This piece of cycling infrastructure put the lives of vulnerable road users (cyclists) on a high speed/ high volume road at risk because there was no physical separation of cyclists from fast-moving motor traffic.

For years, international experts and local community leaders have been telling the ACT government and various TAMS ministers the Canberra's cycling infrastructure is below world's best practice, and for years they've been ignored.

The accident on Capital Circle was a sad outcome, and I feel for the person who was seriously injured in this case and who continues to suffer. But accidents like this will continue to happen if we don't change the way we install cycling infrastructure.

Cyclists are not put in harm's way in Europe; so why do we do this here? I thought we were trying to achieve zero fatalities and zero serious injuries in the road traffic environment.

Martin Miller, Chifley

My interest piqued by your editorial "Rent seekers and town planning" (Forum, May 28, p4) regarding Draft Variation 353 to the Territory Plan, I was surprised to find within DV353 a proposal to allow Mobile Phone Facilities in any PRZ1 zone in the ACT. PRZ1 is the most common zoning of our local parks and playgrounds. These phone towers emit reasonably high levels of electro-magnetic radiation often at frequencies similar to microwave ovens, and they are an unsightly addition to our urban environment. Furthermore, to place them in a park is unnecessary, as there is currently almost 100 per cent 4G coverage of the built area in the ACT by our two major telcos.

Perhaps Telcos are making the most of the delay of NBN rollout in the ACT, but surely the Barr-Rattenbury alliance in the ACT could protect our urban amenity a little better than this ... or are they beholden to the Telcos as they appear to be beholden to developers?

One definition of rent-seeking is " ... when property rights are weakened and the ownership of someone's wealth or goods is debatable, people can gain more by trying to appropriate that wealth rather than by producing it themselves".

Mr Barr, there is no debate, the citizens of Canberra own the parks, not the executive.

Public consultation on DV353 is open until July 4, 2016. Canberrans can resist this encroachment upon our precious public space and the destruction of our urban amenity, by writing to TerrPlan@act.gov.au prior to that date.

Stuart Rogers, Red Hill

Mental health is at last making some headlines. It is unfortunate that the headlines use the term health when the article is about illness! As well, names for many of these illnesses are confusing, or wrongly interpreted. Depressions, the illnesses, are far from the intermittent sadness, stress or disappointment that we all experience. Depressions are many different, totally debilitating illnesses needing various appropriate treatments with a range of outcomes. Publicity about celebrities who boast of rapid recoveries from reactive depressions or publicity condemning the use of medication can be hurtful and dangerous for people who suffer with chronic or long term melancholia.

Bipolar disorders are again a range of illnesses. The term bipolar is euphemistic and adds little to the understanding of the illnesses. Who understands that the term schizophrenia actually means experiences split from reality. The illness has nothing to do with split or multiple personalities. The use of schizophrenic as a metaphor for people who cannot make up their minds is ridiculous and inaccurate. Also, because of sensational reporting, and despite statistical evidence to the contrary, the illness in the public mind continues to be associated with extreme violence. Our use of words affects our actions and attitudes. Can we find names that would better describe these illnesses and increase our understanding of them?

Sheelah Egan, formerly president, Mental Illness Education ACT

Saturday's edition of The Canberra Times Allhomes supplement ran a full-page advert by the Real Estate Institute of the Australian Capital Territory headlined "Who Can You Trust?" which highlighted 30 real estate agencies south of the lake that can be considered trustworthy.

The corollary of that claim is that all other agencies should be considered "untrustworthy". The REIACT promotes itself as the real estate industry's peak body, so it seems an extraordinary situation when it dismisses so many of its own profession as charlatans.

Or could this really be a recruitment drive by the REIACT to prop up the dwindling number of agencies willing to pay the high membership fees for their endorsement? It's about time the Canberra public is informed that a large number of real estate agencies do not uphold the REIACT's expensive, self-styled image as the official voice of the industry.

Peter Carey, Chapman

I applaud more money being available to provide for people suffering from domestic violence, particularly if we begin to recognise mental violence as well as physical. What I don't applaud is Andrew Barr's way of collecting it.

On his salary which rises next month to $299,000, and ignoring any salary his partner earns, the $30 represents only 0.001 per cent of his income. He will hardly miss it.

This is in sharp contrast to pensioners and other low-income families who will have to work out how to pay; eat less or reduce household heating in Canberra's cold winter?

Andrew Barr appears to be out of touch with a large number of voters, a dangerous situation in an election year.

Audrey Guy, Ngunnawal

Will the rude, interruptive Tony Jones be on display again on next Monday night's Q&A, as it was on Monday night with Bill Shorten?

Or can viewers expect a more polite performance, such as the one offered to the media-shy Malcolm Turnbull next Monday, in order to protect ABC funding? My feeling is the latter.

Jeff Bradley, Isaacs

Using the back of the same envelope as Barnaby Joyce seems to employ, I have calculated that moving the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority, its staff and families to Armidale will directly cost the ACT economy $400 million over 20 years. That is without factoring in the multiplier effect of the lost wages and so on. This is a significant impost on our community.

The loss to the ACT if Barnaby Joyce has his way will equal at least half the life cost of stage one of the light rail project. Is this what the Liberal Party of the ACT and its cheer squad wishes for?

I may have missed something, but I do not recall any expressions of outrage from any of those keen to identify the negative impact, as they see it, of light rail to Canberra. Where is the cost-benefit analysis of Leo Dobes, where the erudite analysis of alternative options from Kent Fitchs?

And where are Jeremy Hanson and Alistair Coe, the strident voices of the Liberal Party of the ACT, so keen to decry anything to do with light rail or lie on the rails to stop it, but apparently not willing to raise a squeak about the arbitrary decision of their political bedfellows of the National Party to dispatch a significant economic benefit to our local economy to attempt to prop up the electoral fortunes of its erratic federal leader.

Gerald Lynch, Hawker

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to take the high moral ground — as we increasingly can no longer do towards other nations – over the PNG government's policy to shoot at student protests there?

Pity we cannot really do so whilst – incredibly – we still have our police, even in their vast numbers as they surround mentally unstable individuals, allowed to open fire on the basis that a knife is being wielded and the deranged person is just not listening.

I would like to see the question formally put to each and every one of our state police commissioners as to whether this policy is world best practice. And European police chiefs asked whether they do the same or differently.

We may then have a better idea of where we stand in the civilisation pecking order. And of just how wanting our police training is in confrontations generally, and not just in Martin Place sieges.

(Dr) Alex Mattea, Kingston

Here's a quick summary of what I've learned about effective action on climate change from the Liberal Party during the election campaign. First, we can comfortably meet our emissions targets by buying international permits instead of doing something about our emissions, which would just be a futile gesture when compared to the reality of buying permits. Unemployment disappeared from the Earth once we got better ways of defining it, so why not climate change? Recommended action: do nothing, in a responsible market-oriented way.

Second, for leverage in climate negotiations, we must say to other countries "we're prepared to do more if you do more, and let's get those people over there to do more" (Malcolm Turnbull in "The great let-down?", Forum, June 11, p1).

Recommended action: do nothing in a co-ordinated way, by doing nothing alongside other like-minded countries who are firmly on board with the leverage-by-doing-nothing concept, thus further leveraging our doing nothing, so together we can apply leverage to those people over there who (can you believe it?) aren't doing anything at all.

Third, we have to keep selling as much coal as we can, because if we don't our former customers will buy elsewhere, and their coal is much worse than our coal. Recommended action: do nothing, thus lowering global emissions by selling more coal.

But I think I was guilty of "fundamentally misunderstanding the new paradigm" as well. I have to confess that for a moment I thought this agile and exciting way of addressing climate change by innovatively doing nothing was just weasel talk.

Michael Williams, Curtin

Greg Ellis (Letters, June 3) claims AusAID donated an estimated $10 million to $25 million to the Clinton Foundation between 2013 and 2014.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the former AusAID have made no donations to the Clinton Foundation.

The federal government entered agreements with the Clinton Health Access Initiative for delivering HIV/AIDS programs in our region. We hold CHAI to the same rigorous performance standards as all other implementing partners through strong monitoring and evaluation frameworks. CHAI, which has undertaken work in Vietnam, China, PNG and Indonesia, has a proven track record in providing low-cost HIV testing and treatment services in developing countries.

Ray Marcelo, spokesman, DFAT

Norman Abjorensen's article "Doomsday options: Liberal turmoil looms if they lose" (Times2, June 13, p5) about the Liberal Party's challenge to find a suitable leader should the Coalition lose the election and Malcolm Turnbull leave Parliament, sadly demonstrates the real lack of political leaders in today's Australia (and the rest of the world for that matter).

A real leader is not identified by going through a list of party members. A real leader doesn't have to be asked. A real leader stands up, steps forward and leads and the rest follow. What a sad state of affairs when not a single name springs to mind. On either side.

Anne Willenborg, Royalla, NSW

Parties in sick health

For the last two years, Labor has been telling us voters that the Coalition were cutting $57billion from the health budget. Brian Owler, then president of the AMA, made the same point. Malcolm Turnbull responded recently by offering a pittance of $2.9 billion over the next four years.

Labor has now improved the pittance by $2 billion, that is to $4.9 billion. Bill Shorten has said they can't restore all the Coalition's cuts. So the Liberals are cutting $54 billion from health and Labor apparently will "only" cut $52 billion. Lesser evil is still evil.

John Passant, Kambah

Last year FoI documents revealed that Manuka Oval management wants to amend light and noise management plans to operate as an outdoor concert venue ("Manuka Oval wants its events louder, lighter and later", canberratimes.com.au, May 26, 2015). The documents showed the oval is already "testing its limits" with the current plans "giving us grief". In addition, the ACT government and Greater Western Sydney have also mentioned that Manuka Oval could be used as a concert venue.

Night-time games already impact current residents with Big Bash and ODI week-day cricket finishing past 11pm. After the games patrons track loudly back to their cars then cleaners and transport trucks move in and operate throughout the night.

If the unsolicited oval redevelopment bid is approved how will 1500 new residents feel about late-night games and concerts outside their bedroom window? It is hard to imagine they will all be avid cricket, AFL and music fans. Some may be shift workers, have small children, be early risers, or have an early flight.

Will they be called NIMBYs for complaining or will GWS, Grocon and the ACT government ask them to sign a waiver? A 2014 MacroPlan Dimasi consultant report prepared for the ACT government stated that "offices and hotels are better suited to near-stadium locations than residential because of the nuisance to residents caused by noise, light spill, and disruption to access".

Apartments are not on the doorstep of any other major stadium in Australia so why would the ACT government support it here?

Rebecca Scouller, Forrest

Those political advertisements about a military tender for eyeglasses going overseas don't show comparative costs.

Should they have gone to Specsavers perhaps?

Greg Cornwell, Yarralumla

In the wake of the Orlando massacre, don't blame gay hate crime or Islam. Consider instead the stupid, stupid people of the US and their lack of sane restrictions on gun ownership. Don't let Australia go down the same path.

Allan Baxter, Dalmeny, NSW

If terrorist and mass murderer Omar Mateen had tried it in Texas he'd have been shot dead immediately.

By the way, for the misinformed, automatic weapons are illegal in the US. If you get caught with one you'll do double-digit time in federal prison. So, how will more gun laws prevent tragedies like Orlando, or even here?

Gerry Murphy, Braddon

Don't bother to tell me that guns don't kill. Remember that this person who may have been mentally ill had a gun licence. He had those weapons legally. As a rusted-on ALP supporter, there are not many issues where I agree with John Howard! But I pay tribute to his great work against the ownership of guns. We must take great care that we do not return to the US mode.

Auriel Barlow, Dickson

ILLOGICAL MOVE

It is no good Malcolm Turnbull throwing $1 billion to preserve the reef (Government pledges $1 billion boost to protect Barrier Reef", June 13, p6) while permitting the Adani Galilee Basin to go ahead.

Glenys Hammer, Narrabundah

BUSES BETTER

Bus rapid transit is still a better investment, according to the ACT government's 2012 Submission to Infrastructure Australia, even if it costs $238 million to tear up the light rail contract.

Leon Arundell, Downer

ARTICLE ON THE MONEY

Credit where credit is due. Jack Waterford's article "Straight shooters: NSW police officers get their man, again" (Forum, June 11, p1) about the appalling police shooting of another intellectually disabled man,was very, very good; and important. Hopefully, Waterford will follow it up.

Greg Ellis, Murrumbateman, NSW

PROMISES, PROMISES

Ian Morison (Letters, June 12) did a reasonable job of assassinating the ALP's election promises. As he's a resident of Forrest, aka Millionaire's Row, I guess it was too much to ask that he extend the same treatment to the Coalition's own brand of lies. As my old dad used to say (about another group, but it could well have been about politicians): "If you find a good one, shoot the bastard before he goes bad!"

Stuart Kennedy, Birtinya, Qld

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