Atmosphere along Anzac Parade pre-march was non-existent.

In previous years the bands have added to the mood of the day. Pipe bands have performed solemn warm-up tunes and the community bands, in particular Canberra City Band, have played appropriate war-time songs as contingents gathered. This has always created a sense of anticipation about the impending march and ceremony of remembrance.

Not only was that "sense of occasion" absent but the RSL also claimed, during defence of their "no community bands" decision, that a series of high-tech speaker systems would relay the live sound of the Royal Military College Band to all gathered along Anzac Parade.

This plan failed miserably.

When marching contingents finally did approach the Australian War Memorial, the live sound became mixed with both echo and the relayed sound, which had at least a half-second delay, resulting in utter confusion.

This afforded absolutely no chance for contingents to be able to march in step, which was frustrating and annoying for all concerned.

And what of the RMC Band itself? With the unexplained delays to the ceremony the band members were on parade on a very warm day for more than 2 hours. In trying conditions RMC Band members, as always, performed their duties admirably and professionally, but, with such a focus nowadays on health and safety issues, a better duty of care from the RSL planners was required.

Planning and execution of the entire ceremony appeared inept on many levels.

I strongly advocate for the return of all community bands, urge that the completely inadequate (and no doubt expensive) sound relay system be discarded and that focus on all aspects of the service be directed towards veterans rather than television broadcast time lines.

Ian McLean, Former officer commanding — Royal Military College Band, Kambah

I am opposed to the pill testing at Groovin' the Moo. First, because drug taking is illegal, and second, because the only person who will be directly affected or harmed by taking the illegal drug is the person who illegally purchased the drug in the first place.

Is it the fault of Canberra citizens if that person harms themself and then dies? No! I appreciate that there will be a devastated family left behind but the person to blame for that loss is that family member who decided to take the illegal drugs. They knew what they were doing, and should have thought twice before consuming illegal drugs.

The rest of us are not to blame.

Sebastian Cole, Ngunnawal

The pill testing trial to be conducted in conjunction with the Groovin the Moo festival is a significant backward step and should never have been given approval.

Harm reduction – bah! The trial effectively condones and legitimises the possession and consumption of illicit drugs which are widely regarded as a blight on society, and it is likely to encourage rather than discourage drug use.

Hopefully this will be the first and last such trial.

Don Sephton, Greenway

While I have some difficulty arguing against the testing of illicit drugs at the Groovin the Moo festival on Sunday I do wonder if this action will not lead to an increase in the consumption of illicit drugs. How many of the concert goers do not consume illegal drugs at present because of their fear of the drugs impurity and consequent side effects? Surely if we guarantee the purity of the drugs more people will indulge and consumption increase. Additionally, will these people continue to take the drugs later when their impurity will not be guaranteed?

C. J. Johnston, Duffy

The concert might have been Groovin for some but for people living in suburbs within two kilometres the >100db of noise was terrible. The bass frequencies go through glass and walls and are felt like hammers to the head. Hopefully this will be the last concert in that location because when the new hospital within 500 metres is full of patients they will have enough clout to shut the concert down. How the concert met the noise pollution guide lines is difficult to believe.

David Roberts, Belconnen

Australia must be unique in having an energy-cum-environment minister who thinks Australia should burn its waste and be financed through the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency ("Frydenberg opens door on burning waste for power", April 22, p4). Incineration is anything but clean or renewable.

The European Union is turning away from it and the US has not built an incinerator for two decades.

No wonder the incineration lobby is turning to Australia as the next prey. Our Josh does not seem gifted with the wherewithal to withstand their charms, nor knowing whether he is digging a hole for himself, and the rest of us, as Minister for Energy or Minister for the Environment.

Chris Klootwijk, Macarthur

On the face of it, the solar-powered water gathering device discussed in the report "Solar-run drinking water trialled" (April 30, p41) represents very good news. The device can extract pure water from the air under almost any conditions while there is sunlight.

It would be especially welcome in the huge arid areas of Australia where there are commonly few if any other sources of potable water.

However, there are some possibly serious obstacles to its success.

The first is cost: a cost-benefit analysis needs to be done to see if the technology stacks up against alternatives such as groundwater extraction. In this case the solar-powered devices may have an advantage because groundwater commonly contains dissolved contaminants that must be extracted to make the water potable.

A second possible obstacle is the extremely low humidity of the air in much, if not all, of arid Australia.

This could make the process of water extraction by the panels very slow and of low productivity.

One answer to this problem is, of course, to install more panels, but this makes the whole installation more expensive.

It will be interesting to see how the engineers fare with tackling such issues.

Douglas Mackenzie, Deakin

Kasy Chambers ("Condemning renters to a life of hardship", April 30, p19) highlights the dire state of the affordability of private rental housing. Sadly she only refers to part of the problem. We need to take a wholistic view to address this pressing issue. Landlords will not invest in rental properties unless they can see a profit through rental returns and or capital growth. The inequitable land tax imposed on rental properties, and not on homes lived in by owners, is a significant charge to landlords which they try to recoup via rents. ACT land tax on a Woden rental property is roughly $6000 per annum. This tax is not paid by people living in their own homes. Rates, land tax, water charges, insurance and agent fees could total around $12,000 per annum. This is without including interest, maintenance, depreciation costs and return on investment on an $800,000 property. Without capital growth the figures don't look very encouraging for investment in rental property. This means that landlords will withdraw from the market further reducing property availability.

A scheme where properties made available for low-income tenants have land tax reduced accordingly, would assist in providing lower rents for eligible lower income tenants. It would also reduce the inequity of a tax which in effect taxes those who can't afford their own homes and not those who live in owner-occupied houses.

Gina Pinkas, Aranda

The ACT government's pernicious high rates and land tax are major contributors to high residential rents in Canberra ("Rental trends for Canberra low-income earners 'disastrous': Anglicare", canberratimes.com.au, April 29).

With land tax capturing 20per cent to 25 per cent of rents paid to private landlords, the people this duplicitous government claims to be concerned about are the collateral damage. The suggestion that land tax and the high cost of rates are not passed to tenants is ridiculous.

The ACT government pockets millions of dollars annually from private renters while continuing to reduce the public housing stock, particularly in older suburbs. Members of this government, once apparently socially concerned, now support the most draconian administration Canberra has had to endure.

Graham Downie, O'Connor

The recent Anglicare report on affordable housing, in particular for renters, sheds light on the significant financial difficulties faced by a multitude of singles and families in our community, especially the most disadvantaged.

Meanwhile, the Barr (Labor) government continues with its obsession to increase rates. I don't have a particular problem with rates as a major source of revenue, but I do with its nexus with land tax. Landlords, the providers of private rental properties, are required to pay land tax to the ACT government on top of normal rates. Many people may not realise land tax is about 50 per cent more than rates (eg on a modest property, rates $2200 and land tax $3300). This is all passed on to tenants, regardless of their financial situation It beggars belief that a Labor government can persist with this ideological obsession to reduce stamp duty by major increases in residential and land taxes.

P.S. I am not a landlord.

John Mungoven Stirling

The Barr government's flawed housing priorities are again made clear by the Domain March Quarter 2018 House Price Report ("Canberra's unit prices plunge to 4-year low", April 26, p6).

Given the government's push for medium to high density, there is a shortage of single residential dwellings on blocks.

And surprise, surprise, Domain's chief data scientist Dr Nicola Powell "attributed Canberra's negative growth in the unit market to oversupply".

With more units on the way, I can only assume the prices for units will deteriorate further. Why would you buy one?

Murray May, Cook

The residential density decrease in Tuggeranong, previously known as Nappy Valley, is no surprise. The nests have emptied. The overall increase in Canberra's population, reported under the ambiguous headline, "Some areas feel heat despite an overall city boom" (April 27, p8), does invite some speculation.

The matters of densification, town planning and excessive residential stockpiles loom problematic. Where the great Australian experiment, state ownership of all land within a free enterprise state, will lead is uncharted territory.

The greatest investment for the basic unit of society, the family, is its home. Its chances for social mobility depend on that security. If you think that sounds like Communist dogma, what do you think state ownership of all land is?

Residents are being held to ideological ransom.

Gary J. Wilson, Macgregor

Not hard to disagree with Alena Almassy (Letters, April 24) in saying there "needs to be support for the younger generation of hockey players." Could l also say there are hundreds of "younger generation" sports people in the ACT who get virtually no support from anyone (except relatives), let alone the government.

Last week the ACT Women's Floorball team returned from WA having won the Australian Women's Floorball Championships. The fact these women, and coaches, had to pay for all their own travel and accommodation, makes their effort even more admirable.

And not one word in The Canberra Times or even in local papers or on the radio. May I please say congratulations to the ACT women's floorball team for winning the 2018 Australian championships.

Geoff Barker, Flynn

Your letter writer Gavin O'Brien (April 27) is remembered for the passion with which he taught the young men at St Edmund's College of the horror, realities and futility of war after his time in Vietnam.

Our son, for one, as one of his students, has never forgotten the O'Brien lessons along the lines so sympathetically set out in his letter to the editor.

T. W. Campbell, Bruce

WHY WAIT SEVEN YEARS?

Re, "Environment ministers endorse plan to make all packaging recyclable by 2025" (canberratimes.com.au, April 27, p). Big deal. How big will the Great Pacific Garbage Patch be in seven years? We are drowning in plastic now and need to start doing something to stop it now. Now, — such a foreign concept to our governments.

S. Gerrard, Dunlop

LOOKING BACK

As I read the comments and commentary on this year's Anzac Day ceremonies, I recalled yet again the closing sentence of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel The Great Gatsby: "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."

Ed Highley, Kambah

REVIEWS OUT OF TOUCH

Another Saturday Canberra Times (April 28) with two ridiculous car reviews. Lamborghini for $399,000 and a Maserati for $195,999. There seems to be pattern of the Times, Fairfax and News Corp car reviews doing many reviews of crazily expensive cars. Has it come to a state of inequality in Australia that there are lots of buyers out there for these types of cars or is Australian print media just out of touch?

Rod Holesgrove, O'Connor

TRANSFER STATIONS 'NO'

Could this government please ask the people living in the adjacent suburbs and the traders and shoppers in Fyshwick if they want the two proposed massive waste transfer stations bringing hundreds of thousands of extra truck movements per year through the streets of Fyshwick. The answer, as government planners already have been told, is no.

Barbara Moore, Kingston

IT'S A WASTE PROBLEM

S. Brook says (Letters, April 30) "Australia is now unable to unload our trash onto China". Can I say that should not be a problem because Australia does not have "trash". Australia, however, does have a problem now China is not going to accept the large amounts of waste generated here. S. Brook was on the right track saying companies should take more control in dealing with their waste.

Geoff Barker, Flynn

OUR NAIVE BRUMBIES

It beggars belief, how naive our Brumbies can be, borderline inept. Total absence of leadership.

Neil Wilson, Turner

REVOLVING DOOR

I wonder how long it will be until the last days of Pompeo.

Ed Highley, Kambah

PUTTING THE HAND OUT

Billions of dollars are now being given out around Australia for infrastructure projects by Malcolm Turnbull as he prepares for an election budget. The Liberal Party is represented in Canberra by Senator Seselja and at the local level by Mr Coe. What have these gentlemen asked for on our behalf?

John Davenport, Farrer