Were those fish still alive and gasping for breath or had they already suffocated or been beaten to death?

Then, below that photo, even worse, a photo of a small boy attempting to make his own kill.

Why teach children to torture and kill sentient animals?

Associate Professor of vertebrate evolution at Macquarie University, Culum Brown wrote recently, "The vast majority of commentaries — experts in a wide spectrum of relevant scientific and ethical specialities — accept the accumulating, multi-disciplinary evidence that it is likely that fish feel pain".

In her 2010 book, Do Fish Feel Pain?, Dr Victoria Braithwaite, Professor of Fisheries and Biology at Pennsylvania State University concludes, "The experiments and results presented in the first part of the book provide enough evidence to answer the question posed in the title – 'Do fish feel pain?' Yes, they do."

Why do we continue to inflict suffering and death on these sentient animals for our own enjoyment?

Mike O'Shaughnessy, Spence

Frances Clifford's reference to "private schools" (Letters, December 19), provokes some thought.

A truly private school does not put their hand out for government money to allow them to run, taking away precious and much-needed funds from government run schools.

Taxis are private, some bus companies are private. They do not require government subsidies and handouts to run.

Clearly there are many examples of organisations that do not need government handouts to exist. The vast majority of non government schools cannot exist without these government handouts.

I fully acknowledge this. My dispute is that a quite a number of these non government schools allow this term "private school" to be perpetuated, when clearly they should refer to themselves as a Non Government Organisation school.

If parents wish to avail themselves of the use of such NGO schools fine but they are not sending their children to a "private school".

D. Perry, Amaroo

I know one crew of mowers who do actually stop and pick up the rubbish first. Unfortunately not all crews are the same. But before you complain about the mowing staff not continually getting off and on their mowers to pick up rubbish, how about the public stop being such litterbugs, the garbos stop letting rubbish fly out of bins, the litter patrol pick up more often or better yet complain to Mr Barr about monies wasted on trams and other unnecessary things instead of being allocated to making this once-beautiful city look beautiful once again.

Those actually sitting on the mowers are told by the "pen pushers sitting behind a desk" to "just mow" with no regard to making things look good.

Some of these people on the mowers actually like to take pride in their work but are "poo-pooed" by the pen pushers.

Who should really wear the blame here?

Lyn Kinnane, Page

On the face of it John Warhurst's views on awards and representation in Australian life (Representing Australia, December 22, p18) look perfectly reasonable, but in practice his approach means that we too often pick people as a representative of an identity group or their activism in some area deemed appropriate by the selectors.

Present Australian of Year David Morrison is the quintessential example of the latter and, not surprisingly, he has been widely mocked for his bizarre utterances over the past year.

Those who disagree are apparently the equivalent of Hillary Clinton's deplorables and we all know how that ended.

Frankly, unless we can start selecting some genuine unsung heroes we would be better off without an Australian of the Year.

H. Ronald, Jerrabomberra, NSW

Mr Hockey referred to lifters (hard-working taxpaying Australians) and leaners (non taxpaying companies and politicians with money in tax havens).

Mr Morrison referred to the taxed (hard-working taxpaying Australians) and the non-taxed (non taxpaying companies and politicians with money in tax havens).

On the other hand Mr Turnbull referred to the lucky (non taxpaying companies and politicians with money in tax havens) and the unlucky (hard-working taxpaying Australians).

All the three word slogans mean the same no matter from which mouth they flow. And yet they think we are stupid.

C. Lathbury, Chisholm

How best might our members of Parliament win friends and influence people?

How best might they show they are with us not against us!

How best might they show confident leadership?

Build a fence! Build a wall! Build a bunker! Tell all of us that "they're all right Jack" and we "can all go jump"!

Marguerite Castello, Griffith

While 52 per cent of people say politicians don't know what ordinary people think, 100per cent of politicians don't really care (Wake-up call in our discontent, December 21, p4). The predominant impression is "election" provides an ingratiating profile, which, assiduously massaged, offers entry to limitless post-politics, double-dipping, sinecure opportunities.

Albert M. White, Queanbeyan, NSW

To be a true leader one must be prepared to take risks on issues that one thinks are important, even if unpopular.

Whitlam recognised China and loosened our ties with mother England.

Fraser welcomed Vietnamese boat people and took an uncompromising stance on apartheid.

Hawke and Keating dragged Australia out of its protectionist backwater.

Howard took a courageous stance on gun ownership and introduced the biggest new tax for 50 years. Rudd/Gillard made a historic apology to the stolen generation, grasped the broadband nettle, and introduced NDIS.

None of these decisions came without political risk.

Turnbull, when given the opportunity to take a risk by leading Australia to its Republican destiny, squibbed it.

By declaring that the time would not be ripe for an Australian Republic until Queen Elizabeth II dies ("Malcolm Turnbull reaffirms support for Republic in passionate speech" December 18, p5) he is putting it into the too hard basket.

Mike Reddy, Curtin

The PM in his business days had investments through or in the Cayman Islands. Now we find the Adani group has its structures routed through various secrecy and tax haven jurisdictions including the Cayman Islands. No doubt Turnbull will not be giving any of our money to such a conniving conglomerate.

John Passant, Kambah

My vision seems to be a variant on the film Rosemary's Baby. The baby's name is "jobsongrowth". It rises from its cradle to slay its same-sex parents, Scotty and Mal, shouting maniacally they should have allowed a parliamentary conscience vote on same sex marriage.

E. J. Rojahn, Calwell

I don't see an architect's name on the hoarding of that nearly complete government office block on Athllon Drive, Tuggeranong. Was it designed by the builder, or the quantity surveyor maybe?

There is no evidence of a landscaped zone extending into the site on the important Reed Street axis, nor "High quality articulated frontage to Athllon Drive", both stipulated by the National Capital Authority (NCA).

Why not?

It's mediocre, and an insult to our town centre.

Jack Kershaw, Kambah

I am shocked the mainstream media is suppressing calls to restrict the sale and ownership of heavy vehicles after another truck massacre in Europe despite the fact that they can kill far more people than an assault rifle. The mainstream media is so dependant on advertising revenue from the motor vehicle industry that they look the other way when these carbon polluting vehicles that are pushing our planet to disastrous climate change are also used to brutally kill men, women and children.

Meanwhile some people love their trucks more than they love children.

Richard Lutz, Glenside, SA.

I have a suggestion for the Canberra airport management, to balance decor that has become such an issue, in the public space.

My proposition is to have a contrast, or juxtaposition, with a large print of Guernica by Pablo Picasso.

Among the most famous paintings of all time, the mural depicts the Nazi German Luftwaffe bombing of Guernica.

Matt Ford, Crookwell, NSW

I used to commute by shared path every working day and enjoy a recreational cycle on weekends, but age has caught up with me.

It was always a joy to see young parents and their children, the elderly, and people walking their dogs enjoying the delightful footpaths of Canberra.

It was accepted behaviour that as a cyclist I would give way to all others – after all any delay to me was a matter of a minute or two versus disturbing their enjoyment.

But alas some cyclists (very few in my experience) seem to think they have absolute priority and lack any social decorum, riding at breakneck speed for what purpose?

Would Pedal Power support speed limits on shared paths?

John Curran, Yerrabi

Treasurer Scott Morrison is worried about the "air of unreality" around Australia's budgetary problems which could see the country lose its prized AAA credit rating ("AAA credit rating hanging in the balance as government delivers mid-year budget update", The Canberra Times, December 19, p.4).

Perhaps Australians haven't forgotten that it was only three years ago that executives of major credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's were accused by then US Attorney-General Eric Holder of making "false representations to investors and financial institutions, and took other steps to manipulate ratings criteria and credit models to increase revenue and market share"?

Or perhaps our politicians have cried "alarum, alarum" so often for so long in pursuit of their cynical political objectives, that Australians have stopped listening, let alone caring?

John Richardson, Wallagoot, NSW

Geoff Barker congratulates three students who received a score of 99.95 in the ATAR results (Letters, December 17).

He suggests that The Canberra Times hardly mentioned the fact that they attended state colleges, but would have made much of the story if they had attended private colleges, and would have sought (not "sort") interviews with principals.

He has no justification for this suggestion.

He does not know what the CT might have done.

He is trying to resurrect the old rivalry between state and private education.

My secondary education was at both state and private schools.

I gained from both experiences.

Barker avoids mentioning the fact that last week Canberra (Anglican) Girls Grammar School achieved a fourth Rhodes Scholarship for an ex-student.

Robert Willson, Deakin

TO THE POINT

MEMORIAL BEST SPOT

Ian Jannaway (Letters, December 22) seems to need reminding that if we want to reflect on wartime sacrifices one of the most excellent places in the world for doing so is just down the road from Canberra airport. It's called the Australian War Memorial.

Eric Hunter, Cook

LIGHTS NOT FANTASTIC

Did someone really expect that adding nine sets of traffic lights to a roundabout on a busy interstate highway would in any way relieve traffic congestion?

By comparison, that makes the Glenloch Interchange look like an exemplary piece of road design.

Denis Wylks, Holder

OVERPASS IMPASSE

I was not surprised to read about the inadequacies of the William Slim/Gundaroo Drive roundabout. Two high-volume roads like that warrant an overpass. But where would we find $10 million to do that when we have to find a billion dollars to build a tram?

J. J. Marr, Hawker

CRITERIA CHANGE?

Congratulations to Sarah Dobbie for being selected as a Rhodes scholar ('Sarah is ready to "fight the world's fight", December 16, pp 2-3).

This followed "a selection process ... designed to find high academic achievers ... to serve the public and encourage international understanding and peace".

Former prime minister Tony Abbott was awarded a Rhodes scholarship many years ago.

Under what contrasting criteria was he chosen?

David Headon, Melba

MOVE ON

In his diatribe against Trump's cabinet picks, (CT Forum, December 17, p16) Paul McGeough had one thing right.

He opened and closed with the aphorism: "May you live in interesting times.

Interesting times indeed.

Stop the whingeing Paul, the left does not own the path to the future.

Alan Gray, Jerrabomberra, NSW

WHAT A CHEEK

The three major global credit rating agencies are private corporations who have the affront to dictate a nation's credit rating.

Rod Matthews, Fairfield, Vic

ARGUMENT FLAWED

Belinda Robinson asserted that, "education as an Australian export has succeeded in spite of our antiquated copyright laws" (Letters, December 22).

I fail to understand why she then spent so many words arguing those laws need to be changed.

Gary J. Wilson, Macgregor

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