Once again we need to congratulate our highly-regarded local government, and especially minister John Hargreaves, for having the courage to stand up for the boring minority and the politically correct and ban yet another Australian tradition, cracker night.

Thank goodness parents will no longer have to endure the excited looks on their children's faces when purchasing fireworks or suffer the bonding that we experienced with our parents and friends when dragging wood and rubbish to the bonfires of our youth.

Also, we will see a glad farewell to the camaraderie that existed once a year when neighbours gathered together on the reserve and actually shared gluvine and marshmallows while the children watched in awe as fireworks lit up the sky.

Thank goodness there'll be no more simmering ashes in the morning in which to pop spuds and damper to cook for lunch while the children search for that elusive untouched cracker.

Yes, we can all just sit inside and watch television and become blobs surely that's what the nanny state wants?

We're no trouble that way.

But some of us might just tell our grandchildren what fun it used to be in the good old days on a cold and misty cracker night.

F. Coble, Isaacs

I for one completely support the ban on fireworks. Just like the prohibition on drugs eliminated the use and sale of illicit drugs, this ban will ensure that not a single firework will ever be let off in the ACT ever again.

Never again will our tranquil evenings be disturbed by noisy neighbours.

Think also of the benefits this ban will bring to irresponsible pet owners who can now sleep soundly at night knowing that nothing can possibly disturb their neglect and inability to adequately provision for the animals that they have chosen to take under their care.

I also understand that under this ban, people's access to the internet will magically be restricted, preventing them from discovering all the only slightly more dangerous noise makers and bombs that can be made from materials found in the average home.