They were given those sinecures in the Assembly by an autocratic decision without any checks or balances available through the ACT's constitutional provisions.

The irrelevance of Cody's initiative is commensurate to her irrelevance to the governance of the ACT.

Patrick Robertson, Rivett

Jim Derrick highlights the complexity of Bec Cody's moniker-makeover project with the example of William Slim Drive (Letters, November 26). Lauded for his command of the "forgotten army" in Burma and yet subject to allegations of criminality during his time as patron of Fairbridge Farm, Sir William Slim has been someone squarely in Ms Cody's sights. I drive down William Slim Drive all the time and haven't given the name a second thought, so thank God Bec Cody is on the case instead of tackling homelessness like Mr Derrick suggests. But what to do? Clearly, Ms Cody needs to establish a parliamentary committee to work out an appropriate ratio for good and bad and how that might be proportionately applied to our place names.

So, for example, William Slim Drive could become Good William Slim Drive for 66.8 per cent of its duration and then change to Bad William Slim Drive for the remainder. Or maybe that first 66.8 per cent could be sealed while the rest could be left as dirt. Of course, I use these percentages and arrangements loosely, by way of example. Clearly there is going to need to be a lot of committee meetings in order to reach a more rigorous solution.

I expect resources for the committee could be drawn from essential ACT services and could also fund a number of overseas study trips to assure the committee they are operating in accordance with international best practice. And who knows, sometime in the future we might even honour our bold Bec with a place name of her own.

I'm thinking the ACT's longest burrowing stretch – the Bec Cody Tunnel.

Simon Cobcroft, Lyneham

I should like to draw to the attention of Ms Bec Cody a couple more names for her crusade to wipe undesirable figures from the historical record.

H C Coombs has a suburb called after him. He bears a heavy responsibility for the current appalling state of Indigenous people in remote communities. It was largely due to his ideological fixations that the policy was developed of isolating Aborigines in "traditional" ways of life instead of allowing them to assimilate and thereby better themselves. We can all see the disastrous and lethal effects of these misguided utopian ideas. Australians, particularly Aboriginal Australians, have nothing to thank Coombs for.

And what about E G Whitlam? He has a whole suburb too. We may recall his comment reported by Clyde Cameron about the Vietnamese boat people fleeing the communist terror: "I'm not having hundreds of f---ing Vietnamese Balts coming into this country." With that comment he not only betrayed his grossly racist contempt for the refugees, but also cruelly dismissed the protests of Baltic Australians against his recognition of the USSR's brutal annexation of their countries.

This had happened first in 1940 according to the terms of the Nazi-Soviet Pact, and Whitlam apparently had no concern for the continuing oppressive and murderous Soviet rule in the Baltic.

Small countries were an annoyance to him.

We might reflect that even people we admire have probably committed serious offences. If we expunge all humans with flaws from the record, can we be sure that any of us would survive the test?

Alan N Cowan, Yarralumla

In the aftermath of the Victorian election the Liberal Party is in the process of re-energising its shifting base. As a consequence of loss of support from women, under 35s, the better educated and informed voters, the search for the Liberal Party base has intensified. It is rumoured that Eric Abetz, Craig Kelly, Zed Seselja, Kevin Andrews, Tony Abbott et al are scrounging around retirement villages and old people's homes to round up their likely supporters.

Guest visits by Peta Credlin, Rowan Dean and Andrew Bolt to gee up the troops are also in the offing. Rumour has it that they are offering free walking frames and mobility enhancers to all and sundry, if they will turn up on election day and hand out how-to-vote cards on behalf of the Liberal Party.

Jon Jovanovic, Lenah Valley, Tas

Scott Morrison proposes to strip citizenship more widely. This is bad policy made worse.

First, the people from whom citizenship could be stripped include a majority of Australians. If the Prime Minister thinks you may have an entitlement to other citizenship, you can be stripped.

That means that all those caught up in constitutional impediments to being elected, and most of those who would have been caught but have disclaimed other citizenship, could lose citizenship. And they could do so even if any claim for other citizenship is actually rejected.

Where was one of your grandparents born?

Second, any "terrorism" offence, however minor, could lead to stripped citizenship. Looking up something on the internet, or joining (however innocently) an organisation which has or had suspect links or which has or had suspect office bearers, can be charged as terrorism offences. Our definition of terrorist organisations already applies to very many organisations against which no action is presently taken, from lay Catholic organisations to charities for relieving suffering in conflict zones.

Of course, racists usually don't get charged with terrorism offences; when they are charged at all, it's with non-terrorist criminal offences. And special laws which are generally applicable but only selectively applied destroy the rule of law. But that doesn't matter to our bad government.

Christopher Hood, Queanbeyan

We are entitled to wonder just who is really lobbying for "the ACT government to prioritise a major revitalisation of the city centre" ("'Not fit for purpose'", November 22, p4).

It might be the Canberra Business Chamber making the pronouncement but Canberra Metro (the tramway) and ActewAGL are among the principal members of that group.

The propriety of funds from privatised functions of our town council, that is public moneys, being used to lobby our town council is worthy of consideration.

Gary J. Wilson, Macgregor

While it is hard not to sympathise with the reasons for Julia Banks' defection from the Liberal Party, one could argue that a member should not be allowed to change parties or sit as an independent without consulting their voters. Ms Banks was elected as a Liberal Party candidate and should be obliged to remain as such until the election and then seek to recontest her seat as an independent. She may argue that the party no longer reflects the wishes of her electorate but that can only be tested by an election campaign.

The election of Kerryn Phelps and Ms Banks' defection means the Liberal Party has lost its majority, resulting in further political instability, an early budget and an early election. Surely the Australian political system has lost its bearings.

Rosemary Crossland, Ngunnawal

If members of parliament are disaffected by their party of any persuasion, they should have the good grace and integrity to resign from Parliament and let the voters decide if they want them to continue as their representative.

Tuesday's defection by Julia Banks from the Liberals to sit as an independent flies in the face of the patronage of her party, without which she would not be in Parliament, all those who campaigned for her and financed her election.

If she wants to recontest as an independent she should stump up her own support and finance – not ride on the back of her party. It has become too easy to put personal interests above commitment to serve in return for their support base's commitment to them.

Senator Cory Bernadi is another example of such selfish, opportunistic and irresponsible behaviour. Using any particular social or policy issue should be no excuse.

Yes, have your say. Disagree if you will. But show some backbone and loyalty – I suspect that I am not alone in being more disaffected by the behaviour of politicians, albeit gleefully turned to equally unprincipled advantage by any opposing party.

In the national interest? I think not.

Len Goodman, Belconnen

Here we go again! Yet another MP deciding that their personal merits entitle them to a seat in our national Parliament as an "independent" when clearly the only reason they got there in the first place was the party affiliation they have now chosen to betray. The disrespect this shows their electorate is exceeded only by their personal arrogance and the stupidity of the electoral laws that permit it.

Charles Smith, Nicholls

It seems to me that there is more than a little shifting in the political tea leaves going on at present.

The abandonment of conservative candidates and policies in Victoria, the growing frustration at the political barriers faced by women on the conservative side, the increasing agitation by Millennials and younger families for more action on issues relevant to them (especially housing affordability and climate issues), the protests by soon-to-be-voters schoolchildren, and the desire by electors for a more diverse, modern, younger, less divisive, relevant representation point to massive problems for the federal government.

Kelly O'Dwyer has latched onto the shift in attitudes - so has Julie Bishop and now Julia Banks. They can see the abyss but the hard right troglodytes stubbornly refuse to and the end result is inevitable.

John Mungoven, Stirling

Monkey bars, and indeed all monkey drinking places, have long been places of concern to be. Ape-like behaviour being particularly apparent on Friday nights and weekends, ensuring meaningful employment at many hospital emergency rooms, but monkeys will drink, frequently to excess.

As for children and non-drinking monkey bars, they are perhaps less of an urgent OH&S; issue.

Any form of outdoor activity is to be encouraged, among the mobile phone/connected generation, unless you can find some shares in Australian Diabetes Ltd to buy. Fitting 'spontaneous' activities like these into the tightly scheduled day of current school-aged children may prove to be a more aspirational target than one that is physically achievable, unless of course monkey bar skills performance is added to future NAPLAN testing. If this was the case, then surely the high-fee private schools would need to be compensated and additional property acquired for their future multi-million dollar monkey bar facilities. Perhaps though, with our pool of talented programmers in mind, a compromise could be reached, in the form of virtual monkey bar apps being made available, to rural, remote and public school children?

These virtual monkey bars could also provide teachable moments, with gravity being adjusted to simulate Earth, Moon and Mars levels of gravity?

Garry P Dalrymple, Earlwood, NSW

The fact the ACT government can justify $5500 to change the "walk/don't walk" images on Braddon traffic lights ("City gets same-sex pedestrian lights", November 27, p6) to that of a same-sex couple should be seen as a sign of a government in touch with its sexuality but out of touch with reality.

Consider the wants and needs of the ACT public.

We have a hospital system in chaos with insufficient funding; we have a prison system overflowing; we have the worst rate of Indigenous incarceration in Australia; we have every relevant body, including the unions, in opposition to the wholesale destruction of the compulsory third party insurance scheme and yet we have a government apparently more concerned about window dressing its progressive, libertarian views of modern sexuality than addressing these issues.

Before you point the finger of prejudice at me, let me say I voted wholeheartedly for same-sex marriage; I support gender equality and I support sexual variety of every colour or hue.

I don't support irresponsible profligacy and this government should take a long hard look at its expenditure priorities.

I'm sure the ACT public would like to know which government genius thought this was money well spent.

Jack Pappas, barrister-at-law

CODY'S STRONG STANCE

Bec Cody is to be thanked, not criticised for advocating the Sir William Slim road name be changed. She's bravely persevering in the face of opposition (P2 November 26th). Could Jim Derrick possibly consider that Slim's "achievements" make up for his abuse of several children and the pain that these individuals must endure every time they use that road? I'm not one of them but I feel offended when I see the name so prominently and proudly displayed.

Jan Clifford, Kaleen

DON'T TREAT US AS IDIOTS

As the federal election campaign monster begins to stir, candidates in the show would do well to bear in mind that voters resent being treated as idiots, especially by fools.

M. F. Horton, Adelaide

CROSS BENCH GLORY

More and more honest thinkers are shedding strait jacketed party rule and going to the cross bench. This is healthy!

Barrie Smillie, Duffy

SCIENCE TAKES BACK SEAT

John McKerral (Letters, November 20) is petty point scoring when he writes that "science is not Peter Coleman's strong point". It was obvious Coleman was writing about electricity generation, not suggesting a violation of the law of conservation of energy.

On the other hand, McKerral's persistent advocacy of fossil fuel use while disregarding the costs of greenhouse gas emission suggests that science is not McKerral's "strong point".

Peter Campbell, Cook

RULES OUT THE WINDOW

Bin Salman gets away with it. Another dagger in the back of the "rules based order" from its premier spruiker, the US. I suppose the UK will follow suit, for the same reason — money. We will too; we're on the same side as the money, even though we don't actually get any of it. Why shouldn't Russia and China continue to treat the "rules based order" as the joke that it is?

SW Davey, Torrens

BRADBURY OF POLITICS

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been described to me as the Steven Bradbury of Australian politics. I think it is proving to be true.

Jane Timbrell, Reid

I'LL TAKE THE OLYMPIAN

People who liken Scott Morrison to Steven Bradbury demean our most famous speed skater. At least Steven Bradbury was good at his job!

Andina Faragher, Kaleen

COOL ON ELECTION RESULT

Why worry about the next federal election outcome. There was a wonderful Monty Python skit many years ago where an "expert" commentator claimed at the end of counting that "the result is as exactly as I predicted, conservative landslide, oh except the other side won". Time will tell.

Linus Cole, Palmerston

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