A caption under the photo of revellers at Canberra's Groovin the Moo stated that the local concert "was widely lauded for allowing a nation-first pill testing trial".

Really? How did the caption writer come up with that sweeping statement?

If I recall, there were many letters to The Canberra Times and other media at the time condemning the pill testing.

I would say there was equally "wide condemnation" of the pill testing.

At the time we had one opinion from a Canberra Times reader that the people taking illegal drugs at music festivals were mostly in their "teens" and therefore "vulnerable to risk-taking" and "impulsive behaviour".

Should that defence and excuse also continue to be used if the same "teens" decided to commit violent assault, rapes and such like?

Of course not.

The people who died at the recent Defqon.1 festival for overdosing on illegal drugs were not teens. They were adults in their 20s (a 23-year- old male and a 21-year-old female). Three others are in a critical condition for suspected overdosing on illegal drugs, with two of them aged in their 20s and one aged 19.

They are all "adults" and were fully aware that they were taking illegal drugs. I believe pill testing will do nothing to curtail this and would instead encourage them to continue taking illegal drugs because of the option to have their pills tested at the gate.

Sebastian Cole, Ngunnawal

I wonder who, at the National Capital Authority or their political masters, will be charged with manslaughter if someone dies at the Spilt Milk music festival. After the contrasting results of the Moo (testing allowed — no deaths) and Defqon (no testing — two dead and 13 in hospital), by preventing pill-testing they would knowingly be obstructing acts that would save lives. But then the war on drugs, with its decades of total failure, has always been led by "no-brainers".

John Walker, Queanbeyan, NSW

Bree Winchester's article (Architect's family searches for names behind children's faces", September 18, p9) seeks readers' assistance to help identify a boy in a photo taken at Flynn Primary School by Enrico Taglietti, the school's architect, apparently in 1972.

The only assistance I can offer is to clarify that the photo is probably 1974 or perhaps late 1973 — which I can say with confidence because my brother and I were both students at Flynn Primary when it first opened in 1974.

The hallmark Taglietti concrete structure visible in the background of the photo would not even have been constructed in 1972.

Ian Duckworth, Griffith

I struggle to recall a single, useful, recent intervention from the National Capital Authority.

I'm only just recovering from their inane interventions into the ACT Government's duly constituted and electorally endorsed light rail project.

"My good man", they pontificated, "what of the poles and wires, the ethereal lines of sight, and, by the way, why not route it over the Queanbeyan River bridge, instead of the bleeding obvious Commonwealth Avenue bridge?"

Now, we have this year's 'policy' on pill-testing which, lo and behold, is exactly the same as last year's evidence-free war-on-drugs 'policy'.

With 70 staff beavering away there on a visionary National Capital Plan, that's really the best that they could come up with?

Why would a legitimate National Capital Plan even care about ACT pill-testing, whether or not on 'Commonwealth land'?

Do they also have a forthright position on our green bins or dog parks?

I call on the incoming Shorten Government to nominate a reform platform for this useless and meddlesome agency.

Stephen Saunders, O'Connor

Antony Colangelo ("How animal abuse can be a red flag for domestic violence", canberratimes.com.au, September 15): "It's obvious to a vet when an animal has been deliberately hurt, and that's often a major red flag that family violence is occurring in the home".

Likewise, Australia's red flag flies high for the Liberal National Coalition in sanctioning and supporting barbaric cruelty, misery and suffering for animals in the live export trade.

Colangelo's description of "... very aggressive dogs are used against women as a form of control" brings to mind Liberal MPs Sussan Ley and Sarah Henderson.

What compelled these MPs to sabotage their very own bill proposing to phase out this cruelty?

Do the Coalition perpetrate a "national violence" where our buffoons wear "clean" coal necklaces, undermine renewable energy, ignore atmospheric and ocean pollution, ignore homelessness and prosper corporate corruption?

I expect those who understand the fate of political asylum seekers in detention can see this connection.

Our veterinarian prescribes the big green intravenous ballot paper remedy to end this red flag suffering.

Ronald Elliott, Sandringham, Vic

It is disingenuous of Edmond Capon ("Ramsay critics pedlars of prejudice", Forum, September 15, p. 11) to rail against those who object to the Ramsay Centre of Western Civilisation's offer of millions of dollars to universities, without listing the conditions the Centre demanded of the Australian National University.

As I understand it from reports in The Canberra Times, the Centre's conditions — rejected by the ANU — included:

● A say in the choice of lecturing staff,

● An emphasis on promoting Western civilisation and

● Invigilators to monitor the lectures.

All three conditions (or strings attached) strike at the independence of universities.

Universities appoint their lecturers on academic and professional merit.

Courses are designed to encourage students to challenge and debate, not to promote a specific point of view; monitoring lectures suggests lecturers must toe a predetermined line.

One would hope the Ramsay Centre has modified its unacceptable conditions now it is offering to finance a course at the University of Sydney.

Ian Mathews, Garran

So brumbies will cross the ACT border at their own risk. Kangaroos, magpies and now ponies. What a bloodthirsty lot we are.

M. Moore, Bonython

As "government", the ACT government is exempt from complying with federal ACCC legislation.

Over the past 10 years it has been in the business of operating taxis, (releasing taxi plates over time) and becoming a major player and "price fixer".

It has shown little regard or concern for the plate owners who had invested in a product, sold to them by the very same ACT government, as an ongoing concern in a regulated industry.

With its haste to introduce "ride sharing" and Uber, the government effectively deregulated the taxi industry.

Some profitable "regulations" like the exorbitant rates for taxi registration and third-party insurance remain in place while ride-sharing operators are dealt with extraordinary leniency.

Since the arrival of Uber as the "new and favoured kid on the block" the ACT Taxi Plate Owners' Association entered into what we hoped would be meaningful negotiations with Attorney-General Gordon Ramsay.

A proposal for the government to buy back taxi plates was handed to him in April 2017.

The acceptance of what was proposed would see almost the entire government ownership of plates and control therefore of their lease fees.

Reductions in lease fees would result in the reduction of taxi fares and rates changes.

The lease fees paid to the government would add to revenue and offset the "buyback" costs involved in the purchase from taxi plate owners.

Association members were asked by the Attorney-General Ramsay to wait until the termination of a two-year "monitoring period" for his decision.

The monitoring period ended last November. Despite many requests this has not been forthcoming.

We merely want the buyback of the plates the government sold us (we thought in good faith) and has now rendered worthless.

If it were to agree to do so we might be able to reinvest and move on in what remains of our lives.

P. M. Button, Cook

I was a trainee enrolled nurse in the earlier 1980s.

A part of this training was a six-week block undertaking "geriatric nursing" at the now demolished Allambee Nursing Home in Aranda.

As a relative youngster, it was my first experience in dealing with dementia patients (or people who were away with the birds as we used to say).

It certainly opened my young eyes about the treatment of the elderly.

It was hard, but at times fun nursing. The staff for the most part were dedicated, with a few exceptions.

I saw a few things that I should have, but as a trainee did not, reported re the treatment of some of the residents by some staff members.

I was horrified to imagine similar happening to my grandparents. I don't know whether the royal commission will fix anything, but the system is no doubt broke.

I think it was already broken back in the 1980s when (I am surmising) the staffing was a lot better than at a similar facility of these days.

I always said that a six-months stint as a carer for young people just out of school in a nursing home would result in better treatment for the elderly.

This would have the effect on them, as it did on me all those years ago, of realising "this could be me in the future".

Peter Cullen, Watson

The abuse of Serena Williams far surpasses anything she did on court.

She broke her own damn racquet and yelled at an umpire who, many others have claimed, can be inconsistent.

As little girls she and Venus were part of a huge family of 12 girls in a combined family in white racist America where even today black men, women and kids are being gunned down in their cars, their homes, on the streets.

It has been reported the girls were faced with being called Blackie one and Blackie two and when a 19-year-old Serena dared to make a US final she was booed and the n-word was thrown at her.

Privilege is not how she got to be a great athlete.

The racist abuse thrown at her by people who wouldn't know one end of the tennis racquet by another is disgusting.

It's not like she's a white politician who started an illegal war that killed 1.5 million people.

Marilyn Shepherd, Angaston, SA

It's quite disheartening and deeply disappointing at the deafening silence from some gay parliamentarians who didn't condemn the controversial comments by our Prime Minister towards transgender children.

They're only interested in marriage equality and assimilation at all costs to the detriment of the rainbow family.

Sadly there is no sense of community at all in these careerists.

I wish Dr Kerryn Phelps all the success in her campaign in Wentworth and only wish I could vote for her as a Victorian resident.

Melina Smith, Brighton

Nick O'Malley's article on the situation in Syria ('The end of the beginning?', Forum, September 15, p4) was a welcome change from the patchy reporting of the news agencies.

Unfortunately, he missed the latest, most important development.

Nick's article failed to note that Idlib province is mostly controlled by a jihadist group Hayat Tahrir As-Sham, which is the current incarnation of al-Qaeda in Syria.

The US, in threatening action against Damascus if Syrian forces advance into Idlib, is thus now protecting al-Qaeda.

It is ironic that within the space of 17 years, the US has gone from hunting down al-Qaeda to protecting it.

It is doubly ironic that this policy reversal has taken place so close to the anniversary of al-Qaeda's September 11 attack on the World Trade Centre.

David Menere, Curtin

The push to legalise marijuana use in Canberra will, if successful, make us a laughing stock and lead to drug tourism.

We've already put out the welcome mat for bikie gangs.

N. Ellis, Belconnen

TAKING SIDES

Without a hint of irony or self-awareness, right-wing Liberal senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells has tellingly opined that if any of her fellow Liberal women politicians "don't like the heat, they should get out of the kitchen". Of course, what she really means is that they should get back in the kitchen. If she's not careful, her male colleagues will make her an honorary man.

David Jenkins, Casey

ONE-ON-ONE CARE

Ideally elderly, frail, and dementia people in nursing homes should probably each have their own qualified carer.

Rod Matthews, Melbourne, Vic

OUR NATIONAL ANTHEM

I am all in favour of Peter Burrett' s proposal to adopt the Seekers' song as the national anthem. (Letters, September 18). It would replace all the well-written but tortuous and forgettable words coming out of Uluru, including the "Statement from the heart". The sooner the better.

Eric Lindemann, Greenway

LOSING THE PLOT

In our suburbia the loss of sun and privacy issues are being ignored, as is the essence of Canberra streetscapes with people's established views over slopes, bush and mountains. Values anyone?

Gail Allen, Pearce

KILLING OUR YOUNG

The Sydney pop concert deaths from illegal drug abuse should be treated as terrorism and mass murder. The drug dealers should be given long jail sentences with hard labour. It's a pity we can't execute them but we don't support capital punishment in Australia.

Adrian Jackson, Middle Park, Vic

RISING TIDE

Ahoy there, this should really help float the member for Cook's boat ("HMS Endeavour found: One of the greatest maritime mysteries of all time solved", canberratimes.com.au, September 19).

Allan Gibson, Cherrybrook, NSW

TRUMPING TRUMP

President Trump's "chief negotiator", the South Korean president Moon Jae-in, was welcomed with hugs and smiles, and with hundreds of North Koreans bearing flowers and banners for a re-unified Korea ("Hugs before high-stakes summit", September 19, page 13). If progress can be made towards a peace treaty and then reunification there would be no need for talks with President Trump. Denuclearisation would surely follow.

Harry Davis, Campbell

PRAISE BE

Recently question time in the House of Representatives has seemed more like an old-time revival meeting, all that's missing being the invocation for divine intervention. Guess that will come sooner rather than later.

Graeme Rankin, Holder