Certain properties in the Canberra inner city have been selling for more than $100,000 over the expected sale price, leading to an impossible situation for public sector employees transferred back to Canberra and for young home buyers.

There is also the problem of phantom purchasers who park foreign wealth and leave properties vacant, putting upward pressure on rents for students and those unable to buy.

One of the consequences of international flights to Canberra from Asia has been to stimulate property interest from cashed-up low-tax Asian purchasers who are competing directly with ACT residents trying to buy a home.

It is time to level the playing field and stop foreign speculation in the ACT property market.

John Kimber, O'Connor

In 48 years driving I've only received one speeding ticket but even I had to smile in disbelief when I heard Shane Rattenbury claim that the mobile speed cameras are primarily deployed for harm minimisation and not revenue raising ("Two new mobile speed cameras deployed on Canberra roads", CT April 25).

Some of the locations that the cameras are placed have very little to do with harm minimisation and all about getting a "quick kill". For instance, I have spotted an ACT camera car between Queanbeyan and Bungendore placed at the bottom of a two-kilometre long downslope of 100km/h motoring on the Kings Highway. To avoid being booked by the van (placed just beyond the 80km/h sign) motorists mustn't just take their foot off the accelerator but start braking a long way off.

If this was an accident blackspot, the government could erect a big "REDUCE SPEED NOW" sign. But that wouldn't raise any money, would it?

Mike Reddy, Curtin

Am I the only one in Canberra who wonders as to the justification for the development of the Majura Link Road?

For those that are unaware, it will run from the Majura Parkway, behind IKEA, into the Spitfire Avenue roundabout on Majura Road. The construction is 1.3 kilometres in length and requires a bridge over Woolshed Creek. The only people able to use this road are those heading south on the Majura Parkway.

According to the odometer in my car, the distance from the Link exit on Majura Parkway to the same roundabout on Majura Road, using the current (very new) roads is approximately 1.6 kilometres. I estimate that the users of this piece of infrastructure will save about 0.6 kilometres in travel distance! I accept that it will move this traffic from the Fairbairn Avenue and Majura Road part of the (short) trip, but as both these roads have been recently upgraded to dual carriageway, I don't see that the traffic would be an issue.

With the ACT government telling us that they are strapped for cash, and rates going up by an unjustifiable percentage each year (ours have gone up 82 per cent since 2009), this appears to be a total waste of money.

Where is the justification and where is the costing? I'm starting to think our chief minister has an edifice complex.

Tony Firth, Narrabundah

So Dallas Stow and John Davenport wonder why people keep sending letters to the editor decrying the tram. It shouldn't surprise them; people are still annoyed at a government that is happy to spend a billion dollars of our money for political purposes.

Stow's suggestion of putting a billion dollars into a hole in the ground is a fair equivalent of the tram. But if we spent that money digging a hole and then filling it in, we at least wouldn't have to cover the ongoing operating losses.

People all over the country were annoyed that the federal government would commit $50 billion to build submarines in SA to help retain a few seats in the House of Representatives. That is $2 billion per million people in the country.

The tram will cost $1 billion plus for a jurisdiction of about 400,000. That is equivalent to more than $2 billion per million of population. That is why people continue to pursue this matter.

As for the argument that people voted for the tram, there are a string of reasons why people wouldn't support the Liberals. They voted for the ALP in spite of the tram.

Stan Marks, Hawker

The Canberra Times seems to be feeding readers with a regular diet of stories seeking sympathy for the impact of the new visa and citizenship rules, including a Swedish spouse (April 21), and a Hong Kong Chinese artist (April 24). But these stories only tell part of the story, leaving many gaps and questions.

If the first couple have been married and here since 2013, then the wife would still easily qualify for Australian citizenship "in a few years time" as they had planned. I wonder if they have also complained about the fact that the husband has to wait even longer (five years) to gain Swedish citizenship?

Next, I have to wonder why someone who came here as a 13-year-old some 14 years ago is still here on a working holiday visa. And why on earth would we be using a 457 visa for a sculptor when they are supposedly to overcome local skills deficiencies. Is there really no young Australian artist who would benefit from support?

If these are representative of the worst impact of the proposed new rules, the government may well be on the right track.

Kym MacMillan, O'Malley

Clive Williams, a British-born former Australian Army military intelligence officer, now academic, counter-terrorism expert, sounds like an aspiring diplomat in his latest letter (CT, April 25).

He insists on viewing North Korea as an independent entity rather than the mad dog chained to China's doorstep.

He is possibly correct in discounting any reliance on China's undertaking to intercede in any meaningful way.

He pointed out that Australia has "a long-standing and ongoing diplomatic relationship with North Korea. We were one of the first countries to accept a North Korean embassy — in 1974", although apparently we do not have one of our own there.

Professor Williams' letter reads like a circumspect application for that post.

Gary J. Wilson, Macgregor

Thanks to Clive Williams (letters, April 25) for his advice that Australia use its diplomatic relationship with North Korea to help reduce tensions. I am reminded of Article 33(1) of Chapter 6 of the UN Charter which says: "first of all, seek a solution by negotiation, enquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement, resort to regional agencies or arrangements, or other peaceful means".

David Purnell, Florey

In your editorial "Security can't be taken for granted" (April 25), you comment: "It's a time to remember, and to be thankful for peace".

Yes, but it's not enough to be thankful.

Though the wonderful turnout at the war memorial demonstrates the strong feelings of citizens when remembering the war dead, very few actively work for peace during the rest of the year. Why is this? There must be a fatalistic acceptance that war is inevitable, that it is a result of decisions that are outside our control.

Even in a democracy like ours, where voters are supposed to have some power, this feeling of acceptance and helplessness is general. Wars are not inevitable. History shows that they have been the result of deliberate policy, of decisions taken by a few leaders, sometimes by a single man.

Violence on the international stage has always ended badly, a result that prompted the genesis of the League of Nations, and the United Nations. Yet such is the general acceptance that the military power of individual nations is the best way to ensure security that support for the UN has always been lukewarm.

In this "real world" of ours, reliance on international agreement and control is perceived as dangerously idealistic. Well, the "real world" is what we make it.

Harry Davis, Campbell

Peter Dutton is wrong to claim that the ABC relied on the word of "people that have been convicted of fraud and have been excluded from Parliament" in a story about the Good Friday attack by PNG soldiers on Manus Island asylum seekers ("ABC has lost the plot: Peter Dutton demands apology", CT April 25).

In fact, the ABC used several sources other than MP Ronny Knight, including Manus Province Police Commissioner David Yapu. Perhaps Peter Dutton's real grievance is about the ABC's wastefulness in seeking so many sources of information. Dutton only needs one source – the Institute of Alternative Facts.

Tony Judge, Woolgoolga, NSW

Dear Amanda Vanstone ("Get facts straight on the rich", Canberra Times, April 24, p18). You seem to have overlooked something which is very much the topic of discussion these days. You talk about how much various percentages of the taxpayers earn and the tax they pay. As I am sure you are aware, income tax isn't based on what people earn, it is based on their "taxable income".

In the lower echelons this may roughly equate to what they earn, but at the upper end? A person who earns $180k but reduces it by negative gearing to $80k brings his taxable income back to the category of the battlers. But he did earn $180k, not $80k. He just chose to spend it this way, thus deferring tax and putting his money into an asset class where the gains are subsidised by those paying full tax on their income. Do away with the perks of negative gearing and capital gains and you may find the numbers in the higher tax brackets swelling significantly even though their "earnings" have not increased. You may also find less antagonism towards the rich.

Anthony Lawton, Garran

The critical point to grasp in discussion of issues such as Adani (global warming and Australia's contribution) is that the proposed coal mine is a symptom of something very much more significant.

Adani is an example of the Australian government clutching at any and every means (regardless of its environmental impact) to "grow the pie" (which is fairly recent Liberal Party jargon for greed).

In short, it is not Adani, nor even global warming that is the problem, it is our governments' pursuit of eternal economic growth sustained by perpetual population growth. It is via these twin follies that our politicians seek to maintain, or rather, to perpetually improve our capacity to buy and own things. The price we are paying is an ever more threadbare environmental fabric.

We might stop Adani, we might even achieve a low carbon or even no-carbon economy, but, so long as we pursue perpetual growth, we inexorably draw down on the future and this will be a tragic legacy for our grandchildren. The problem must be addressed from both ends: the industrialised world must be content with "enough"; the less developed world must be expected, with extensive Western assistance and greater internal political will, to re-invigorate efforts to address out-of-control population growth.

Australia can do its bit by showing that a low-growth/no-growth economic model is the best way forward.

As the great David Attenborough declared a few years ago: "There is no major problem facing our planet that would not be easier to solve if there were fewer people; and no problem that does not become harder — and ultimately impossible to solve — with ever more. And yet there seems to be a taboo on bringing the subject into the open."

These are words to be heeded.

Graham Clews, Kambah

Western media often treats utterances from North Korea as bellicose ramblings, but an article on the front page of The Canberra Times on April24 reported a threat from Pyongyang against Australia for "blindly and zealously toeing the USline". Clearly some of the utterances are, in fact, based on realistic perception.

Michael Duffy, Curtin

More and more, it seems, Donald Trump is preparing to defend South Korea to the very last: the very last South Korean.

Peter Moran, Watson

Is Malcolm Turnbull's abolition of the 457 visa a first step towards restoring the White Australia policy?

C.J. Mountifield, Greenway

Peter Dutton claims the ABC has "lost the plot". Pots and kettles are the first things to come to my mind.

Robyn Lewis, Raglan, Vic

As James Allan's letter regarding metaphysical assumptions (Letters, April 25) is the only one published, it can only be he who is wasting time.

Sean Allan (no relation), Kambah

The ACT government appointed a Commissioner for International Engagement just before the last election. Said commissioner seems to be AWOL. Why else would our Chief Minister be off to Singapore to promote Canberra? Isn't that the job of the commissioner? Assuming that he was employed to do a job, not win an election.

Peter Gray, Rivett

The bland US Vice-President Mike Pence for some reason reminds me of our own Malcolm Turnbull but I'm not sure why because only one of them believes in evolution ...

Barrie Smillie, Duffy

Once again our politicians chose to give themselves an overseas experience on Anzac Day 2017. That meant the Canberra ceremony was left with Barnaby Joyce, the politician who wants to oust many Canberrans from their homes.

Bad choice Malcolm!

Helen Thomas, Bruce

I refer to David Wroe's article "Australian troops will be in Iraq, Afghanistan for long term, says Malcolm Turnbull" (CT, April 24). As a Vietnam veteran, may I suggest that the best way to show support for our troops in the Middle East is to bring them home.

Peter Grabosky, Forrest

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.

Keep your letter to 250 words or less. References to Canberra Times reports should include date and page number. Letters may be edited. Provide phone number and full home address (suburb only published).