Rather than benignly viewing this strategy as devolution, I would characterise the situation as an abrogation of civic duty, and an imposte on business operators. Worse still, the strategy is failing the community. The concentration of business activity in the main satellites has stripped the smaller suburban centres of many of the businesses that might once have hosted "public" facilities.

Compounding present difficulties, some smaller shopping centres are restricting their facilities to shop tenants only by requiring a pin-code, and then we find that the duopoly petrol stations are gradually abandoning that traditional aspect of their customer services.

If it is no longer feasible for local governments to do what they patently should do because of vandalism and crime and an unwillingness to provide cleaning services – which I suspect is part of the reasoning – then what would this say about our cities in the 21st century? There must be a solution.

Ross Kelly, Monash

Bad question

The online poll question (Saturday, January 31) "Should ACT Government anti-rape posters be put up in bars and clubs, as well as offices?" is a classic case of how not to write a poll question. It is what is called a double-barrel question. What if I think they should go up in bars and clubs but not offices? How do I answer? Does the question assume that they will be going up in offices and want to know whether they should go up in bars and clubs as well? Or is it the reverse? If this question was put to me I would refuse to answer.

Gordon Dickens, Gowrie

Rule of the gun

The holiday season is over and the tourists have left town. So what have the residents of the Eurobodalla Shire and the many residents of Canberra who own property on the coast, got to look forward to now?

For some, it's Huntfest 2015 on the long weekend in June. There will be guns (and ammunition) for sale at this year's "festival of hunting"? Yes our local shire council has done it again! Not only did they not consult with the community before leasing the publicly owned Sports and Leisure centre on crown land to the privately run South Coast Hunters Club for five years, they have now ignored the residents again and granted permission for a firearms licence at this year's event. With 80per cent of residents voting against this in a recent belated request for community submissions, the majority of councillors have given equal representation to supporters of this proposal from outside the shire.

Heather Irwin, Narooma, NSW

Indonesian jails

I am not sure if Roger Quarterman (Letters January 31) was being serious or sarcastic when he wrote "perhaps the management of our Alexander Maconochie Centre should visit Indonesia to find out the recipe for success" when writing about the apparent rehabilitation of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.

The recipe for success is obvious – it involves imposing the death sentence, executing a number of prisoners each year, and at the same time, offering the possibility of a reprieve of the death sentence as an incentive to reform. Perhaps it would be easier, more effective, and cheaper to move the inmates of the Alexander Maconochie Centre to Indonesia. After all, moving customer call centres and immigration detention centres off-shore is regarded as being a roaring success by private enterprise and government.

Les Hegedus, Wanniassa

Unfortunately Roger Quarterman, I don't think the ACT would accept the threat of a firing squad as an incentive for rehabilitation.

Alex Wallensky, Broulee, NSW

Sense of humour

Colleen McCullough, as well as having a robust sense of humour and an infectious laugh, had a healthy disrespect for politicians and officious public servants. As Canberra is the home of the federal public service, her distaste, somewhat unfairly, extended to the national capital.

This was much in evidence when, in the late 1970s, Qantas and the tourist commission sought her approval to run a 17-day "Thorn Birds Country" tour of Australia, visiting the localities mentioned in her novel.

Unfortunately, the itinerary submitted to her included Canberra, which was not mentioned in the book. As Colleen told it, when she refused to approve this itinerary, she received a note back saying that Sir Lennox Hewitt, then head of Qantas, insisted on Canberra staying in.

What was her reply? "I told Sir Lennox to get stuffed," she roared, with an accompanying trademark chortle.

Phil Harrison, Narrawallee, NSW

Fluffy inquiry needed

Thank you to G.Burgess ("Buyback fairness", January 31) for acknowledging that all Mr Fluffy homeowners deserve sympathy. Equally, so does the Forrest family who are in no different a position to the rest of us "Fluffies"; they chose to buy where they could afford it and live in a place which pleased them.

I feel the second paragraph of G.Burgess' letter needs some correction. A Canberra Times article on October 8, 1987, by Rod Campbell says "ACT health authorities were warned of the dangers to workmen and householders of asbestos insulation 19 years ago [ie 1968] but the advice apparently was ignored ... and that the Canberra firm using it in homes be stopped. In a report prepared at the request of the ACT Health Services Branch of the then Department of Health (a Commonwealth department) – which then administered ACT health matters – Mr G Major, a physicist, warned ... In the course of preparing his report, Mr Major watched insulation work, involving South African asbestos fluff, being carried out ..." Certainly Dirk Jansen was using asbestos as insulation but he did so with the full knowledge of the Commonwealth Government which, at that time, was solely responsible for the management of all Canberra's needs. The Commonwealth and ACT governments are both responsible for the situation that Fluffy owners are now in. We need a board of inquiry established, the sooner the better.

Kathleen Read, Watson

Teaching only

With reference to the article "Strike Looms" (February 1, p1), I may have failed to complete an email survey sent to me by the Australian Education Union last year because I was too busy, but I think there has been some mistake. I am a teacher and I love teaching. I don't want less teaching time, I want a reduction in the administrative requirements that often take up my time at the end of the school day when I could be marking, planning lessons and taking up professional development. I want to be able to do my core work during the working hours I am paid for (8.30am - 4.51pm) rather than at home at night and on weekends.

From discussions I have had with friends and colleagues, I believe my sentiments are shared. We don't want "less" teaching — we want "only" teaching.

C. Shipp, Tuggeranong

Uren and trees

Missing from Tom Uren's obituary ("Prisoner of war who went on to fight for a better world", January 27) was his strong commitment to protect Canberra's urban trees. Two examples of that commitment come to mind.

As a member of the Federal Parliament in the 1970s he fought to prevent the proposed removal of mature trees in the Parliamentary Triangle. In 1983 as federal minister for Territories and Local Government, he gazetted Glebe Park, in Civic Centre, to prevent the planned removal of mature trees as part of an intended commercial development in the area. Glebe Park today is one of Canberra's most successful urban parks.

I wonder what Tom Uren would have said about the ACT Government's current ill-considered plan to remove all the existing nearly mature eucalypts in the median of Northbourne Avenue as part of the tram development?

John Gray, Mawson

So Tony Abbott sees himself as a good captain – the man lives in the fog of his own mind.

Yes, he was brutal but effective in opposition and he did lead the coalition into government.

But being in government is not a game and it isn't about war-speak to hide behind. It is more than debt and deficit. What is urgently needed from Australia's PM is leadership in big ideas, international themes and a true sense of fairness and equality.

Tony believes the community should judge him on actions but my test is first to ask if the actions are good for Australia and his government so far has failed this test.

M. Smith, Torrens

Yours to lose

The Queensland election result proves yet again that oppositions don't win government, governments lose them.

Ian De Landelles, Hawker

Mushroom menace

If the result of Queensland's election is anything to go by, then the ACT Labor Government could well share the same fate.

The governments ignominious and arrogant decisions regarding the proposed tram/light rail line will be their undoing; ministers Barr, Corbell and Rattenbury are treating the electorate at large like mushrooms. This will cost them dearly at the next election.

W. G. Priestley, Amaroo

Good of Australia

With Parliament about to resume now it's timely to ask if politicians learnt anything from recent years? Not from anything I've seen. They should all read, mark and digest the articles by Mark Kenny p1 and Waleed Ali p5 (Times 2, January 30) and Richard Denniss (January 31, Opinion, p9. I want politicians of all persuasions to govern for us the people and not in order to gain media brownie points or attention. Both the current and previous governments are more concerned with pleasing the media (press and social) and getting re-elected than they will ever be about the good of Australia. I want them to get on with it rather than disparaging each other.

Let's get the young educated, trained and in employment, rather than bring in workers from overseas on special visas or try to get people to work until they are 70. They themselves won't be worrying about working after politics thanks to their super scheme. Let's tighten up on tax evaders rather than encouraging them by getting rid of large chunks of ATO staff.

Let's encourage industry in Australia instead of letting it go overseas; let's stop selling Australia to overseas interests.

Contestability (whoever invented that word probably also invented "densification"). Naturally, private enterprise will line up to take on roles but they're not as interested in taking on those roles as they are in getting any funding that might come with it. Look at how the cost of your power has gone up compared with how your usage has risen. Ask farmers who have greatly reduced their water usage but find their costs have greatly increased.

Medicare changes, if there are changes in that, put the resultant funds into medical issues at CSIRO and other current research institutes going rather than creating a new Research Fund. Here's one money saver for the ABC — abolish televising Parliament. Preferably all of it but definitely question time, which has become a joke as they perform for cameras.

E. Campbell, Florey

Hoary, old concept

In his recent article ("Labor spreading misinformation on the public service", January 26), Eric Abetz talks about the small business owners of Canberra paying, by their taxes, the wages of Canberra's public servants. This hoary old, simplistic concept of hard working, small businesses struggling while supporting bludging public servants is an old device intended to divide and deride.

Maybe Abetz doesn't understand the community he works in. Being still primarily a company town, those same public servants are the mainstay of the Canberra's small businesses. Reducing public servants and/or their purchasing power affects those businesses.

Plus his wages are paid by the taxes of those same public servants.

Dallas Stow, O'Connor

CPI debate

I hate to carp about what Ross Gittins has written. He is so often right on target. But his article, "Measuring inflation a weighty matter whichever way you do it" (January 31, Forum, p5), fails to point out that prices collected by the ABS are corrected for changes in quality in accordance with modern international standards. That means the prices that go into the CPI cannot be the prices we have to pay in the shops. Try buying the toaster that was in the shops 10 years ago. Today's model is cheaper and better. The price in the CPI is even less than the current shop price because the latest model is a better product. In a society where technical improvement and model change are almost a way of life, the CPI will fall significantly behind what people actually have to pay for goods and services. The ABS should be asked to produce an index based on what real people have to pay.

Tom Hayes, Campbell

FROM A BURNING DECK

Tony Abbott thinks he is a great captain. The master of the Costa Concordia thought the same.

M. Pietersen, Kambah

BRAINSTORMING

I am really fed up with the publicity given and the waste of breath given to the knighthood awarded to Prince Philip. I think that Mr Abbott's budgie smugglers are too tight and have stopped the blood flow circulating to his brain.

C Parks, Torrens

ORDER OF BATTLE

You're next, Abbott. And your rotten government too.

John Passant, Kambah

THE JONES EFFECT

Once Campbell Newman and his ministers sued Alan Jones, Newman was finished. People saw parallels with the Charlie Hebdo terrorists trying to shut down free speech.

John Moulis, Pearce

SLIPPERY SLOPE

With Australia being governed by the Senate and Queensland punishing the LNP for the Tony Abbott, is Australia heading down the path of disruptive government being followed by the Greeks and Italians?

Ed Dobson Hughes

STEPPING STONES

If Labor gets in federally it'll be nice to see Christopher Pyne back in Opposition, where once again he will be a shining wit.

Barrie Smillie, Duffy

FREE SPEECH

I cannot imagine that the people on the board of Canberra Grammar School attaching a "mouth guard" to their appointed principal. Surely every citizen is entitled to express their opinion on matters of the day.

Tony Hill, Chifley

YOUNG AND FREE

Ian Warden (January 24) seems miffed at the lack of beautiful people over 30 in the new Canberra promo video "Canberra: The World's Most liveable City". My dragon boat team, The Canberra Griffins, are the featured paddlers. Their ages ranged from 14 to 50. They are all youthful and beautiful.

Joe Murphy, Canberra Griffins Dragon Boat Club president

THE CASH ECONOMY

It is easy to see Mike McGettrick (Letters, January 24) has never been in a supermarket checkout queue behind someone buying a few dollars worth of groceries who wants to pay by credit card. I would advocate the use of cash. It is universally accepted and usually speeds up service for all concerned.

Alan Wilson, Yarralumla

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