The fact that more than 5000 people marched in memory of Tara Costigan should send a message to ACT magistrates that the community wants women to be protected and their male abusers held accountable.

I witnessed a domestic violence incident in my street and called the police. They took about 90 minutes to arrive. The next day I saw a youth steal a bag of groceries from Woolworths and the police took about 25 minutes to arrive. So what is worth more, a bag of groceries or a woman's life?

It is time that the lawmaker, the police and the magistrates started listening to women and taking prompt and effective action to protect them.

Caroline Ambrus, Calwell

Disease aid vital

Warren Entsch's opinion piece on tuberculosis ("Global response needed to rein in forgotten disease", Times2, March 26, p5) hit the nail on the head.

I met a tuberculosis survivor last week named Louie Zepeda, from the Philippines. She was vaccinated against TB as a child, but the effects wore off after a few years. It took two weeks to be diagnosed when she contacted TB at age 24, and in that time the TB made it into her brain.

The two years of gruelling treatment left her blind. I'm proud that our aid program isn't just about sending supplies when a disaster strikes, it's also about investing in medical research to develop better diagnostics, vaccines and treatment for diseases like TB that are right on our doorstep and leave millions dead or disabled each year.

I am delighted that Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has pledged $30million towards further research to combat TB and malaria. I hope Treasurer Joe Hockey can see the value of Australian aid and resists the temptation to take to it with a razor in the May budget.

Gina Olivieri, Kingston Beach, Tasmania

Abolish charge

Executive director of the Property Council Catherine Carter ("New proposal to revive Canberra's CBD takes cue from Melbourne", March 26, p3) is obviously biased towards developers.

But when she says the government's lease variation charge, a tax on re-development , is preventing re-development of vacant CBD properties (quoting record high vacancy rates for old, out-of-date properties as evidence), she's right. She's also right that this tax is inconsistent with the government's quite sensible "infill" policy, as compared with a more costly policy of having greater greenfields development.

It really is time the government abandoned its unrealistic idealogical stance that, because it technically owns the land (tell home-owners they don't own the land they paid a high price for!), it's entitled to appropriate any increase in its value if it's re-developed, via a lease variation charge. Indeed, such an idealogical position is quite illogical and untenable, because the government doesn't appropriate increases in the value of land for other reasons.

And there's never been any such tax in the states, even by Labor governments. So, really, for the good of the ACT, the lease variation charge should be abolished.

R.S. Gilbert, Braddon

Standing up for Uriarra G. Nielsen (Letters, March 26) makes numerous claims about Uriarra village, each of them completely wrong. For the record, Uriarra is possibly the "greenest" suburb in Canberra.

All houses must have an EER of at least five and almost all exceed this standard. Many houses have solar panels and we all have tanks. We strongly support alternative energy including solar farms and believe sensitive placement is vital if green energy is to become the norm. While it is tempting to claim real estate values comparable with East O'Malley, Yarralumla and (even) Garran, this is far from the case. We have a preponderance of young families in modest homes with large mortgages.

The village does not block any views of the Brindabellas. If we have a wealthy supporter exerting political and legal influence on our behalf please come forward. and make yourself known.

J. Middlebrook, Uriarra Village

Putting matter straight

The editorial "Solar company can repent at leisure" (Tiimes2, March 25, p2) claims that "Williamsdale is farther from the urban grid than Uriarra"; this is not correct.

The site selected by Elementus at Williamsdale is less than 1km from the grid, while the previously selected site at Uriarra was about 5km from a connection point. The statement that "the tab for the added transmission costs will probably have to be picked up by the taxpayer" is again not correct. Even if the new site had been farther from the grid than the original, the government has consistently made clear that any costs for relocating, and this includes connection to the grid, would be borne by the developer. Thirdly, the editorial writer's reference to the individual solar panels as "reflectors" is erroneous.

Simon Corbell, MLA, Minister for the Environment

Outrage misplaced

Brumbies star and activist David Pocock runs to the referee to complain that he was told that "someone" said (heaven forbid) "faggot" in a scrum to no one in particular and the usual suspects erupt in high indignation.

A theatre in Sydney, the "Red Rattler," engages in obscene anti- Semitism by denying Jewish school children a venue for their performance related to the Holocaust because the management does not like Jews and their politics in the Middle East and all you hear is crickets chirping. Wake up Australia.

H. Ronald, Jerrabomberra, NSW

Better way to kill

Whilst I agree with Timothy Walsh's sentiments (Letters, March 27) regarding wild horses causing damage to our national parks, control by aerial shooting is not the way to go. There is no guarantee that the shooters will make a clean kill. The animals could be left to suffer for who knows how long before eventually dying. You need to find a more humane method to fix this problem.

Alex Wallensky, Broulee, NSW

Kirsten Lawson ("A win all round, but it came at a cost", March 25, p2) is wrong in presuming that there are no losers in the decision to relocate a solar farm to Williamsdale. Canberra is the only capital in the country without a secondary airfield and this is essential for general aviation services such as flying schools that cannot coexist with a major jet airport. Before ACT self-government, it was the intention of the federal government to establish a secondary airport in Canberra.

Jon Stanhope as chief minister commissioned a number of studies proving the viability of a site at Williamsdale for an airfield. One study showed that such an airfield would make a profit for the government.

A proposal was put to chief minister Katy Gallagher's office for a carbon-neutral airfield, with the offsets being provided by solar generation. Solar farms coexist well with airfields and there are considerable economies, for example in the security provisions and the use of buffer space. However, when this proposal was forwarded to Andrew Barr's office it was rejected.

A number of other approaches have been made over the years to the ACT government to examine the airfield proposal, but on every occasion Mr Barr, both as the relevant minister and more recently as Chief Minister has adamantly refused to discuss or otherwise consider the issue.

The reason for his opposition is a mystery. The solar farm could be an opportunity for an exciting and innovative development incorporating both an airfield and a solar farm. Those of us who are established older aviation enthusiasts have made other arrangements at surrounding towns that benefit economically from our patronage. The losers are less-privileged Canberra youth who dream of an aviation career and others denied high-quality technical work opportunities by Mr Barr's decisions.

David Edmunds, secretary, Canberra Region Aviators Association

The secret deliberations over the Trans-Pacific Partnership involving Trade Minister Andrew Robb ought to be of major concern to all Australians. It is evident there is no transparency whatever regarding likely decisions that will affect all our lives. If an agreement is struck, there will be no opportunity for Australians to demand changes. Parliament will be able to approve the deal or reject it (an unlikely outcome), but not amend it. This is undemocratic.

Similar concerns to mine were raised during negotiations for the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. Europeans were able to take their case to the European Parliament. The European Commission accepted their collective concerns and did not ratify the agreement, thus defeating the TTIP.

I urge people speak to their MPs against the TPP – along with metadata collection and storage and the Minister for Communication's anti-piracy scheme. There are too many interrelated issues being discussed by too few people, without due regard for the legitimate concerns of voters.

Bill Gillespie, Wamboin, NSW

Academic freedom

Andrew Nikolic (Letters, March 27) would have us believe that his communication with the University of Tasmania over the allegedly "false claims" of Dr Michael Powell was simply to ask "if one of his letters – signed with his university title and position – reflected university policy". Can one, therefore, assume that if a University of Tasmania academic writes a letter to the press, signed with university title and position but singing Mr Nikolic's praises, he will again write to the university to inquire whether the letter reflects university policy?

(Dr) William Maley, Reid

The responses to Jenna Price's "No-clue Nikolic lunges at academic freedom" (Times2, March 17, p5), most recently by Andrew Nikolic himself (Letters, March 27), have surprised – not for their erudite content, but that so many (well, three anyway) people have taken the time to read Jenna Price's polemical drivel.

Ian Pearson, Barton

The road to reconciliation

I agree with much of what Bill Deane (Letters, March 25) says, and I would not endorse a sense of victimhood in anyone. Like him, I have great admiration for the Vietnamese community. However, I do not think it is helpful for him to try and draw parallels between Aboriginal communities and the Vietnamese.

I have had extensive experience teaching both Aboriginal and Vietnamese students, and I have also spent time in Aboriginal communities in the Gulf country of Queensland. The situation of the two communities is quite different, and their style of learning is quite different. The Vietnamese come from a literate culture, which makes it much easier to acquire language and formal learning skills.

White Australians tend to think that anyone who has difficulty with our style of education is inferior in some way: stupid or idle or recalcitrant. The Aboriginal students who struggle with formal reading and writing are definitely not ignorant, but their knowledge is not acknowledged as being relevant in the modern world. Many Aboriginal students do succeed on our terms. If others accept the poor opinion of their white critics and thumb their noses in return, I think that is understandable, although unfortunate.

Anything that builds respect and understanding between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians will lead to genuine reconciliation. Probably there will not come a date when we are all fully reconciled, although many people would like to see a symbolic moment occur. It is a work in progress, and grandstanding and victimhood are obstacles to be seen for what they are: obstacles.

K. L. Calvert, Downer

Kissinger a monster

I was shocked to see The Canberra Times had published an opinion piece by Henry Kissinger ("A champion of world order", Times2, March 26, p1).

Kissinger is one of the great monsters of modern times. He is directly responsible for the murder of countless numbers of people in Vietnam, Cambodia, Chile, Argentina, Palestine and who knows where else. And, like all war criminals, he has never placed himself in danger's way.

Yet, this war criminal is allowed to walk free and publish self-serving nonsense.

Would you publish an opinion piece from Hitler or Pol Pot?

Chris Swinbank, Kingston

Put voters first

Crispin Hull's analysis ("New math for elections", Forum, March 21, p2) of how some quotas are cobbled together when larger parties insist on having their candidates elected in a particular order is sound but his suggested fixes, numbering group boxes above the line or enforcing a qualifying threshold, suffer from not being focused on voters' wishes.

Party boxes are simply not needed, complicating the layout of the ballot-paper and potentially leading to an influx of candidates with little support just to meet new formality requirements. They also give electoral officials an incentive to advertise about the complexity of recording a formal vote, instead of just explaining that electors are issuing an instruction about the order in which what remains unused of their single transferable vote can assist candidates.

If Robson rotation is in use, as in the ACT, candidates with few first preferences get excluded early in the scrutiny. The instability and distorting potential of qualifying thresholds were evident both under our d'Hondt scheme and a list system used in South Australia briefly in the 1970s. Such artificial interventions add further unnecessary complications to a system that works perfectly well when voters' wishes, rather than backroom negotiations, drive outcomes.

Genuine Senate reform can only start from a desire to translate electors' informed wishes into effective votes.

Bogey Musidlak, convener, Proportional Representation Society of Australia (ACT branch)

A BIT MORE FOR AID

Our Federal government borrows more than $3billion per month in order to pay the bills. We could borrow a bit more, and increase our foreign aid (Editorial cartoon, Times2, March 25, p1). You don't mind taking out loans and giving the money to your friends, do you?

Bruce A. Peterson, Kambah

DOOMSDAY BOMB

I wonder under what circumstances J. Halgren (Letters, March 24) and other members of the Canberra chapter of Defenders of the Indefensible imagine the Middle East's only possessor of the nuclear bomb will use their weapon of mass destruction.

American Christian fundamentalists assume the bomb will be used within the next 50 years, heralding Armageddon and the Second Coming – which would be a fine irony for the Zionist Project.

Kenneth Griffiths, O'Connor

HARDLY HOLIDAY FUN

When I read the banner headline "School holiday fun that doesn't cost an arm and a tail" (Advertising wrap-around, March 26), I figured it would entail some sort of feature about activities to do at home and out and about. I'm certainly not against television, but parking your kids in front of the TV as "holiday fun" is a pretty bad idea.

Mary Webb, Aranda

GIVE US REAL FACTS

Your report "Ice addiction tearing Canberra families apart, say drug experts" (March 26, p5) does little to support the headline. You employ "Stalinist Statistics", 23 per cent of this, 40 per cent of that, and an increase of 155 per cent on something else.

I have no doubt there is an "ice" problem in the ACT but we need some real live numbers to support the claim. Sloppy journalism does little to help fight this scourge.

Patrick Ryan, Turner

BRING ON GOOD HABITS

Amazing how welfare cards are good for some people and not others ("Cashless cards for those on welfare", March 23, p5). I know of several "advantaged people" living in Canberra who are financially irresponsible and struggling because they use their income to pay for cigarettes, gambling and alcohol. Perhaps we should put them on similar cards until they develop "good habits".

Deborah Evans, Lyons

TUESDAY 100 YEARS AGO

Graeme Rankin (Letters, March 27) should know that April 27, 1915 was a Tuesday. And I don't think it was a public holiday. And certainly it wasn't in the ACT, which was not then in existence.

Athol Morris, Forde

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