Canberra Times Letters to the Editor: Few people, including politicians, understand value of space agency

I served as foundation head of the Australian Space Office (1987-93) and then earned my living as an international space industry consultant for eight years. In contrast to Paul, I do know what I am talking about.

The Australian Space Office was reviewed in 1992 by an expert panel, who concluded that they "overall [had] given good account of themselves and ... provided value for money". That's more authoritative than Paul's sneers about logos, badges, pens and coasters.

The Cape York launch proposal, which he also derides, was real. The rocket selected has been providing commercial launch services for many years since that time, and the commercial launch market in the mid-1990s was certainly ready for a new entrant.

In nearly 20 years since the Space Office was abolished, international agencies dealing with space activities have repeatedly stated their preference for dealing with a single agency for space collaboration with Australia.

The primary reason why Australia continues to fight below its weight in space is a lack of understanding of, and commitment to, this area by any senior Australian minister. As a direct result, there has never been a political commitment, or significant funds. Senator Sinodinos' interest raises hopes that this might change, to the benefit of many areas of national activity.

Dr Bruce Middleton, Hawker

The proposed euthanasia law for Victoria to give doctors a right to kill their patients is not "conservative" as it devalues human life, damages the medical profession and overlooks the expertise of palliative care.

("Euthanasia: New laws could see Victorians get lethal medicine within 10 days", canberratimes.com.au, July21).

To say "people with motor neurone disease would have access to physician-assisted euthanasia" dehumanises these people, implying that their lives are not worthy of living.

In Oregon, legalised assisted suicide resulted in resident doctors being taught how to kill patients — contrary to the "do no harm" Hippocratic Oath.

A request for suicide in the euthanasia debate is in reality not "voluntary" as suicide is a desperate cry for help and an indication of unmet needs (emotional, psychological and physical).

Dr Richard Chan, a palliative care doctor, explains "one in 20 of my patients come with some form of request for euthanasia. When they get good care, not just palliative care but good care, those requests evaporate." Dr Ralph McConaghy, a palliative care director, assures us that "palliative care has never run out of options in palliating patients to bring them to a natural, peaceful death." Palliative Care Victoria's view that more funding is needed to improve access is worthy of consideration.

Clara Curtis, Kooringal, NSW

Every time I see a protest group about illegal immigrants I find it hard to understand their one-eyed logic.

There are thousands of Australians unemployed, homeless, sleeping in cars, many with children, people sleeping on the streets. Thousands of children in foster care. Prisons bursting at the seams. Hospital waiting lists worse than ever. The welfare system coping with more people than in the past.

The do-good protesters are obviously unaware of all the above, as they still want the country to bring more people in to make this situation even worse. It is senseless to keep pushing the already failing system by pushing the Aussie battler further down the chain. It makes sense to get the unemployed working, the homeless housed, the prisons and hospitals able to cope, the welfare, and health system doing what it was intended to do, by looking after the vulnerable and genuine needy.

When all the above are addressed then start taking displaced people from other countries who can be given jobs and housing, education etc without depending on taxpayers for welfare. It's OK to be seen as a campaigner for illegal migrants, but to pretend that many Australians are not in desperate need is just as shameful.

B.M. Cooke, Latham

White Australia always shrieks and moans whenever it looks like Aborigines might get something.

The Referendum Council doubtless wants constitutional grounding for its "Indigenous voice" body because we have seen how laws like the Racial Discrimination Act can be obviated at the whim of a government on grounds that, down the track, are revealed as mere hysteria.

White Australia has shown that the "protections" offered by Parliament can be brushed aside by an executive government whenever it suits.

Why wouldn't they want something more robust than the goodwill of the electorate? Sure, it's not an easy thing to be told that we're not to be trusted but hell, it's true.

As for Amanda Vanstone's response, I thought she was saying that the idea is new and we need time to think about it. Amanda is trying to position herself in the "sensible centre". She knows there are candidates lining up for the "extreme no" position.

Their main problem will be avoiding tripping over each other's tongues. Amanda doesn't need to go there, at least not yet.

S.W. Davey, Torrens

The article "Big dry points to earlier fire season" (July 23, p.8) highlights the extremely dry winter that has afflicted southern Australia so far this year. Some regions have experienced record low rainfall in June. We may have to get used to a drying trend. A July 2014 paper in Nature Geoscience by US scientists Thomas Delworth and Fanrong Zeng concluded that a drying climate in southern Australia is driven by climate change, which is forcing dry climate "belts" southward, or south-eastward in south-eastern Australia.

Of course it's possible that the scientists' climatic modelling could be inaccurate or wrong, but we would be foolish to risk all and not take precautionary action.

Douglas Mackenzie, Deakin

Re: "Govt wants green light", July 22, p.1).

The government wants to push ahead without an environmental assessment of Molonglo 3 and allow the influx of 27,000 new residents.

I wonder when the ACT government will address the current issue of extreme traffic congestion out of Weston Creek/Molonglo on workday mornings and consider improving inadequate facilities already under extreme pressure in Weston Creek.

When will a new road be built that keeps Molonglo residents off Cotter Road, the main road out of Weston Creek?

The current disruptive widening of one part of Cotter Road will do nothing to alleviate congestion long term as there is still only a one lane exit off Cotter Road onto Adelaide Avenue.

Before you suggest it, no, buses are not an option (they use the congested roads as well) and are impractical for commuting if you need to end up somewhere outside the main shopping centres. And don't even bother trying to get a car park at Coolemon Court on Saturday!

It's time for a serious look at providing new facilities (shops, libraries, community spaces, schools, pools, medical centres) and roads to cater for the Molonglo development.

Weston Creek just cannot cope with the increased demand on our already inadequate or absent facilities I have been a resident of Weston Creek since 1972 and rebuilt here from choice after the 2003 fire.

P. McDonald, Duffy

In seeking to avoid a full environmental assessment for Molonglo 3 the ACT government seeks to further hide its blatant hypocrisy regarding its attitude towards the wildlife of this region.

On the one hand it uses the threatened species as its excuse for killing thousands of kangaroos in this region year after year.

On the other hand it doesn't bat an eyelid when it comes to building over their habitat and destroying the natural temperament grassland it also claims kangaroos destroy.

Time to stop the hypocrisy and the lies. It is not the kangaroos destroying habitats and threatened species but the government and its utter disregard for any of the wildlife let alone the threatened species when managing development in this region.

For the government to claim otherwise is blatant doublespeak.

Carolyn Drew, Page

Re your editorial "Unions ACT risks subverting Barr regime", July 22, p.8).

Thank you for highlighting the "unhealthy" relationship between the union movement in Canberra and the Barr government.

However, the notion that "Mr Barr would be wise to publicly reject the latest UnionsACT demand ... to put the government's independence of thought and action beyond any possible doubt" is a forlorn hope, given that the government, the Labor Party and UnionsACT (with its powerful affiliates like the CMFEU) are inextricably linked financially and politically.

The Labor Party owns the four Labor Clubs; the CMFEU owns the two Tradies Clubs; the MOU gives UnionsACT effective veto over letting of government contracts (read trams in particular); and Mr Barr refuses to talk to non-Labor-oriented clubs. There is no way the unions in the ACT will relinquish one iota of that power and a hapless Mr Barr could not do a thing about it.

Last October, the majority of voters continued union control of the Barr government. I wonder if they had any idea of what they were doing.

One thing is for sure, they will pay dearly for it out of their own pockets.

M. Silex, Erindale

Apart from failing to see the access from Ipswich to Lithgow streets ("$200 million waste plant bid", July 21, p.1) this proposal can only be loudly applauded.

The huge embodied energy in post-recycled waste should be recovered, simultaneously eliminating a significant menace (for example, by 2050 there will be more plastic in the oceans than fish).

When the PM says we will need coal for some time yet if we are to meet economic targets it seemingly never occurs to him that the desirability of economic growth is not a given truth or that we could put the boot on the other foot.

Recycling waste is another substitute for coal and, better, we could reduce the growth target preferably to a steady-state economy. We need comprehensive recycling waste management plants everywhere and as soon as practicable, even if necessarily regionalised.

Even if these plants were government built it would be money better spent than in further subsidising fossil fuels, in particular the Galilee Basin where, one suspects, most of our taxes will go to the 1 per cent at Adani.

Dick Varley, Braidwood

I question the validity of your reference ("In winter's chill de-icing plainly needed", July 22, pps. 2-3) that Canberra's average July minimum temperature to date was minus 2.1 degrees and suggest that the figure may not perhaps be current.

Canberra has experienced such brutally cold nights I have kept a record of all July BOM Canberra Airport nightly minimum temperatures and by my calculations Canberra has averaged minus 3.2 for the first 22 nights.

Should these cold minimum temperatures continue Canberra could be looking at an all-time record average minimum low for the month of July.

Has ACTEWAGL been fiddling with the weather to achieve maximum return for the 20 per cent increase in electricity prices which seem to eerily match the timing of the start of these brutally cold nights.

Wayne Grant, Swinger Hill

OUR GODLESS STATE

With the welcome decline of religious belief, Hollywood offers movies about beings who resemble more the Greek or Norse gods than the Judeo-Christian-Islamic version; gods who straddle the ground between humanity and deity.

Hollywood's gods are equally silly, but their one redeeming feature is that at least no one is claiming that they're real.

Fred Pilcher, Kaleen

INTERNET A JOKE

So I'm sitting here in a rural Third World Myanmar hotel, in a monsoonal downpour, reading The Canberra Times on its terrific app.

And the internet speed is twice that of Pearce.

Surely we can do better.

Doug Hodgson, Pearce

DUTTON'S NEW GIG

From July 1 next year Peter Dutton will be in charge of the new Home Affairs Department (HAD.) By then we will all have been had.

John Passant, Kambah

POWER BASE GROWS

Malcolm Turnbull is crazy to give Peter Dutton his plaything, a super homeland department, not approved by cabinet. Dutton is building up his power base to go after Turnbull's job. If that should happen, god help Australia.

Richard Keys, Ainslie

EDITORIAL FLAW

If The Canberra Times still aspires to evidence-based reporting, it should refrain in its editorials from turning fiction into fact. Saturday's effort refers to Liberal MLA Andrew Wall objecting to school students being given union membership application forms during work safety briefings. No evidence of this activity has been produced because it didn't happen.

Glenn Fowler, secretary Australian Education Union, ACT

LEADING THE WAY

That people arrived in Australia at least 65,000 years ago clearly proves that not only were Adam and Eve adept sailors but they were also Aboriginal.

Gary Frances, Bexley, NSW

OFF WITH OUR HEAD

Interesting that our reps and senators can't have dual citizenship but our head of state has direct and at times conflicting allegiance to 15 realms apart from our own. High time we changed that anomaly.

Keith Hill, Kaleen

NO CAUSE FOR PRIDE

Another weekend of the footy, observing my fellow Australians, and I have one thing to say.

Why do we wear our excessive drinking like a badge of pride, when it is a cloak of shame?

Gordon Edwards, Page

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