It won't be actual government carpenters or brickies building the new homes, so the government envisages making money by selling the land once it's cleared. What's wrong with that plan?

The government recently bought this land from its current owners. Surely it paid them market value for it? No?

So it plans to pay families driven out of their homes by dangerous government incompetence, less than the market value of their main family asset?

That is, the government envisages defraying the cost of fixing their horrific mistakes by ripping off Mr Fluffy's victims. Besides, holding land in a falling market is not a good idea.

Cuthbert Douglas, Bonython

''Faith can be the perfect antidote to mean spirits'' was the headline of the article by Christina Odone (Times2, August 28, p5) that asserted Dr Kent Brantly's faith was the driving force which led him to minister (in a medical and missionary sense) to the poor and suffering in Liberia. He did good work. Of that there is no doubt. He sacrificed luxury and comfort in his homeland to do so. Of that there is no doubt.

In the same issue of the Canberra Times, there are stories and pictures of members of the Islamic State holding decapitated heads of their opponents, some of whom may be Christians, but certainly many of whom are Shiite Muslims. These executioners, too, are guided by belief that they are carrying out ''God's will''. Until and unless the God botherers of all persuasions give it up, we are all doomed to suffer at the hands of the religious imbeciles in our society.

George Beaton, Greenway

Thanks to the magic of TV, we witnessed the extraordinary nonsensical stupidity of an Arizona gun club instructing a nine-year-old girl in the use of an Uzi sub-machine gun last week. Virtually every sane person knows that guns recoil.

For a child to be in command of a machine gun switched to automatic is the height of lunacy and those officials responsible for overseeing this tragedy should be charged with culpable homicide.

The National Rifle Association had better have some very cogent arguments to resolve this situation or else President Obama would have every right to introduce the most stringent gun ownership and gun club laws.

The NRA should be totally ashamed of this tragedy and become responsible for the lifelong welfare of the little girl and her family.

N. Bailey, Nicholls

The highest court in Turkey has ordered the demolition of three 30-storey residential towers. Looming above the Istanbul peninsula, these new, luxury, apartment blocks destroy the unique silhouette of domes and spires that has remained unchanged for centuries.

Canberra's silhouette is composed not of human artefacts, but of the natural landscape. Our hills, preserved for the enjoyment of all in the Canberra Nature Park, form the natural framework within which the Griffins designed our ''city in the landscape''.

The same financial pressures that produced the egregious 30-storey towers in Istanbul, for the benefit of the few who could afford to live there, are alive and well in Canberra.

To succumb to them would be a costly mistake.

There are plenty of precedents in European cities of innovative residential developments that achieve high population densities in attractive, medium-rise buildings. The adoption of such examples here would contribute to Canberra's growth without destroying the vistas that are such a vital part of the character of our national capital.

David Teather, Reid

For Joe Hockey and Tony Abbott's information, I already make co-payments for GP appointments. First, there is the Medicare levy and then I pay the gap (substantially more than $7 every time I go to the GP, as I and many others do not get bulk-billed, despite what the government may think). Finally, I pay for private health insurance, which, in my opinion, is another co-payment, as I am saving the public health system dollars.

Gay von Ess, Aranda

So, the head of the Stolen Generation Council for NSW, Matilda House, can't understand the claim by Prime Minister Tony Abbott that the arrival of the First Fleet ''was the defining moment in the history of this continent'' (''Tony Abbott under fire for calling First Fleet Australia's 'defining moment''', canberratimes.com.au, August 31). Of course, the reason Matilda can't make any sense of the assertion is simply because it is intellectually barren and offensive. Had Mr Abbott chosen to use the words ''a defining moment'' rather than ''the defining moment'' or ''modern Australia'' rather than ''this continent'', his claim might have been plausible. Sadly, the words used clearly highlight the fact we have a prime minister who is, at best, profoundly ignorant and lazy in his use of language or, at worst, a champion of the ''white armband'' view of Australian history. So much for Team Australia.

John Richardson, Wallagoot, NSW

The ACT government seems determined to press ahead with the light rail system, even though it will be very expensive. Recently, I came across the Guided Busway that acts as a commuter link between Huntingdon and Cambridge in the UK. The network uses ordinary buses with slight modifications. The guided way is made from shallow concrete sections, not unlike the ''Hot Wheels'' design familiar to many children and parents, and the driver isn't required to steer. Naturally, the busway has right of way, so is a rapid transit system. As it uses buses, ACTION already has the infrastructure to manage the system and to service the buses. It has an inbuilt flexibility far superior to any light rail network. If it saves us $1 billion, I am prepared to allow a member of the Legislative Assembly to make the trip to the UK at our expense (as always) to take a ride on the Guided Busway.

Andrew Papworth, Campbell

I was disgusted to see a photo of former prime minister John Howard arrogantly puffing out his chest with Australian Defence Force personnel at the presentation of his ''papers'' to ADFA (''Howard's way: papers from the PM's past'', August 30, p4).

In the accompanying article, it is stated that Howard ''stoutly defended his decision to send the Australian military to the 2003 invasion of Iraq''. Howard is shameless. All balanced expert opinion on the Middle East is of the view that the invasion and its horrific slaughter of the innocents and destabilisation of the region has been a policy blunder of epic proportions.

All expert opinion is of the view that the present crisis in the Middle East is in part due to the Australian/American/UK invasion of Iraq. It is a tragedy of history that so often the guilty get off scot free from their actions and it is also a tragedy that the guilty so often never have any second thoughts about the damage they have caused.

Rod Holesgrove, O'Connor

I was surprised to see the headline ''Abbott outlines strong case for possible intervention with US in chaos-torn Iraq'' (August 29, p4), thinking our Prime Minister must have said something new. This was not the case, and this was not what journalist David Wroe wrote.

Abbott has not made a strong case for Australia to commit troops to Iraq at all. John Blaxland's cautious piece ''Be careful what you ask for'' (Times2, August 29) is much more to the point. We should find other ways to help.

Trevor Wilson, Holder

Under what specific sections of the constitution does the PM and the executive have the power to wage war without the passage of the legal authority of Parliament? As an Australian-born citizen, I am surely due a justifiable answer from him.

Bryan Lobascher, Chapman

Whatever Tony Abbott says, the opposite is the truth. The Prime Minister said he would not send troops to another US invasion of Iraq. In ''SAS will join Iraq weapons mission'' (September 1, p1), he says he will send troops. Why? President Obama says the wrong Muslims are getting the upper hand. Only US-approved Muslim butchers should prevail in Iraq.

What does Obama bombing the wrong Muslims in Syria do? It gives the blood-drenched Assad regime the upper hand.

Graham Macafee, Latham

When launching the National Museum's Defining Moments in Australian History project last Friday, our Prime Minister stated that after the arrival of British colonists in 1788, the next most important defining moment in our continent's history, in his view, is the ''capture of Jerusalem'' in World War I, ranking alongside the landing at Gallipoli.

Perhaps Mr Abbott also can still hear echoes of the clarion calls made almost a thousand years ago by a succession of popes and their powerful supporters, who inveigled tens of thousands of the underemployed, both poor and wealthy, to take up the cross and trudge to the Near East to fight, settle and fly the flag for Christian glorification, usually with unfortunate results for most of those involved. May our team captain and now team equipment distributor study the details and long-term outcomes of these and subsequent historic on-field exercises as part of his pre-game preparations in Iraq.

Sue Dyer, Downer

I really must take umbrage with Alison Waterhouse (Letters, August 31), who laments the arrival of the First Fleet and subsequent observance of Australia Day on January 26.

My ancestor, Thomas Acres, arrived on the First Fleet, albeit below the decks, on board the Charlotte, and I am proud to see my family history date back to the foundation of modern Australia.

While some in the community with their own justification may not like the association of January 26 to Australia Day, surely a more constructive response would be to contribute to debate with positive input to making a better society. This as opposed to merely changing the date and achieving nothing.

Chris Longhurst, Jerrabomberra, NSW

Christopher Hood (Letters, August 15) argued Fredrick Toben's prosecution under s.18C of the Racial Discrimination Act had nothing to do with inhibiting free speech. He says Toben didn't use the fair comment and good faith protections under s.18D available to him. Dismissing him as a denialist and an anti-Semite, Hood argues, tendentiously, that Toben, couldn't because to do so would have been untrue. It never occurred to Hood that, believing the law to be an illegitimate infraction on his right to free speech, Toben refused to submit the defence, because he didn't believe he should have to.

Three of the four publishing sanctions placed by Justice Branson on Toben went to matters of fact. He could not publish anything which imputed that: ''a) serious doubt that the Holocaust occurred''; ''b) it is unlikely that there were homicidal gas chambers at Auschwitz'' or ''d) some Jewish people, for improper purposes, including financial gain, have exaggerated the number of Jews killed during World War II and the circumstances in which they were killed''.

On the sole injunction against him which accused him of a racial slur, ''c) Jewish people who are offended by and challenge Holocaust denial are of limited intelligence'', Toben refutes ever making such a statement - and there is no evidence in the official transcript of the case to indicate he ever had.

Hood is entitled to his opinions, however unreasonable and unjustified. But I don't believe that in a free society, his opinions on matters of history should be beyond challenge because a judge says contrary opinions must not be aired.

Chris Williams, Griffith

I hope readers of the Canberra Times will make a special effort to pop in to the National Film and Sound Archive to see a film in September before the Abbott government's budget cuts close down the showing of movies there from October (''Arc cinema farewells silent achievement in film history'', August 29, p6).

Please note when you are there that these cuts have already closed the cafe and the gift shop and ended the employment of some talented staff who used to work there.

Amazing that Prime Minister Tony Abbott can suddenly find $600 million to look for terrorists at Sydney and Melbourne airports, as he thinks this will be a vote winner, but cannot budget to continue showing films at the National Film and Sound Archive.

The Philistines really are ruling us!

John Davenport, Farrer

There is a great deal of ''nastiness'' in Roald Dahl's writing for children, although Revolting Rhymes (''Nasty word sinks Dahl book'', August 29, p8) seems aimed at teenagers.

In relation to the word ''slut'', this originally meant a female dog and has also been used in the past to mean a girl or woman who did a poor job of cleaning. Hence, ''slut's wool'' was the fluff that such a person allowed to accumulate under beds. Even in 1982, the word ''slut'' did not carry the level of offence it does today.

Jenny Wright, Karabar, NSW

If Scotland's referendum results in Scotland separating from the United Kingdom, should the UK change its flag and remove the cross of St Andrew? And if so, should Australia change the Union Jack in its flag?

M. Pietersen, Kambah

DANGEROUS PLAY

Nick O'Malley (''Second victim is the girl who pulled the trigger'', August 29, p13) wrote: ''[But] sub-machineguns are dangerous things that perhaps should not be in the hands of nine-year-olds, even under close supervision''.

Perhaps?

Greg Pinder, Charnwood

TRY A DIFFERENT VIEW

David Irvine, ASIO's director-general, describes his new building as ''entirely unobtrusive'' (''ASIO set for the big move'', August 28, p7). I challenge him to take a look at it from Legacy Park and surrounding streets and repeat that astounding assertion.

Andrew L Schuller, Campbell

SHARE THE PAIN

Now that pay freezes are gathering pace in the Commonwealth Public Service, perhaps our ''jolly pollies'' might voluntarily extend their ''symbolic'' pay freeze to, say, five years to share the pain?

R.C. Warn, Weston

COLLATERAL DAMAGE

So, the light rail project is planning to run over a number of threatened species (''Rezoning plan for light rail already in hand'', August 30, p1). And the Conservator of Flora and Fauna ''hopes'' that some of them can be relocated. I wonder where the Conservator got that idea from? Skippy perhaps. It's a shame we cannot avoid these sensitive areas.

Philip Machin, Wamboin, NSW

POINT DRIVEN HOME

Now I understand what Joe Hockey meant. Poor people don't drive … $500,000 bomb-proof BMWs.

John Passant, Kambah

WEAPONS FROM WHERE?

On the ABC RN Breakfast program on Monday, Defence Minister David Johnston said the the RAAF would be ferrying Russian weapons and ammunition to the Kurds in Northern Iraq.

With the Abbott Government deploring the Russian support for the separatists in Ukraine and seeing that Australia has economic sanctions against Russia, who is supplying these weapons?

Norm Johnston, Monash

IT'S NOT THE MONEY

When Cardinal George Pell talks about compensation for the victims of child sexual abuse, money is not the point. What the victims want is the perpetrators to be punished. Instead of seeking legal ways to save money, the simple solution would be to defrock the priests. The question is, why didn't Pell do that? Surely he doesn't have to consult the Vatican to do that?

Phylli Ives, Torrens

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