In June 2014, the Australian Bureau of Statistics noted the suburb of Braddon, for example, had a population density already at 4000/sqkm and that Canberra's five fastest-growing suburbs were all in Gungahlin.

It also stated that several suburbs on Canberra's north side, including in Gungahlin, already have population densities in excess of 2000/sqkm.

The population density of these suburbs will quickly grow as the desirability of acquiring property and living within a short walking distance of the light-rail line increases; and as fewer people choose to live on the fringe of the city, where every journey from home must commence in a motor vehicle.

Subsequent stages of the light-rail network that connect Civic and Gungahlin with Kingston-Barton and with Kippax-Belconnen will have similar transformative effects in other central parts of the city.

David Flannery, Torrens

While he's in Zurich, Mike Reddy (Letters, October 9) might like to acquaint himself with its position as one of the most expensive cities in the world and muse on its economic base and the multitudinous differences between its demography and Canberra's.

Despite having little faith in the ability of the current Liberals to run a successful chook raffle, the 2016 election election cannot arrive quickly enough for many, for one simple reason. Any government that is prepared to ride roughshod over due diligence on a major infrastructure project because of one Green vote in the Assembly and which issues thinly veiled threats in regard to contracts and compensation in the hope of shoring up wavering electoral support deserves disdain, not support.

Jon Stirzaker, Latham

Just two weeks ago, Shane Rattenbury was banning bus ads for just about everything. Now we learn from him ("Union ads for tram favoured during ban", October 12, p1) that "the government is not responsible for approving advertising on public transport". There is an unnamed company that "is responsible for the interpretation of Action's advertising policies and [determining] which ads are approved".

This is a classic piece of bureaucratic double-speak, because the Barr government has recently made clear, through Minister Rattenbury himself, that it wants to be ultimately responsible for the ads on its buses. What if the company's interpretation does not suit the minister? Perhaps he should approve each ad personally. For really important ads, like union campaigns, perhaps the Chief Minister should decide.

This is what tends to happen with nanny-state over-regulation.

John Robbins, Farrer

Greg Cornwall (Letters, October 13) writes that accepting more refugees in Canberra is contradictory to reducing poverty. As a member of one of the NGO social service organisations calling for action to reduce poverty and inequality, I disagree.

Poverty is not caused by who you are or where you come from. Poverty is caused by the costs of living being higher than income. Poverty is prevented with adequately resourced social and economic infrastructure that builds human capital (education, health, work readiness, emotional wellbeing, social connections).

Inequality is reduced when the resources of a community are spread effectively across generations (access to education, work, affordable and accessible housing, healthcare, transport) and we support people through significant life transitions (onset of health problems or disability, moving from childhood home to independent living, graduating from study to work, becoming a parent, losing a job, relationship breakdown, entering retirement).

Refugees arriving in a new country are going through a significant life transition, but there is no reason to expect them to be more at risk of poverty, or less likely to settle and prosper, if we offer them the same social and economic infrastructure that every person needs and should be able to expect when living in the wealthiest city in Australia.

Susan Helyar, director, ACT Council of Social Service

John May ( Letters, October 7) may find the wind turbines inoffensive, elegant or even beautiful, but I do not. It's not that I am opposed to them; it's just that I do not like looking at them.

Those who think wind farms are beautiful would probably consider mobile phone towers to be works of art.

As someone who enjoys the natural environment, I think wind farms are a blight on the natural skyline. Moreover, if a wind farm (or even a single turbine on Mount Ainslie) reduces residential amenity by seriously devaluing the view of the natural skyline, those directly affected should be compensated for the period of the devaluation. It is not fair that the many whose residential amenity is not so affected should benefit from renewable energy generated at the expense of the few whose residential amenity is so affected.

James Elsbury, Campbell

The figures in your article "Transport industry set for a shake-up – Taxi drivers flock to Uber" (October 11, p1) give a good indication of who the winners and losers will be.

Choice said the Uber fare is 40per cent cheaper than taking a taxi in most instances. Uber said it will eventually take 25per cent of the fare. A taxi driver said he gets to keep about 50per cent of the taxi fare. Thus, the owner of a taxi has 50per cent of the taxi fare to pay capital and operating costs and leave a profit. Assuming his margin is 20per cent, then 30per cent of the taxi fare goes on costs.

Assuming the same costs apply for the Uber vehicle, the driver's take-home pay is 15per cent of a taxi fare, or less than a third of that of a taxi driver. Even if costs were as low as 10per cent of a taxi fare, the Uber driver is still getting only 70per cent of a taxi driver's return on the same ride. The winners are Uber and the consumer; that is, if enough people are interested in driver wages about the same as for delivering pizzas.

A. Smith, Farrer

Marise Payne from Defence and Julie Bishop from Foreign Affairs (and entourages) have been dutifully summoned to the United States to hear what the US has planned for Australia in the near future.

If the US wants a base in Darwin, (called US Force Posture) that's OK, just go ahead, no need to ask; or with the US now tired of Middle East failures and needing to make the south-east Asia region unstable with a war or two (say China or Korea), go for it, after all we believe in "support for the US rebalance to the Asia Pacific", so we'll be there, just call; because they are nervous about the success of their one-sided TPP, we'll agree as we always do by "deepening and broadening our strategic co-operation".

What a country! Independent? What nonsense, a US lackey in every way possible. Save the airfares, ladies. Just tick the boxes as we always do.

Rhys Stanley, via Hall, NSW

I'm guessing Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade secretary Peter Varghese didn't actually write the article "Why the China trade deal is good for us all" (Times2, October 12, p5).

More likely it was asked for by the Minister, drafted by a minion, passed up to a higher being, booted downstairs again, amended, passed back up, flung around begrudingly for comment, then passed to the front office who, with much tut-tutting, re-wrote the whole thing.

He points out that China has concluded 10 free trade agreements and is negotiating more, with the result that we'll be at a disadvantage as our competitors "have the inside running".

What I don't see in the article is any analysis on how agreements are working for these other countries, as surely they must also have the inside running on any problems that might arise/have arisen.

Silence on this aspect suggests that everything is not as rosy as it seems.

Dallas Stow, O'Connor

Peter Varghese's article is blatant government propaganda, devoid of any attempt to provide solid data or analysis to ground anecdotal assertions. Why Australia might feel a dire need to import "highly specialised Chinese occupations" like chefs (?), martial arts coaches and Mandarin language tutors, deserves question!

Anyone who has visited China will have had the "privilege" to view at first hand, the "quality" of their varied trades and would shudder at prospects of being beneficiary of such imported outcomes. Further, to suggest such tradespeople would be capable of such gargantuan leaps as to ever comply with Australian standards, is, at best, fanciful. However, government may intend to lower Australian standards to comply with Chinese yardsticks, as part of the agreement!

Investor state dispute settlement provisions are toxic, loaded against taxpayers in favour of global corporations, who may sue at a whim in tribunals with no accepted legal precedent. Depending on British jurisprudence to challenge "legal" outcomes by these "tribunals" will pose significant future heartache.

The China Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) Paragraph 3, Article 10.4, "Grant of Temporary Entry", clearly provides for carte blanche movement of Chinese workers into Australia, containing the command "Australia shall not ..."

Judging by his comments, Peter Varghese may not have read Paragraph 3, or else has chosen to spin it, to obfuscate and lend (some) "credibility" to his vacuous article.

Albert M.White, Queanbeyan, NSW

Media outlets widely reported that Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey were doing paperwork as Malcolm Turnbull spoke during the first sitting day of this parliamentary session. This is clearly wrong. Any public servant would recognise from their level of focus in Question Time that they were playing Prime Ministerial Buzzword Bingo. On Monday, Tony and Joe would have crossed off "consultation", "innovation" and "opportunities" but not "emotional Intelligence".

If their list includes "loyalty" or "consistent with my principles" it could be eyes down until the next election.

Tony Judge, Woolgoolga, NSW

Ruth Pollard's lengthy article about the current wave of violence in Israel ("Deaths put all eyes on Jerusalem", October 10, p12) fails to get to the root of the problem, which is Palestinian incitement based around the false claim that Israel intends to take over the Temple Mount. Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, speaking on Palestinian television, said, "Al-Aqsa is ours," adding that Jews "have no right to desecrate them with their filthy feet."

More chillingly, he also said, "We welcome every drop of blood spilled in Jerusalem. This is pure blood, clean blood, blood on its way to Allah." The incitement is based on a lie, with Israeli PM Netanyahu having stated several times that Israel has no intention of changing the status quo at the holy site. The truth is that the Palestinian leadership, having refused three generous offers of a Palestinian state, and now refusing to even negotiate, is yet again ramping up the violence to put pressure on Israel.

Justin Said, Coogee, NSW

How many more rapes will it take before our government wakes up to the horrors going on in Nauru and Manus Islands – inside and outside the detention centre?

How much more abuse to women and children done by detention camp employees hired directly and indirectly by the Australian government? How many more reports – by the UN, by the Salvos, by our own government? How many more suicides, self-harm? How many more asylum seekers must die or go stir-crazy under our duty-of-care?

How many before our federal government and opposition realise inhumane, out-of-sight, out-of- mind, detention of human beings is immoral and unjust? Before providing a safe and secure place for children, women, and yes men, whose only crime is being born in the wrong time, wrong place, wrong situation?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind ...

Judy Bamberger, O'Connor

The last time I checked, the Australian Constitution gives the Commonwealth full powers over imports. The apparent inaction of the federal government on this massive fraud by Volkswagen (including its associates Skoda and Audi) and the associated failure of self-regulation is nothing short of amazing.

So here are six things the Turnbull government could and should be doing.

1) Suspend the import of all VW diesel vehicles immediately for failing to meet Australian Standards.

2) Place all unsold VW diesel vehicles back into Bond.

3) Immediately arrange for all other VW vehicles emissions to be independently tested in Australia. All costs under items one, two and three to be fully recovered from VW.

4) Charge VW Australia and its executives with fraud for knowingly importing and selling these dirty diesels.

5) Bring in new legislation for existing diesel VW owners to be compensated for their losses and requiring their vehicles to be fixed by March 2016.

6) Immediately legislate to establish a new Australian imported vehicles testing authority to ensure that all new imported vehicles (cars, trucks, motor bikes, etc) meet Australian standards, with full cost recovery from importers and an ongoing random testing. Remember, all vehicles will be imported by 2018. And by the way, if the Commonwealth wants to look at suitable legislation and full cost recovery arrangements, send the Treasury and industry officials over to agriculture to look at quarantine and imported food inspection arrangements.

Roger Clement, Googong, NSW

ABBOTT ALL AT SEA

It is great to see Tony Abbott has been promoted, to the backbench. However, I wonder if he is still not just a little bit out of his depth.

John Passant, Kambah

TONY'S JOYS, HIS WOES ...

Like Annabel Crabb ("Welcome back Tony, you old dissident", October 11, p20) I feel it is good to see Tony Abbott around the place again. I had kinda got accustomed to his face!

Evelyn Bean, Ainslie

PEACE STARTS AT HOME

Here we go again! The Muslims need consultation on stopping terrorism. Sounds like the Aboriginal elders 30 years ago at Redfern. Neither has/ will work when the discipline comes down to parents, where in both societies the emphasis is on the male at the derision of females.

David McVeigh, Turner

HONK IF YOU WANT RAIL

A.Smith (Letters, October 12) points out "the small number of people who have written in favour of light rail". This small number is because those in favour are not retirees on the Southside with time on their hands, but are stuck in traffic on Northbourne Avenue.

Dallas Stow, O'Connor

GOVERNMENT HOTLINE

Gerry Coleman (Letters, October 13) could try using the free app "Snap, Send, Solve" which works throughout Australia to notify the nearest council or government body of problems. I have used it for years. Response in the ACT is erratic, as it is for all other methods of advising them of deficiencies, except calling in to 666ABC and speaking to the Chief Minister.

Chris Emery, Reid

PEACOCKS SHOULD STAY

Apparently one or more residents have complained about the magnificent and beautiful peacocks of Narrabundah (Narrabundah's noisy residents to be relocated to sanctuary", October 13, p3). As someone who plays host to those peacocks, I would like to also be heard: I love the peacocks!

No consultation has been had. There is no health and safety issue. A little bit of peacock pooh and calls in spring is small price to pay for such a benefit of beauty and joy. Please leave the peacocks in place.

Dr Fiona Cameron, Narrabundah

SELECTIVE OUTRAGE

Why didn't staff at the Melbourne Royal Children's Hospital staff protest against children in detention when 2000 children were held in detention under the Labor governments of Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard?

Rod Matthews, Fairfield, Vic.

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