Complaint to the AFP got the initial response of claiming that they couldn't identify the officers concerned and when that didn't work fell back on a "just obeying orders" routine (no, the Nuremberg tribunal has outlawed that). This zone is a blatant outrage, not just a violation of freedom of speech, but of our freedom to go about our daily business in peace.

James Walker, Belconnen

As a politician, I know it is de rigueur to say what your audience want to hear, so you can harvest perhaps a few votes, but the unfortunate thing for Senator Seselja was that his speech to the Australian Christian Lobby was reported in the media.

He stated that he is a big believer in freedom of speech and freedom of religion, as am I, but I am also a believer in freedom from intimidation and freedom from religion. If Senator Seselja's god is omniscient and omnipresent, can the senator explain why it is necessary to be near the clinic if it is simply a "prayer vigil" which is being undertaken?

I suspect that calling it a prayer vigil is simply a subterfuge aimed at allowing the pious to bully and intimidate vulnerable people during a very difficult period in their lives.

John Laurie, Weston

ACT candidates

We have subscribed to The Canberra Times for decades and have great respect for it.

We are disappointed, however, that there has been so little information on the ACT candidates in the federal election.

We are about to appoint people to run our lives for the next three to six years, and we think we should have a reasonably sound knowledge of them and their policies in order to make the best appointments to the jobs. We could not be less interested in ticking a box at the top of the paper to leave it for someone else to select our representatives.

We do see the sloganeering on TV from the leaders of the parties, and we have seen your coverage of them. We are not looking for a party leader to run our lives. We have made our judgments on them. We want reasonable and comprehensive information on each candidate, including those participating in major parties, minor parties, and as independents so we can make an informed selection of local representatives.

Grateful if you could allocate some space to each candidate presenting some information for publication, as soon as possible.

Caroline and Ian Coombes, Macgregor

Land release delays

The Canberra Times can't have it both ways. In its editorial ('Barr's housing efforts a mixed bag', Times2, June 22, p2), it criticises Chief Minister Barr for questioning the appropriateness of the federal government's release of the CSIRO's land on the Barton Highway after only eight months' planning investigation. Yet on innumerable occasions the paper has lambasted the ACT government for what it says is hasty ill-conceived planning.

As someone who has worked on ACT land development issues in the past, I happen to think that the eight years (and more) taken on planning investigations for some major developments, such as Molonglo, is absurdly long. This is surely a more legitimate focus for The Canberra Times to criticise the government.

But in fairness some of the lengthiest delays in the finalisation of development plans for ACT residential developments have related, at least in the past, to the exhaustive planning requirements imposed on the ACT by the Federal Government through the National Capital Plan and the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act 1999. These legislative parameters have been very expensive both in terms of the studies they necessitate and the time value of money. Delays in land release have also had a debilitating impact on housing affordability as The Canberra Times has been often pointed out.

Greg Ellis Murrumbateman, NSW

Green waste bins

Bill Blair (Letters, June 20) is unhappy about a green waste service. Unfortunately, Bill, many of us are subsidising services used by others, but not by ourselves. One pays a fee for an extra garbage bin, maybe that could be considered for the green waste bins.

The free bins would help reduce the amount of rubbish dumped by those who are unable to, or too lazy, to go to a green waste site. No doubt rubbish collecting firms will lose some custom, but given the size of a bin, I don't think there would be great losses. We all want to see a cleaner, tidier Canberra.

I have to subsidise a light rail system, that I will never use. It will never be near my home, I cannot use public transport, but still I will be paying like so many others. Sadly, a lot of us have to pay so that some others have what they want.

In the case of the bins, be they free or not, municipal services will have less cleaning up, and those who like to have their gardens neat will be happy. This will, hopefully, also eliminate the number of people placing green waste in garbage and recycling bins.

We have a car and trailer, but, bring on the bins. We will use them too.

Rita Corbett, Spence

Moral courage

Thank you R. Neville (Letters, June 23) for clearly articulating "the great moral challenge of our time". Many individuals, groups and bodies are working hard to meet this challenge. We long for a government that is able to locate its moral compass and take leadership at home and on the world stage. As stated by R. Neville the two real problems are resolving the situations that make people refugees, and quickly and permanently resettling the refugees stranded in camps.

Of course the mechanics of resolving these two problems will be intricate, time consuming and require continuing perseverance. However, human beings have a deep capacity to work hard for the greater good. Any government that outlined a plan of action that addresses the two real problems may be surprised at the groundswell of public support for this action. But does the government have the moral courage? I certainly hope so.

Iven Spicer, Ngunnawal

I congratulate Katie Burgess on her article "Elderly face 'lottery' for care placings" (June 22, p2) which highlights the problems facing many of our senior and aged members of our community when it comes to entering either aged care or retirement villages in the ACT – and I would say those also inNSW.

If Katie were to investigate all retirement villages, some with aged care facilities, she may find a minefield when it comes to exit fees and caps that are applied to those entering. These may be capped at five, six, seven or even 10 years and ranging from 3 per cent (uncapped for the life of your stay at the facility), 3.6 per cent capped at 10 years, 5 per cent for five years, 6 per cent for six years, in most cases the caps make up to 30 per cent of the amount that the resident will lose from their investment in their villa.

Some retirement villages even say if you can pay the 30 per cent over the amount paid for your villa, your family will get their cost of the villa back at the end of the day. I truly believe that a much larger inquiry should be undertaken by the government as many senior and aged residents are being ripped off by greedy companies run by middle-aged people who wouldn't have a clue as to the needs of those in care or why they wish to move into a retirement village, and only look at the bottom line and how they can manipulate the aged care regulations to suit their own ends.

Ken Barrs, Stirling

Change of Plan

Recently, at least three government planners have moved into private consultancy firms – one from the National Capital Authority, one from ACT Planning and one from the Land Development Agency. In the eight years since the Territory Plan 2008 was instituted, there have been 350 draft variations and innumerable technical amendments made for that Plan. This implies that either the 'Plan' was poorly drafted in the first place, or that it was misnamed.

Robyn Coghlan, Hawker

The manic focus on promises to the electorate, the breaking of them in federal politics, and the subsequent accusations of lying and betrayal, is beginning to annoy me. Both leaders are rushing around the continent making individual, local promises that they can have no real expectation of being able to keep. People are, understandably, reluctant to believe them, and their credibility is therebydiminished.

Changed circumstances frequently require that political promises made previously made might now have to be broken. This does not necessarily mean that politicians are liars, or that they're dishonest.

We should not decide whom to vote for on the basis of what they promise us. Dickens, in Pickwick Papers, showed us the consequences of this behaviour in his fictional account of the Eat and Swill by-election.

We should not expect to be rewarded for voting for a particular person. Our democracy is prostituted if a candidate says, for example, "Vote for me and I will upgrade the highway in your neighbourhood".

Widely acknowledged in many countries is Edmund Burke's message in his victory speech to the electors of Bristol in November 1774: "Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion".

Like it or not, we live in a parliamentary democracy, founded on principles paraphrased by Burke.

We, too, are diminished, if we don't accept this.

Peter Rusbridge, Kambah

Privatisation DNA

Anne Prendergast (Letters, June 23) states Bill Shorten is telling lies when he states Malcolm Turnbull will privatise Medicare. Has Anne the ear of the Prime Minister, to be so sure of this?

I believe Malcolm Turnbull is the one who will say anything to keep his prime ministerial role. This is one of many statements he is making in sheer desperation as the polls show he has lost his gloss.

It's in the DNA of the LNP to be rid of Medicare, if not by privatisation per se it will be by stealth – which is happening as I write.

Jan Gulliver, Lyneham

Off with the heads

So Peter Varghese ("Sacking of top public servants 'corrosive', says Foreign Affairs head", June10, p4), leaves the public service after 38years believing it has not been politicised. Where has he been hiding? Departmental head appointments from the Whitlam era onwards have been characterised by elevation of political staffers and or mates.

The sackings of secretaries alluded to by Mr Varghese have been deleterious to good governance. The white-anting of the top public service positions has resulted in preferment and cronyism.

As a former Office of National Assessments director, Mr Varghese should have known better than to make such claims. But then again perhaps he was just another one who found it preferable to run with the hounds!

P.M. Button, Cook

Insect protection

I greatly appreciated the article about anti-science sentiment ("Why emotions blind us to science and facts", Times2, June 20, p5) and our inability to use reason to change the minds of people who are against a given proposal from the "science community" in general, and GMOs in particular. Even so, I cannot let Greg Ellis's observations (Letters, June 22) go unchallenged.

For example, he repeated the rants of others who fear the consequences of consuming GMOs. I realise I cannot change his mind. Even so, I will proffer this: Btcotton has saved the lives of billions of essential insects.

The first paragraph of the Scientific American article is: "Cotton genetically engineered to produce a natural pest killer not only reduces the spraying of pesticides, but has also boosted the populations of beneficial insects, according to a newstudy.

"The study monitored the impacts of so-called Btcotton over more than 20years and 2.6million hectares of farmland in northern China and found that transgenic pest control produced knock-on benefits for surrounding fields of different crops – a benefit for the more than 10million small-scale farmers in the region who grow these crops."

So, the primary reason for creating Btcotton was to prevent indiscriminate killing of insects by indiscriminate use of pesticides. To labour the point, indiscriminately killing insects with pesticides means bees and other beneficial insects, too. The secondary reason was to save farmers a lot of money. Amish farmers reported saving $1 million per year, per farm. (See https://www.biofortified.org/2013/10/amish-gmos/)

The third reason for Btcotton is to reduce the health risks associated with using pesticides indiscriminately.

Richard Horobin, Curtin

Ban this export

In the midst of the dissemination of claims and counterclaims during an election campaign, one might have been forgiven for missing the revelation of grotesque mistreatment of cattle during transportation to Asia and their inhumane deaths in Vietnam.

It is abundantly clear that the present government's aim is only to suppress the public disclosure of an appalling failure of animal welfare transported to the market. It is prepared to unjustly sack its veterinary expert, at the behest of the live cattle export industry, when the expert's report is leaked in error. The mealy mouthed apology by Simon Crean on behalf of the live cattle export industry and statements that the failure to care for sentient creatures will be rectified in the future, will notwash.

We have had such undertakings before, when the Gillard government temporarily stopped live export.

It is time to ban the live export trade.

Slaughter such animals in Australia under humane conditions, and with whatever religious sensibility our customers require, and sell the meat to our customers.

I appreciate the disruption that such a ban would cause to cattle producers, but, as with the end of the eighteen century slave trade, the writing is on the wall for the end of torture the trade causes to sentient beings. It is better to read the message now.

Keith Ross, Fraser

SOME MORE EQUAL

Bob O'Bryan (Letters, June 23) makes a candid observation of ongoing development in Canberra. Yes, things should be fair and equal but what he has failed to observe is that when it comes to the government and developers in this town, some are more equal than others.

Andrew Gordon, Tuross Head, NSW

SCARE TACTICS

I totally agree with Anne Prendergrast (Letters, June 23) condemning Labor for suggesting the Coalition will privatise Medicare. I look forward to her equally strong response to the Coalition's constant scaremongering regarding the impact of proposed changes to negative gearing. Just like Labor, the Coalition will do anything to remain in power.

David Brown, Phillip

TURNBULL'S 'CONSORT'

Anyone wondering where Malcolm Turnbull's commitment to an Australian Republic has gone could do worse than to reflect on his wife Lucy's description of herself as his "consort" ("Election 2016: Lucy Turnbull angered after Liberal Party spruiks her apolitical state role at elite fundraiser", canberratimes.com.au, June 23).

John Richardson, Wallagoot, NSW

ORANGE IS THE NEW ...

Malcolm Turnbull's choice of an orange tie during recent public outings and not the traditional Liberal blue might be a message to the Coalition heavy weights that should he win on July 2, any previous arrangements to secure him the Prime Ministership might be up for renegotiation.

John Sandilands, St Marys, Tas

SIGNAGE DESTRUCTION

There is no doubt electronic and social media has reduced the need for excessive roadside campaign signage, although still relevant leading up to election day. As a supporter of Greens Senate candidate Christina Hobbs, it has been disappointing to see the continued vandalism and destruction of her moderate and reasonable road-side collateral.

Chris Doyle, Gordon

HUMANE KILLING

How much longer are we going to continue with a live animal export trade when it is clearly barbaric? Even Elders has stated that they are concerned. Dr Lynn Simpson, who had been a vet on 57 of these voyages, produced a report with graphic images of the abominable conditions endured by the animals. If they were humanely killed here and their frozen meat exported it would provide jobs in remote and regional communities of Australia and spare the suffering of these creatures.

Estelle Ross, Riverside, Tas

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