Turning the page
All the lobbying since the closure of the Griffith Library has finally paid off. Thanks also to the Greens for keeping the Government up to their promise.
Let's hope the new library at Kingston is opened with great haste. Already too much time has been wasted.
In the meantime, the Goyder Street Library celebrates its second anniversary with a family event on May 23. Don't miss out.
Sonia Hathaway, Griffith
Meat-in of minds
Charlotte Galloway (Letters, May 5) has pointed out that, contrary to what Frankie Seymour (Letters, May 4) claimed, there is no conclusive evidence that Buddha was a vegetarian.
Ms Seymour also asserted that Jesus of Nazareth and ''all Dalai Lamas'' were vegetarian.
I don't know if the present Dalai Lama still eats meat, but he certainly did as a child. In a recent television documentary he recalled, chuckling, that after some family meals his father would use the marrow from the bones to ''wax'' his impressive moustache.
Jesus wasn't averse to the eating of fish. He once organised (miraculously) a massive catch for his fishermen disciples (Luke 5: 4-9) and on another well-known occasion conjured up enough fish to feed 5000 people.
It is worth mentioning, also, that Mark (14: 12) strongly implies that Jesus tucked into the traditional roast lamb at Passover.
Ms Seymour should be commended for her sincere concern for suffering animals. Good luck to her.
If they were alive today there's every chance that Buddha and Jesus would agree with her but she can't assume that, and she doesn't need to drag them into the debate. Let 'em rest in peace.
Tony Healy, Florey
The law for lawyers
There is much in your editorial (''The law must be the same for all'', April 27, p8) with which the legal profession would agree, principally the references to the public interest in justice being seen to be done.
There are statutory sanctions or penalties against falsely accusing a person of a crime or a civil wrong. There is no sanction or costs against falsely accusing a lawyer of professional misconduct or unsatisfactory professional conduct. That is to prevent members of the public being intimidated from making genuine complaints about instances of unprofessional conduct.
The trade-off has traditionally been the suppression of the lawyer's name until the complaint has been sustained and the appeal period has passed. The reason is lawyers deal with disputes which always have dissatisfied parties, some of whom are subsequently motivated to make extravagant, specious or mischievous claims about their or the other party's lawyer.
It has traditionally been like that here and elsewhere and it is not new. Canberra's lawyers have had that protection continuously since 1970, almost 40 years. It was consciously retained when the Legislative Assembly passed the Legal Profession Act 2006. As far as we can tell it was dropped from the Legal Profession Act 2006 when the disciplinary provisions were transferred to the ACAT Act. We understand it was an error rather than a conscious act of government policy: we were certainly never consulted. This is not a simple issue. While justice must be seen to be done, natural justice and procedural fairness lead to the conclusion that complainants and those complained of have rights which should be protected.
Rod J.Barnett, president, ACT Law Society
Let bats die in peace
The plan from the Australasian Bat Society to establish a captive breeding colony from the 20 surviving Christmas Island Pipistrelles (''Tiny bat facing extinction within weeks'', May 4, p3) is doomed to failure.
If attempted, the plan would be an animal welfare issue and a complete waste of scant conservation resources. Any bats that could be caught at this death-knell of the species, and taken into captivity, would inevitably suffer a slow and lingering death from malnutrition. I make this statement as the only biologist in the world who studied the species when there were, literally, thousands in the 1980s.
The advice given to the minister by the threatened species committee is correct. The Christmas Island Pipistrelle is extremely difficult to catch and almost certainly impossible to breed in captivity. The ''dozens of examples'' of captive bats living healthy and happy lives and breeding do not refer to tiny and delicate microbats, such as the Christmas Island Pipistrelle. Taronga and Tolga refer to fruit-eating flying foxes that are very easy to keep. None of the many microbats we kept at the ANU in the 1980s reproduced.
I shall grieve when the Christmas Island Pipistrelle becomes extinct which can only be a short time now but I believe they should be left to do it on their own. It is too late to save them now and grievous to think of the few survivors being subjected to some horrible ''rendition'' before they go.
Chris Tidemann, Visiting Fellow, Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University
Ignoring northside
Yes, H. Merritt (Letters, May 4), only Federal Government money will help intersections on Canberra's northside as both major parties have a history of ignoring and insulting northsiders on their traffic needs.
Way-back-when, the then Liberal Minister for Urban Services, Brendan Smyth, slammed northsiders for being ''rat-runners'' for having the audacity to use Phillip Avenue, Majura Avenue and Officer Crescent as thoroughfares to the city.
Later, the esteemed Jon Stanhope went ''green'' (well before he had too) and promptly snuffed the Monash Drive-Wolsley Drive arterial road from Watson to the City off the map because it was in parkland.
It is still on most maps, and appears it could have been a benefit to many.
Those are two reasons why the major traffic-carrying intersection of Majura Avenue-Phillip Avenue is a mess, and is still ignored.
Unless, of course, you park your car (for sale) up on the grass in the adjacent open spaces; then Mr Stanhope's khaki PEOs will take notice.
Peter Hemming, Palmerston
Email a friend