Chinese spin
Congratulations to the Canberra Centre Management for not allowing our spaces to be used for Chinese Government propaganda purposes.
Recently an exhibition of Tibet Past and Present was removed from the centre because of public outcry. The exhibition purported to demonstrate how ''lucky'' the Tibetans are since the communists took over.
Great. If that's true why are there so many troops in Tibet, why are the media and internationally recognised human rights groups denied access to Tibet. Let's have a plebiscite and ask the Tibetans themselves how they feel.
Why would anyone believe the words of a communist regime that still denies that Tiananmen Square was anything but a massacre? The best thing about this constant propaganda is that it clearly indicates that the Chinese authorities still think that they have to prove their case and they are right to be worried. Tibetans and the Chinese people deserve democracy, guns and soldiers are not sustainable ways of controlling populations.
Lynn Russell, Yarralumla
Art for grass
My dictionary defines the word horticulture as the science or art of cultivating plants, etc.
There is $1.2million set aside in the ACT budget for three pieces of art at $400,000 each to be erected near roads leading into Canberra. Perhaps only two of these art pieces could be erected. The remaining $400,000 could be set aside for expenditure on the Green Square in Kingston for the ART form of horticulture (''Green Square turf deal at a cost'', May 19, p1). This would pay for the maintenance for the next 40 years.
Surely collection of water from adjacent buildings to a holding tank would ensure sufficient water for the lawns/gardens in our dry months.
Ken Wood, Holt
I presume the traders or owners of the businesses in Green Square, Kingston, pay rates. Now it's been suggested they collectively fund additional costs required to re-establish and maintain the grass cover.
I can't wait to receive my letter suggesting, in addition to paying my rates, that I fund ''additional costs'', eg, associated with collecting household rubbish, a fuel surcharge perhaps or other outlays unforeseen by the Government. There was a time when taking rubbish to the tip was ''included'' as part of the rates bill. Now, it's an ''additional''.
Peter Dahler, Calwell
Reading delight
I would just like to express the admiration and pleasure I felt when I visited the Goyder Street community library in Narrabundah.
I live in Belconnen and visited the library to pick up books for an elderly friend. I had heard about the library previously but thought little about it. However, after seeing it for myself, I have to say that I was very impressed. The library is so well organised and catalogued with books to suit all tastes.
There is a small reading area set aside for children and adults, and the volunteers who keep the library going are rare treasures. In the short time that I was at the library I had walked away with five books of my own. I could not resist joining and borrowing a book or two from my own book list. I also purchased for a few dollars a couple of books which they had duplicates of. What a delightful little piece of book heaven this library is. My admiration goes to the volunteers who keep it going and the community who support it.
Eve Bray, Cook
Bus freedomThe responses by T. Jones (Letters, May 18) and Ivan Hoy (Letters, May 14) to my letter of May 12 shows they need to get out more.
There is plenty of anecdotal evidence as shown by Ayrton Coll's response (Letters, May 18) that bike riders using bus bicycle racks are not simply ''free loaders'' but are using the incentive of free bus travel to use their bicycles more for commuting and other purposes. However, I take the point made by T. Jones about the lack of fairness in wheelchair users having to pay a bus fare.
There is an important equity issue. Yet instead of making bike riders pay a fare, why not make bus travel free also for those who use wheelchairs (and prams) or go even further and make bus travel free for everyone?
In financially constrained times, this may well not appeal to the ACT Government, so I suggest another equity-based measure that there be paid parking in the Parliamentary Triangle to match that in Civic with the proceeds going to better bus services and subsidies for bus users. Then you'd achieve the dual goals of reducing car use and greenhouse emissions and promoting fairness.
David Turbayne, Watson
Housing dilemma
I feel compelled to write on housing affordability, especially after reading the article ''Good time to buy house as affordability hits 7-year high'' (May 19, p2).
My partner and I are 40 and 39 respectively, and having re-partnered find ourselves in the position of being unable to afford to buy a house to fit our family of six. We do not qualify for any first home owners' grants or assistance, and even with a healthy deposit, we are looking down the barrel of having a large mortgage until well past retirement age.
The alternative is to buy a smaller house (that in itself throws additional challenges due to blended family dynamics) but at that price bracket we are competing with young couples who are first home buyers reaping the benefits of government assistance; first home buyers who are buying what took our parents a generation to obtain. While the government continues to deliver these grants and bail-out packages, and consumers continue to support the greed of vendors and the real estate body by paying over-inflated prices, there is not much hope for people in my age bracket and situation. In the meantime, we will continue to pay $26,000 a year in rent as we mourn the loss of the dream of providing a loving family home which we can call our own.
Sandra Burkett, Kambah
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