It is a pity that Medicines Australia was not approached in regard to this story given the gravity of the accusations being made within it. The article introduced Professor Gotzsche as a co-founder of the Cochrane Collaboration, and it implies that Cochrane endorse the professor's views. It has been explicitly conveyed to me that this is not the case. Gotzsche's views are entirely his own.

Medicines save lives, prevent, manage and cure diseases and avoid unnecessary government expenditure on treatments such as hospitalisation and surgery. Accusations that may frighten people into stopping their medication, are irresponsible and frankly, dangerous.

The Australian pharmaceutical industry is one of the most highly regulated industries in Australia. All prescription medicines available to patients in Australia have been rigorously assessed by the Therapeutic Goods Administration for quality, safety and efficacy.

Put simply, only medicines that have been scientifically proven to work and are deemed to be safe and of high quality, are made available to Australians as prescription medicines.

Suggesting otherwise calls into question the capability and integrity of the pharmaceutical industry, government, the regulators, and public health professionals globally.

Not to mention the ethics committees and ability of doctors and patients to make informed decisions about their healthcare needs.

Tim James, CEO, Medicines Australia

Over a million Australian children are affected by the drinking of others; 142,582 are substantially affected, and more than 10,000 are in the child protection system.

Those figures are shocking and any attempt by G. Miller (Letters, February 27) to downplay the significance of these family and domestic violence findings and to detract from this important conversation is highly suspect.

Mr Miller's concern for the impact on 'struggling small and medium enterprises' as a result of increases in the price of alcohol is similarly questionable, and certainly out of step with growing community sentiment that prioritises health and safety. The Australian public no longer believes the alcohol industry has some inalienable entitlement to profit from a dangerous product.

Mr Millar is also wrong on the issue of price.

Alcohol pricing reform is in fact one of the most cost-effective ways to reduce alcohol-related harms. Indeed, over a hundred peer reviewed studies on the effects of alcohol price and taxation levels on alcohol harms have found overwhelming evidence of their direct effect.

Mr Millar attempts to frame the issue of alcohol consumption and its link to domestic violence as a debate with no easy answer.

While that's certainly the defensive, self-serving position of the alcohol industry, anxiously guarding their profits and market share, the truth is, while a complex issue, the solutions to reduce alcohol harms and create a safer and healthier society are within easy reach.

Michael Thorn, chief executive, Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education

G. Miller (Letters, February 27) may have misconstrued Jenna Price's article ("Alcohol free-for-all must end now for kids' sake", Times2, February 24, p5).

As I read it, Price is addressing all excessive drinking, not just addiction. Thus she reports that FARE has "shelves of research" to prove that price increase reduces consumption. What evidence does Miller have for suggesting that it would not?

The Price article deals with a nationwide issue but it is not clear why Miller thinks restrictions used in other places would have no application in the ACT. And in fairness, Price does not say that alcohol itself was available "in all settings, at all times of day." She is describing social attitudes.

As to G. Miller's concern that increased "input costs" could drive small businesses to the wall, perhaps by way of illustration he/she could tell us how many businesses have folded because of the hikes in tax and other controls on tobacco sales in recent years.

He/she might also wish to disown the implication that widespread family dysfunction and some 440 hospitalisations or deaths each day (sorry to be emotive) are warranted in order to ensure the viability of businesses. Must we accept an alcohol-dependent economy?

Ian McKie, Melba

Tony Powell argues that an intelligent and effective ACT planning system requires a 'complex array of skills and active arrangements between governmental and private enterprise resources that, because of the de-skilling of the territory public services over the past 20 years or so, no longer exist in Canberra'. (Letters, March 2)

Turn the page, and Graham Downie observes that the ACT's public servants 'lack the specialist knowledge required for the complex task' of creating a well-designed and operated public transport system ('Action on public transport needed urgently', Times2, March 2, p.5).

It is unlikely to be a mere coincidence when two long-time observers of ACT Government decision-making, writing about different issues, draw such similar conclusions.

The de-skilling of the ACT public service is clearly an issue with wide-ranging implications and must be addressed if Canberra is to succeed as a liveable and successful city during its second century.

Karina Morris, Weetangera

It occurred to me that those who wanted the War Memorial's aboriginal gargoyles taken down because they were racially offensive might include some who condemned the Taliban for destroying the Bamiyan buddhas, which they had thought religiously offensive.

Just as I was about to pen a scathing expose of this hypocrisy, it further occurred to me that my own opinion that the aesthetically monstrous Northbourne Avenue flats should be demolished despite their heritagemight suggest some hypocrisy closer to home.

Greg Pinder, Charnwood

Tony Powell (Letters, March 2) is spot on with his insights into the Canberra planning and budget mess.

Canberra politicians and planners need to revert back to being public servants in a democracy, and do what the public wants. Currently they pander to the Greens, who hold the balance of power, but only represent only 10per cent of the population.

The current Greens transport policy does not appear to be based on any cost-benefit analysis in relation to dollars or carbon. This will come back to bite us.

Canberra desperately needs more car parking, the people want it and the total environmental cost-benefit ratio using fuel efficient cars has got to be less than buses and trams. Canberra politicians and planners can drive to work, park in their allocated spaces, drive home picking up their kids on the way and park at home in their garages.

Why are they making it difficult for everyone else to do this too?

John Skurr, Deakin

There are many winners and losers from the introduction of paid parking in the Triangle apart from public servants, the NCA and the ACT government.

Some of the heaviest losers are residents of Forrest, Barton, Kingston and dare I say Campbell who have experienced heavier traffic flows and no kerbside parking as public servants park a kilometre from their workplaces just to get free parking. Winners include organisations and some residents who sell parking in their private lots.

Unexpectedly, perhaps the greatest winners are the workers themselves who, often donning sneakers, walk an extra 30 minutes a day. The positive results to their health (as well as to their pockets) from this exercise probably exceed perceived losses. And not bad for local and federal health budgets either.

Danny Kozak, Red Hill

How many times can the organisers of events around the Lake underestimate the crowd numbers who will be in attendance? My family visited Enlighten on Saturday night and attempted to buy food from the Noodle Market but gave up after an hour waiting like sheep in a pen unable to see what was on offer from the stalls as we could not see nor move.

Why could there not have been more food stalls located strategically closer to the various buildings and offering more variety of food and making it easier to access and then enjoy the fare before embarking upon a perambulation of the lights? This would have meant that the crowds were not all in the one place looking for something and somewhere to eat?

No wonder Canberra gets a bad rap for organising large scale events and not listening to feedback from previous ones!

Chris Hume, Banks

I sometimes wonder whether the day will come when there is no point actually watching the news on television, as images on an ever widening range of stories are blurred out.

It started with people destined for court but now schoolchildren cannot be shown, and football players train in a big blur whenever performance enhancing drugs are mentioned. Babies of criminals and victims alike have their faces blurred out, in case they might one day be recognised. Even Jihad John's face was not shown, after his name was revealed (perhaps to avoid prejudicing a future Australian trial?).

On one occasion – I swear this is true – I saw a news item with a dog whose face was hidden, as it was in disgrace for some canine misdeed.

Despite all that, ABC News felt it was acceptable to show footage of a distressed-looking paramedic performing CPR on the Sydney man who was shot by police, and who later died. So much for any idea that they actually care about privacy, or are at all sensitive to the feelings of viewers, or families affected by tragedy.

G. Burgess, Kaleen

What the article ("Sex, nudity, swearing may be on TV from 7.30pm", February 20) didn't highlight was something even more important to families, that violence can also be seen on the screen from 7.30pm onwards.

The commercial television body free TV wants non high-impact violence on the air from 7.30pm onwards, a time when young children are likely to be watching before going to bed.

High-impact violence is to be programmed for 8.30pm onwards.

How busy program managers will be able to differentiate between non-high impact violence and high-impact violence is beyond my comprehension. No matter how any corporate body tried to categorise violence, any violence is always stressful to young impressionable minds.

I hope that the Australian Communication and Media Authority does not agree to the proposal but instead to consider rolling back the time that M rated and MA rated programs can be screened in the evening. Why not 9pm?

Douglass Wright, Lyons

Canberra's buses have the same problem that besets all Australian public transport ("Action on public transport needed urgently", Times2, March 2, p5).

The first is that many systems are run by the public service and the unions. It is a cosy arrangement for both.

Compare Melbourne and Sydney train services.

Sydney has the cosy arrangement, with gross overstaffing and unreliable services.

Melbourne's service is privatised and, while not perfect, is a model of efficiency compared to 25 years ago.

The other main issue is that no senior person in any Australian transport system uses the system. They have taxpayer or company-funded cars and private parking in the city. The politicians do not use it.

Fact-finding trips overseas to see other systems involve rushing between meetings in chauffeured cars, not actually using the system.

And I have been a regular bus user for 30 years.

Brian Hatch, Red Hill

If Turnbull was PM ("What if Turnbull was PM?", Times2, February 27, p4) the very first thing he should do to improve the government's standing is to scrap the previous "captain's pick" knights and dames of the Order of Australia and convert the recent recipients' awards to the correct highest level, Companions of the Order, where they should have been in the first place, maybe even including the Duke. He's always been a good guy.

Malcolm Robertson, Chapman

FOLLOWING THE US

Security guards outside of schools? Off we go, further down the US path.

Keith Hammond, Campbell

RETALIATION LIKELY

The Indonesian government must realise that if the execution of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran takes place, the Australian and other governments will have no option but to take effective measures. It could affect foreign aid, tourism or trade. Indonesia can't keep on executing foreign nationals without expecting repercussions from around the world.

Elizabeth Janssen, Kingston

REMEMBER VIETNAM

Prime Minister, unfortunately you do not recall how the Australian involvement in the Vietnam War started with the sending of "training advisers" to the country. Your proposal to send advisers to Iraq is flawed and, as a Vietnam veteran, I would not like to see the repeat of that war.

Vic Robertson, Page

READING THE POLLS

It is hardly a lift in Abbott's vote; it is much more likely a fall in the ALP vote with the dud at the helm. Mr "No Ideas" Bill Shorten should go before the next election, otherwise "even a drover's dog" could win for the Coalition.

David Roberts, Dickson

REVOLVING DOOR

Bill Shorten shouldn't think he can win the next election by not being Abbott. That only works for the conservatives. Fraser got in by not being Whitlam, Howard by not being Keating and Abbott by not being Rudd, each more unpopular than the last.

S. W. Davey, Torrens

SURE-FIRE FILLIP

Tony Abbott has a chance to put big points on the scoreboard simply by not doing the ridiculous ("Bad medicine in Trans Pacific deal", March 3, p2). Scrap the TPP treaty.

Gary J. Wilson, MacGregor

ALTERNATIVE PLAN

It's not that long ago, when the ALP, Greens and the PUP opposed the government's unpopular budget plans to reduce deficit, Tony Abbott challenged them to come up with their plans. Now that Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has come up with a plan, is he going to accept it?

Sankar Kumar Chatterjee, Evatt

HISTORY LESSON

Could someone please tell a member of the cabinet to read the early history of the Vietnam War? Sending military "advisers" to the Middle East is a good idea if you wish to involve us in a 20-year war with no visible end point.

Charles J. Krebs, 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.

Keep your letter to 250 words or less. References to Canberra Times reports should include date and page number. Letters may be edited. Provide phone number and full home address (suburb only published).

Correction: A letter to the editor published on Tuesday incorrectly named Craig Emerson in relation to recent court cases. The writer was referring to court cases involving Peter Slipper and Craig Thomson.