The prospects are exciting.

As we progressively discover them, some life forms may be suitable for tasks we find tiresome.

Others may make admirable subjects for experimentation, vivisection and testing cosmetics.

Their intensive propagation for use as exotic food and clothing is full of promise, not to mention the potential for live entertainment when the life forms are suitably confined. Care will be needed they don't escape and multiply in the wrong places, otherwise space-age trapping, culling and poisoning technology will be required.

If they multiply in designated areas, technology may offer opportunities for absorbing catch-and-exterminate hobbies.

Some of the life forms may be trained to assist with this. We shouldn't worry too much if a terrestrial transportation system collides with escaped life forms – they will always come off worst.

We humans of the Western Civilisation variety have a lot of experience in dealing with life forms on this planet, so we will know exactly what yoke, whip, cage, scalpel or saucepan to use when the specimens are brought back from another one. Legislation may be needed to criminalise unnecessary drone surveillance by humane Luddites.

Perhaps the most exciting prospect of all for our Australian government and entrepreneurs will be the possibility of exporting our quota of the new life forms to the Middle East packed into super-heated, live export oven-ships.

P O'Keeffe, Hughes

As an IT professional experienced in databases, security and government systems, I opted out of My Health Record.

I commend the Prime Minister for promising to address privacy concerns (July 26), but I wonder to what degree he comprehends how extensive (and potentially invasive) a review is required.

Privacy and security concerns are not limited to My Health Record software. Humans (eg, system users, data producers), equipment (eg, hardware, networks), other systems (eg, Medicare, doctor office software, identity verification systems) and more contribute to system security and insecurity.

Assuming for the moment that humans, equipment, other systems and "more" are secure, My Health Record itself must be designed from "Day One" considering privacy and security requirements.

To what degree did our Health Ministry specify such requirements? To what degree can Accenture (the original contractor) and our Health Ministry demonstrate these were achieved?

Assuming the entire automation suite is secure, what about the humans?

Time and again, security breaches occur from "inside operators".

Do My Health Record operators know and understand their security responsibilities? Are those archiving our personal data committed to and vetted for their ability to ensure privacy?

That's just the surface.

My Health Record may exceed all security requirements; those security requirements might be complete, comprehensive, and correct. The PM-initiated exploration may show all this. Or it may surface short-comings.

Without knowing more, I remain professionally sceptical that "issues" will be identified, let alone "addressed".

Judy Bamberger, O'Connor

I think the My Health Record is a great idea. I deliberately opted in last year. The concern over security is misplaced: My Health Record is more secure than internet services people use every day – Gmail, Outlook, Facebook, Twitter, etc. My Health Record also often contains less information and less sensitive information than the aforesaid services.

Plus, within My Health Record, you have several options to restrict access. Further, the government's inability to create functioning cyber "stuff" (think #censusfail) is not the same as the government's ability to secure cyber "stuff". The latter is at least passable.

There is legitimate concern about law enforcement access, but that is resolved by pressuring Parliament to amend the legislation so a court-issued warrant is required. Altogether, the citizenry should spend its energy being upset about something else.

Christopher Budd, Turner

Life can be tough in the snakes and ladders game of politics ("Labor wins and Coalition reels in Super Saturday byelections", canberratimes.com.au, July 29).

If failed Mayo candidate Georgina Downer can't win back her previous job at the Institute of Public Affairs, or get a helping hand from Gina Rinehart or Woodside, maybe she could follow the well-trodden path of those in waiting with a gig at the Commonwealth Grants Committee, the Council for Australian-Arab Relations or the Administrative Appeals Tribunal; or perhaps a role as administrator to Norfolk Island, if its available, or a directorship with Moorebank Intermodal?

Or given her dad's experience in building lasting friendships between Australia and its nearby neighbours, perhaps a job as a diplomat might be the go?

John Richardson, Wallagoot

It's now over three months since the debacle of the Anzac Day March and, despite two letters to The Canberra Times and two emails to the Canberra branch of the RSL, there has been no response – not even a receipt note for the emails – from the Canberra branch of the RSL.

The neglect with which those marching were shown and have been given since is astounding. And the silence is deafening – or is it telling?

One can only hope that the lessons learnt this year will be taken into consideration for next year's Anzac Day ceremony. But who knows?

B. J. Millar, Isabella Plains

Irrespective of where they live, the average Canberran – man, woman and child – will pay an extra $4000 in rates and taxes, to fund the frequent rapid bus and light rail network.

There will be two main groups of beneficiaries.

The first group is the people who are wealthy enough to live within walking distance of frequent rapid public transport stops.

The second group is the businesses and government departments that choose to locate in Civic rather than closer to their employees and customers.

The people most disadvantaged will be the public housing tenants who are being forced to move away from the frequent rapid network.

Is this really the outcome that we want?

Leon Arundell, Downer

Canberra's Labor/Green government never ceases to amaze me with its hypocrisy. They are portraying their recent proposal to exempt landlords from land tax if they lower their rental rates as a magnificent panacea. However, the only way they will alleviate the housing crisis in Canberra is to make blocks of land freely available at prices commensurate with all other regional cities in Australia. Instead of deliberately restricting the supply of land and charging up to $1000 per square metre it should be readily available over-the-counter to both developers and private purchasers.

It is possible for an individual to purchase a block of land in just about any other regional city for a rate of no more than $100 to $200 per square metre. There is no shortage of land in the ACT so this approach should not present any difficulties. If the government wishes to persevere with its current approach, it should openly admit that it is only doing so to maximise its profits.

Jim Coats, Fadden

It is about time our local government invested all those "value uplift funds" and a significant portion of those exorbitant land sale prices back into buying homes for those at the bottom end of town, suitably located near group shopping centres and equipped with solar etc (Editorial, July 31, p14). These are the people that need a hand up in life, and failing to do so means ongoing huge economic and social costs to the community. Come on Yvette Berry - show us what you can actually do for those most in need. Forget tracks and wheels, start building and buying bricks and mortar.

Russ Morison, Chair, South East Tuggeranong Residents Association

The article ("Electric vehicles soar by 160 per cent", July 28, p.24-25) got me wondering who is Infrastructure Partnerships Australia (IPA) and how many cars there are in the country. IPA wants to cause disharmony between the everyday man or woman and the rich elite on the basis that the former (drivers of old Commodores) contribute to road funding whereas the latter (electric car drivers) don't.

Such confected conflict is based on the misinformation that fuel excise is the only source of road funding. IPA is concerned about 8334 electric cars (from the latest Bureau of Statistics motor vehicle census). I checked the ABS report; Australia has 19.2 million registered motor vehicles.

So IPA is very worried about 0.04 per cent of the national fleet. Fuel excise is but a tiny part of the long-term thinking we need to respond to the greenhouse effect.

On my other question, who is the IPA, its membership, its source of funds and why does it get such an unexamined say on electric vehicles?

David Coombe, Macquarie

Exhilarating? You bet.

I was delighted but not surprised to read Jack Waterford's spirited defence of content and editorial freedom ("Times, they're a changin"', July 28, Forum pp1-3). I promoted Jack from copy boy to cadet journalist soon after I became editor of I in December, 1972.

I tell myself that this was prompted by recognition of his obvious talents and prospects. But then I confess to myself that it was also because Jack was something of a firebrand copy boy – recruiting his junior colleagues into the Transport Workers' Union – and it was better for me to have him on the journalistic staff than on its periphery. It was one of my better decisions.

I was interested in Jack's recollections of Fairfax management's involvement in separate editorial matters regarding The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, Melbourne.

It reminded me that, at one time, the sole representative of Fairfax on the board of The Canberra Times was Angus McLachlan, then Fairfax general manager. He told me that halfway on the flight from Sydney to Canberra he would become "a Canberra Times person" rather than Fairfax CEO. It was, as he maintained, recognition that a newspaper is published for its readers, not its owners. It was a maxim scrupulously followed by John B. Fairfax when he was appointed manager of Federal Capital Press and by his successor, Graham Wilkinson, when he was appointed general manager of FCP.

This is not to say that owners and their managers could not voice an opinion. On one occasion, Sir Warwick Fairfax complained to my predecessor, John Allan, that he was disappointed that The Canberra Times had used the word "buggery" in both a headline and report. But then he apologised to John when it was explained that the offending word was the charge in a court report. There were similar objections when "Ms" began to be used as an honorific. These were dropped when it was explained that The Canberra Times always (in those days) used honorifics and Ms was useful when news agency reports failed to use any. The last man hanged in Australia may have been Ryan in other publications but he was Mr Ryan in The Canberra Times!

Media owners come and go for a variety of largely economic reasons. But Jack Waterford's continuing legacy is his demonstrable recognition and championing of the values of accurate and responsible content.

Exhilarating? You bet.

Ian Mathews, Garran

Well done, H. Simon (Letters, July 30), for revealing conservative Amanda Vanstone as a presenter on the ABC. I simply wonder what Oliver Reid might have to say about the plethora of biased, right-leaning shock jocks (names not necessary for the educated) who give so much air time to many of our unqualified, self-centered, conservative politicians who simply are not up to the task at hand in government.

Go the ABC for continuing to present well-researched , fair and unbiased reports, which time and again merely expose countless uncomfortable and revealing facts about dishonest, money-driven, greedy, self-interested businesses and organisations that pay little tax, pay their CEOs obscene salaries and bonuses, and pay most of their employees a pittance. What a wonderful world we live in.

Chris Bell, Arundel, QLD

BRUMBIES MADE A POINT

Intriguing to read that Transvaal were "all-conquering" in 1993 ("Push on for round robin Super Rugby", July 29, p58).

That might explain why they were so dismissive of the Brumbies when they came here in early March 2016 for our very first Super Rugby game. The Brumbies won 13-9.

Ian Douglas, Jerrabomberra

MOON'S PROPER NAME

The vision of Earth's moon – "Luna" – turning orange on Saturday morning above my street was exciting, but so was the orange pin prick on the left above from Luna nearby, that is, Mars.

Most planets have moons, and they all have names. Let's call our moon by its correct name, "Luna".

JFK got it wrong calling for a man on the moon when NASA called it a Luna landing.

Adrian Jackson, Middle Park, VIC

OPTING OUT EASY FOR ME

Sorry to rain on your parade Dr Maley (Letters, July 27), but my one and only online attempt on the 23rd at opting out of My Health Record went without a hitch. I even have a transaction record to prove it.

Don Sephton, Greenway

POLICE OPERETTA

The words quoted by Christopher Ryan (Letters, July 27) "we show them we're the bold gendarmes", are from an Offenbach opera rather than Pirates of Penzance but the point is well made.

Arresting an elderly person in those circumstances needed far less police power, but then, I was not present nor was I undertaking the search.

Warwick Davis, Isaacs

GOD'S IN THE DETAIL

The latest of the ABC's God forbid series talks about work and workplaces – as always, anything but God. But depend on it, it's religion, so the Old Chap is always hovering.

Barrie Smillie, Duffy

UNNAMED LAWBREAKERS

Jim Derrick's argument (Letters, July 30) that underage lawbreakers should not be named is reasonable, as is his puzzlement about why a serial criminal aged 27 is still unnamed.

Perhaps our legal experts could explain this, as well as why ACT rapists found not guilty are still publicly named?

Greg Cornwell, Yarralumla

LIBERALS POINT THE BLAME

One the most redeeming features of dyed in the wool Liberals is that their failures are always blamed on someone else and not the party. The weekend routing was a good example.

D.J. Fraser, Currumbin QLD

AMP'S FACT AND FICTION

Perhaps the most exquisite moment in the banking royal commission was when the royal commissioner, Kenneth Hayne, asked an AMP executive who was giving evidence if he accepted the word "fiction".

Rod Matthews, Fairfield, Victoria

Email: letters.editor@canberratimes.com.au. Send from the message field, not as an attached file. Fax: 6280 2282. Mail: Letters to the Editor, The Canberra Times, PO Box 7155, Canberra Mail Centre, ACT 2610.

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