Holcim does not intend to pay for these resources. The NSW government does not intend to charge Holcim for these resources. That is $3.6billion of Australia's natural resources we are giving away to a massive foreign-owned company.

Why on earth would we do this? These resources belong to Australians, present and future. Are they aware their governments are giving these valuable resources away? At any time, least of all during a period of growing national debt and deficit, this would seem ridiculous.

Holcim is not the only company to whom we give our natural resources, free of charge. Other foreign entities avail themselves of the same extraordinary generosity (some might call it stupidity).

Holcim, and others like them, will take our granite, crush it and make necessary things such as road base. They will sell these resources back to us, at a handsome profit of course. They will contribute very little to the local communities surrounding these quarries. They will impose a huge environmental and social impact and, when they have finished, they will take their profits back to Zurich with them.

Once again, what on earth are we doing? Why at the very, very least do we not charge companies like Holcim just a modest royalty or resource tax of say $2 per tonne and direct those funds to support, supplement and enhance services in the local communities affected by such quarrying? How many hospitals or schools could be built with $3.6billion? How many new roads, extra rail services or new mobile phone towers could we build with $3.6billion?

Why are we just giving away our valuable and limited natural resources?

Geoff Pearson, Towrang, NSW

When Canberra's first traffic lights were installed, B.V. Fennessy of Braddon wrote (Letters, November 9, 1965), "The situation is much worse if the pedestrian is unwise enough to be walking on the pavement on the right of the roadway - against the traffic. None of the traffic lights is visible to him. Before he ventures into the crossing he has to rely on his observation of the traffic in deciding when to make the first step".

Fifty years on, the government plans to create a similar dangerous situation at the intersection of Antill and Badham Streets, in Dickson. In addition, people walking direct from the new supermarkets to Downer will have the dubious benefit of traffic signals that prevent them from proceeding except when their path conflicts with that of drivers turning right on a green arrow.

People who prefer the safety of pedestrian signals will face two minutes of delays.

This intersection will convey an unstated message, "if you want to cross the street safely and efficiently, drive a car". If the government wants to make any progress towards its "Transport for Canberra" walking targets, surely it will give us safe and efficient pedestrian crossings.

Leon Arundell, Downer

Since taking up the reins as coach of the Canberra Raiders, Ricky Stuart has demonstrated a decided pigheadedness and prejudice against giving Josh McCrone a fair go in the halves.

If Stuart does not give McCrone his deserved opportunity to play inside Blake Austin against Cronulla this weekend; surely he must show some decency and give us fans an explanation for his shallow and bewildering decision making process.

Peter Duffy, Wanniassa

Paul Pollard (Letters, June 23 and July 7) asserts that increased rates and land taxes can't force up rents. In Paul's world, increased taxes and charges generally lie where they fall. Experience suggests the contrary.

Businesses often succeed in passing on new or added costs. Hence, higher fuel excises have a nasty habit of finding their way to the bowser.

Paul's claims about land taxes, rates and rents rest on several inadequate assumptions. The most crucial is that landlords can't offload land taxes and rates on to tenants because the latter would simply up stumps and move elsewhere or stop renting. To use the economic jargon, Paul's argument is that the demand for rentals is "highly inelastic".

It is quite rare though for the demand for any product or service to be quite so price sensitive. In the rental market, such price sensitivity is unlikely because of: (a) the way in which rents are bargained; (b) the costs of moving to alternative accommodation and (c) the basic need of tenants to find accommodation within commuting distance of work and community facilities.

Tenants – especially the most vulnerable – seldom have the sort of market power needed to fully resist a rent increase. Their position is even weaker because they know that the costs they are being asked to shoulder are also being experienced by other property owners.

Paul's second erroneous assumption is that for prices to be bid up in a competitive market, sellers need to collude.

Such collusion, he says, is impossible. Impossible or not, it is unnecessary. For sellers to independently lift prices all they need is an awareness that market conditions have moved in their favour and a willingness to test that belief. Landlords only need to go online or look at their books to see if conditions are trending their way. Collusion is unnecessary.

Third, Paul, argues that over the long term it is possible for increased land taxes to flow on to higher rents but only because some landlords may chose to opt out of the market. I partly agree. The time taken for landlords to act can in fact be quite short. With ACT rental market tightening already ("Rental market swings towards investors", July 5, p23) the sort of spikes in rents witnessed here only a few years back are again an emerging risk.

Bob Bennett, Gowrie

Can someone tell me why Icon Water needs to sponsor/advertise? They have a monopoly on the provision of water supply to the ACT. Surely some of the unnecessary funds spent could go towards reducing everyone in the ACT's bills.

Paddy O'Keeffe, Palmerston

Full marks to Derek Wrigley (Letters, July 14), Catherine Moore (Letters, July 13) and the multiple other writers expressing alarm at the Abbott government's reckless and irresponsible trashing of our environment and our climate.

That our PM, with the most alarming, authoritative, consistent and disastrous reports on the human and other impacts of global warming, can attempt to destroy the renewable energy sector in this country, warrants legal action.

And to pre-empt those who regard this as simply another Abbott-hater letter, this has nothing to do with liking or loathing what the man stands for. It's about stopping an ignorant and dangerous man before he does more damage to innocent lives, both current and future, who will not survive on a warming planet. Fossil fools have no place running a country in 2015.

Sue Wareham, Cook

One feature of the controversy caused by the Coalition's instructions to the Clean Energy Finance Corporation not to back wind energy and household solar projects is disturbing, in part because it has received no mention. It is taken for granted that the executive should have such power, without referral to our representatives. I suppose this issue is minor, compared to the power the executive has to commit Australia to war – it is just another illustration of a flaw in our democratic process.

Harry Davis, Campbell

Finally, the government is seeing the light regarding the waste of money and time that wind turbines are for power. Good for Tony Abbott, he must stay strong and keep to his policy regarding the stopping of subsidies for these companies that are emptying the pot of taxpayers' money for nothing.

We who have lived through the devastation of the Lake George area with the building of wind turbines know the damage these machines cause. Noise, fire, killing of birds – it is all happening at the Capital Wind Industrial Site.

Julie Gray, Burra NSW

NASA's NewHorizons spacecraft has travelled 5billion kilometres and allowed Alan Stern, the mission's principal investigator, to say: "We have completed the initial reconnaissance of the solar system". With this information surely everyone understands that Earth is the only planet on which we can live – there is nowhere else to go. Travelling at the same speed it would take New Horizons about 78,000 years to get to the next star. I hope that this message is clear to Mr Abbott, his cabinet and Murdoch press editors.

Steve Thomas, Yarralumla

The arrival of the New Horizons space probe at Pluto after a journey of nine years is a truly inspiring.

Just as amazing to us is that the first photographs of the planetoid were received a mere handful of kilometres away at the Tidbinbilla Space Tracking Station, just over the Bullen Range, in plain view from the top of our street.

If we can do that sort of stuff, how come the internet access in Kambah is crap?

Ed Highley, Kambah

As Mr Hingee points out (Letters, July 14) The Canberra Times prefers to publish short contributions in the letter columns. Brevity involves its own challenges for the writer in such cases.

Describing European bankers as "dumb", however, should not be the consequence of the search for brevity (Letters, July 7). Dumb, to me is a lazy, arrogant word, when used to describe anyone's intellectual capacity, even European bankers. It tells the reader more about the user of the word than anything else. I am sure it doesn't appear in too many economic text books.

I would also point out to Mr Hingee that his constant referring to all things Irish when replying to my letters is an impertinent assumption. I am proud of my ancestry and my name but they should have nothing to do with the content of my letters to the editor.

Patrick O'Hara, Isaacs

One wonders what Paul Monagle (Letters, July 14 ) is afraid of when he attacks Gillian Triggs for speaking up in favour of the elimination of discrimination against same-sex couples who want to marry. He has little to worry about if his own figures on Canada are correct, where only 30percent of the .08percent of the population married. Hardly a big issue or threat to marriage generally.

It is a shame he has to use another person to pursue his objection to same-sex marriage rather than clearly stating why he is opposed.

It is amazing that those who belong to autocratic churches, saddled with a Bible that cannot be altered by any means, rely on democracy to support an argument in favour of discrimination and then have the audacity to ask a person in public office who has a legitimate but different view to stand down and run for parliament.

It is sad to watch political representatives refusing to change entrenched views in spite of the wishes of their electorate and, even worse, to see church leaders using school children as delivery boys and girls to send a document into homes (Don't Mess With Marriage) giving spurious and exaggerated reasons why only heterosexuals have some God-given right to marriage. The harm and hurt that this caused is scandalous.

No individual deserves the continued attack mounted by those who are comfortably part of the minority that seek to entrench the harm and discrimination that the majority of us want to overcome.

John Whitty, Hawker

According to Baden Williams (Letters July 15), "There was never 75percent support [to allow same sex marriage] by the Irish, as only 60percent of them bothered to vote and only 62percent of them voted in favour. The result was about 37.2percent – a far cry from her [Professor Gillian Triggs'] claim of 75percent support."

That is correct as far as it goes but for an honest analysis of the statistics one needs to go a bit further. Of those eligible to vote: 40percent did not care enough about the issue to vote; of those who did care enough, only about 37. 2percent voted in favour and only about 22.8percent voted against.

John F.Simmons, Kambah

Rudyard Kipling wrote that the British public's attitude to soldiers was that they were drunken criminals; in wartime the same men were our brave defenders. The same attitude seems to prevail about firefighters.

GDF Suez, the owners of the Morwell fire that burned for months and involved 7000 CFA personnel, has refused to pay the $18million bill sent by CFA; now the federal government thinks it can get fire services for free ("ACT 'dudded' for millions over fire services", July 14, p5). No firefighter would willingly leave people or assets in danger if they have the resources, but there are many who prey on their bravery and selflessness. No wonder the people at the sharp end become cynical.

Bob Gardiner, retired CFA, Isabella Plains

I must commend Evelyn Bean (Letters, July 15) her for her kind compassion for those living with chronic pain. I incurred an injury in 1983 with persistent pain still present today. Now I am ageing, I also have widespread osteoarthritis which has increased the pain levels further as well as causing diminished mobility.

I am taking large doses of Panadeine Forte to give me some measure of pain relief during the night, but I fear taking this long term will have an adverse effect on my body. Having also read the article Ms Bean referenced, I wonder if cannabis oil could provide a greater measure of pain relief.

However, I grew up during a time when illicit drug use was frowned upon and, for me, under the current legal restrictions I would find it difficult to resort to cannabis unless it was legal with controlled doses. As I live alone, the diminished mobility provides an additional challenge which may be relieved by better pain control.

Paula Calcino, Oxley

Q&A LIVELIER

"Thank you, Tony." I never thought I'd ever say these words! Your ban has made Q&A a more interesting program with a higher level of intelligent discussion. Please maintain your Captain's call.

Jeff Bradley, Isaacs

FROM THE MOUTHS OF ...

My two-year-old daughter is too young to write, but she abhors the Draconian policies of the Abbott regime. Or at least I think that's what she said.

Mark Holland, Gungahlin

COAL THE CULPRIT

I note various ministers in the ALP self-righteously defending silly wind turbines, but is the ALP likely to curb the flow of coal exports, a prime culprit in climate change? I don't think so. There are too many Martin Fergusons in the party for that.

Murray May, Cook

ABBOTT AND CANUTE

David Pope has gone too far this time with his anti-Canute editorial cartoon (Times2, July 14, p1). He totally misrepresents the good king who was actually demonstrating to his followers he did not have the power to stop the tide. What is far worse, though, is Pope's comprehensive slandering of Canute by showing him as Tony Abbott.

Eric Hunter, Cook

WHAT THE DICKENS?

I enjoy Nicholas Stuart's columns. I generally find his opinions interesting and often convincing. But perhaps, unless he is prepared first to check with Mr Google, he should refrain from literary reference. Mr Micawber appears in Dickens' David Copperfield, not Great Expectations ("Let's take charge of destiny", Times2, July 14, p4).

Jane Campbell, Ainslie

KYRGIOS A HERO

The media has depicted Nick Kyrgios as some sort of villain. In March this year I was proud to see this 20-year-old young man giving up his time walking laps of the AIS Track during the Relay for Life, raising essential funds for the Cancer Council. I am not listening to the criticism as he will forever be a hero to me.

Michael Lucas, Conder

WHAT ABOUT ISRAEL?

Our Prime Minister thinks that we should have "a nuclear-free Middle East" as it could be a great problem in a troubled area. Doesn't he realise that such weapons are already there in Dimona, Israel – 300 of them according to the US Air Force? This is a clear indication of the devious nature of that state. The fact that Israel also has American politicians in a vice-like grip also helps, of course.

Rex Williams, Ainslie

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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