A city's best address is where the elite live and the elite don't travel by public transport. They drive their BMW, Mercedes (or similar prestige vehicle) to their work-supplied private parking bay. Blind Freddy knows this. It is a pity that our ministers don't!

Jeff Carl, Rivett

Simon Corbell is again comparing grapes with watermelons trying to justify his Capital Metro tram project (''Northbourne can be envy of Australia, Corbell says'', September 6, p5). Minneapolis is part of the 14th largest metropolitan area in the US with about 3.8 million residents.

The city itself has a population of just over 400,000 in an area of less than 150 square kilometres, giving a population density of around 2850 per square kilometres.

Canberra has a population of a bit under 400,000 but in an area of over 814 square kilometres so that our population density is less than 500 per square kilometre. Canberra is also not part of any surrounding metropolitan area.

David Fuller, Duffy

Like Martha Kinsman (Letters, September 5) I was unsure about the strength of the business plan for light rail, but my doubts were blown away like spring blossoms in the wind by the news that traffic signals would need be installed at up to nine intersections that do not have signals at the moment (''Light rail rezoning plan already in hand'', August 30, p1). Car drivers will clearly choose to catch the light rail rather than sit in their cars and glumly watch as the carriages glide by on their priority-enhanced journey.

It's a master stroke of planning and I look forward to reading about the expected increase in car travel times as a result of the new traffic signals.

David Pederson, O'Connor

What an unworthy editorial from The Canberra Times about asbestos campaigner Brianna Heseltine (''Labor fluffed it with asbestos campaigner'', Times2, September 5, p2). People who take leadership roles in such community groups devote enormous amounts of their spare time and energy without remuneration and without the benefits of political or experienced advisers. To hold one of them accountable in such a gratuitous editorial is little more than a cheap shot by your anonymous and hopefully not well-remunerated writer.

G. Hansen, Ainslie

I am surprised Ric Hingee (Letters, September 6) is criticising Brianna Heseltine for thinking of joining the ACT ALP to attempt to assist in sorting out the Mr Fluffy problems. He advocates she joins a community-based party to achieve her ends.

Hingee was president of the Community Alliance Party at the 2012 ACT election, which achieved nothing whatsoever. At least with the ALP there is a good chance of putting one's views forward where they may achieve something of value.

Vic Adams, Reid

Your informative article on looming parking issues (''Motorists warned of October parking blitz'', September 5, p1) lets the ACT government's transport regulation off the hook too easily. The reference to ''very valid policy reasons'' - more than ordinarily ''valid'' reasons - and the slick example of parking in loading zones are sure signs the ACT's senior director of transport regulation was determined to evade some tricky issues.

The 2013 ACT Auditor-General's report on ACT government parking operations noted that while there was pressure on parking in general, the government's provision of disabled parking bays did not even meet the standard the government requires of private developers. Experience suggests the same problem appears throughout Australia and in many cities in North America.

No doubt, in the ACT's case, there are ''very valid'' policy reasons for this failure, but it would serve the interests of transparency if we knew what the ACT government imagines those reasons to be.

Barry Hindess, Reid

The changes to land tax calculations for units has resulted in unfair impacts on landlords resulting, in my case, in an 803 per cent increase in land tax per quarter. At the same time, my rental income dropped 7.6 per cent and will decrease again. If readers are considering a rental investment in Canberra, don't do it! There is absolutely no return as rental income decreases, rental unit values fall (generally) and rates and land tax sky rocket.

Does the ACT government care? Nope, so long as they deliver the $800 million tram line to stay in power with the Greens' support.

Greg Wolfe, Monash

I have solar panels on my roof. I do not find wind farms ugly or a blight on the landscape. I am proud the ACT government has realised the Royalla Solar Farm project. Good on the Spaniards for taking the project on (winning the bid) … and for advancing large-scale solar.

The Renewable Energy Target is one way to maintain some credibility on the global stage, given the retrograde decisions and changes in climate-change policy in the last year. Shame on Australians for acquiescing in the Coalition's scare campaign and supporting repeal of the carbon tax (and dissembling or abolition of other climate-change institutions and measures). We need a price on carbon - a means to internalise the externalities generated by use of fossil fuels. Now traditional fossil fuel energy generators are again advantaged over renewables as they do not have to pay for their externalities that damage our planet and affect us all. The RET is not a waste of money or a subsidy that disadvantages the traditional fossil fuel energy generators - it is a way to level the playing field.

I am not sorry for the big energy companies in a ''death spiral''. We have been duped into paying higher energy prices largely due to the over-investment in infrastructure and our crazy energy market regulators and institutions.

Bring back the tax and let's increase the RET - we need to transition quickly to a lower-carbon future.

Annalisa Koeman, Deakin

Jetstar is to crack down on passengers taking large or heavy bags into the cabins ("Jetstar acts on bags'', September 5, p5). This action should be undertaken by all airlines even those which have a baggage allowance.

On a recent trip we were astounded at the size of many of the bags and small suitcases passengers were bringing into the cabin. Some of the bags will just fit into the overhead lockers but far exceed the size stipulated by airlines. On one flight the attendants asked passengers who had smaller bags (the correct size) to place them under the seat in front so that the larger bags could be stored in the overhead lockers.

What this meant was that the passengers who were abiding by the requirements were penalised by a reduction of already limited leg room.

If airlines policed the cabin bag sizes, the flights would be more comfortable for all passengers rather than to make it easier for those who want to avoid paying for the bags or waiting to retrieve their bags after the flight.

Robert Knight, Bywong, NSW

Hooray for ACTION drivers providing contact information of the government minister ("Drivers warned over bus response'', September 5, p3)! A constructive response to a shockingly poor introduction of the much ballyhooed "Network 14".

ACTION representatives told us in August that individual bus schedules would be available "soon''. On Friday, two ACTION representatives told me no individual schedules would be produced.

Hardcopy schedules are much easier to read than those on computers. They fit into our pockets, and they don't break when we sit on them.

If Minister Rattenbury, and ACTION management, want to retain us as ACTION customers, please give us the ability to remain customers.

Judy Bamberger, O'Connor

Powerful nations always act in what they perceive to be their own best interests. As objectionable as Vladimir Putin's aggressive actions in Ukraine are to much of the world, Russia hardly has a monopoly on destabilising other countries. Yet American and Australian foreign policy ''experts'' hypocritically chastise Russia for pursuing interventionist policies. Do such commentators or Western leaders ever look in the mirror?

The list of nations, many on the other side of the world from the US, that have been invaded, brutalised and had legitimate governments destroyed by the West is a long one.

Russian criticism of the West's overseas military adventures has historically been muted, but further sanctions against Russia are now being threatened to bring Putin to heel. I don't recall Russia threatening such potentially destructive action when the US and its allies attacked and destroyed other nations, some in Russia's own backyard. The Russians did no sabre-rattling when the US intervened militarily or through crude manipulation in Iran, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Chile, Grenada, Panama, Iraq, Vietnam or Cambodia.

The claim the US is ''helping'' or ''liberating'' other countries has been demonstrably false for decades. The US and Russian governments are expected by their own citizens to protect their national interests. When such great powers point fingers at each other for following nearly identical policies, one can only gaze in despair at such willful blindness that treats poor and weak countries as dispensable pawns.

Steve Ellis, Hackett

A few weeks ago, the regime in Kiev sent against the Russian-speaking people of the Donbass a mechanised military horde of 60,000, which included many units like the Azov Battalion, whose emblem is the Wolfsangel. That ugly symbol was originally the badge of Hitler's fearsome SS Panzer Division ''Das Reich''. Troops of that division were the butchers of Oradour-sur-Glane in France and of countless civilians in the Ukraine during World War II.

Let us be clear about it - Kiev's purpose was ethnic cleansing; that is, the murder and expulsion of the Russian-speaking people of eastern Ukraine. And that project had the active support of the United States, the European Union and Australia. Nearly every Western media outlet, including this newspaper, parroted the lie that the operation was a response to ''Russian aggression''.

So this is what we have come to, 70 years after Oradour. The West is now openly backing a resurgent Nazism in Europe. The defeat of Kiev's forces by the Donbass resistance (no, not the Russian army) can only be welcomed by all who hate fascism, but we are left with that ominous and dreadful fact. God help us all.

Bernard Davis, O'Connor

H. Ronald (Letters, September 5) offers thought bubbles on how Labor and the Greens might win back government from the Coalition. Ronald suggests this would be possible via serious policy discussions between the Opposition parties and the Abbott government. Given the nature and history so far of this government, and the feral and dishonest campaign it ran to get there, it is easy to imagine its likely response to proposals for polite little policy conversations over tea.

In any case, H. Ronald has no desire to see a change of government and his proposal is nothing but hypocritical detritus. Tony Abbott and the more extreme of his ministers have worsened an already existing decline in political standards; the sooner he is removed from office, the better, no matter what efforts the right-wing commentariat expends to gild the Coalition lily.

Jim Douglas, Kingston

As I pondered Frank O'Shea's interesting article (''Democracy will be known as the 'grand delusion''', Times2, September 3, p5) on the West's insistence on forcing democracy on to unwilling nations, I turned my thoughts to our own Australian democracy. On the same day that both the Coalition and Labor voted against the Greens' motion to permit the Australian Parliament to consider whether this country should go to war, I learnt that should it be deemed desirable that the mail be delivered on three days instead of five, this would have to go to Parliament. Funny old democracy in Australia, eh?

Ann Darbyshire, Gunning, NSW

Crispin Hull (''Inquiries that play with stacked decks'', Forum, September 6, p2) made the oft-repeated inane statement that ultimately energy from renewables would be cheaper than burning fossil fuels. He was most likely indulging in the common tendency to focus on the wholesale price of electricity, rather than the retail price, which includes other costs, such as transmission infrastructure and subsidies resulting from renewables use.

A competent analysis of all of the costs associated with renewables use would show they cost between 12 and 33 times as much per unit of energy produced by fossil-fuelled electricity generation (ref : WUWT Analysis of solar and wind power costs, 7/9/14).

J. McKerral, Batemans Bay, NSW

A most informative article by Amin Saikal (''Time for West to think big'', Times2, September 5, p1), in which he argues cogently that not only did the West have no plan for Iraq following the 2003 invasion, but that much the same appears to be happening again as it attempts to eliminate the Islamic State armies from the country.

If the West, led by the US, were serious about destroying IS, then it has no other choice than to place its armies on the ground for the foreseeable future, and beyond.

But, would Obama commit his country to another war in Iraq, having vehemently expressed his opposition to George W. Bush's decision of a decade ago?

Sam Nona, Burradoo, NSW

HOCKEY'S LEAN, TOO

Peter Martin (''Hockey has a mountain to climb to repair the economy'', Forum, September 6, p5) says that Joe Hockey's strategy was to keep out of the way, and let the private sector boost the economy. Wouldn't that make Joe ''a leaner'' rather than ''a lifter''?

Gordon Fyfe, Kambah

LACK OF FUSION

No one seems to have asked, why, if as our Prime Minister assures us India is a fit and proper country to sell Australian-mined uranium to, then why don't they sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty?

Timothy Walsh, Garran

PIG-HEADED APPROACH

Tony Abbott selling uranium to India: Shades of pig-iron Bob.

M. Hume, Lyneham

TAKEN TO EXTREMES

So, Attorney-General Brandis believes that Muslims are being ''preyed upon'' by ''evil'' extremists (''Muslims victims of extremists, says Brandis'' September 6, p7). He could well be talking about the Scott Morrison approach towards the treatment of asylum seekers, although Mr Morrison does not appear to discriminate on the basis of religion.

Peter Crossing, Curtin

TIME TO CHECK OUT

Max Rowe (Letters, September 6) asks if retrenched Coles executives could be redeployed to stores to relieve shortages of checkout operators. As a former Coles employee for many years, I can tell him the answer is no. They would not be capable of the task.

Terry George, Kingston

OFF THE RAILS

I can't wait to sell up and move into most enviable address in Australia, along with the other 40,000 crammed into the denuded and concrete-lined corridor of Northbourne Avenue, so we can rush like lemmings to catch the tram to nowhere (''Northbourne can be envy of Australia, Corbell says'', September 6, p5).

For God's sake Simon, spare us the BS.

Peter Toscan, Amaroo

POWER TO PEOPLE

Like many householders, I recently received advice from my supplier of an immediate saving of 7.8 per cent on my electricity bill and 4.5 per cent on my gas bill, resulting from Tony Abbott's abolition of the carbon tax, despite vigorous opposition and delay from the Labor-Greens alliance supporting global warming alarmists. I doubt whether pensioners and low-income earners rationing their heating during a cold winter appreciated such opposition!

John Shailer, Ainslie

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