Echoing the opinion expressed in my column of March 1, 2009 in The Canberra Times, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission says vulnerable ACT customers should no longer foot the bill for inequitable solar power schemes overly generous towards better-off households. ("Consumer competition watchdog says ACT should dump solar scheme", canberratimes.com.au, March12).
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My column was published on the day the scheme was launched and nothing that has occurred since has mitigated the misguided inequity perpetrated by the ACT government, supported by the opposition, on this city's less well-off folk.
Then energy minister Simon Corbell said the scheme was generous. So it is, to those who have their electricity consumption subsidised by those who cannot afford or who chose not to participate in the scheme.
At the time of its introduction, similar schemes overseas were collapsing because, as was obvious with this one, they were unsustainable. Meanwhile, people who bought into the ACT scheme continue to receive more than double the retail rate for the power generated from their photovoltaic modules. This generosity is paid for by many who have difficulty affording the electricity they use.
The commission says state and territory governments should wind up solar feed-in schemes and pay the cost. While more equitable than continuing to levy the electricity bills of financially vulnerable households, it is a fair bet our benevolent government would levy ratepayers to cover the cost of its inequitable scheme.
As well as its inequity, penalising the very people Labor and Greens claim to support, the scheme attracted numerous dodgy businesses to Canberra, damaging, even destroying some long-established, reputable businesses.
Opposition to the feed-in scheme does not imply opposition to rooftop solar, already subsidised by the federal government. But people who choose to benefit from photovoltaic modules should not, and never should have been, further subsidised by other electricity consumers.
Graham Downie, O'Connor
Pill test problems
There has been much discussion about pill testing in Canberra.
Very recent news is that on June 3, the UK media's The Independent reported that Melvin Benn, Festival Republic's managing director, declared that "Front of house testing sounds perfect but has the ability to mislead I fear."
His company, which organises the Reading and Leeds festivals among others in the UK, announced that pill testing cast doubt on the growing body of evidence that suggests testing festival-goers' drugs for potency and impurity, as well as providing individualised advice, reduces drug-related harm.
The company's decision is in the presence of extremely weighty evidence from Dr Adam Winstock, founder of Global Drug Survey and a consultant psychologist, and Dr John Ramsey, forensic toxicologist, who commented on pill testing.
These comments included, "but knowing what is in your pill taking cannot reduce your risk of death to zero and people can die from MDMA after what could be considered a low/normal dose. Deaths often occur after consumption of the same tablets, in similar amounts, in the same environment as other people who have no problems" and "the relationship between dose and the risk of death with MDMA is inconsistent and unpredictable".
The reliability and accuracy of transportable devices such as infra-red spectroscopy when used to check pills are questionable, because they are limited to detecting the major components of a sample, which may not be the active substance.
Colliss Parrett, Drug Advisory Council Australia, Barton
Indigenous reflection
NAIDOC week was a time to look back on Indigenous history and reflect on current developments.
To summarise, over the years following the first fleet, the people were driven away from their ancestral lands, their crops and their hunting grounds.
Their movements were restricted.
They needed to ask the permission of foreigners to get married.
Many were slaughtered.
They were moved, often in chains, to settler-controlled communities.
Their culture and languages were suppressed. Many of their children were removed by deceit for no legitimate reason. They were put to forced labour and many had their wages stolen by state governments.
Indigenous people, while experiencing shocking inter-generational trauma, despite a few hopeful developments such as the referendum and limited land rights, are still suffering the impact of racist and paternalistic government policies that have destroyed many effective community-run projects.
Despite all this, there are now many Indigenous teachers, nurses, doctors, lawyers, writers, academics, journalists and wonderful elders who impart a depth of wisdom and insight virtually unknown in the wider society.
Yet the reception by government of the Statement from the Heart did not show respect to all the magnificent work by Indigenous individuals and groups.
To say it was ill-informed and paternalistic would be an understatement.
Pauline Westwood, Dickson
Power struggles
While I have no argument with the federal government in its desire to cut power prices, I am concerned about how it plans to do so ("PM backs measures to cut power prices", July 12, p9).
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has indicated that his government would endorse most of the 56 recommendations from the ACCC, and said that he was "very attracted" to the proposal that the government underwrite new power generation.
However, Mr Turnbull, in statements designed to appease the far-right coal fanciers in the Coalition, stressed that the financial support would not favour coal, gas, or renewables.
Then, when asked directly if the government's underwriting of baseload power generation would support new coal-fired power stations, Mr Turnbull said "We've got to stop focusing on one technology or the other."
This strongly suggests to me that the PM is prepared to use public money to underwrite the building of coal-fired power plants that, by the time they are commissioned, will produce power that is far more expensive than that from renewable sources which will, by then, produce power far more cheaply than at present.
This says nothing about how the federal government plans to address emissions – something the coal lobby would probably be happy to see the government ignore.
Douglas Mackenzie, Deakin
Why we're off the rails
Howard Carew (Letters, July 12) described the Inner South Canberra Community Council public forum on transport on Tuesday last as having an Alice in Wonderland quality.
My view is that there was sufficient material there for an entire new series of Utopia.
Apparently, stage 2 of the light rail to Woden will happen because "the issue was fully canvassed at the last election".
Those of us who thought that what was discussed was a feasibility study must have missed the "exhaustive debate".
Those of us who thought that the process for such a significant decision might have involved an evidence-based feasibility study followed by a cost-benefit analysis leading to an informed government decision have apparently missed the above point and also fail to understand the "transformative" powers of a pair of steel rails as opposed to any other form of public transport.
When asked what would happen if the cost-benefit analysis produced a negative result, the Transport Canberra representative was extremely reluctant to concede that such an outcome was even remotely possible — apparently "other factors" would then come into play and get the proposal over the line. When pressed further as to whether there were any circumstances in which Transport Canberra might advise government that extending the light rail to Woden was not a good idea, the representative said that any such advice was "above his pay grade".
Possibly a wise response given the presence of Shane Rattenbury at the back of the room.
Space prohibits me from covering all the dodgy logic and non sequiturs advanced as reasoning at the meeting, but I particularly liked the claim that the Woden extension had to happen because people travelling south would not like changing to a bus at Civic, when many of the bus route changes involved increased use of interchanges, including for primary school children, and the trams purchased for the northside service will not be capable of wireless operation and therefore will not be able to proceed over the lake.
Michael Roche, Yarralumla
Pure destruction
The environmental vandalism that has been committed in the guise of the necessity for a light rail network beggars belief.
How many trees from Northbourne Avenue to the Gunghalin Market Place have been uprooted?
How many bird habitats have been destroyed? Hundreds if not thousands I suspect.
Why is a perfectly good dual carriage way between The Lakes Golf Club and the Market Place being turned into a dual carriage way with yet more trees being uprooted for no apparent reason?
Traffic flow around Gunghalin Market Place back as far as the roundabout on the Barton Highway is a nightmare and of course local residents along the construction sites are being subjected to constant noise and dust everywhere.
The lovely bush capital which existed until the light rail construction was agreed is now no more.
Those living south of the lake have got all this disruption, noise, destruction and dirt coming their way very soon. If Andrew Barr and Shane Rattenbury consider this tram to be their legacy and for which they will be remembered, they are right but for all the wrong reasons.
When will the destruction cease?
When will Andrew Barr come to Gunghalin and explain to residents the overall plan? It has nothing to do with climate change as people living in Moncrieff, Taylor and other far flung suburbs will need to drive into Gunghalin to catch the tram and if doing that it is probably more convenient to keep driving especially if employed in Woden, Kambah or Tuggeranong.
N. Bailey, Nicholls
Why the hurry?
Why is the government in such a hurry to start the second stage of the light rail project to Woden when the first part hasn't been completed.
It certainly hasn't been able to prove it will be successful in terms of the amount of people using it.
If it is an economic disaster it will have to be paid for by all the ratepayers, many of whom will never have any benefit.
If it does pass all the tests of viability then why don't they have the second stage run from Civic to Canberra Airport via Russell Offices.
At least there are people coming into the airport all day who will probably use the tram and not just peak hours as a majority of the people coming from Gungahlin will be.
Let's wait and see if the first stage is successful before the government inflicts more costs on the ratepayers and unwanted interruptions on our roadways.
Steve Salmon, Wanniassa
Timetable works
Greg Cornwall (Letters, June 12) asks why there are no letters in favour of the new bus timetable.
The reason is that those in favour are happy with the changes.
Transport Canberra listens to the community and continues to engage and modify the plans from the feedback it receives.
We do not need to complain in The Canberra Times.
As a regular user of public transport, I look forward to more frequent local buses linked to the rapid routes of buses and light rail.
I look forward to the park and ride facilities to get me to the town centres and places of interest.
I look forward to the local car-sharing arrangements for local trips, to the better cycleways and footpaths of the overall plan and to the lower costs to the community that come from an integrated transport plan.
The new bus timetable is an essential part of the total program, and I am proud to live in a community that has the vision and the will to look beyond the private car as the way to move around our city.
Kevin Cox, Ngunnawal
Just to clarify
Paul Toivonen's comment (Letters, July 7) about my letter of June 30 needs to be corrected.
I did not say or even suggest that recreational hunting of animals is permitted in ACT reserves.
I said the purpose of the government's insistence on maintaining higher than necessary populations of wild pigs by culling them might be to ensure that recreational hunters are supplied with victims.
F. Seymour, Queanbeyan, NSW
TO THE POINT
LIGHT RAIL BENEFITS
The problem with the haters is that not one of them seem to be able to accept any of the positive transformational effects that having a light-rail network has had on all of the cities that have been lucky enough to get one.
They selfishly wish Canberra to remain the same empty, over-serviced town that it was when they moved here in the days before self-government – and that includes the transport technology.
Dale Welsby, Canberra
TURNBULL SPEAK
When Malcolm Turnbull spruiks laissez-faire, I hear lazy fare.
M. F. Horton, Adelaide
LESS TWITTER TALK
Twitter is going to remove millions of suspicious accounts in order to restore faith in its product.
What will the consequences be to Australian media?
The ABC's Q&A; will not be the same without the running commentary across the bottom of the screen from the various political nit twits.
Dennis Fitzgerald, Box Hill, Vic
SPEED GRUMPS
Several Canberra schools still have their 40 km/h school zone signs displayed even though we are now in the middle of school holidays.
It's enough to make this grumpy old man even grumpier.
John Burge, Curtin
BUS ROUTES
Passing through Erindale I saw the "new" bus routes being advertised, with the motto "let us help you navigate the new routes".
Forget the consultation, it's a done deal. It will happen whatever the protests, because they figure that people will soon get used to the new routes, and then forget to complain.
Ian Jannaway, Monash
TRASH TRUMP
As Donald Trump wrecks his way through Europe surely it is about time it told the US to back off. It is long gone where Europe needed to cower down to the big bully that has for all too long ensured it ruled.
D. J. Fraser, Currumbin, Qld
DIVE LOGS
Media reports in Australia leave me with the impression that our chaps had a major role in the rescue of the soccer team and their coach from the flooded Thai cave.
I believe that a full dive log of the entire exercise would be more informative for the global community.
Gary J. Wilson, Macgregor
DISSING EUROPE
With enemies like Putin, Trump is clearly of the view that he no longer needs to have any friends – in Europe at any rate.
M. Moore, Bonython
BARNABY'S WORD
So glad Barnaby was cleared. I'd take his word every time. Wouldn't you?
N. Ellis, Belconnen
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