Mr Fluffy anguish recognised

The ACT government appears to be planning to profit from the victims on large, attractive blocks in order to repay the bulk of the Commonwealth loan. It was disappointing the inquiry didn't look into or comment on this loan, as it is the main reason the ACT government is playing "hard ball" with the victims over the question of compensation.

The elevation of Andrew Barr to Chief Minister presents an opportunity to look again at the indemnity the Commonwealth gave the ACT government concerning costs arising then and in the future from the asbestos "clean-up" 25 years ago. The Canberra Times might also look at it again, as a loan does not seem to be the appropriate response to the indemnity.

Bob Budd, Curtin

On Wednesday night, a Legislative Assembly committee delivered a unanimous report highly critical of some aspects of the ACT government's handling of the Mr Fluffy buy-back. Liberal Opposition Leader Jeremy Hanson issued a press release agreeing with the report and urgently calling for the buy-back scheme to be made "fairer and more flexible". But, within hours, Katy Gallagher had rejected some of the report's key recommendations.

This puts the focus on the Greens minister in the government, Shane Rattenbury. His coalition agreement with Labor leaves him free to vote against the government on some matters. Will he continue to support the criticised features of the buy-back? He consulted his party before accepting a ministry in the Gallagher government. He should consult them about this.

John Kilcullen, Macquarie

Apart from the feigned surprise by several journalists, any observer of ACT realpolitik could have predicted that when Senator Kate Lundy was pushed from her Senate seat or she decided "enough" after 18 years, the escape route presented to Chief Minister Katy Gallagher must have appeared irresistible.

The reality of ACT Labor politics is such that Labor considers a Senate seat as theirs to gift. Perhaps through Gallagher's abdication, more Canberrans will come to realise the sheer contempt with which Labor regards them in favour of its own.

Greg O'Regan, Farrer

Well, if there was a "dry eye" in your household last Friday between 7.30pm and 8pm, you were not watching the ABC. What a wonderful tribute to not only Canberra, but to a great weekly report on all things Canberra, produced locally.

The picture breaks between the "acts" were a wonderful snapshot of events and seasons throughout the year. Thank-you to Chris Kimball and previous presenters. I wish you well for the future and I do not give up hope this program returns.

S. Lambert, Hawker

We must all pray that cuts to the ABC will not result in cuts to the time spent broadcasting the pollies. ABC TV 24, "live" and untouched by editorial button, is essential schoolyard training for kids.

On the day Parliament was to discuss cyber-bullying, we had Julie "Hang it round her neck" Bishop bullying Tanya Plibersek in public, Scott Morrison bullying the Senate cross benches using children and their Christmases as a lever, but fortunately Jacqui Lambie noticed, and, of course, Tony "trust me I never tell a lie" Abbott doing his obfuscatory best with every question on the 7.30 Report.

Adrian Gibbs, Yarralumla

You really have to wonder if Tony Gill ever drives on any of the roads we have entrusted to his care – talk of consultation does not address the concerns when crazy road marking creates dangerous outcomes.

The continuing degradation of Stretton Drive is just one example, but a telling one. The latest "calming" between Rivett and Stirling is a startling example of the white-paint brigade gone mad. Forcing oncoming traffic closer together through the narrowing of traffic lanes is a recipe for a head-on collision. No doubt Mr. Gill would defend this as being in accordance with Australian standards — but the minimum allowable road width is not the safest. A simple but good rule we were once taught was to "drive as near as practicable to the left-hand side of the carriageway", but that's now impossible on Stretton.

Further back down Streeton Drive, we have the nonsense of forcing two lanes into one at the turn-off to Namatjira Drive – forcing vehicles together, rather than letting them separate as soon as possible, is just silly.

And now, after years of road works on Cotter Road, instead of reinstating the two lanes (which originally existed) turning left into Streeton, we have bus lanes, bike lanes, a new set of lights and just one turning lane. All this while the population of Weston Creek is projected to grow by 50,000 to 390,000 by 2019. These changes are madness, and maddening.

Colin Smeal, Holder

Jon Stanhope (Letters, December6) asks what people fear about opening the door to refugees. The unpalatable answer should be obvious to all from the disunity in Australia in recent years. Inviting people into our midst from cultures and religions that are alien to those upon which the federation of Australia was established is a societal experiment still under way; one that poses many risks and challenges.

Tony Abbott's attempt to present a Team Australia concept of unity was ridiculed. Nevertheless, without some widely accepted principles and values as a nation, we are vulnerable to increasing social fragmentation and conflict.

Another thing I fear is the paucity of religious, community and political leaders willing to defend our Australian culture. In some ways, we are a naive and gullible people, always willing to concede, capitulate and negotiate away our freedoms in the forlorn hope of peaceful co-existence. What sort of Australia are we leaving for our children? Will we recognise it? What will we be celebrating on Australia Day?

J.W.Farrands, Isaacs

For all our sakes, the Abbott government needs to stop making excuses and start governing. That means acknowledging that the composition of the Senate will not change markedly before the next election. Labor will not abandon its constituency and vote for measures that penalise the most vulnerable, attack working conditions or send us further towards recession. The Greens will not vote for measures that imperil the environment or erode human rights. Most cross-bench senators will not vote for unpopular and unfair budget measures that represent either broken promises or policies for which the government did not seek an electoral mandate.

It is up to the government to govern within those constraints. If the Abbott government considers it is unable to govern effectively in the current Parliament, it should seek a double dissolution election. That would allow Tony Abbott to seek a mandate for his real policies and budget measures, rather than the set of promises he took to the 2013 election and has since abandoned. Finding a trigger among the measures blocked by the Senate should not be difficult. The GP co-payment springs immediately to mind.

At a time when commodity prices are falling, growth is slowing and unemployment is rising, we need someone to actually govern – not a set of excuses and a critique of the opposition.

Tony Judge, Belconnen

What a curious article was "Ragged week? It was a horror year" (Forum, December6, p5). Buried in Michael Gordon's somewhat skewed piece were some of the federal government's significant achievements, which apparently count for nothing, including, stopping the boats, abolition of the mining and carbon taxes, a stellar performance in foreign affairs, including the three free-trade deals – one could go on.

So what's so bad? Apparently it's the budget. I remind Canberra Times readers that many of their favourite sons and daughters were supportive of this budget when it was delivered , including Ross Gittins, Laura Tingle and Peter Hartcher. Indeed, on hearing Bill Shorten's budget reply speech, Hartcher remarked that Shorten was in denial of the problems we face. He was right, and anyone watching Shorten interviewed by Leigh Sales last week will know he is still in denial.

The sense of entitlement is now so entrenched in this country that it will take a monumental effort to shake us out of our stupor. It is all very well to say the government needs to get their message out more clearly, but when you have both the Labor and the Greens, together with an utter rabble of cross-bench senators, adopting thoroughly irresponsible positions on even the most modest measures, plus a majority of the press gallery finding no virtue in tough yet necessary remedial action, it becomes a nigh on impossible task. However, this is a task the government must do better at in 2015; the nation's future depends on it.

Opinion polls may have Labor in an election-winning position, but this is more a reflection of the malaise we find ourselves in. The government is risking its survival by doing the right thing and more power to their cause. By contrast, Labor and the Greens are basking in the political sunshine for precisely the wrong reasons. If the test of success is the nation's future, then the horror year must belong to Labor and the Greens.

H. Ronald, Jerrabomberra, NSW

Richard Denniss, executive director of the left-wing Australia Institute, says mining companies "break laws" if they don't "believe in them" ("Miners playing by their own rules", Forum, December6, p7).

However, there's a considerable difference between breaking the law (a criminal offence), and trying to persuade government to change a law (a quite legitimate practice, practised by industry generally, and by community organisations) . And the two examples he gives involve the latter, not the former. Will he apologise to the mining industry for failing to make this distinction?

R.S.Gilbert, Braddon

Paid parental leave fix? No worries.

1) Add super to existing ALP scheme payments coming in about $2billion a year; 2) change definition of who qualifies to include lowest-earning women and men currently excluded by ALP scheme ie nearly 20 per cent of workers including casuals, self-, farm- or family-business employed etc, as pointed out by the Productivity Commission; 3) return funds to be hoovered up from state and territory government schemes for their own public servants to those jurisdictions where they should be; 4) remove the double dipping – you get either your employer's scheme or federal payments, not both; and 5) no one earning above average weekly earnings to get it.

Finally, delay the start of new increased payments to a lot fewer but well-targeted recipients by 12 months – existing payments based on minimum wage would continue in meantime – but collect 1.5per cent contributory tax from the largest 3000 companies from July 1, 2015 to fill the $2billion cash shortfall in year one.

Easy – and this comes with plenty of savings.

Sarah Brasch, Weston

In Bruce Haigh's review of Trevor Grant's book Sri Lanka's Secrets: How the Rajapaksa Regime Gets Away with Murder ("Chronicle of a nation's genocide, Panorama, December 6, p25), reference is made to the efforts by the Sri Lankan high commissioner, Admiral Tissa Samarasinghe, to have the book withdrawn from publication and noisy efforts to disrupt the launch of the book in Sydney.

If the high commissioner questions the veracity of the facts in the book, he should sue the writer and publisher for libel. Why does he not do so?

The Sri Lankan government was vociferous in its opposition to the TV programs Sri Lanka's Killing Fields (2011 ) and No Fire Zone – the Killing Fields of Sri Lanka (2013), but did not take the obvious step of suing the BBC for libel. Again, why not?

M.H.Hope, Weston

Plans to process gold through a smelter at Majors Creek on the escarpment above the Araluen valley, using cyanide processing, puts at risk the survival of threatened species in the Araluen and Deua rivers, the future of the oyster and fishing industries in the Moruya region, the entire tourism industry in the south coast and the water supply of the entire Eurobodalla community.

The very idea that we would put all of the above at risk for the sake of half a dozen jobs and feeding the greed of a few goldmining shareholders is incomprehensible.

The company, which is putting forward this frightening proposal, Unity Mining, has already demonstrated its inability to control earthworks and had five pollution incidents at the site on the Dargues mine at Majors Creek in the first six months it operated, as well as a collapse of its initial workings.

This area has a history of failed mining leachate dams. One of the worst was at Captain's Flat when a mine tailings dam collapsed, dumping 32,000 cubic metres of lead- and cadmium-contaminated waste into the Molonglo River, decimating grazing country and water supplies all the way to Queanbeyan.

This crazy Majors Creek mine would have a tailings dam precipitously perched at one of the highest points on the escapement above the Araluen valley, the jewel of the NSW stone-fruit industry and the gateway to tourism on the south coast.

How many more stupid mining ventures will we permit in this country before we learn that we cannot eat money?

Gerry Gillespie, Queanbeyan, NSW

A FRUGAL CHRISTMAS

Frankly the Treasurer's exhortation to spend more at Christmas is an (expletive deleted) insult. Surely even he can work out that cuts in real wages lead to a real cut in spending. Or perhaps he thinks we should all draw down on our family trusts or sell a spare house or two.

Peter Edsor, Bungendore, NSW

NO ROOM FOR EXCUSES

Tragic as it was, the accidental death of Phil Hughes has been blown out of all proportion. With the imminent start of the Adelaide Test, we have heard the Australian XI are fit and are focused on the Test. If this is the case, let's see all 11 and the 12th man sign a declaration to this effect, because when the Indians do them over, we don't want them, or the press, blaming their poor performance on the Hughes incident.

L. Christie, Canberra City

A LOSS FOR ACT

Friday night's 7.30 ACT portrayed what the ABC means; the loss of such a program will be all our loss. Thank-you, Chris Kimball, for the courage, strength and dignity you and 7.30 ACT have shown, and may we still hope to again tune in.

Pat Lesslie, Bruce

Vale 7.30. Shame on you Tony Abbott.

Valita Muldins, O'Connor

WHO SAID WAR FAIR?

My father appears in the 1965 photo accompanying Tim Fischer's letter (December2). He died six years ago, practically to the day Mr Fischer's letter appeared, and would turn in his grave to think he suspects some sort of unfairness in the national service ballot. War is complex and may require complex solutions. But what aspect of war is fair?

Sue Morton (nee Seddon), Weston

PERFECT TIMING

Neville Tiffen's advocacy of a federal ICAC ("Silk calls for federal corruption watchdog", December5, p6) segues into the article "Richo named in new NSW ICAC probe", December6, p10). The response of the federal rozzers would presumably be "Move on folks, nothing to see here." When will they finally get it?

Bob Gardiner, Kambah

ADVICE FOR BARR

I note Shane Rattenbury's statement "Formally the agreement is signed between me and Katy ..." ("What they said", December6, p3). Why not, Andrew Barr, simply jettison both him and his tram and give yourself a fighting chance in the 2016 election?

Scott Rashleigh, O'Malley

TOO MUCH HEAT

Getting a bit warm in the kitchen was it, Katy?

Alex Wallensky, Broulee, NSW

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