Self-government sure has not done wonders for Canberra. I guess all it did was to provide more jobs for bureaucrats.

Travelling around Lake Burley Griffin and Lake Ginninderra, we noticed the foreshore was like a wild field. Did Canberra sell all their lawnmowers?

Places where we used to enjoy picnics now resemble cow paddocks. Kerbing along streets sure could use a cleaning, not to mention public car parks.

Litter is everywhere. Are people all blind to the squalor?

This is certainly not the city it used to be. I would not recommend a visit to Canberra to overseas visitors, a better alternative would be Goulburn.

I for one will not be returning and view Canberra as the city that was.

Ivan Barrette, Nowra, NSW

The latest development application for Curtin shops deserves more scrutiny than the usual developer-friendly government rubber stamp.

The ink is barely dry on the imposed "master plan" and we see a proposal to erect a six-storey building with all the charm of a monolithic chunk right in the middle of the centre.

Must we compromise on quality design? Must all group centres meet the same fate as Jamison with its ugly collection of cheaply built apartments already visibly decaying and crumbling?

The Curtin shops proposal makes no attempt to respond to existing character, and it will overshadow and dominate the public square.

What is to become of the interesting and popular independent shops in the existing (fully tenanted) building that is to be displaced? Many questions must be answered, and the quality of the design significantly improved, before this major change to a perfectly functional and popular centre is approved.

I encourage interested users of Curtin shops to view the plans on the ACTPLA website and consider making a submission prior to the January 31 closing date.

Scott Humphries, Curtin

Bob Carr's article ("Settling with Israel" (December 27, p16) demonstrates it is possible (I would say sensible) to be a friend of Israel and its people but not endorse every policy of its government of the day.

Some Australians may not care much what two groups of semitic people do to each other in a distant land. And many Australians have positive feelings towards Israel. But these emotions should not cloud a hard-nosed realist assessment of Australia's national interests.

Israel's purported annexation of the Golan Heights and its equally illegal campaign of building settlements on the occupied West Bank have done and continue to do immense harm to the security of Australia and most other countries.

They have provided a constant inspiration for terrorist groups: a simple cause, deep feelings of injustice and hatred and an unending supply of recruits and material support.

The West's failure to take effective action against the "Greater Israel" ambitions invites the terrorists to see the West as a valid target.

More importantly, for the international security fabric, the world's toleration of Israel's illegal activity undermines the Rule of Law established by the UN after World War II.

There have been other breaches of international law but the world's failure over 50 years to hold Israel to account for its transgressions encourages land grabs from the Ukraine to the South China Sea.

Australia and the rest of the international community have little credibility in opposing these as long as we allow Palestine to fester.

Ron Walker, Campbell

There have been numerous letters condemning Israel for a wide range of perceived wrongdoings.

How many of the writers have actually visited Israel, and the territories Palestine would like for a future state, to ascertain for themselves the obstacles that stand in the way of a two state solution.

The Israeli leadership has invited the Palestinian counterpart to discuss the current situation. This has not occurred as the Palestinian leadership is not interested in any solution except the creation of a Palestinian State that obliterates the State of Israel.

Appeals by the Palestinian leadership to the United Nations have resulted in a re-writing of Jewish history and more anti-Israel resolutions than for any other country: quite ridiculous when there are so many atrocities we are aware of via reading the daily news.

Social media searches reveal the extent of the Palestinian efforts to wipe Israel off the map.

The Hamas Charter states this aim explicitly.

It is incumbent on the Palestinian leadership to stop the incitement to hatred of Jews and Israel.

It would also help if readers stopped demonising Israel and instead brought pressure to bear on the Palestinians.

Perhaps the latent anti-semitism in our society has found expression in this matter and as a result the dreams of two states for two peoples and lasting peace also fade.

Yvette Goode, Yarralumla

In September 1992, the then owner of TCN9, Kerry Packer, pulled a program presented by Doug Mulray mid-way through its first and only episode because of its lewd content.

One can only wonder at what the late Mr Packer's reaction would be to some of his beloved channel's latest offerings, in particular Married at First Sight, which is little more than prostitution.

We're being inundated with promotions for the coming season enthusiastically announcing the show is to sink even lower, with 10 previously unaquainted couples setting up house together.

If such programs are as popular as the publicity suggests, God help us.

D. N. Callaghan, Kingston

I agree with Dr Peter Smith about Dr John Hewson (Letters, January 6).

Dr Hewson has matured as a political leader and would be a much better prime minister than anyone currently in the parliament.

John F. Simmons, Kambah

I have been studying the development application for section 52, Braddon, stage 1.

Submissions are invited by January 19.

This whopping new development on the fringe of Civic is an exercise for architects prepared to maximise the return for their client while ticking boxes on a bureaucratic checklist.

What the LDA has done is wipe from the map a large swathe of public housing. In this newly created void, Purdon Planning have managed to cram 354 apartments, some shops, offices, a childcare centre and parking vehicles. And this is only stage one.

There is much more to come, immediately north and south of this proposed development.

What the LDA and ACTPLA should have done before the site was sold, was sit down and workshop with interested citizens how they could create the potential for new communities in the heart of Canberra, communities that could put down roots in an attractive set of interconnected places, some public and some private, linked with neighbouring suburbs.

Yes, I am being idealistic and the money might not flow back so quickly into the territory's coffers. But such public participation might have prevented the excesses that frequently blight other cities and averted this massive bland architectural contribution to the "soullessness" that Canberra is accused of.

Elizabeth Teather, Reid

A former prime minister of Australia, in a TV interview last week, advocated greater co-operation between political parties to adequately address growing inequality in Australian society. This may well be the way to address an increasingly dangerous social disparity. The ACOSS report Inequality in Australia 2015 (part of its "Poverty and Inequality in Australia" series) signals the urgency of the matter.

But galvanising Parliament into a co-operative mood is something else. A clarion call of imminent war can do the trick, but a clarion call on the dangers of climate change will not; as with the overly hot summer of 2003 in France.

Food crops there fell in yield by some 25per cent, wheat by 22per cent, maize by 33per cent, and the world continued to warm, so also placing Australian cereal crops in danger. Troubles arising from the growing unfairness within Australian society could well manifest here at around the same time as Australian cereal crops begin to fail due to a changing climate. So, what social jolt will be required to bring about co-operating political parties, within our Parliament, to adequately address the issue of growing inequality in Australia? Before it is also too late.

Dennis Nicholls, Curtin

A friend recently made the observation "we are all visitors", a statement I enjoyed, both profound and accurate. Let's make 2017 a time for making friends and sharing the time and space we have on Earth.

Matt Ford, Crookwell

Gerry Murphy (Letters, January 1) asks how a "puny antipodean nation" like New Zealand intends to "wage war" against Israel. As if New Zealand would wage war against Israel (or anyone).

It was Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who declared that New Zealand's actions in the United Nations amounted to a "declaration of war" and then followed up with a rant down the phone line to New Zealand's foreign minister.

New Zealand's opposition to Jewish settlements on the West Bank is well known. Its actions in the UN are consistent with its position held over some time.

Murphy says New Zealand and Sweden have problems. He doesn't say what these problems are. Is he prejudiced because Sweden has one of highest standards of living in the world? Or because New Zealand has been ranked second in the world for wealth or because its management of its economy leaves Australia in the shade?

It's difficult even to characterise New Zealand as "puny" in size when compared with other South Pacific Islands.

The only "problem" is Murphy's failed logic, which leads him to say the country is "puny" and "antipodean".

John Casey, Curtin

J. Bracht (letters January 3) asks why the Queen's Church service is referred to on the ABC as "mass". He says such a service is "Catholic" but not Protestant. In fact, while the origin of the word "mass" in Latin is doubtful, the word is universally used in all Christian churches.

Such words as Christmas, Michaelmas, and others, all include the word "mass".

The Church of England does not claim to be Protestant. The word Protestant never appears in the Prayer Book while the word Catholic (i.e. universal) appears many times.

The Queen, herself a very sincere Christian, would know well that many Anglicans use the word Mass to describe the Holy Communion service.

Fr Robert Willson, Deakin

I wonder which way the Feds will go when setting policy about Unleaded Petrol.

Always useful to think of extreme cases — maybe that's to shut down all local refineries and import stuff from OS that the Feds deem "better".

Oil companies would like that because they'd gain much more control of our price without having to spend money on upgrading or replacing their local refineries.

Costs down and prices up, supernormal profits up. Feds would like it because they can tax imports more effectively; states wouldn't like it because they'd lose their fuel taxes, so that suits Fed objectives (to control the states).

That policy would also create opportunities for the black market to start creating petrol substitutes from grain alcohol, and maybe experiment with volatiles from vegetable distilleries.

We could be burning melaleuca oil mixed with meths, or have monthly explosions at illegal coconut oil distilleries. (Qld and NSW would do well).

Richard Horobin, Curtin

LEFT WING MISSING

The Greens voted for the attack on pensioners. The ALP voted for the omnibus savings bill that unleashed the Centrelink attacks. It is time for a real left wing alternative that stands up for the less well off and leads an attack on the rich and capital to pay for increased benefits.

John Passant, Kambah

INDONESIA SPAT

The spat with Indonesia has brought to our attention the official philosophical foundation of the Indonesian state, Pancasila, or the "five principles". The first is, "Belief in the one and only God." Apparently atheism is unconstitutional in Indonesia.

Gary J. Wilson, Macgregor

SLOW LEARNERS

"The budget should be balanced, the treasury refilled, public debt reduced, the arrogance of officialdom tempered, and assistance to foreign lands curtailed, lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work instead of living on public assistance." So said Cicero in 55 BC.

What have we learnt in 2072 years? Zero.

Rex Williams, Ainslie

ASYLUM ROADBLOCK

There is nothing ethical about a policy of indefinite detention for those seeking asylum. The refugee convention provides certain basic rights, the right to not be arbitrarily detained is one. It is spurious to suggest the current policy is "remarkably generous".

Chris Doyle, Gordon

PM SHOULD TRY TWITTER

Twitter seems to work too well for Mr Trump. Maybe Mr Turnbull should give it a go as a last resort before he is toppled.

Mokhles K. Sidden, Strathfield, NSW

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