Canberra Times Letters to the Editor: Trashing of loyalty means this shopper won't be coming back

Whatever the business strategy was, the interests of those who had loyally supported the store for many years were not considered at all. Basic items of stock have often been unavailable over many months and when asked why, the response inevitably was "we have ordered it".

My household gave up going to the supermarket well over a month ago because we were tired of being unable to buy basic items, requiring us to make a second shopping trip elsewhere. Buyer beware. Having now adopted a different pattern of grocery shopping to enable us to buy the branded products we want, we will be in no hurry to return to supermarket shopping in Kingston, the easy option though it was.

Jeff Hart, Kingston

All this huff and puff by Prime Minister Turnbull and his ministry blaming electricity suppliers for the current exorbitant cost of electricity. But who is really to blame? IIsn't it LNP philosophy that private enterprise can do it better and cheaper? Isn't it the LNP government that enforced state and territory governments to sell their utility assets not only for the one-off multimillion-dollar income but to also be rewarded with the "fire sale" for further one-off federal government incentives?

Should we be surprised the private enterprises who bought these utilities not only recoup their outlays but also make a profit for the company and shareholders at the earliest time possible and without improving services, infrastructure and reduced costs to the consumer?

I think I know who really is to blame for the increased cost of not only electricity but all utility services.

Jack Wiles, Gilmore

There has been discussion of late regarding the provision of safety bollards in strategic places. The idea has merit, but any engineer with a taste for beauty could make the bollards in the shape of seats.

The seats could be square or circular but have the capacity to soak up the impact of a car driven at high speed. They could be constructed of reinforced concrete. A seat constructed of steel could be equally engineered to take up high-speed contact. an artistic designer/engineer could make them strong and attractive.

The modern car is designed to soak up impact in any case. The impact of a car designed to reduce immediate impact and an engineered seat designed to soak up impact would guarantee people on the pavement would have protection.

Howard Carew, Isaacs

I write about our clear need for barrier protection against vehicular terrorism.

I declare an interest as being part of the team who put in place and maintained the colourful flowers throughout Civic for almost 10 years. We now seem to have barriers/bollards generally made from harsh, ugly, graffiti-covered concrete. An example of this visual pollution is on graphic display at Manuka Oval.

I would like to suggest that these could be easily and effectively done as attractive, colourful, planter boxes.

If the ACT government were to commission and purchase such barriers I could repeat our success with the Civic hanging baskets of flowers, all year round, at probably no more cost than my previous service.

So, "beauty and barrier".

Byam Wight, Griffith

To all those able-bodied folks who think it is OK to use disabled toilet facilities, on behalf of the many disabled people like myself who have had to wait, sometimes in some distress, while you use toilets that are specially designed to meet our particular needs; I want to name you selfish and arrogant and ask that you try to imagine what it is like for us when you prevent or delay our use of those facilities. Believe me, if we could use normal facilities we would.

D. J. Taylor, Kambah

I would like to correct an editing or typographical error inadvertently introduced into my letter (September 2).

I drew attention to GP fees at certain group practices which calculate to as much as several hundred dollars per hour, not seven hundred dollars as published. Even I don't assert that it is possible for GPs to charge $700 per hour.

The figure in these particular group practices could, in fact, peak at $500 per hour; but more likely would fluctuate around $400, depending on the mix of appointment lengths they process.

In a community where significant numbers of the vulnerable "working poor" earn as little as $18 per hour, even the lowest of these calculations is very problematic.

This production error is unfortunate, as it opens my letter to criticism on that number – but far more importantly distracts from the issue of the perfunctory gouging that has crept into the industries of medical treatment and testing.

Ross Kelly, Monash

So the government has finalised its findings after the Deloitte audit of the Brumbies but refuses to publicly release that report because it contains "sensitive information".

Just who would be embarrassed by the content of the Deloitte report? The government, one or more ministers, the University of Canberra, the Brumbies? More to the point, why would they be embarrassed?

There are many more questions the ACT public and Brumbies supporters are entitled to answers to.

Fred Barne, Bruce

H. Ronald's letter (August 31) says he'd be interested to read the scientific basis on which David Pope claims "Hurricane Harvey was the result of climate change" (August 30). Michael Mann, a distinguished professor of atmospheric science at Penn State University, states that climate change was not the cause of the hurricane but as it took shape the warmer than normal water temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico, and higher sea levels meant the absorption of more moisture than usual than it would have in the absence of human-caused warming.

Glenys Hammer, Narrabundah

As an age pensioner I am much in agreement with the front page article of September 2 ("ACT rates pain spreads"). We are one of the Canberra households who are living in increasingly reduced circumstances plus facing difficulties paying higher costs for just about everything. None are more symbolic of this than the rising imposition of ACT government charges for rates plus other expenses in this government's "city-building" endeavours.

Council of the Ageing ACT executive director Jenny Mobbs says rates increases had prompted some elderly Canberrans to consider downsizing from their family home of many years.

This household has no way to afford the considerable costs involved with "downsizing" or moving elsewhere. We struggle to pay the rates plus all the other ongoing increases like electricity, gas, water and food, transport etc as it is.

It seems incredible the "ACT government spokeswoman" admitted "no modelling had been done about the impact of rate rises on home owners on fixed [and low] incomes". Why not? An oversight, or complacency?

Is there no perception that what "the haves" can afford, many cannot and are falling further and further into a hole of debt through little fault of their own?

Chris Yates, Scullin

There have ben numerous complaints over rates to The Canberra Times Letters page. The saddest thing about them is the rate rises were predicted before the last election.

In an ACT economy that is based on land sales and rates primarily there is no room for wasteful projects.

Light rail is an example. Infrastructure Australia and leading transport and economic analysis have all predicted that it has too small an economic return to be feasible.

How almost 50 per cent of the ACT electorate failed to take in those warnings most of us who did will never understand.

I also predict with confidence that Andrew Barr will prove to be the most economically illiterate of all our chief ministers. I further predict that the second stage of light rail will never eventuate.

Howard Carew, Isaacs

The ACT government spokeswoman reported ("Landlords looking to sell up as hikes hit investors", September 2, p5) as saying "if landlords chose to exit the ACT market, it would free the properties up for owner-occupiers to buy", just doesn't "get it". There are many renters who have no chance of buying a home. They have to rent. Rental properties will not be supplied unless investors or social/government housing provides them. Yes house prices may fall if investors pull out of the market, but not to the extent that many renters could buy and certainly not immediately. So who will provide the rental stock if it is uneconomic for investors?

Land tax is effectively an additional tax on renters, as investors will pass it on if they can. This tax is not paid by people living in their own homes. Current land tax charges make those who can often least afford it effectively pay more government taxes than home owners.

Canberra rates and land taxes, comparing an average property in Woden with a much more valuable property in Sydney, are double those charged on the Sydney property. This, plus quicker capital growth, makes Sydney a more attractive investment option.

One way to make rental housing cheaper is for a scheme to be developed where land tax on rental properties is waived or rebated for properties made available for lower income households.

Hopefully this will be one of the strategies considered in the ACT Assembly's inquiry into housing. Public submissions to this inquiry close on October 31.

Gina Pinkas, Aranda

It is apparent from recent letters to the editor on the subject of marriage equality that many Christians regard marriage as a specifically Christian institution over which they are being asked to give up control and ownership.

However, there is no basis for claims such as that by Johann Sheller (Letters, August 30) that "the term marriage is traditionally a religious one". Marriage has existed in most societies and well predates Christianity. Certainly the Catholic Church increasingly attempted to assert control over marriage, particularly since the Council of Trent, but the rest of us are not obliged to accede to this aspiration. One can only hope that some reflection on this may help those Christians opposed to marriage equality (who I realise may well constitute a minority of Christians as a whole) to feel more relaxed about the matter.

H. Simon, Watson

If, as Johann Sheller suggests (Letters, August 30), "religious freedom" includes the freedom to dictate what others may or may not do irrespective of their own beliefs or state of enlightenment, then the tendrils of religious freedom have crept too far and need to be curtailed. It is quite misleading to say that religious freedom will be protected – intolerant and exclusionary Christian authoritarianism (which is completely indistinguishable from religious freedom for many Australians) has operated carte blanche since the first European settlers arrived, and religious freedom (or freedom from religion) has never been a reality for non-conformists.

However, it is precisely because the extreme views of people like Mr Sheller were resisted that Australia grew into the modern, vibrant, secular society that it is today, and his sense of entitlement to impose his beliefs on others is almost as offensive as his flimsy procreation argument is disingenuous.

James Allan, Narrabundah

LET US BE SEATED

It's good news to know that ACT is going to get another House of Representatives seat. But what about the Senate? If Tasmania gets 12 senators, why can't we get more than two Senate seats?

Sankar Kumar Chatterjee, Evatt

LET THEM SPEAK

The federal government has refused entry to Australia of a leading American anti-vaxxer ("Anti-vaxxer denied entry", September 1, p10). While this is understandable, nobody should be prevented from speaking in Australia or any democracy, no matter how obnoxious, incorrect or dangerous.

Rod Matthews, Fairfield, Vic

ANSWERS REQUIRED

Correctly, citing the ongoing court case, ACT ministers cannot comment on why authorities did not act over Bradyn Dillon ("Questions remain on why officials did not act over Bradyn", August 31, p6). However, afterwards all we will receive is weasel words about new procedures to prevent a repetition. Not good enough.

We want a detailed explanation on why this tragedy occurred.

Greg Cornwell, Yarralumla

ENEMY AT THE GATE

"The Philippines is a friend in need." We are generous, no question about this, but we must also be honest with ourselves. It is in our best interests to help defeat ISIS wherever they are, particularly if in our backyard.

Mokhles K Sidden, South Strathfield, NSW

HAND THAT GIVETH

A government member stated that paying subsidies for renewable energy is ridiculous. It is also ridiculous to pay subsidies for coal. I wonder who the Liberals are getting donations from.

Ken Morehouse, Wangaratta, Vic

HEROES HAILED

Thank you, Raiders, Ricky, ball boys, Victor, and the Viking Clap. Go away, referees and the bunker. Good luck for 2018!

Brian Hale, Wanniassa

WHICH JOBS?

John L. Smith of Farrer, your point is well taken; some jobs have to go (Letters, September 2). But what do you suggest we do to create jobs that provide a living wage for the half of potential workers who are less capable than the more capable half?

John F. Simmons, Kambah

HUMAN HEADLINING

"Derryn Hinch cleared of constitutional breach in citizenship drama" screams The Canberra Times (September 2).

The only drama Hinch has is "relevance deprivation" on a grand scale. A social security number is not citizenship.

E.R.Moffat, Weston

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