Urban sprawl leads to loss of habitat for other species, not least that for the koala which is now threatened in three states. Population growth makes it harder to reach our targets on emissions reduction. It causes general loss of environmental amenity. It leads to congestion and pollution in our major cities. It is good that the Prime Minister will discuss with the states the size of the immigration intake.

Given they bear the costs of infrastructure, it's not before time. But let us be under no illusion that the problems can be solved by sending people to the regions where climate change may well reduce water supply and make some towns uninhabitable from the heat.

Jenny Goldie, Cooma

Australia's reputation and standing as the doyen of world cricket has stood firm for many years, but not any more and probably not for some time to come unless we lift our game (no pun intended).

According to my research we have won just four of our last 21 games. This is simply not good enough and I shudder to think what India will do when we face them next week and I bet England can't wait for the forthcoming Ashes Tour.

Recently, we have been humiliated by Pakistan and South Africa in both Test match cricket and one day internationals.

Our batting and bowling is not up to the high standard expected at this level of the game.

Admittedly, Cricket Australia has undergone a major upheaval since the ball-tampering fiasco, including a complete overhaul of the board and a rethink of the game's charter. I hope that player health and welfare is also taken into account by the proposed review.

Even though some have questioned the role of the Sheffield Shield competition in identifying promising players for Test level, I believe this competition should be encouraged and promoted, not downplayed. Historically, many of our Test players were chosen from this arena.

I was impressed by the two young batsmen who scored centuries during the just-completed game between NSW and Queensland here in Canberra. We need to encourage up and coming cricketers via Sheffield Shield participation and the current development programs if we are to recover our standing in first-class cricket.

Andrew Rowe, Florey

The article "US must spend up to match China: report" (The Canberra Times, November 20, p4), seems like a rehash from the Cold War days. Switch the name of the enemy, keep the warmongering going and the weapons makers happy. The report referred to is Wisdom and Will? American Military Strategy in the Indo-Pacific, published by the US Studies Centre at Sydney University, which lists Northrop Grumman, one of the world's biggest arms companies, as a funding partner.

It should therefore be read as one might read a report on tobacco policy which is part-funded by the tobacco industry. Perhaps more helpful is the independent Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. SIPRI reports that global military spending was $1739billion. The US spent $610 billion (about a third of the global total, and more than the next seven highest spenders combined), China spent an estimated $228billion, and Russia $66.3billion.

Australia is complicit with US militarism, and has abused the whole four years of World War I commemoration to entrench militarism in our own identity. While mouthing official platitudes to our war dead, we've completely ignored the glaring lessons of that catastrophic period and what led to it. In the two decades before WWI, the world spent vast sums on weapons that were meant to secure and deter but did neither. Vested interests had a field day. The world prepared for war, and war was the result. We seem to be setting ourselves up to do it all again, led by the profiteers.

Dr Sue Wareham, president, Medical Association for Prevention of War (Australia)

In regards to the article "New ACT Supreme Court rooms lack insignia" (November 17, p4) what knot! A crest is the bit that sits above the shield, not the whole thing. Curiously, the ACT Magistrates Court's is missing the gum tree.

Canberra's arms relate to the whole of the ACT. They were given to "the Federal Capital Commissioners and their successors in their corporate capacity to bear and use" (City of Canberra is also cited with that use).

The FCC covered the whole ACT and the royal grants cite the Australian legislation. See for yourself, online at the National Archives of Australia, or in person when on display at the Canberra Museum and Gallery.

The English law of arms does not apply to any Australian jurisdiction.

Apart from a short ACT law, there is no intellectual property protection for these arms.

The motto is not part of the grant of (English) arms (you can make it what you like, if at all). The original Latin phrase "Pro rege lege et grege" was translated by commentators as "For the king, the law and the mob".

So, the FCC did another translation and deliberately embedded it in the names of the principal avenues of Canberra's parliamentary triangle: King, Constitution and Commonwealth. Is the court a meeting hall for the application of mob rule? I think not.

Visual forget-me-nots necessarily dispel that myth. We're overdue for a public competition for a relevant emblem of Canberra that can be protected under Australian law, without expensive and irrelevant deference to the College of Arms.

David Hearder, Watson

The motion to expel Malcolm Turnbull from the Liberal Party is a final cruel twist of the knife.

One tires of hearing from senior Liberals that Malcolm was ejected because he had taken the party too far to the left. Where is the evidence for this? Turnbull retained all of Abbott's hard-right policies on emissions, refugees, climate, tax cuts for big business, renewable energy and the hard right's demand for a plebiscite on SSM.

One could hardly call this "a move to the left". The confusion is the Liberals have no idea what their "base" or the "centre" is that they keep saying they represent!

Ray Armstrong, Tweed Heads South, NSW

Anyone excited by the ACT government's contemplating an underground bus interchange, ("Going below for bus interchange", November 21) might reflect on the promise to Canberrans, that Civic's new bus interchange would be in use by about March 1979.

The Canberra Times' report of December 14, 1977, by Graham Downie, said the interchange would be built on both sides of Northbourne Avenue, at the intersection with London Circuit on what were at present two car parks.

This sounds remarkably similar to the sites now being considered, more than 40 years later, for an underground interchange.

Meanwhile, the on-street arrangement has had several changes, particularly the replacement of enclosed waiting rooms, warmed in winter, to discourage use by vagrants.

The 1977 plan provided for 32 buses, with room to expand to 48. With increased pedestrian movements, pedestrian walks, under or over the roads, would be provided.

The interchange was designed so it could be controlled from a central point to prevent one bus leaving just before a connecting bus arrived.

Recognising then, what our current transport planners apparently do not, the assistant secretary of transport and traffic policy Brian Darke said people did not like interchanging and it was necessary to make delays at any interchange as short as possible.

The estimated cost of that interchange was about $2.4 million. There are obvious benefits of the underground proposal, but there is little to no likelihood of it being built in the foreseeable future. The government has form when it comes to spending money on feasibility studies, only to shelve them. Remember the more than $6 million spent on a Belconnen to Civic busway which has not been built.

Graham Downie, O'Connor

So we may be "Going below for bus interchange" (November 21, p1). Why not go the whole way and build multistorey flats in the airspace over the interchange on the Northbourne-London Circuit site?

In fact, continue the flats the whole way along the middle of Northbourne Avenue, over the tram lines and filling the empty space left by all those scruffy gum trees and green grass.

I mean, the replaced trees will only drop leaves and branches all over the place, adding to the cost of sweeping the street and mowing the grass.

Geof Murray, Ngunnawal

Perhaps I have missed it, but so far there hasn't been any discussion about names for the tram stops between Gungahlin and Civic.

So here's an idea that both sides of the debate should be able to support.

In the spirit of giving credit where credit is due, how about naming the stops after the tram line's architects.

First among these names would be "Mitchell Traders" for their outstanding role in lobbying for a station where incredibly the architects of the line thought none was necessary. Then, at either end of the line, we could have the stations "Rattenbury" and "Barr" to recognise the alliance that made the tram line possible. In between, we could have stations named after the various bit players, including "Fitzharris" and "Gallagher" in recognition of their respective roles.

Of course there will be other station names in between, which will have to be decided, but one of those would have to be be "Cody" in recognition of the important role Bec Cody will no doubt play in ensuring that all the names are appropriate, and not encumbered by inappropriate historic baggage.

Enjoy the ride between Gungahlin and Civic (and return) and don't forget those who made this ride possible.

Ian Pearson, Barton

The Imperial War Museum Manchester and the Victoria and Albert Museum Dundee are two examples of metropolitan museums that have established a regional presence to make their collections accessible to a wider audience.

If it has the money, the Australian War Memorial could consider establishing a regional museum in the north or west of Australia instead of another extension in Canberra.

John Leech, Yarralumla

The Coalition government wants to give Treasurer Josh Frydenberg the power to force energy companies to sell off assets, such as the Liddell coal-fired power station, and to reduce energy prices ("Draft law would give vast powers to Frydenberg", November 20, p4).

I agree with Labor's Chris Bowen that the move would indicate the government's resorting to the lazy option ofpopulism.

I also thought the Coalition, in particular the Liberal Party, stood for free enterprise. The proposed powers suggest otherwise – at least in the case of energy companies.

Douglas Mackenzie, Deakin

In response to The Canberra Times article "When the bough breaks" (November 21, p6), look at the beautiful treescape we have strived to achieve in Canberra and then look at parts of Sydney e.g. Parramatta Road. Let's not lose what has been so meticulously planned in the past and become yet another bland landscape.

Gordon Edwards, Page

John McKerral's letter of November 20 is close to the mark in summarising Peter Coleman's article "Woodside backs a global carbon price" as "just an add (sic) for increasing gas sales at the expense of coal", (November 17, p11).

The issue, though, is the possibility of transitioning to a hydrogen technology. Mr Coleman's point about the net economic effect of the technology, while undeveloped, is most pertinent.

So also is Mr McKerral's point about the unavailability of gas during South Australia's state-wide blackout.

If Woodside has sufficient excess gas production to venture into hydrogen production using steam methane reforming, why was it unable to satisfy domestic demand?

Despite the excellent potential of hydrogen technology, there is a possibility that Mr Coleman is merely using it to reopen demands for fracking access.

Gary J. Wilson, Macgregor

TRUMP MAKES (UP) GRADE

President Trump giving himself an

A+ reminds me of when Bart Simpson changed an F to an A. Homer's fatherly advice was that he should have chosen a possible mark such as a B. In this case maybe an F can be changed to an E.

Dennis Fitzgerald, Box Hill, Vic

GELATIN: A BITTER PILL?

It would be funny (peculiar) if, with people taking so many supplements in their little gelatin capsules, it turned out that gelatin is bad for you.

Kenneth Griffiths, O'Connor

FETE ACCOMPLI

I was booked for illegal parking on nature strip on Melbourne Avenue along with many cars attending school fete. What a harvest!

How is vigilance by authorities much more acute in that suburb compared with others where cars park illegally on nature strips with no action taken by ACT authorities?

Gail Allen, Pearce

ABANDONED HOUSING

The relatively new housing commission units at 11 Lowanna St, Braddon, have been left abandoned now for over a year.

The nature strip and front has now become unkempt. So who's (mis) managing it? If it was a private place any building issues would have been resolved by now.

But no – we are left with an ugly scar and still a shortage of public housing.

Geoff Davidson, Braddon

INSPIRING ORR

It will be a great loss to the banking royal commission should it not finish its hearings before the expiry of Rowena Orr QC's secondment from the star chamber.

M. F. Horton, Adelaide, SA

MORRISON'S CAP

I quite take Sue Dyer's point that Morrison's baseball cap is useless as sun protection. But it does have one big advantage. While he is wearing it no one could possibly mistake him for Bob Katter or Barnaby Joyce.

Barbara Fisher, Cook

WE'LL ALL MISS CAHILL

Viva Tim Cahill, four football world cups, 100 appearances for Australia in football internationals for a return of 50 goals (a strike rate of 50per cent). The Australian sports person of the decade, if not acknowledged as such.

You'll be missed by all football fans as Australia continues to trial strikers who can match your international strike rate.

Rohan Goyne, Evatt

FACT AND FRICTION

I've got Wikipedia Peter Moran, Watson (Letters, November 21), same as you. I know the facts, same as you. I was taking poetic licence. As Oscar Wilde said, some people know the price of facts, but not the value of poetry. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Actually, the research assistant who writes my letters made the error. I forgot to check.

Kenneth Griffiths, O'Connor

Email: letters.editor@canberratimes.com.au. Send from the message field, not as an attached file. Fax: 6280 2282. Mail: Letters to the Editor, The Canberra Times, PO Box 7155, Canberra Mail Centre, ACT 2610.

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