More important matters
I AM appalled to read and hear about Malcolm Turnbull going after Kevin Rudd on the use of a ute given to him during the election campaign by one of his friends who happened to be a car dealer.
All contestants get such assistance from friends. I will be surprised if Malcolm hasn't received such assistance. Malcolm now is more interested in the utility of a ute than the desperate situation this country is facing.
If Malcolm doesn't start doing the right things by Australia, the electorates might think about his ''utility'' as Leader of the Opposition.
Sankar Kumar Chatterjee, Evatt
Too much fuss
ANYONE with IT savvy knows there are many different ways to spoof an email. Would an email such as the one that the Opposition is making all the fuss about be admissible in a court of law?
Donna Stewart, Reid
Free ute so what?
I HAVE often been doubtful of the truthfulness of some members of Parliament. Maybe I was right.
If Mr Turnbull cannot believe what Mr Rudd tells him who can we believe.
So much fuss about nothing. So what if someone gave Mr Rudd an old rusty ute to use as an office?
If that is all Mr Turnbull can find to make a fuss about, it is time for a change a new leader for the Opposition would be a good start.
I have a great deal of respect for the way Mr Rudd remains calm and polite in the face of such bullying.
I would love to see a change in the rules for question time one question and one answer, then on to the next question.
I don't watch question time any more. I can't remain either calm or polite just watching the bad behaviour that goes on.
Freda Kemp, Higgins
Protesting too much
THROUGH the John Grant affair, serious doubt has been raised as to the honesty and integrity of both the PM and the Treasurer. Also the recollections of senior Treasury official MrGrech are under scrutiny.
It is hard to credit that a senor public servant, while giving evidence at a Senate inquiry, would fabricate a potentially damning statement such as has been made.
As one would expect the PM has apparently stated that the email evidently published in the Daily Telegraph is a fake a strong call. It is also noticeable that the vehemence with which innocence has been protested by both parties seems to suggest that the louder one shouts the more likely the public are to believe. Is there not a quotation which goes, ''Methinks he doth protest too much''?
N.Bailey, Murrumbateman
MPs childish enough
LITTLE kids should definitely not be allowed into Parliament.
There are enough big ones in there now.
Ivan Hoy, Kambah
Complex issue
I AM not going to comment on the recent expulsion of a child from the Senate. However, I am going to comment on some of the reactions to it.
I believe some responses are simplistic, when the issue of children in the workplace is not simple.
The behaviour of some children can be very disruptive, particularly when they are young.
Older children can be well behaved but can inhibit workers' full and frank discussion of issues that involve some sensitivities.
These issues are exacerbated by open-plan environments.
Proponents of taking kids to work need to articulate the relevant caveats, rather than just exhorting others to be more flexible.
Gordon Fyfe, Kambah
Audit attack despotic
THE ARROGANCE of the Chief Minister knows no bounds (''Stanhope may cut auditor's funding'', June 20, p1).
He is behaving just like a tinpot dictator.
The Auditor-General needs more funding, not less, so that ACT taxpayers' money is seen to be spent wisely, otherwise expensive and wasteful funding disasters such as Rhodium, the busways project and ''Firelink'' go unchecked.
It is time that the Greens, Liberals and the smaller community parties got together to defend democracy in the ACT.
Ric Hingee, Duffy
End intimidation
SHOOTING the messenger is usually one of the first expressions of attack being the best means of defence.
Anyone who watched the tortured efforts of the senior Treasury official, Godwin Grech, to be scrupulously precise under fierce and forensic questioning at the Senate inquiry could only admire his tenacity in the face of his own manager, sitting alongside, who sought to put words in his mouth, and the efforts of Labor senators, and the chair, who unsuccessfully asserted that sighting a document and searching for a missing one amounted to the same thing.
Given the enormous stakes in the ''it's his word against mine'' stance of the Prime Minister, the national conscience shallow though it is demands that Godwin Grech is protected from any further intimidation, and any moves to have him go on ''sick leave''. Few public servants would challenge the fact that their colleagues in Canberra at least, and especially those working to the Prime Minister's office and Treasury directly, have been subjected to enormous workloads since the Rudd Government took office.
The bounds of reasonable demands have long since been crossed and we might now be seeing some of the consequences of that.
Certainly, there's no longer any such thing as a free ute!
Brian Haill, Frankston, VIC
Act on homelessness
SLEEPING rough, Dick Smith and others have valorously underlined the plight of the homeless, whose numbers are growing and in these difficult times will continue to grow.
The Federal Government should establish, as a matter of urgency, a well-run Commonwealth hostel in every major centre, where three square meals a day, a roof over your head, security and companionship and perhaps even health care can be had for a portion of the unemployment allowance.
Don't leave it to the churches, Mr Rudd, and don't leave it to the states: act now, federally.
Barrie Smillie, Duffy
Not closed, moved
I AM the owner of the Dymocks Bookstore franchise in Canberra City. It being a local family-owned business, friends and customers were dismayed to read in Tom Skotnicki's article last sunday that our store has closed.
This is really not the case. We had come to the end of our lease in City Walk and have taken the opportunity to relocate, expand and modernise the shop. We moved only 100m and the business is now up and running in the Canberra Centre.
Every city goes through periods of decline and renewal; what's happening in Garema Place and City Walk needs to be seen as part of this cycle. We have opted to see this as a positive opportunity to provide a better store for our customers.
Alison Kay, Canberra City
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