Back in the dark ages
THE GOVERNMENT of Albania, a majority Muslim country, is preparing to legalise same-sex marriage and calls it an important move against discrimination. Meanwhile, in Kevin Rudd's Australia ...
John Passant, Kambah
A pay-parking solution
WHAT WOULD impress me is if the ACT Government (and the Federal Government) undertook to match ''dollar for dollar'', with increased spending on public transport, any money raised from pay parking in the parliamentary triangle.
Geoff Stannard, Weetangera
Caught on camera
I AM fascinated by reactions to the revenue raised by speed cameras.
We know where they are, we know the rules, yet we get upset that they identify and fine people breaking these rules.
Why aren't we upset that so many people continue to break the rules in high-traffic, high-risk areas? NRMA director Alan Evans (''Speed cameras net $14.5m, up 45pc in a year'', July 26, p2) says being pulled over by a police car is a bigger deterrent than speed cameras.
I don't think the community would be happy to pay for the number of police it would require to convince motorists that their chance of getting caught is not worth the risk of speeding. That's why so many people still talk on mobile phones while driving their odds of getting caught are small.
If we put enough police on the road to catch them, people will ask why we aren't putting more resources into catching thieves and muggers. When we do, they will complain about the cost of policing.
We might think cameras offend our ability to make reasonable decisions about what is safe behaviour at the time, but really they just offend our sense of ''fair play'', of being able to take a risk and get away with it.
If Evans wants to stop drivers talking on phones, he needs to encourage people to dob in those who do so. That's the most resource-effective way of changing this behaviour.
In the meantime, if you're caught by a camera, take your medicine like a grown-up.
Ruth McLucas, Weetangera
Rego to ride
WHILE driving in Canberra recently in my new car, a bike rider attempted to pass me on the left, as I indicated to pull over and park.
He hit my car and mercifully was not injured, but he scratched the paint work. He rode off confident that he could not be identified, gesticulating, rudely and aggressively.
It's time all road users (including bikes) be identified with a registration plate, so in instances like this and other road law violations the people involved cannot hide behind anonymity.
Ken Helm, Murrumbateman
Failing to see the trees
GREAT political spin by Simon Corbell (Letters, July 30, p18), ACT Minister for the Environment, among other things, in reply to criticism after Rosslyn Beeby's article (''Naked suburbs fail on carbon'', July 27, p1).
What he ignores is that large houses in new suburbs are built on smaller blocks so that there's no room for trees. The fault lies with planning authorities, our local politicians and developers.
John Winter, Fraser
A Revolve revolution?
YOUR HEADLINE ''Wages bill sends Aussie Junk into liquidation'' (July 31, p7) should read: ''Refusal to pay wages bill''.
Visiting the recycling shop at the Mugga Lane tip used to be atmospheric and fun, even when we had to squelch through the mud, before the new shed got built. Some of the great stuff I got there is still in use around my home. It was then run by Revolve, a non-profit organisation which was as much about creating employment as recycling. The ACT Government banished Revolve to Hume, and let Aussie Junk take over. The place was never the same.
I vote to let Revolve take it over again.
M.A. Smith, Kambah
Death of motorsport
IT'S GREAT to see an editorial (''Summernats survival a chance to build success'', July 26, p18) mention the disgraceful actions and inactions successive ACT governments have inflicted on motorsport in the capital.
Mr Stanhope gets a guernsey for his ''we will have a dragway operational within 18 months'' vote-seeking lie but cannot claim all credit for decimating ACT motorsport to the point it is today.
Brendan Smyth, Ted Quinlan, Andrew Barr and government bureaucrats need to share the load. The editorial only mentions the dragway and the V8 supercars but there are more than a dozen exciting events elsewhere in Australia that have been done to death by ACT bureaucracy.
Michael Attwell, Dunlop
Brickworks blame game
ONE OF the main reasons the Government is anxious to offload the Yarralumla brickworks (''Yarralumla brickworks: what now?'', July 26, p19) is the fire which swept through it on December 29, 2005, destroying three homes and seriously damaging another.
The police report presented to the coroner made clear the fuel load in the brickworks a direct result of the site's neglect, despite repeated requests from residents for a clean-up was a major cause of the fire.
The Government's predictable response was to blame the victims for having brush fencing, a requirement of the planning authority at the time the homes were constructed. Now it is hoping that it will all be someone else's problem.
Why are we not surprised?
N. Savva, Yarralumla
All due palliative care
ANY DISCUSSION about the future of Clare Holland House (Letters, July 26, p18) should acknowledge the role of the partnership of 14 years between Little Company of Mary Health Care and the ACT Palliative Care Society and the thousands of patients and families they have supported, whatever their religious beliefs, cultures and traditions.
Little Company of Mary is working with the the society to ensure any change at Clare Holland House will enhance public palliative-care services. The proposal for the hospice to be transferred to Little Company of Mary would allow continuity and the growth of that partnership in providing quality public palliative care services in settings from home to the hospice.
The sisters of the Little Company of Mary have been caring for the sick and dying for 120 years and palliative care is central to the expression of their mission. The sisters pioneered the idea of working towards the highest standards of care, including hosting Australia's first national exams for nurses in 1906. It is no coincidence that Little Company of Mary Health Care is now the largest provider of specialist palliative-care services in Australia.
Walter Kmet, Little Company of Mary Health Care public hospitals national director
Karen's inspired victory
I WAS truly inspired by the story of the ''Mum who turned her life around'' (July 26, p4). Karen Elliott won the battle over her addiction to alcohol and has been free of it for six years.
Congratulations Karen, well done.
Evelyn Bean, Ainslie
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