Canberra Times Letters to the Editor: Reduced use of public transport and even longer hospital waits

("Canberra patients face some of the country's longest elective surgery wait times" — CT online December 21.)

Some people are waiting more than two years for important surgery and delays are set to increase with 5 per cent more people on the waiting list at the end of the 2016-17 year than 12 months previously.

Buoyed with the knowledge that its opposition is as impotent as a eunuch, the government seems content to bow to the dictates of unions and developers while ignoring the hardship it continues to inflict.

This is despite unprecedented increases of rates, land tax and every other government charge and levy.

The decline in services was predicted by myself and others more than four years ago when the government refused to accept all independent advice and decreed the Gungahlin tramway would go ahead.

Now, without so much as a business case, it insists on extending the line to Woden.

At about $1 billion for the first stage and probably at least 50 per cent more for the Woden link, creating a slower and less-accessible link to Canberra's already fragmented public transport, it belies claims by Labor and the Greens of their environmental credentials.

The result will almost certainly be reduced use of public transport, further reductions in city services and even longer hospital wait times.

Graham Downie, O'Connor

Geoff Rohan (Letters 21 December) asserts that tailgating on Canberra's roads is exacerbated by "righteous right-hand-lane-huggers" in 60, 80 etc speed zones.

His solution is for all drivers to stick to the left-hand lane unless overtaking. This is nonsense. On roads limited to 60-80km/h there are often very good reasons for drivers sticking to either a right-hand or left-hand lane.

It's all about journey planning, ease of movement, and not making last-minute dangerous changes to make a turn in one or other direction.

More to the point is that where drivers in both lanes are moving along at or just above the speed limit, there is absolutely no need to either tailgate or overtake.

Yet daily we see the tailgaters doing their thing, and dangerously weaving in and out of lanes to get that one or two-second "advantage" only to see the culprits at the next set of traffic lights waiting like everyone else. Their impatient tailgating, dangerous lane changing, and often speeding, do nothing other than make roads more dangerous. Where, oh where, are the traffic cops when you see this kind of thing?

Oh, but years of budget cuts mean that you're lucky to ever see a traffic cop anywhere around Canberra, and of course the revenue-raising speed-control camera vans can do nothing about recording tailgating and dangerous lane weaving.

P. J. Bewley, Barton

The government has finally made some decision about light rail stage 2 (""No hospital stop on Woden line", canberratimes.com.au, December 19).

But it is deferring further decisions until the new year. As expected, the government has "... remained tight-lipped about the cost of ... options, although Minister Fitzharris said in August that it would be comparable to the $939 million for stage 1".

$939 million is the official government cost for stage 1 (build plus 20 years of subsidies) in 2016 prices.

The Auditor-General cites a nominal cost (sum of expenditures each year) of $1.78 billion.

The CanTheTram estimate for stage 1 is $1.4 billion.

For stage 2, one can expect the government to spend at least $50 million to $100million on planning and consultants' fees before any build/operate contract.

Our best estimate at present for stage 2, in 2018-19 prices, is between $1.5 billion and $1.6billion, translating into nominal values over 23 years of construction and operations of about $2.10 billion.

A real bargain for taxpayers for 10km of track.

The government will be very reluctant to ever reveal the true cost to taxpayers of stage 2, when eventually known to it, and there will certainly be no invitation to independent experts to vet and validate cost estimates.

M. Flint, Co-ordinator Smart Canberra Transport, Erindale

The Australian Monarchist League mourns the passing of Lady Bjelke-Petersen, a staunch supporter of retaining the Crown within the Australian constitution and a valiant fighter in the 1999 referendum.

She had a clear concept of what worked and what didn't and regardless of persuasion by those around her, she stood firm to the things she believed in and never played politics for the sake of personal advancement.

Flo was an inspiration to us all. She was a legend of her time and was greatly admired by all who knew her whatever their political persuasion.

We will miss her.

Philip Benwell, national chair, Australian Monarchist League, Sydney

In an otherwise rational letter, Terry Webster (Letters, December 22) gets rather carried away when he refers to the White House as being"trigger happy" during the Vietnam war.

The US Defence Department may have been generally "trigger happy" to some extent, but the term could hardly have been applied to presidents Kennedy or Johnson.

Both were extremely unhappy with being in Vietnam and reluctant to increase troop numbers, only doing so more in despair than enthusiasm with Department of Defence advice.

Their White House successor Nixon realised the futility of it all and pulled troops out.

Bill Deane, Chapman

John L Smith (Letters, 18 December) asserts that people who "deface" urban rooftops with solar panels are making a buck out of selling seasonal excess energy. Hardly! ActewAGL's solar feed-in tariff is only 11¢ per kWh while their standard charge for electricity from the grid is 19.78¢ per kWh.

That means that I am charged 19.78¢ per kWh for electricity taken from the grid whereas I am paid just 11¢ per kWh for electricity fed back into the grid from my solar panels.

The primary purpose of most residential solar rooftop installations is not to "make a buck" but rather to reduce the exorbitant cost of electricity usage.

If anyone is making a buck from residential solar rooftop installations it is the energy suppliers/retailers.

Don Sephton, Greenway

I write in reference to Ryan Hemsley's letter on Griffin's vision for Canberra (Letters, December 21).

Griffin's 1912 plan (for Canberra) was for a population of 20,000 that might grow to 40,000. We now have a population many times that.

Whatever strengths Griffin's plan had are simply irrelevant to discussions of contemporary responses to challenges we face.

Griffin's proposed tram terminated at Haig Park not Gungahlin.

The former NCDC in developing the "Y" Plan for Canberra based its assumptions on the notion that each of the areas making up the "Y" would have as many jobs in their centre as there were people seeking work.

A central strength of that plan was that there would be balanced flows, in and out, and that they would be connected by an appropriate public transport option.

The failure to provide such transport is an important reason why Tuggeranong centre now reveals major problems with its local economy.

The sale of the lease for the airport site and the failure to enable its development to be controlled as an important element in Canberra's growth is probably the worst example of what happens when a large land holder is freed from public determination of what development should be allowed where.

The failure of the Commonwealth to honour its commitment to ensure a direct rail connection was developed to connect it to Sydney and to Melbourne is another.

Members of the Assembly seem not to understand that the community needs a professional planning and development authority, not unlike the one destroyed a few years ago.

Patrick Troy, Canberra

It is truly astounding that "The Tax Office will be allowed to roll out hot-desking" ("ATO wins hot-desking stoush with unions", December 21, p9).

It is a matter of workplace health and safety. Individually adjusted chair and desk heights are critical to avoid debilitating and costly industrial health problems.

This is the second highly contentious decision by the Fair Work Commission to be announced recently.

The other was its decision to keep wage rates in an agreement between the perfidious Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees Association and a Woolworths' subsidiary confidential despite the Fair Work Act requirement that enterprise agreements be published.

("Secret Woolies-union deal cuts wages", December 17, p8).

Its title is a misnomer. It is not fair.

Gary J. Wilson, Macgregor

M. Moore (Letters, December 18) should be careful of claims that Peter Costello managed to have budget surpluses without looking at why.

It is the reason we are in the financial mess we are now.

The Howard Costello government sold off the family jewels. Basically, they also had a mining boom that was squandered on benevolent tax cuts, extravagant handouts such as the first home buyers grants which only helped the real estate agents and increased the housing market prices which it continues to do.

While you continue to support previous and current LNP governments you support a regime that takes from the poor and gives to the rich, a regime that sells off the country.

That's the only way they know how to manage. Unfortunately we have little left to sell.

Jan Gulliver, Lyneham

Prime Minister Turnbull describes Thursday's Flinders St attack as shocking and cowardly.

Forty-five children continue to be held in immigration detention in Australia and Nauru, subject to gross abuse and neglect, denied the essentials of anything like a normal life. For some this is their fifth Christmas as prisoners of Australia's immigration detention regime. In addition, 234 children are living in community detention in Australia, under constant surveillance of guards.

That is shocking and cowardly, Mr Prime Minister.

Eileen O'Brien, Kambah

The Coalition government is reported to have changed its mind and will allow companies to purchase carbon credits from overseas to enable Australia to meet its emissions reduction targets under the Paris accord ("Turnbull's climate policy about-face", December 20, p. 5).

I rarely agree with Tony Abbott, but I concur with his labelling of such a policy as "dodgy". It will, of course, suit the companies concerned, but is it in the best interests of Australians, especially those who live in proximity to coal-fired power stations, particularly older facilities?

Most, if not all of Australia's coal-fired power stations emit not only CO2 but also nano-particles of titanium dioxide which carry with them elements such as lead, arsenic, and possibly mercury, all of which cumulative poisons extremely hazardous to human health.

There is no totally effective way of reducing Australia's emissions other than doing it within our own borders.

Douglas Mackenzie, Deakin

It has been widely remarked that, since the advent of the Trump administration, what most Australians consider the most important embassy in Canberra has been minded by a chargé d'affaires rather than an accredited ambassador.

Everyone expects Donald Trump to make a patronage appointment. Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the last American career diplomat to be appointed as Ambassador here was Marshall Green, when Gough Whitlam was Prime Minister (1973-75).

There has been a lot of speculation, yet to be confirmed, that the Head of the US Pacific Command, Admiral Harry B Harris Jr will receive the nod from President Trump.

I have enormous respect for Admiral Harris who is the highest currently serving Japanese-American.

However, I wouldn't mind knowing whether President Trump would view his appointment, as yet to be confirmed, as that of a traditional ambassador or a pro-consul?

Nigel Thompson, Queanbeyan, NSW

DRIVERLESS CAR FEARS

Kent Fitch's assurance that driverless cars will have quadruple back-up systems running thousands of self-checks each second has me worried (Letters, December 20). Will I be marooned out the back of nowhere when my future vehicle parks itself because of a failure in the sensor that checks the sensor that checks the sensor that checks the sensor that monitors the perfectly functioning braking system?

Ian Douglas, Jerrabomberra, NSW

GREAT MYSTERY

The greatest navel (sic) mystery for me is whether God really poked me there and said, "You're done!"

Barrie Smillie, Duffy

BOTTLING LEVY

So every time I place a plastic drink container (10¢ deposit paid) in my recycling bin I am throwing away 10¢.

I suppose the local government will have someone at the recycling plants harvesting all these bottles, collecting all the 10¢ and putting them into the government coffers. Just another additional levy that this government likes to sneak on to we poor ratepayers.

Roger Smith, Scullin

OUTMODED BELIEFS

Senator Zed Seselja's appointment as Assistant Minister for Science is a flagrant error. His espousal of outmoded beliefs contrary to the views of most Canberrans is well known. The most notorious of these is his criticism of the ACT law protecting women seeking abortions from regular organised harassment by religiously-motivated bullies.

Chris Smith, Kingston

HOPING FOR MIRACLE

In Turnbull's poorly controlled reshuffle, science has been demoted from Cabinet representation and given to assistant minister Zed Seselja. Just what we need: a religious conservative representing Australian science! Perhaps we should now hope for a miracle?

(Dr) Rex Simmons, Mawson

FORBIDDING FUN

Re the Braddon blockies saga: Let's have all the rainbow coloured roundabouts and bicycle only lanes and red coloured trams, wait, light rail, ladidadida — but god forbid if we let anyone else of the taxpaying public have some fun at the same time.

Welcome to Canberra.

A. Almassy, Lyneham

PUBLIC SHAMING

Political correctness is a form of censorship imposed by the Western Left through public shaming and educational indoctrination.

Rod Matthews, Fairfield, Vic

STICK WITH BUSES

Ryan Hemsley's hedge-betting letter (Dec. 21) on light rail crossing the lake, and Barton's employment growth, etc., reinforces the case for staying with buses.

Jack Kershaw, Kambah

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