the "on-water matters" cop-out, or the old "national security" standby. Is there a name for this new rationale for keeping the Australian public in the dark?

Peter Grabosky, Forrest

Rob Westcott (Letters, September 12) misses the point of Dr Sue Wareham's letter about the War Memorial's Open Day. He denies that military history enthusiasts like himself glorify war. Only fools glorify war and Dr Wareham's letter did not accuse anyone of glorification. But glossing over the main role of the weapons and other machinery of war – to kill as many of the enemy as possible – helps war to become an acceptable part of our future.

The main war memorial has the same effect, with its colourful depiction of how our servicemen and women fought and its relentless and sentimental memorialisation of our war dead. It, too, sanitises and pulls punches. Like Rob Westcott, I am all for people, particularly children, learning about the causes and consequences of military adventurism but they won't get that from the memorial.

David Stephens, Bruce

The Canberra Times wants to hear from you in short bursts. Email views in 50 words or fewer to letters.editor@canberratimes.com.au

TRUMP MUTINY LIKELY

In his latest doltish rant on how, as president, he will defeat IS and give US generals a 30-day ultimatum to devise tactics that will reflect his own strategy, surely Donald Trump is setting the stage for a real life Caine Mutiny scenario between the Joint Chiefs of Staff and himself as Commander-in-Chief?

John Murray, Fadden

DONATION/BRIBE BIAS

Peter Stubbs (Letters, September 10) asks what the difference is between a bribe and a donation. The difference is whether the observer supports the recipient's politics or not. It's a bit like the difference between a political party being either a broad church or riven by dissent.

Bill Deane, Chapman

The difference between a bribe and a donation is that donations to trade unions are bribes, whereas bribes to political parties are donations.

Colin Whittaker, Torrens

IMMUNE TO SHAME

Dave Jeffrey (Letters, September 12) argues that Sam Dastyari is a security risk because he exposes himself to risk by soliciting funds from foreign organisations. Dastyari is clearly incapable of shame or embarrassment when his behaviour is exposed and consequently would not care what he is threatened with.

George Beaton, Greenway

GOVERNMENT PROMISES

The current ACT government is now promising us trams and a new hospital. Wow! What next I wonder. Maybe suburban renewal and affordable water? I wish.

Ed Highley, Kambah

POSTERS DON"T HELP

It's the misplaced belief of some of our candidates that by placing a poster of their smiling face every 50 metres along a road way, this will in some way convince me that they are worthy of being my elected representative. News flash, it will actually have the opposite effect.

Kim Fitzgerald, Deakin

UNIFORM PLANS BAD FIT

So Australian military uniforms are to be made in China because its cheaper to do that.

Using the same rationale, why not recruit the wearers from China too?

John Sever, Higgins

PATH TO CREDIBILITY

Malcolm Turnbull could regain credibility by closing Nauru and Manus, withdrawing troops from the Middle East and adopting Labor's negative gearing policy which he and the Treasurer are known to support. There are billions in savings here.

Ray Armstrong, Tweed Heads South, NSW

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).