Yet there is an application for development that is completely unnecessary costing $190,000, to be paid for by ACT taxpayers. The proposed asphalted parking lot, to be unlocked only on events days, will take up the last remaining remnant of community recreational green space on the western side of the heritage land outside the oval. It is also a threat to a significant exceptional tree, misidentified in the DA:201629581 and supposedly under heritage protection.

To add insult to injury, TAMS new footpath and guttering completed in April is to be demolished. At the western entrance to the oval there are more than six available car parks that are more convenient for drivers with a disability. The parking is already asphalted, level, more accessible for entry and requires no expenditure.

The $190,000 will form part of Barr's grand gift to developers of the heritage Manuka Circle Park. With reference to the considerable contraction of the oval perimeter, estimates of the value of this inner-south land grab approach a possible $150 million. Barr's gift is in exchange for a diminishing possible $20 million inside the oval with a further $20 million to apply outside the oval. This latter will be swallowed up on landscaping for the unnecessary commercial and residential development along with the unnecessary relocation of the cricket practice nets.

What does it take for Mr Barr to see that he's abusing voters?

B. Moore, Kingston

After recently watching the TV series Utopia on the ABC, I feared that the development process in the ACT was no different. My concerns have been confirmed by the two articles in The Canberra Times: one by Kirsten Lawson ("Potential conflicts a developing issues in our small city", June 25, p1) and Jack Waterford's comment article "Pygmies blocking Barr's views of future" (Forum, June 25, p1).

There appears to be a cabal of vested interests directing development in the ACT to the detriment of the community.

The ACT government seems to be embracing developers while keeping the community at arm's length. The so-called unsolicited bid by Grocon and GWS to redevelop the Manuka Oval has been facilitated by government agencies since the latter half of 2014. In contrast, the Kingston and Barton Residents Group faced significant delays to obtain information about the Master Plan for the Manuka Oval Precinct and had to resort to seeking assistance from the ACT Ombudsman.

What was there to be gained by withholding this information from the community?

Where is transparency in this government?

Paula Harris, Narrabundah

So Glebe Park, our beautiful historic community asset, is to be taken over by the planned new casino. The takeover comes in several guises: by an extension that takes over park space; by turning the park itself into a grand casino entrance; and by symbolic significance. It's a takeover that subjugates the purposes of a much-loved public park, turning it into nothing more than an advertising hoarding for the crude interests of casino owners.

Does Mr Barr really want to let this happen?

Ian W. Morison,Barton

I was dumbfounded to learn there will be no asbestos inquiry ("Not much to gain from a Fluffy Inquiry – Barr", June 22, p2). Failure to warn the ACT community of the dangers of loose asbestos insulation and to permit its installation is a gross failure of a generally recognised function of government to protect consumers. How did this occur and why did the competent authorities at the time not warn the public of those dangers?

Only by determining how such a dangerous product was permitted to be used can effective measures be taken to prevent a repetition.

We've had a less-than-satisfactory clean-up, families being forced to leave their homes, homes being demolished and whole communities being put at risk – not to mention the dreadful suffering for those who contract mesothelioma.

The royal commission into the pink batts program, which killed two young men, found that the Commonwealth was responsible for the results.

In part, it said "the Australian government conceived of, devised and implemented a program that enabled very large numbers of inexperienced workers – often engaged by unscrupulous and avaricious employers or head contractors, who were themselves inexperienced in insulation installation – to undertake potentially dangerous work. It should have done more to protect them".

I urge the ACT government to secure the co-operation of the Commonwealth to prosecute an asbestos inquiry.

M. McConnell, Giralang

It's that time again for Australian of the Year Award nominations (closing August 7). It's time, also, to reflect on the 2016 imbroglio where an embarrassment to the Australian Defence Force allowed himself to be manipulated by a laterally recruited person with undisguised "issues". Lieutenant-General David Morrison departed from the workable "don't ask: don't tell" policy for ADF members with abnormal sexual appetites or indeterminate genitalia.

The then Chief of Army alienated the overwhelming bulk of the ADF and for that matter mainstream Australia who, before his capitulation to a very small but very noisy minority, could live and let live. And the fallout from General Morrison's surrender to extremist forces and his own ill-considered strategic thinking?

A La Trobe academic persuades the Victorian ALP government to advance curricula which effectively has the prospect of emasculating pre-pubescent boys before they have the chance to determine their sexual orientation.

General Morrison emerged as an ill-deserved winner of the AOYA award, in part of the machinations of a plethora of ideologues who populate institutions like our universities and our national broadcaster, the ABC. Fairfax Media could, and should, engage in meaningful discussions regarding who has best given sustained quality service, with lasting benefits, to ourcountry.

Patrick Jones, Griffith

Who would have thought that one of the oldest, wisest and most stable democracies in the world, Britain, would have got into such a horrendous muddle over its vital relationship with its European neighbours.

No serious thought seems to have been given, and no reliable information provided, before the referendum was held, a process not legally binding on government nor having any normal role in British policy making. This has threatened the remaining unity of the UK, annoyed Britain's major customers and allies and caused delight among Europe's many right wing and quasi fascist minorities as well as Russia.

All of this because the old-Etonian Prime Minister, David Cameron, lacked the guts to stand up to a rebellion from the Tory Old Guard or the threat to his position by his fellow old-Etonian Boris Johnson. He unleashed all the anger in declining industrial areas, ignored the genuine sentiments of Scotland, and built his support on racist unease about Polish immigrants legally brought to England to supply agricultural labour on the east coast.

The European Union is not a perfect body. But it has sustained peace, progress and cooperation in once war-torn Europe. The British Empire no longer exists. Those who believe it can be revived on its own are mistaken. As a loyal and devoted dual citizen I can only hope this absurd mess can be resolved at once, before any more damage is done.

James Jupp, Hughes

The great black cloud of uncertainty that has now settled over Britain may have a silver lining, though at present it is hard to discern. To the apparent surprise of many Brexit voters, it seems that another independence vote will now be held in Scotland, and will this time be successful. The EU is most likely to offer excellent terms to Scotland to rejoin the Union. Though hard to imagine, it is nevertheless most likely that English visitors to Scotland will soon need visas. The cloud's silver lining concerns Britain's nuclear weapon, which will have to look for a new home, as the present base in Faslane will be barred to the submarines after Scottish independence. This year a parliamentary debate was promised on the renewal of Trident. The renewal, involving building a new fleet of submarines, would be very expensive, estimated at around $400 billion over time.

Chancellor Osbourne warned before the Brexit vote that an exit would leave a "black hole" of $50 billion, that would have to be filled by increased taxes and cuts in welfare. Building a new home for Trident in England or Wales will cost more billions. So there is a real hope that the vote in Parliament will go against Trident renewal: it will be seen as unaffordable.

Politicians have always been keener on the nuclear weapon than the general public, for the prestige it confers on the world stage, but in the new circumstances England will have to pay dearly for the privilege of sitting by the US in the Security Council. The vote may well go against Trident renewal.

Harry Davis, Campbell

The choice for voters in this week's election can be partially reflected in the imaginary situation of two families. One decides to not change its mortgage and to forgo some immediate assistance for educational and health needs of the family in the hope that there will be a trickle-down bonus from boosted big businesses some time in the future.

The other decides to increase its mortgage so as to get immediate benefits from boosted educational and health services at the expense of less assistance to big businesses.

Official modelling, taking all foreseeable items of savings and expenditures into account, suggest that the two families will have the same level of debt in a few years.

Malcolm Whyte, Weston

One of the few joys of this interminable election has been to see the Coalition trying to convince the public that it is working for them, while a steady stream of evidence continues to emerge that it is actually the political arm of the business community (national and international), and especially of the banks. Amnesic state treasurers, Parakeelia, payola for polluters, brown paper bags from TPP backers, tax grabs for the wealthy, payola for polluters, and even the "entitlement" system that allows launches to terminate campaigns as pork barrels roll out. Many Australian politicians seem to be as oblivious to community expectations as those that produced the Trump/Sanders and Brexit phenomena; we are on the same trajectory of inequality! It is clear that Australia is long overdue for royal commissions into the practice and culture of both Australian banking and Australian politics. Every jurisdiction should have an ICAC. Perhaps then the money genie will be put back into its bottle, so that politics can work for the whole community, not just those with money.

Adrian Gibbs, Yarralumla

Which party do I vote for? I want the party I vote for to enact a law requiring candidates for election to Parliament who make promises to attract votes to honour their pre-election promises if elected. Otherwise, they must be subject to the same penalties as, say, companies, company directors advertisers etc who make promises in prospectuses, advertisements, at meetings etc but then do not honour those promises. Which party would enact such a law to benefit all electors?

G. Spence, Bruce

Can we really trust Malcolm Turnbull when he says there will be no privatisation of any aspect of Medicare? On the night before the September 2013 election, Tony Abbott made a commitment that there would be "no cuts to education, no cuts to health, no change to pensions, no change to the GST and no cuts to the ABC or SBS".

Yes, you might say, that was Abbott and he's no longer the PM, but we shouldn't forget that the broken promises had the full support of the cabinet including Mr Turnbull. So why should we trust the PM now when he says Medicare will be safe under his leadership? Beware the privatisation of more than Medicare if the Coalition is returned and the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement is ratified.

Barbara Godfrey, Lyneham

Tim the Yowie Man has again raised the issue of dieback of white (or manna) gums on the Monaro Plain ("Snowbound!", Panorama, June 25, p30-31). This seems to be causing something of a panic to people venturing along the Kosciuszko road, particularly between the Cooma airport and Berridale (it is even more noticeable if you venture off the main road). But dieback of these trees on the granite county is not an entirely recent phenomenon.

The earliest European arrivals noted extensive dead white gums, which experience showed were relatively short lived and had an observably limited life-cycle.

On February 15, 1840, Stewart Ryrie (of Coolringdon, near the present airport) noted that on the Ramshead Range, "The white gum extends two thirds of the distance to the summit and is, in most parts, dead" (Journal of a Tour in the Southern Mountains, Dixson Library, Sydney).

Even at that early date, before any interference by Europeans and while traditional practices of the Indigenous people would have largely remained in place, dieback was occurring.

For want of time, Ryrie failed to ascend the highest peak which, famously, was ascended less than one month later by Strzelecki who claimed naming rights. Strzelecki's party also noted the dead timber.

It is barely 193 years since Europeans first sighted the Monaro. This ancient country has revolved through its cycles for millions upon millions of years.

We may seek the immediate causes of the current dieback and bring to bear the scientific resources of our time, but as Manning Clark noted, "the earth abideth forever".

Ian Burke, Campbell

Do people who vote for the Sex Party need to work out their preferences beforehand?

Brian Smith, Conder

TOUGH CHOICE

We are now asked to vote for stability in government. As I see it, we can choose a party that, in six years, changed prime minister twice but has since been stable, or a party which, in 2 years, changed prime minister and deputy PM and sacked a treasurer? But which one really offers stability?

Alan Parkinson, Weetangera

VITAL ROLE TO FULFIL

As the election approaches and we consider the parties' policies, particularly regarding refugees and climate change, let us remember the wise words of Justice Robert Jackson, a judge at the Nuremberg war criminal trials: "It is not the function of the government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the government from falling into error."

Clare Conway, Ainslie

VOTE ON IT

Now that Malcolm Turnbull has said Coalition MPs can vote against a same-sex marriage bill even if the public plebiscite agrees, why not bring on a vote as soon as Parliament resumes and save $160 million?

Rob Elder, Flynn

NATURE OUT OF CONTROL

I moved to Canberra in 2000. Every election since then, federal or local, I have noticed that the wind is not balanced or tolerant. It seems to pick out the Liberal placards among the Labor and Green variety from the roadside displays then dumps them in the grass.

I'm waiting for the Nature Needs Controlling Party to find a candidate.

David Grierson, Ngunnawal

CONSULTED? REALLY?

If the ACT government is truly in the business of giving Canberra people what they ask for, as Minister Fitzharris (Letters, June 25) suggests, perhaps she could elaborate on the detailed consultation that surely must have been involved for her to be so certain that we want more new services, utilised by some and paid for by all?

Brent J. Woodward, Richardson

SIGN WOULD BE NICE

Many months after the official opening of the pedestrian underpass from Kings Avenue bridge the NCA signage still gives visitors no clues how to access the NGA.

Perhaps the National Capital Authority could find a few dollars for new signage.

D.K. House, Monash

EXCITEMENT RISING

Ninety-seven per cent and rising. I'll be out there to cheer when the Cotter Dam spillway gets its first test, possibly sometime this week.

John Bromhead, Rivett

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