I asked Transport for Canberra to take me from Calwell Park and Ride to Belconnen to get there by 10am.

Three journeys were offered, each an hour-and-a-half, give or take. I know it's not peak time but who has three hours to give to ACTION Transport Planners?

Add the farce that is Canberra light rail – the theoretical $600 million initiative, the new Park and Ride Wanniassa, which should be on Drakeford Drive – and you can see someone doesn't know what they are doing and expecting the rest of us to pay for it.

Give it up, Mr Barr. Wake up before it is too late. Until you actually speak with car users, you will continue to get minimal patronage.

Russ Morison, Theodore

Ken Maher (Letters, November 8) advocating the abolition of state upper houses is on the money, particularly his observation about their MPs riding the gravy train.

A more far-reaching reform would be to have state and territory parliaments terminated given that the Australian Parliament can legislate and implement just about any measure it now chooses.

Instead, voters could elect eight state and territory management committees with the top 10 or 12 of these being able to sit in a third chamber of the Australian Parliament.

It could be based in, say, Alice Springs and give decentralisation some oomph.

About 30 per cent of seats would be reserved for ATSI representatives. All up this chamber would comprise 150 MPs and its remit would be to pass bills on current state and territory and ATSI matters, subject to Senate approval ... a reverse of sorts of the constitution's section 51.

The arrangement would mitigate the deprivation of aspirant premiers facing the loss of their parliaments.

Taxpayers would have to fund this third chamber but would be relieved of funding the current eight state and territory parliaments.

Steve O'Neill, Watson

Martyn Allen (Letters, November 9) is "dismayed because the High Court did not rule on" the first part of section 44(i):

"Any person who – (i.) Is under any acknowledgement of allegiance, obedience, or adherence to a foreign power," but on the second part:

"or is a subject or a citizen or entitled to the rights or privileges of a subject or citizen of a foreign power" ... shall be incapable of being chosen or of sitting as a senator or a member of the House of Representatives."

But as these provisions are alternatives, a person could be "incapable of being chosen or of sitting" under any of them – not necessarily all.

The dictionary defines "title" as "right to ownership of property with or without possession", and "entitle" as "give a rightful claim" to something.

Thus a person who is "entitled to the rights or privileges of a ... citizen of a foreign power" has a rightful claim to those rights or privileges, whether or not they actually make the claim.

It seems that Alex Hawke and Julia Banks are entitled to Greek citizenship, but do not currently possess it because they have not registered as Greek citizens.

But the wording of section 44(i) suggests that their entitlement alone makes them "incapable of being chosen or of sitting as a ... member of the House of Representatives".

Michael McCarthy, Deakin

I cannot understand why Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has refused the generous and humanitarian offer by the Prime Minister of New Zealand to accept 150 refugees from detention on Manus Island.

It appears callous, even cruel, to keep these refugees in inhumane confinement when New Zealand is prepared to give some of them a new home. Are the refugees on Manus Island going to be permanently held hostage to the Australian government policy of stopping the boats? Death by drowning has been replaced by death in captivity.

Tony Pelling, Nicholls

M. Flint asks "what hope is there of renewable energy replacing the truly massive energy content of liquid fuels used by vehicles?" (Letters, November 6).

The energy demand of transport is not quite so massive given that most of the energy in liquid fuels is converted to waste heat.

The tank-to-wheel efficiency of internal combustion engine cars is typically around 20 per cent, whereas electric motors convert electrical energy into motion at around 90 per cent efficiency.

A small electric car requires about 13 kWh of electricity to travel 100 kilometres. Even a heavier, high-performance Tesla requires not much more.

The electricity to run an electric car can be readily sourced from additional solar PV generation.

Every kilowatt of solar PV installed in Canberra generates enough electricity to drive an electric car for about 10,000 kilometres per year.

You can make your own "fuel" at a price that is fixed for the life of the PV system. The local petrol station becomes the place to buy milk at short notice.

Ben Elliston, Hawker

The conservative authors of a rearguard parliamentary bill on same-sex marriage that they claimed will "protect" religion, should remember that in the army, rearguards often get destroyed and that religion is the home of snake oil salesmen peddling myths and lies from medieval times.

Religion has nothing to do with same-sex marriage as marriage is simply a legal contract signed between the couple, and increasingly does not occur in a church anyway. A ceremony in a church with the priest's hocus pocus is just that but the marriage is not legal until the government contract is signed in the back room of the church.

In my suburb all but one of once five churches have closed and 30 per cent, and growing, of Australians have no religion. In a few decades Australia will be 50 per cent or more religion free.

Now we need to get religious books out of our courts for swearing in a witness, cease prayers in Parliament and stop compulsory church parades in the Australian Defence Force.

Adrian Jackson, Middle Park, Victoria

In your report on the East and West blocks ("Crisis should stop East, West blocks sale: Greens", November 9, p4) Finance Minister Mathias Corman said "these buildings are surplus to the government's requirements".

In truth, he is simply implementing former prime minister Tony Abbott's preposterous 2014 National Commission of Audit recommendations for Canberra, which also included selling the Royal Australian Mint and abolishing the National Capital Authority.

This land has been held in trust for 99 years by the federal government for the development of the nation's capital. Walter Burley Griffin provided us with a splendid plan and a vision that represented the institutions and aspirations of Australia's burgeoning democracy.

The great national triangle and the parliamentary zone are the core areas, yet as the nation evolves so should the demands for new buildings and symbols representing the Australian ethos and its status in the world.

Given competing demands for metropolitan and territory purposes, "national land" for the future has become recently quite scarce. Privatising the parliamentary zone ignores national capital responsibility, as local Greens MLA Caroline Le Couteur reminded the Commonwealth government on Wednesday.

Griffin's faith in Australian democracy and his reservation of the national triangle as a repository and portrait of our institutions and ethos are, to my dismay, shaken, especially by the proposed sale of East and West blocks.

East Block served very well as the National Archives. West Block's "most famous hotel in Australia", according to Geocon's prediction, will patently clash with Griffin's ideal.

If minister Corman really believes the sale will "ensure their significant heritage values are retained", he must publish the lease covenants and statutory safeguards for public scrutiny. His decision to privatise appears to be illegal by having failed to obtain proper approval under federal heritage legislation, including public consultation.

Brett Odgers, Swinger Hill

The claim by Stan Marks (Letters, November 7) that the residents of Norfolk Island "have the same rights as anyone else" is of course false.

The people of Norfolk Island are denied any rights or say in relation to state-type matters such as health, education, the environment, aged care, or law and order. All of these issues are now determined, following the abolition by the Commonwealth of self-government on Norfolk Island, by the Parliament of NSW in which there is no Norfolk Island representation.

Having wrongly asserted that the people of Norfolk Island have the same rights as the rest of us, Mr Marks goes on to justify the removal of their democratic rights on the basis that they are few in number. The classic response by despots, through the ages, to the powerless.

Jon Stanhope, Bruce

Mr Marks has got it wrong (Letters, November 9). Norfolk Islanders (like the Indian Ocean Territories) don't have a state vote nor state representation. That means while NSW is contracted to deliver state services in Norfolk Island, we don't have any say in how our elderly are cared for, our sick are looked after or our children are educated.

We do not have the same rights as mainland Australians – though we pay the same taxes – and this is simply undemocratic. As far as population and powers, perhaps life in Hawker has insulated Mr Marks from the realities of states such as Vatican City, Monaco, and San Marino?

Brett Sanderson, Norfolk Island

The Paradise Papers are just the latest example of what has been known for years. Bankruptcy threatens democracy because multinational corporations and billionaires "Cheshire cat" (now you see it, now you don't) their tax liabilities. According to Paradise Papers analysis we are talking $35trillion or more. Of course this is "legal". As others have said, the multinational corporations and billionaires demand

police protection, hospitals (government funded private ones, of course) and anti-terrorist defence while using public roads, etc – but refuse to pay their tax share of the cost.

Why are governments unable to act on tax havens, despite the repeated revelations? They will not bite the hand that feeds them. Tax reform would jeopardise electioneering donations and post-retirement company board appointments.

Rod Olsen, Flynn

Following the racist incident in the Melbourne pub, Sam Dastyari said that young people face this often and don't have the skills to deal with it.

Our young people are learning good skills in schools and communities: the number one rule is not to respond with insults. It's hard not to; life is hard. Bring respect and peace into the exchange immediately. This response shows character and strength.

Sinking to the level of exchanging insults fuels the ugliness and incites more racism. Unfortunately MP Tim Watt's response in the pub to the racist comments, was not helpful. Be assured Sam, young people are learning the skills to defuse racism. Our political leaders can learn them too.

Sue Benham, Woonona, NSW

I am deeply dismayed by the lack of information by the ACT Australian Medical Association president about gap payments and private health insurance (Letters, November 8), and seemingly defending private health insurance.

I pay $216 a fortnight to a private health fund, yet an initial consultation with a specialist cost $240 – Medicare taking care of $72.75 and the private health fund saying the rest has nothing to do with them; leaving you $167 out of pocket.

Why cannot the professor see this is a problem. This is why people are leaving the private health system.

Steven Hurren, Macquarie

THE UNKINDEST CUTS

I can feel some sympathy for N.Bailey of Nichols (Letters, November 9), who feels badly done by with the $10 levy recently imposed to cover the pruning of trees that have impact on overhead power lines, given there are few if any such power lines in his area. Perhaps N.Bailey in turn canfeel sympathy for the tens of thousands of southsiders who have been slugged for a bloody tram that will go nowhere near them.

Tony May, Pearce

A DIFFERENT WING

I do hope that H.Ronald (Letters, November 9) read closely Maria Pellegrino's immediately-following letter, which relied on facts to support her case. However, I am puzzled that he did use "far-right" when he really would have preferred to use "far-left".

Roger Terry, Kingston

SWEARING ALLEGIANCE

The current fiasco about dual nationality of prospective or current Australians parliamentarians makes us a laughing stock worldwide. So many of us were born overseas or have duel nationality. Maybe all candidates and members of Parliament should sign a statement that, whatever their ethnic background, their complete loyalty is to Australia.

Susan MacDougall, Scullin

EASY BEING GREEN

When Shane Rattenbury says that the conversion of waste to energy is as bad as "burning dirty fossil fuels" ("Greens energy swipe", November 8, p1), he is talking a load of rubbish. One could ask what happens after 2020 and, if the plant was built, could not the energy be exported? I would have thought that every feature of this proposal was compatible with Green objectives.

Dick Varley, Braidwood, NSW