It is of concern that she and her office were not consulted about the proposed law, even though it has been under consideration for more than a year. Hopefully, her advice will now inform the final legislation.

It is important for public servants to demonstrate professionalism and good judgment in situations where they are seen to be representing the government. However, to require them to dob in their colleagues if they criticise the government is draconian.

It is reminiscent of practices in authoritarian states rather than a healthy democracy.

Marea Fatseas, Yarralumla

The article "Noise limits on agenda as housing mix changes", July 25, p3) has echoes of people who buy homes under an airport's flight path and then complain about aircraft noise. If live music is to flourish as it should in Canberra, venues that offer it need legislated protection against complaints from people who move into areas where live music venues currently, or could reasonably be expected to, exist.

Nevertheless, cheap and shoddy building construction has been a major problem for years. I recall that a member of the Territory's first Assembly sold a flat after six months because every time a resident flushed a toilet everyone heard it.

Multi-occupant buildings need mandatory noise ratings, similar to the energy efficiency system, that measure and rate a building's ability to screen occupants from both internal and external noise, particularly highly-penetrating low frequencies.

Fred Pilcher, Kaleen

Excessive noise for apartment dwellers is a serious consideration for people considering or using this housing option in mixed-use developments. However it is not the only issue with mixed-use developments that needs revised legislation and support from the Government. Mixing Commercial activities and full-time residence in a complex requires legislation to ensure fairness for all users. Body Corporate fees need to allocated based not only on square meterage and position but also on value of the usage. Commercial users have a need for flexible body corporate rules (articles) which allow them to vary their internal structures over time to ensure their businesses remain viable.

Fair allocation of body corporate costs, for lift usage, waste removal, use of foyers, signage and promotion of premises and public facilities, is essential.

The integration of hotel rooms and Airbnb for short term occupation on the same floors and adjacent to full time residents can be very disturbing. Home buyers and commercial operators all deserve greater transparency of the intended purposes of the developments and legislation needs to be in place to support this.

On August 15, at 6 pm at the Federal Golf Club, the Owners Corporation Network (ACT) is providing an opportunity for the community to understand the government and opposition parties approach to these issues.

Gary Petherbridge, OCN, Barton

Waltraud Pix ("Mount Majura roos to be culled", July 15, p1) claims to be a biologist but to informed and educated minds she sounds just like another mouthpiece for the ACT government.

Any informed biologist knows that free-ranging kangaroos do not and cannot cause erosion. If left alone, they are far too slow breeding to ever overpopulate. All the other species of the grassland, plant and animal, depend on them for diversity of ground cover, seed dispersal and bushfire control.

The real issue at Mount Majura is the high kangaroo-proof fencing, which has recently appeared there as well as in other places around Canberra. The Animal Protectors Alliance contacted Parks and Conservation about the lack of inter-connecting wildlife corridors between these fenced areas. Such corridors would allow kangaroos to move safely between the various reserves and pastures that form their range. Parks and Conservation admitted that fencing without corridors would inevitably have an"impact" by confining kangaroos, and was a "less than ideal"solution.

APA agrees that the fencing could potentially cause problems, for example, because it has confined a large numbers of kangaroos in areas much smaller than their natural range, or prevents the dispersion of young males.

If this has occurred at Mount Majura, then translocation to other nearby reserves would be easy, cruelty-free, inexpensive and nothing less than a moral imperative, given the government's direct responsibility for causing the problem.

It would, however, be utterly typical of the current government to trap kangaroos inside fences just to give themselves an excuse to shoot even more of them.

Robyn Soxsmith, Animal Protectors Alliance

We totally agree with you John Mungoven (Letters, July 23). We're glad we're not the only "cranky seniors" dismayed at the "Great Wall of Wire". We'll come with our wire cutters and give you a hand.

We have been watching as this ugly, intrusive fence (which we think looks like a prison fence) grows alongside the Parkway. It's even worse than those awful black fences they enclose school playgrounds with these days.

As you asked, who thought this was a good idea, and where will it end?

Jane and Kim Malcolm, Kambah

There are many sad and painful issues troubling Australian voters at the present time. It was therefore encouraging to read Dr Andrew Leigh's comments about his pay reduction of $40,000. He absolutely kept the perspective on his loss compared to many other citizens who were struggling to pay bills, and to afford a roof over their head.

Can you imagine Bronwyn Bishop being sanguine about the tiniest dent in her lavish allowances? Clunker Carr (thank you, David Pope) will be off to the scrapheap sooner that he thinks, and Dr Leigh will continue on his way showing moral leadership.

K.L. Calvert, Downer

Malcolm Turnbull has moved promptly to set up a "meticulous" royal commission into the NT's treatment of young indigenous offenders in custody. About time too, given that previous inquiries only resulted in whitewashes (pun intended). Would Turnbull have moved, though, had it not been for Four Corners' exposure of the unbelievable treatment meted out to these children?

My only concern is that the NT story will overshadow Monday night's edition of Australian Story, which exposed the federal Government's heartless treatment of a young Iranian woman who has been snatched away from her husband and is being kept in indefinite detention.

I hope, after these two programs, just the latest in a long line of top journalism from Four Corners and Australian Story, that those in Turnbull's party (and others) who continually rubbish the ABC will have the grace to admit the national broadcaster is, indeed, an invaluable component of our media landscape.

Eric Hunter, Cook

Attorney-General George Brandis wants the royal commission into children's jails to be restricted to the NT. This is because there is nothing like child abuse to show up all the fault lines of hypocrisy in the Coalition.

Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion casually announced that the goings-on in the NT children's jail didn't pique his interest. Just as child abuse in the Catholic Church didn't interest Cardinal Pell. It's only a matter of time before some Coalitionite channels the ghost of John Howard's government and declares that nobody knew anything at all about any such things anywhere before some date picked out of the air.

So you can see why Malcolm Turnbull's g0overnment wants the whole thing restricted to the Northern Territory.

G.T.W. Agnew, CoopersPlains, Qld

Malcolm Turnbull's correct. Let's not widen the terms of the royal commission, because we might find out what's happening across Australia. Like his minister, don't look and you won't know anything wrong is happening. What a decisive move from a timid PM.

Jeff Bradley, Isaacs

It would be a good idea to use the $160 million allocated to the same sex marriage plebiscite to build a new facility for juveniles and provide assistance to the young people so badly treated by the NTgovernment.

The need there is infinitely greater than the PM's need to cover his back.

Steve Thomas, Yarralumla

Bill Browne (Letters, July25) seeks to equate Catholicism with Islam in a most deplorable way. Yes, the IRA committed terrorist acts against their opponents in Northern Ireland and in England. But they were fighting for the most part in their homeland, and for their homeland, in a way in which Islamic terrorists can never claim.

May I ask, Bill, when was the last time you saw an IRA member, or a priest, or even the Pope, post a gloating YouTube video of himself holding a severed human head?

When was the last time a Catholic (or Protestant, Hebrew, Buddhist, Confucian or Hindu) terrorist force kidnapped hundreds of schoolgirls to be used as sex slaves? When did the last Christian terrorist drive a semi into a packed crowd of people of any other faith, shooting as he went?

Bill, I like to travel as much as the next fellow, but I have crossed off many possible destinations as I don't want to present a fat infidel target to the True Believers. And with recent events in Europe, how long will it be before most of European culture and scenery is denied to me on the grounds of safety?

Before turning your other cheek, sir, may I suggest that you and other of your fellow-travellers google "Islam and the Decalogue", an article by Emeritus Professor Howard Kainz. Then tell me that Islam is a religion of tolerance, love and compassion.

Stuart Kennedy, Birtinya,Qld

Mike Reddy (Letters, July 25) can rest assured that any attempt by LNP politicians to block the UN ambitions of Kevin Rudd will have bipartisan support. Rudd is an utter embarrassment to the ALP.The man has about as much chance of getting to the Secretary-General's position as I have.

The media in this country seem to have forgotten that, soon after his first stint as prime minister, Rudd was exposed by WikiLeaks in his true colours, having revealed in the most chilling fashion to the US ambassador his ideas about starting a war against China.

The American ambassador had found Rudd's coldly bellicose attitude remarkable enough to mention in an official dispatch, and no wonder.

Once these facts came to light, the Chinese of course marked Rudd's file "Never to be promoted" and his goose was thoroughly cooked as far as any UN role is concerned.

He must know this; apart from anything else, the very fact that years later he persists in his lunatic ambition for the top job is proof of his delusional thinking, and hence his unsuitability for it.

Bernard Davis, O'Connor

Under the Rudd government, Australia failed to honour its obligations under the UN 1951 Refugees Convention. Kevin Rudd also failed in his beliefs as a Christian in not offering refugees hospitality on Australian soil.

He does not deserved the Turnbull government's backing for the position of UN Secretary-General.

Michael Hill, Canberra City

MIRABELLA MEMO

Got to love the headline "Sophie Mirabella quits politics and says she'll be a commentator" (canberratimes.com.au, July 26). Sorry to remind you, Sophie, you were sacked three years earlier and your "unfair dismissal" claim on July2 was unsuccessful.

Linus Cole, Palmerston

LIGHT RELIEF

I just read The Canberra Times' letters page from Tuesday and am disgusted. Not a single letter for or against the light rail project. How can I go one day without another thoughtful argument about a single piece of public transport?

Ken Mansell, Chapman

CONVENTION WISDOM

I saw Australian ambassador to the US Joe Hockey interviewed at the Republican conference in Cleveland commenting on how he was there networking. He was intending to also attend the Democratic Convention in Philadelphia.

Given the distance of Cleveland in particular from Washington DC, what benefit does the Australian taxpayer get out of the ambassador's attendance?

Mark Howard, Forde

WRONG INMATES

After watching the ABC's Four Corners program on Northern Territory detainees, I came to the conclusion that the wrong people were being imprisoned. The people committing the offences were not the ones they had locked up.

Audrey Guy, Ngunnawal

VISION QUEST

Is there any truth in the rumour that Angus Gardner and the TMO for the Brumbies v Highlanders Super Rugby quarter final at the weekend have been offered eye tests at optometrists of their own choice?

N. Bailey, Nicholls

BOWLS SCORE

Given that bowls clubs in the ACT were established on community facility concessional land, I would appreciate further information outlining how the Canberra City Bowls Club was de-concessionalised and sold for private-developer profit ("Developer's village to bowl them over", July26, p1).

N.L. Scherger-McCullough, RedHill

GREENS ON BLACKLIST

The ACT Greens have just lost my vote for the next election. I cannot believe Greens MLA Shane Rattenbury did not support the lockout laws ("Nightclub fees shelved", July27, p1). Self interest wins again! Being re-elected is more important than the welfare of our community.

Glenda Lynch, Kambah

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