One consequence is that inevitably more and more feral horses from the national park will continue to cross over into the ACT and into the Cotter catchment area in search of feed. ACT governments of all persuasions have assiduously protected the integrity of our catchments and that is one of the reasons why ACT water is among the best in the country.

As increasing number of feral horses in northern Kosciuszko National Park push into the ACT catchments, this will present a problem of significance with respect to the quality, quantity and supply of water to both the ACT and NSW. Under a memorandum of understanding between the ACT, NSW and the Commonwealth on Cross Border Water Resources 2006, ACT water is supplied to Queanbeyan and neighbouring estates.

While the ACT government has a back-up arrangement with Snowy Hydro that water can be purchased from Tantangara Dam to supplement our water supply, sadly, the catchment streams and the Murrumbidgee River headwaters feeding Tantangara Dam already have severe damage from horses. As I understand, the NSW government apparently did not give the ACT government any prior notice of this legislation.

While the impact on water quality will primarily affect the ACT, a sizeable proportion of the population in the neighbouring NSW electorate, in particular Queanbeyan would be included. It seems apparent that the NSW government took no consideration into the potential impact on compromising our water supply prior to the introduction of the feral horse legislation. It would therefore be hoped, as an ACT ratepayer, that if and when the ACT government incurs increased costs protecting the catchments that this is passed on with a larger proportion of such costs being incurred by NSW consumers.

Gary Thompson, Canberra

The recent news that the Australian republic movement will join with Labor, Liberal and Greens MPs to rally support for a republic is an indication of how morally bankrupt our Parliament is.

All of these members and senators of the Federal Parliament who are combining to do away with the Queen have actually sworn to "... be faithful and bear true allegiance..." to her majesty. Not, as republicans claim "the British Queen" but to the Queen as Queen of Australia.

Monarchists oppose a republic, not for the sake of the monarchy alone, but to retain the Australian constitution, an Australian and not a British document formulated and voted upon by Australians and which continues to serve Australia well. It also blocks politicians from assuming total power, which could well happen under a republic.

Republicans say they want an Australian citizen to become head of state. Whilst our constitution doesn't mention head of state, who on earth do they think General Sir Peter Cosgrove is?

Why don't they come straight out and say they want a president heading a republic instead of trying to befuddle the people with their mantra of head of state.

There is no such thing as a minimalist republic. The last proposal required nearly 70 changes to our constitution and even that would not have worked. If republicans want to push for a republic then they should draft a new constitution and tell us how they propose to better what we already have.

Philip Benwell, national chair, Australian Monarchist League

Dale Welsby asserted in his letter (CT, July 11) that light rail will be around long after the letter writers who object to it have passed on to that great highway in the sky.

Brisbane closed its 119-kilometre tramway in 1969.

The reason for its closure was that Brisbane people preferred buses. Its rails are now buried beneath bitumen and most supporters of its closure live on.

Closing our 12-kilometre section of light rail to make way for the new generation road tram/buses being operated in China will enable us to have a real transport network at a third of the cost of a tram network. The supporters of a 19th century tram network are our modern-day Luddites.

Howard Carew, Isaacs

I am currently surrounded by NBN cable in our unit with no idea of when my trusty ADSL 2+ will be disconnected and I will in all probability lose my 11 meg (consistent) to get the same download speed as this great leap backwards was going to give us.

Not only has much needed federal money been squandered but instead of joining many who have been able to join those countries that did it properly in the first place we will remain at the bottom of the list. And what is even more annoying is many who have been most verbal about this mess will vote for the LNP again.

D. J.Fraser, Currumbin, Qld

Donald Trump wants to persuade European countries to increase their spending commitment on defence from 2per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) to 4 per cent of GDP.

But hold on, shouldn't spending be related not to GDP, but to what governments have available to spend? Shouldn't it be related to a percentage of the budget, rather than the figure for goods and services produced annually?

Looking at the US budget for 2015, spending on the military took 16 per cent of all spending. This year, President Trump has persuaded Congress to further increase military spending to $700 billion.

In Australia defence spending is less, but it still took up 7 per cent of the 2016-17 budget.

Relating defence spending to GDP is misleading, making it look more affordable, and reduces the incentive to find other ways to improve security rather than the economically barren field of the military.

Harry Davis, Campbell

Given Julie Bishop's enthusiasm for gratuitously pontificating on the behaviour of nations she wants us to hate, perhaps she would also like to comment on the US's performance at the United Nations, over what was expected to be a routine resolution on the merits of breastfeeding, especially in the developing world.

It took, apparently, Russia to end America's intimidation of the small developing nations at this session, threatened with US economic sanctions for not supporting the corporate interests of the milk formula manufacturing giants.

The Russians must have been taking a break from indiscriminately nerve-gassing the world. How dare they?

Alex Mattea, Kingston

It was a shame that, in his haste to tell us that he told us so, all those years ago, Graeme Downie (Letters, July 16) neglected to balance his diatribe with an acknowledgement of the many benefits of domestic feed-in tariffs for solar PV, which operate successfully in many jurisdictions around the world: building local industries and jobs with a future; lowering PV manufacturing costs (through increased demand) so that solar power is now far more affordable; reducing summer peak demand and the resulting bill-raising infrastructure costs, and creating one of the only mechanisms that is enabling us to meet even our inadequate Paris commitments, given federal government ineptitude.

He might have noted that lowering current tariffs was just one of 55 options canvassed by the ACCC and that environmental incentives like tariffs account for only a very modest percentage of increases in electricity costs — with incentivised over-building of "poles and wires" and retail "competition" contributing far more, without any benefits.

But most importantly, while there is a strong case for assisting those on lower incomes to cope with electricity costs, the single worst way to do this is to eliminate one of the few effective policies that is helping to build a better and ultimately more affordable energy system.

Felix MacNeill, Dickson

What a sick, expensive joke the much-vaunted "upgrade" of Constitution Avenue turned out to be.

As I recall, we were given to expect an impressive boulevard that would dignify its name and complement the grandeur of Anzac Parade, which it intersects.

Instead, what did we get?

A ridiculously sinuous track from Civic to Russell, composed of four of the narrowest lanes imaginable, approximately two of which are available for private use.

The absurdity of this fiasco can be seen in the fact that the gigantic trucks that regularly ply this route find it virtually impossible to stay wholly within one lane, the width of the lane being perhaps a millimetre or two greater than the width of the truck.

As for the bus-only lanes, given the number of places at which it's possible to make a left turn, those lanes create a perverse situation whereby the more scrupulous drivers making such a turn delay their move from the right lane to the last moment, a highly unnatural manoeuvre that scarcely conduces to safe driving conditions.

It's almost beyond comprehension that any sane traffic engineer could have come up with such a perverted design for what should have been one of the city's most impressive avenues, and that tens of millions of tax revenue were squandered on such a perversion.

G. A. Joseph, Hackett

Last week I received a circular from my Murrumbidgee Labor representative, Chris Steel, notifying me of "Woden's regeneration".

Not a mention of any employment initiatives to drive this regeneration, instead we will be the recipients of a new bus interchange to stage the influx of residents in the new high-rise apartment buildings, such as the twin 27-storey towers announced by Hindmarsh developers, into Barton, Civic and beyond.

Never mind the recent research conducted by some of our most eminent ANU researchers ("Evidence should lead planning, not a rush for higher density", canberratimes.com.au, July 13) that shows that "packing people in more densely is good for the environment" may not be true.

In addition, we are to be grateful for the next stage of Woden's regeneration that will be a multibillion-dollar light rail corridor, so that a slower tram service can replace the current rapid bus service.

This is despite evidence, arising almost on a daily basis, about different forms of new autonomous transport technology that will revolutionise the way urban travel is undertaken, and that is far more economic than light rail.

How long can this charade that we call government continue?

John L. Smith, Farrer

I'm a fan of the Canberra Writers Festival (CWF).

In fact, I volunteered in 2017 – we had some great speakers.

This year however the festival will be opened by Barnaby Joyce ... the disgraced.

Why would the CWF give Joyce this honour when he has been such a consistent practitioner of "Canberra bashing", that old tactic beloved by Australia's conservative representatives.

Joyce's last attack was pork barrelling as cynical as it was transparent — uprooting Canberran public servants and relocating them to Armidale in his own electorate.

Their new office was so inadequate they worked from the local McDonald's instead. And we're rewarding this behaviour with the opening talk at our writers' festival?

Step back from your keyboards freedom warriors — this isn't censorship.

The man holds public office.

He's an object of fascination to much of the media and seems to delight in the attention.

Joyce is afforded the chance to share his views whenever he pleases and recently he's been paid handsomely for it.

But is he the right person to open a festival that exists to promote our city?

I don't think so, and I imagine many Canberrans think the same – prompting the question, what were the festival's organisers thinking?

Keaghan Yaxley, O'Connor

Nice to see some factual information related to passenger numbers used to support the case for changes to bus routes 2 and 3 ("New network not the ticket", July 16, pp 1, 6, 7).

However, should not this information be available for public consultation purposes for all routes on a weekday/weekend basis?

Then the process of changing routes and timetables becomes a far more genuinely consultative process.

Nothing like a dose of transparency to enhance consultation related to policy issues that affect many in the ACT.

John Landos, Ainslie

GETTING THINGS DONE

It is refreshing to see President Trump's astonishing consistency in implementing his electoral program. This is something that our own politicians should do, but they are not likely to. Instead, they hate him for doing what he publicly promised to do, which is anathema for the vast majority of our career politicians.

Mario Moldoveanu, Frankston, Vic

THANKS IN ORDER?

Will Trump personally thank Putin for his invaluable assistance in the 2016 election?

Thos Puckett, Ashgrove

LEADING THE WAY

The amount of mass protests against Donald Trump — at home and abroad — leaves one wondering whether he is making America great again or taking that country, the leader of the free world, to the dogs?

Rajend Naidu, Glenfield, NSW

OUR SICK SYSTEM

Perhaps the continuing damming reports that seem to endlessly flow from Canberra hospital, failing accreditation, strikes, corridor nurses, would have been better managed if Barr had not chosen to squander taxpayers' money on light rail.

This would not have then necessitated endless rate rises, the selling off of assets, and the quick decline of Canberra into Third World status, with people who are already hard up picking up the lion's share of the bill.

Ian Jannaway, Monash

BIRDS OF A FEATHER

Senators Michaelia Cash and David Leyonhjelm seem to have much in common. If they haven't already, they should get together to share their attitudes towards women.

Susan MacDougall, Scullin

CHILDREN SUFFERING

We still have children held in indefinite detention on Nauru.

These children will have and continue to suffer from PTSD.

When is this govt going to stop this inhumanity?

Sue Cory, Edge Hill

SHOW THE VIDEO

If the Raiders are so confident in the penalty they have applied to Jack Wighton ("Wighton paying for Lodge debacle", July 16, p56) why don't they release the video for everyone to make up their own minds?

Jim Derrick, Florey

LABOR RUCTIONS

The public slanging match between Messrs Latham and Richardson is simply a sideshow. There are clowns to the left and jokers to right. Labor is stuck in the middle.

Allan Gibson, Cherrybrook, NSW

HOLDING A GRUDGE

Commiserations to the Croatians on their gallant loss. As a loyal former Pom I proudly say "the enemy of my enemy is my friend". It's only been 603 years since Agincourt.

M. Moore, Bonython

Email: letters.editor@canberratimes.com.au. Send from the message field, not as an attached file. Fax: 6280 2282. Mail: Letters to the Editor, The Canberra Times, PO Box 7155, Canberra Mail Centre, ACT 2610.

Keep your letter to 250 words or less. References to Canberra Times reports should include date and page number. Letters may be edited. Provide phone number and full home address (suburb only published).