Your article "Developer in third dispute with owners" (August 4, p5) includes an attempt by Michael Koundouris' legal spokesperson to reframe the facts.
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Maurice Falcetta, lawyer for Koundouris, conveniently referred to "work which occurred close to 15 years ago".
The Manhattan on Moore apartment complex in Turner was completed in November 2003. The first specialist report on leaks in the building was completed in December 2006 and presented to Koundouris. This was followed by further specialist reports in 2010, 2011 and 2012. The government rectification order for Manhattan was issued inside the 10th year anniversary of the certificate of occupancy in2013.
Koundouris has been using legal avenues to fight the rectification order since December 2013. He has made admissions before ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal that the tribunal can now find that the balconies do in fact leak into habitable areas.
His legal defence, as your reporter correctly determined, is to claim "the 10 years begins with each piece of claimed defective work" putting him out of reach of the rectification order.
The saying "cometh the hour, cometh the man" can be reframed as "cometh the 10 years, avoideth the rectification".
Mark Farrell, Turner
Connecting the dots
Paul Bowler (Letters, August 2) should check his statements before writing regarding planning for public transport in Canberra.
Had he done, so he would have seen that the National Capital Development Commission did in fact plan and make provision for an exclusive right of way for a public transport system connecting the town centres (and beyond into NSW) to the central national area.
In fact, the intertown public transport system, as it has been known since 1967, formed the back bone of the dispersed employment strategy of Canberra.
The route was and still is specifically light rail compatible.
A study was conducted in 1976 that confirmed the route and that the technology should be buses until the ACT population reached about 500,000.
He would also have seen that the route has been refined along with land use and development changes as well as greater consideration of the environment as time has progressed.
However, the route has remained largely unaltered in the last 20 years with several studies having been conducted since self government to confirm the NCDC's planning for public transport.
I suggest he read Tomorrow's Canberra (1969), the NCDC Metropolitan Policy Review of 1984 and, of course, the Interim Territory Plan of 1990 that documented the NCDC's goal for ACT planning following self-government of 1989. He should also note that the Y plan proposed by the NCDC excluded development in the Molonglo Valley that has been developed by the ACT government.
T.A. Brimson, Dunlop
Car park conundrum
We went for dinner last night at relatives' place in a new high-density housing complex in Wright.
Nice, wide common areas, disabled-friendly access corridors, lifts and doors; good sound-proofing to the units and reasonable room sizes, all with higher than normal ceilings, giving a generous feel all over.
But even though the complex is now only partly occupied there is already insufficient car parking for residents and visitors.
Canberra planners need to face the reality that private cars, sensibly used, are the most economic and when all factors considered, the most environmentally responsible method of transport for 90 per cent of the population out of peak hour.
This superiority of private cars will probably increase in thefuture as the price of cars is dropping and the overhead costsof public transport are increasing.
The complex will now have little community feel as many of the residents will move out as soon as they can afford a place with sufficient car parking.
John Skurr, member, Environment Institute of Australia, Deakin
Plan changes a worry
The National Capital Authority is sending some worrying messages with its proposed changes to the National Capital Plan ("NCA to give up prime territory", July 25, p1). Proponents of the changes cite the need to cater for the city's future growth, and problems with planning overlap between the National Capital Plan and the Territory Plan. The Exposure Draft released by the NCA includes some sensible consolidation and tidying-up. But there are other elements which give cause for concern, some relating to the role of the Authority itself.
The NCA wants to withdraw from its involvement with Territory land constituting significant parts of the ACT. Under the existing Plan, the approaches to Canberra, the corridors of the Murrumbidgee and Molonglo Rivers, Lanyon Bowl and Namadgi National Park are subject to "special requirements" – that is, the NCA ensures that any plans for these areas are commensurate with the principles and policies of the National Capital Plan.
These policies relate to the preservation of the landscape and planning values that are integral to the identity and future amenity of the city and its surrounds.
The exposure draft removes all of these areas, except for the approaches to the city, from this requirement. Protection is still afforded by the Territory Plan, but there is surely still a national interest in these matters.
In addition, important sections of the NCP that set out land-use principles for these and other areas, including Canberra's town centres, have been deleted from the exposure draft.
As well as these changes, the revised general policy plan for Metropolitan Canberra includes a number of proposed new or expanded urban development areas on the western side of the Murrumbidgee near Tuggeranong. These developments are 'subject to further investigation', but may occur without any further amendment of the National Capital Plan.
One wonders what is going on here. Successive federal governments seem to have lost interest in Canberra and the ACT, and an underfunded NCA has struggled fully to discharge its responsibilities. The NCA board may be giving too much weight to the views of advocates such as Senator Zed Seselja, who wishes to facilitate development to the west of the Murrumbidgee and, quite possibly, beyond.
The policy and other changes effected by the draft need much more thought from the NCA, and wider public debate.
Professor Jenny Stewart, Torrens
We may need to change attitudes on contribution of Sunday work
The Productivity Commission proposes two significant changes to working conditions based on assumptions of questionable validity.
Assumption No.1: Workers believe Sundays are no different from all other days.
Commission chairman Peter Harris says: "Australian society expects to be able to shop, go to a pharmacy and eat at cafes and restaurants on weekends."
Until medical offices, banks, government departments, plumbers, schools etc are open on weekends, as they are weekdays, and until voting and sports contests, including grand finals, are scheduled for weekdays, "Australian society expects" weekends to remain "special days".
Assumption No.2: Workers will keep a job for a year while they're being disadvantaged by their employers.
The commission recommends cutting Sunday penalty rates for hospitality and retail workers.
A new enterprise contract includes a so-called "safeguard" – a worker could revert to her/his previous conditions after 12months if the contract left them worse off.
Does the commission really believe any worker rendered disadvantaged would work a full 12 months and then try to change future conditions? What about the 12 months of disadvantage?
Sunday workers often sacrifice family and personal time – they should be compensated accordingly. Perhaps Australian society needs to change its expectations of what's available on Sundays, or pay up for disrupting people's lives.
Judy Bamberger, O'Connor
Crocodile tears
Yet another sleepless night spent anguishing over the incalculable loss of Bronwyn Bishop to Australia's struggling democracy and the "personal price" paid by Prime Minister Tony Abbott for that loss ("A personal price for me", online, August 5).
I wept over the wicked injustice we Australians visited on the selfless Bishop, after she had received our all in her quest to serve an ungrateful nation.
I couldn't understand the cruelty of a rotten system, obviously designed to entrap innocent and unwary politicians as they struggle to serve our best interests.
My sense of anguish was heightened by Abbott's observations that Bishop had "lost the position that she loved" and her "career in Parliament is substantially at an end" – a "high price for someone who has dedicated 30-odd years to very intense public service".
Of course we shouldn't lose complete faith in the Lucky Country, as doubtless we'll have ample opportunity to acknowledge Bishop's contribution and help keep the wolf from her door through the occasional diplomatic posting, appointments to government boards/commissions or the chairing of important public enquiries.
John Richardson, Wallagoot, NSW
Debt still an issue
David Richardson's rosy narrative about Australian public debt does not pass economic muster ("Public debt is an exaggerated problem", Public Sector Informant, August 3, p6).
Government securities may be voluntarily purchased, but people in their capacities as bondholders do not bear the burden of public debt.
The proceeds of public debt must be repaid in the long run, and future taxpayers bear this burden. This humbling task of repaying public debt through extra taxes distinguishes it most clearly from corporate or household debts.
And the contemporary tax reform debate is shedding light on the huge economic burdens of numerous Australian taxes.
Empirical analysis indicates that Australian governments are not maintaining enough budget surplus to ensure a stable debt-to-GDP ratio in the longer term.
Unless countered by corrective policies reducing government size, our current debt profile will become a problem.
Mikayla Novak, senior research fellow, Institute of Public Affairs, Melbourne
It's not expansionism
I didn't say, as Gwenyth Bray claims (Letters, August 4), that Israel has expansionist goals, and I would appreciate her refraining from attributing her false claims to me.
Perhaps most offensive in her unhinged rant is that Israel is aiming to remove the Palestinians so that the whole of "historic Palestine" becomes Israel.
Let's look at the facts instead. In 1967, a census showed the combined population of the West Bank and Gaza at about 950,000. The United Nations says it's now about 4.4million.
In 1967, life expectancy was 48 years. In 2013, according to the World Bank, it was 73 – better than the region's average. Literacy and access to fresh water and electricity have shown similar increases, and the number of universities has increased from none to 14.
This would hardly be the case if Israel were trying to force the Palestinians to leave.
Finally, Israel has three times offered the Palestinians a state – the final time on land equivalent to the entire West Bank and Gaza. That's not exactly how an expansionist state would behave.
Alan Shroot, Forrest
MPs decency index
Julian Cribb's article ("Decency: that gets my vote", Times2, August 3, p1) was one of those rare ones with power and clarity to change how one thinks. Voting for the most decent candidate rather than the party they represent would be a big step towards a parliament that might be trusted to make the sort of wise and humane decisions we could be proud of. To make voting for such a candidate easier, we would need to know more about them than we normally do. What we need is some sort of decency index compiled by those who know the candidate best, a list of attested selfless actions aimed at helping others.
Harry Davis, Campbell
What's the future?
Does the Abbott government's announcement that future RAN surface ships will be built in South Australia from 2018 onwards mean these ships will no longer be built in Williamstown, Victoria, and the new submarines will be built overseas?
The Anzac frigates were built successfully, on within budget and on time at Williamstown. This announcement is a net loss for RAN ship building in Australia. It all sounds like a media stunt to shore up votes in SA before next year's election.
Adrian Jackson, Middle Park, Vic
Testing a distraction from the teaching
Why are authorities shocked that student performance as measured by NAPLAN testing is not improving?
First, we are measuring different students each year, not setting out to measure change. Second, by focusing on assessment at the expense of teaching, we are ignoring the advice of wise farmers: you get the best cattle by feeding them every day, not weighing them every week.
NAPLAN is a ridiculous misuse of the shrinking education dollar and buys us little more data than we could obtain more cheaply and with less disruption to learning (which is the primary aim of education, isn't it?).
Education Minister Christopher Pyne stubbornly retains a childlike faith in it regardless.
As an instrument of psychometrics, NAPLAN has not led to better learning and is certainly not cost-effective – it actually has failed.
Ian Foster, Nicholls
Seen and unseen
Michael Jordon (Letters, August 3) thinks wearing high-visibility attire at night will make motorcycles easier to see.
On most motorcycles, the headlight is connected to the ignition.
If he can't see the headlight, I fail to see how he will spot riders wearing high-visibility gear at night.
For the sake of the Mr Magoos among us, I suggest a large flashing light, mounted on the dinky helmet.
If this isn't bright enough to see the small stupid camouflaged rider hiding in the dark (his words), perhaps fitting very pistols to the handlebars that can shoot flares on approaching a intersection will help.
I know that lying on the road injured after being hit by a sight impaired motorist, hearing the cry "Waldo, I've done it again" doesn't help.
G . Woodward, Kambah
TO THE POINT
BLOW-UP SPEED BUMPS
With regard to the recent proposal for a 30km/h speed limit at schools ("Lessons in safety", August 4), a good idea would be to install blow-up speed bumps to be inflated when children are coming and going. I am sure a system could be devised for them to be remotely controlled so they would pop up at the programmed times. They could be called "Argyle humps"!
Tony Argyle, Isaacs
NOT ALWAYS RACISM
Sadly, in Denis O'Brien's world (Letters, August 4), you can't even discuss racism without being declared a racist. In the late 1990s, Cathy Freeman reportedly said no one spoke to her in elevators because of her skin colour. The reality is no one ever talks to anyone in elevators. Not everything has to do with racism.
Bob Thompson, Belconnen
MEANING OF MARRIAGE
In response to K. and P. Crowley (Letters, August 5), the Marriage Act 1961, I believe, was only amended in 2004 by the Howard government to confirm that a marriage meant "the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others". Perhaps before that it could have been interpreted to cover same-sex marriages. I'm sure I will be corrected if I'm wrong.
Janet Thompson, Garran
BANANAS IN CHARGE
All the kerfuffle about politicians rorting entitlements brings to mind how my stepfather, who worked in Parliament House for more than 50 years, used to describe many politicians. He likened them to bananas: they came in green and straight and went out yellow and bent. It seems very little has changed.
Dick Parker, Page
TEST THE POLITICIANS
Since politicians think testing schoolchildren is such a great idea, I suggest they, too, sit a NAPLAN-style test on their entitlement policies. Those who fail will get no money.
John Passant, Kambah
PRAISE FOR LIGHT RAIL
David Hughes ("Light-rail jobs claim fantasy", July 29, Times2, p1) criticises the ACT government for deciding to spend money on a project that will employ engineers, bricklayers, carpenters, joiners, electricians and labourers as opposed to more Treasury officials. Surely it should be praised for this rather than hassled.
Suzanne Orr, Franklin
NO HOLDS DISCUSSION
The discussion on taking up the Asian toilet or at least the squatting position (Letters, August 4) sounds like a real barbecue stopper!
Peter Baskett, Murrumbateman, NSW
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