As a young Canberra solicitor I gave Kep his first brief – in a case against R.J.Ellicott, who later replaced him as attorney-general in the Frazer Liberal Government. Kep had great intellectual gifts, was quite fearless but also was a modest, thoughtful person.

He championed the cause of women when it was not fashionable to do so. Vale Kep Enderby indeed.

Sue Schreiner, Red Hill

Traffic future upbeat

Will Steffen, ("A climate-smart, resilient, vibrant city", January18, p20), misses the inherent fantastic ingenuity of humans in his predictions of what Canberra could look like in 2060.

In the past 25 years, humans have about halved car fuel consumption, car accident fatalities and injuries, car indexed purchase prices and, lately, car fuel costs. This is part of a general trend, sure to continue. At the same time the ACT bus subsidies lost leisure time costs of those using the buses and bike accident rates have increased significantly.

Canberra in 2060 is more likely to have the main arterial roads upgraded with overpasses to clear out the traffic lights, safer bikeways, increased car parking at town centres, buses only operating in peak hours and subsidised taxis.

John Skurr, Deakin

Hebdo killers just as bad

In her latest article ("Death the most unsurprising thing of all", January18, p2), Annabel Crabb refers to "an IRA bomb in London laid by extremist Catholic terrorists". Later, she describes the perpetrators of the Charlie Hebdo massacre as "extremists with guns".

Crabb might want to explain why she saw fit to refer to the religion of the IRA terrorists but not of the Charlie Hebdo killers, even though the latter appear to have been motivated by religious considerations.

The IRA terrorists of course deserve to be condemned unreservedly, along with the Charlie Hebdo killers.

D.McNeill, Rivett

Graffiti dobbers' reward

It was interesting to note that the graffiti artist, who didn't want to be named in the article "Vandals deface legal street artworks" (January 10, p10), described his annoyance at his graffiti-art pieces, which were done in legal areas in Canberra, being spoiled by other graffiti idiots.

Maybe that person can now understand how normal citizens feel when they see graffiti covering many areas throughout the city.

As taxpayers, we should not have to put up with a few destructive clowns spoiling our outlooks.

Canberra now has the look of a Third World country town, with unsightly graffiti splattered everywhere.

The local authorities say they are not responsible for graffiti on private or business residences. They only erase graffiti appearing on recognised city-financed artworks.

However, a drive down Hindmarsh Drive, one of Canberra's main thoroughfares, is a disgrace, with paint tags, drawings and profanity on fences and walls on either side of the road.

I think that as a general rule, home owners are normally required to jointly maintain their fences with their neighbours. It would seem logical to me that the people with fences facing major roads could be made liable for the condition of the side of the fence facing their property, but the other side, facing the public roads and paths, should be the responsibility of the government.

Naturally, to eradicate this mess would initially cost a fair amount of money and many man hours of physical labour.

However, it is essential maintenance that is necessary to make Canberra look welcoming and attractive not only to visitors but also ourselves, the residents.

I would then suggest that, to assist in offsetting continuing costs, a reward be offered to people for providing proof of graffiti idiots and their deeds.

The reward, say $200, can then be offset by fining the culprit double the reward amount ($400) and making them assist in the cleaning up of their mess. This may make these dopes think twice about buying spray cans to destroy the presentation of our picturesque capital city.

Trevor Willis, Hughes

No capital subsidy

M.Silex (Letters, January18, p18) on the cost of running light rail includes capital costs in running costs. Even so, his capital costs are an underestimate as the interest on 7per cent with equal repayments over 20 years is $695million, not the $500million he states. Capital, interest and depreciation costs are not running costs but are funding costs. Capital costs are more than offset by the increase in the capital value of properties along the route.

Running costs are fuel, labour, taxes and administration costs. Within a few years light rail will attract at least 20,000 rides a day which at $5 a ride is $100,000 a day, or $36.5million a year. This is more than enough to cover the cost of drivers, inspectors, administration staff, GST, IT and fuel costs.

Light Rail will not require an operating subsidy from taxpayers. It may require a capital subsidy from taxpayers if it is funded with traditional debt. It will not require a capital subsidy it is funded by the ACT government issuing its own credit.

Kevin Cox, Ngunnawal

Religious segregation

I fail to understand the description of private schools as "independent and Catholic campuses" by the Education Union's ACT secretary Glenn Fowler ("Critical incidents continue to plunge", January18, p11). Why the religious segregation?

Gary J.Wilson, MacGregor

Israel at a disadvantage

Paul Malone accuses Israel of a "grossly disproportionate response" in Gaza to Hamas' rocket attacks (January18, p21). So, what would have been proportionate? Should Israel have fired 10,000 rockets at random into Gaza? The resultant carnage would certainly have been something to write about.

No, instead Israel targeted the residential areas, schools, hospitals and mosques in which the rocket launchers had been embedded, but first warned the civilians to evacuate – the most responsible and compassionate action ever seen on the field of conflict.

It's not Israel's fault that Hamas prevented its civilians from leaving – to Hamas, every civilian casualty is a victory in the media war.

Israel, a speck of dirt in the vastness of the Middle East, has every right to defend itself against fanatical enemies dedicated to its total destruction. The Paul Malones of this world would have it fight with one hand tied behind its back.

Mike Phillips, Wollstonecraft

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