Canberra Times Letters to the Editor: Manuka Oval name change a sign of disregard for Canberra heritage

The first local residents heard about it was when signs at the oval appeared out of nowhere. No one was consulted about it, no one was even told about it, despite the fact that Manuka Oval is deeply entrenched in the social history of Canberra's inner south.

Thousands of Canberrans have played their sports at the oval, and thousands more grew up around it. It's a landmark, part of our heritage, and part of what we love about the city we live in.

Just as "the War Memorial" and "the Albert Hall" immediately conjure up in our minds the images, the feelings, the places in our hearts occupied by those icons of Canberra's heritage, so do the words "Manuka Oval".

But now the Barr government has decided none of this matters because discarding those words can generate a revenue stream (I'm guessing details are "commercial-in-confidence").

Rubbing out the name of Manuka Oval is crass, insensitive to its heritage and all too revealing of a government that wanted to encircle this Canberra gem with 1000 apartments looming six storeys high that would have destroyed its character.

Does our social history count for nothing?

Clive Hamilton, president, Friends of Manuka Pool, Barton

The methodology used by the Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission ("ACT electricity shock", March 29, p.1) to calculate the retail price of electricity will cause prices to go up no matter what the wholesale price.

In its calculations, the ICRC uses return on capital of 5.45 per cent.

In the calculations, the value of capital is determined by the market value of the investments. The profit on an investment determines the market value of the investment. The higher the profit, the greater the value. Capital costs decrease over time through the repayment of capital.

Because capital costs for old coal-fired power stations have decreased, the profit has increased and this increases the value of the investment over its true value.

In a regulated industry, it keeps prices high.

The ICRC can change and use a different accounting approach. A different approach will show prices should be lower, not higher.

The ACT will soon have long-term contracts for most of its wholesale renewable energy at known prices. The ICRC could recommend the ACT government go into negotiations with suppliers of peak demand at known prices rather than accept market prices.

The ACT government can source wholesale investment funds at around 2.5 per cent.

The ACT government can source investment funds from the community with an interest rate of zero per cent.

When setting prices it means the return on capital could be set at zero or 2.5 per cent, not 5.45 per cent. If private companies supplying electricity do not like the lower regulated prices, they can sell their assets to the ACT government who fund the purchase with 2.5 per cent or zero-interest funds.

Kevin Cox, Ngunnawal

Jack Palmer (letters, March 28) describes the supporters of light rail as "forward looking". The opponents are both forward looking and backward looking and they also look at the present.

Looking forward shows a project that will cost well over $1 billion to build and operate, of which we will get less than 50 per cent back in benefits, according to the Auditor-General.

Anyone with any brains builds projects only where the benefits exceed the costs. On top of that, the additional traffic lights and the planned development along Northbourne Avenue means congestion will probably increase rather than decline.

The backward look shows a project which, before the 2012 election, was described by the government of the day as too expensive at $614 million.

Then, without any serious consideration of the alternatives, in the middle of the 2012 election campaign when it was becoming clear that the government would need Greens support to form government, they said they would build it after all. Then, they used their call in powers to avoid serious parliamentary scrutiny of the project.

The present look shows a mess in Northbourne Avenue that will continue for a couple of years, ugly, hampering traffic and generally reducing the amenity of the road. What a debacle.

The supporters of the tram don't look anywhere except at their own navels.

Stan Marks, Hawker

Articles such as "Woden Development Round Table", canberratimes.com.au, March 25) highlight the need for a robust planning and development strategy for the territory.

The appropriate residential density can be determined only in the context of such a strategy.

Similarly, the establishment of the City Renewal Authority and the Suburban Land Agency can improve outcomes only if the organisations are guided by an agreed strategy which would place the operations of the organisations in the context of the planning and development goals of the city and identify how the goals are to be delivered.

The strategy should indicate the population, housing (quantity, type and location) and employment (level, and location) parameters in which the two organisations would operate and provide a context for the assessment of development applications.

The existence of such a strategy would maximise benefits to the Canberra community.

It would also enable a comprehensive assessment of the light rail stage 2 and facilitate the development of Canberra as a more sustainable city.

Mike Quirk, Wanniassa

For the second time in as many days, Gerry Murphy (Letters, March 29) gratuitously attacks another letter writer under the guise of unlimited free speech. In doing so he (irrelevantly) invokes his skin colour. He failed to mention how thin it must be.

Eric Hunter, Cook

Current concern about the future for Australia's electricity has focused attention on one of the sharp ends of climate change.

Another equally sharp end of climate change was reported recently in Fairfax's The Land.

I refer to reports to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural Resource Economics Outlook Conference 2017 of declines up to 20 per cent in Australia's grain production between 2000 and 2015, which means not only more expensive bread, pasta, noodles and breakfast cereals but also expensive beef, pork, chicken and eggs as more grain is fed to animals.

The maps in The Land also showed a few cropping areas which will get more rainfall with climate change but you will need a magnifying glass to find them.

High prices for electricity and food will escalate into social unrest and extreme politics.

People are now asking why "somebody" didn't do something years ago to avert our energy crisis. Before long the same question will be asked about Australia's food production.

We could be now putting more R and D and innovation into new aquaculture-based technologies (hydroponics, aquaponics, algae-farming for food and fuel) so we can avert a hungry future.

John Brummell, Duffy

Amanda Vanstone's "The rush to judgment" (March 28, p16) exhibited both lack of logic and false accusation.

First, Vanstone wrote "did it not occur to Hanson that the British terrorist could have been born in Britain? No ban on migration will fix that problem".

She was wrong: the ban would have fixed the problem because had the terrorist's parents not migrated (and radicalisation occurred) the murders would not have occurred.

Second, Vanstone referred to "Hanson's constant knocking of all Muslims". I doubt this is Hanson's intent. I think that she merely recommends a quarantining of Muslim would-be migrants until the current turmoil in the Islamic world is overcome (just as turmoil was in the Christian world a few centuries ago).

Very importantly, quarantining does not imply accusations against all Muslims: it is merely precautionary.

Vanstone admitted the danger of home-grown terrorists. She wrote "radical Islamists are engaging in a war of hearts and minds for the next generation", and warned "the children of decent Muslims are much more vulnerable to the messages".

Precautions are therefore essential. Quarantining is much more sensible than Vanstone's suggested alternative "de- or anti-radicalisation programs".

Third, Vanstone claimed that "radical Islamists want to convince non-radicalised Muslims that the West hates them".

By falsely accusing Hanson of hate, Vanstone is helping the Islamists.

Bob Salmond, Melba

The statement perpetuated by radio broadcasters that digital radio is superior quality to existing FM broadcasts is incorrect.

It is correct that the technology has the capability to exceed FM in quality, however the universal policy of all broadcasters to pursue quantity (number of stations) over quality (bandwidth per digital station channel) has reduced most if not all digital radio stations to a quality lower than FM analogue.

In fact, the bandwidth typically allocated to stations is approximate to 1990s dial-up modem speeds, and approximately half that of average freely available online streams.

Digital Radio is a significant step backward from online streaming in terms of audio quality. Subsequently it is only correct to state that Digital Radio, as pursued by Australian broadcasters, is of only better quality than AM radio, but not FM.

It is false advertising to claim quality better than FM radio unless the bandwidth constraints are addressed by broadcasters.

Unless this is addressed, it is likely the local radio broadcasting market will suffer the same fate as local television broadcasting when available mobile data plans allow for online streaming to render poor quality digital radio broadcasts as obsolete.

Ian McLeod, Hawker

James Allan has gone further than his usual tiresome unoriginal rants against Christianity in general and the Catholic church in particular (letters, March 29).

He expects within his lifetime for it to become illegal to indoctrinate a child into any religion.

Not content to impose his own values upon unsuspecting offspring at his home, James now calls for the state to prescribe these same narrow and somewhat brutish atheistic beliefs on everybody's children.

The gulags of Soviet Russia and the relentless persecution of Christian believers in China bear testimony to the utility of such state-imposed atheism.

No, James! Our society welcomes diversity and harmony, part of which is the freedom to practise one's own religion.

Richard Rowe, Isaacs

When Western powers Britain, America, France (and me-too Australia) bomb Afghan, Iraqi and Syrian Muslims back to the Stone Age why is it a big surprise that a disaffected Muslim attacked London.

Jesus said: "As you sow, so shall you reap ... "

Western powers have blood on their hands. When France occupied Algeria (until its liberation in 1962) French soldiers killed many innocent civilians. Many were Muslims.

Graham Macafee, Latham

Re Gerry Murphy's recent tirade of rants against his critics. Does the freedom to say "what I want, when I want" only run one way?

If you can't take it then you shouldn't be dishing it out so freely. Nice to see the biter bit.

M. Moore, Bonython

'EFFECTIVE' NEW TESTS

The Parliamentary Expenses Authority will soon swing into action, advising MPs whether their travel claims meet requirements ... but only if asked to do so ("New tests for MPs' travel claims", canberratimes.com.au, March 29).

How effective would speed limits be if police only monitored compliance when requested to do so by drivers?

John Richardson, Wallagoot, NSW

BACK TO BACH QUESTION

In the Super Quiz of March 26 you ask "What were the given names of composer Bach?" The given answer "Johann Sebastian". Other valid answers include four of JSB's sons: Carl Philipp Emanuel, Johann Christian, Wilhelm Friedemann, and Johann Christoph Friedrich.

CPE and JC were more widely known than JS in their lifetimes.

Mark Chapman, Palmerston

THE DAIRY CONSPIRACY

If there was an April Fools' Day prize for the industry that had fooled the most people for the longest time it would undoubtedly go to the dairy industry.

Duping the masses into believing that calf's baby milk is an "important" human food that we all require for strong, healthy bones is an amazing achievement.

Jenny Moxham, Monbulk, Vic

BIASED ASSESSMENT

I deduce Eric French (letters, March 29 ) did not attend this trial ("Man cleared of alleged abuse", March 25, p.5), or that he is assessing it from a religious and/or tribal bias. To this observer the principal prosecution witness, now middle-aged, demonstrated great emotion and appeared transparently honest.

Chris Smith, Kingston

AISLE BE DAMNED

Mike Nahan's language is intriguing: "I'll go hand in hand, I'll go talk to Turnbull ... but [the state government] need to go down the aisle ..." ("WA's new share of GST 'abysmal' ", canberratimes.com.au, March 24). Does he plan to go hand in hand down the aisle with the Premier?

Michael McCarthy, Deakin

COULD BE WORSE

Re: "Inmates at AMC to get new threads", March 29, p.3).

I thought it was April Fools' day. As well as 5-star accommodation, three squares a day and gym facilities detainees get free socks and jocks as well. No wonder the place is full.

Michael Attwell, Dunlop

CARBON IGNORANCE

John McKerral (Letters, March 28) writes that "CO2 is hugely beneficial to mankind". Might be, but could he please elaborate for naive readers?

Ed Highley, Kambah

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