Why I probably won't be marching again on Anzac Day

I do this for a number of reasons.

Firstly, we were again left standing around in the heat whilst speeches were made prior to our being allowed to commence the march.

Secondly, Korea has been relegated to nothing of importance as conflicts much later are marched off before us.

Surely the sequence of wars should be respected: Boer War, WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam etc.

It is time to remember the day is for veterans. Their welfare should come first.

We should not to be left standing whilst speeches and other entertainments for those seated take place.

Horse Park Drive is to be duplicated, with a completion time of who knows when? But what of Gundaroo Drive? From Horse Park Drive to the Mirrabei Drive lights, single lanes in each direction. But from the lights to the Barton Highway, two lanes. Some government decisions defy logic.

When was the job description of the director of the Australian War Memorial changed to include pronouncing on global geopolitical issues ("'Heinous' terrorists disrupting way of life, warns Nelson" , canberratimes.com.au, April 26)?

As a statutory officer, Dr Nelson should confine his public utterances to his responsibilities - administering the AWM. He is no longer a politician, but he seems to have forgotten that. To make simplistic comments on complex international issues such as the reach and impact of terrorism is beyond his task.

It is doubly inappropriate for him to be making such comments in the middle of an election campaign in which the political party he once led relentlessly tries to make security a domestic political cudgel with which to attack its opponents.

Any other statutory officer would be carpeted by his or her board and told to (a) apologise and (b) shut up.

I won't hold my breath waiting for the AWM council to act in the manner it should.

The preference deal between the Liberals and the United Australia Party is a dangerous move.

I hope senior and experienced operatives with "cool heads" in the Liberal Party machine can sway arrangements, because it may have ramifications for Liberal voters across other electorates in Australia.

Clive Palmer can't be trusted as a public official given his record in business dealings.

When he was last in Parliament with the Palmer United Party in 2013, the organisation made little efforts to represent its constituents. And that was before it fell apart thanks to defections and resignations.

Palmer needs to prove he can meet the minimum standards of ethics and trust.

Over a million Australians are living below the poverty line. This includes the working poor who get a few casual hours a week that keeps the employment figures looking good.

The PM is hoping a small surplus projected for next year will get him re-elected.

We all know the long list of items the government has not spent money on; everything from charities to TAFE colleges.

In the past six years it has increased the national debt by hundreds of millions of dollars.

In architecture, the Romanesque period preceded the Gothic. The former was typified by church-controlled ordered hierarchy from design through construction, with strict "classical" elements like pure semi-circular arches, and squat, closely spaced columns with plain capitals.

From around the 13th century, gradually, architectural and structural engineering skills developed, accompanied by startlingly spectacular trade or guild-driven advances in artistic expression in stone structural and decorative elements.

Nature was invoked, with cathedrals rising higher and higher, forest-like, with columns becoming ever slenderer.

Spectacular new elements, such as flying buttresses and vast arrays of stained glass, appeared.

Notre-Dame is possibly the greatest example in the world of "participatory" Gothic architecture.

World governments need to contribute to the next phase of its life: its restoration.

D. Zivkovic (Letters, April 17) is of the opinion critics of Israel Folau and his recurring bouts of public homophobia actually want to ban the Bible.

The fact over half of all Australians identify as Christian makes it likely many of Mr Folau's detractors subscribe to the same text.

They realise that whenever public attention is drawn to any one of a number of unfortunate Bible verses that contradict the carefully crafted modern narrative - those that condone slavery, admonish homosexuality, prescribe the death penalty for working on a Sunday or eating shrimp, and those sections where genocide and the taking of sex slaves are direct orders from above - the fallibility of the supposed "perfect word of God" is exposed.

Mr Folau isn't being silenced for quoting the Bible, and very few besides him actually believe the piffle he's proclaiming.

He's being silenced because by highlighting the Bible's inconsistencies, his ill-considered efforts to spread the simplistic mythology of primitive humans are having the exact opposite effect.

Folau is entitled to attribute whatever views he likes to his god, although it is doubtful his omnipotence would agree a select few of his creatures should be consigned to purgatory.

Folau's miscalculation, in rugby terms, has been to hold that his religious beliefs are compatible with an inclusive team culture.

Whether or not it is reasonable that he should be shunned for opinions that have nothing to do with playing sport, or even if he is not found to have breached his contract, it is unlikely he will be welcomed back into the fold.

I am absolutely sure we can benefit from Harry and Meghan's fashionable campaigning from afar and, thus, have no need to imprison them at Yarralumla for five years ("Why Prince Harry would be a top GG", April 23, p25).

I doubt Harry would make it onto the shortlist for governor-general anyway, although there is nothing to stop him from being recommended if the Queen leaned on one of our loyally monarchist prime ministers such as Tony Abbott or Scott Morrison.

Another good reason not to vote for the Liberals.

I've noticed a disturbing element creeping into the Letters to the Editor: whingeing.

The letter from a lady complaining about her tram ride (cold breeze down her neck, boring landscape, Letters, April 23) was a masterpiece of the genre, and I nominate it as the first winner of a new feature I propose for your letters page: the Whinge of the Week Award.

Not wanting to just whinge about whingers myself, I'd like to offer some suggestions for how to discriminate between a whinge and the raising of an issue that deserves a public airing.

What sets a whinge apart is: 1) it is relentlessly self-centred; 2) it doesn't offer anything positive about what can be done; 3) it reveals a victim mentality.

A really good whinge can be entertaining for a short while. A steady diet of whinge palls rapidly.

There are plenty of things to be legitimately upset by in our world that need discussion, but instead we seem to be edging towards a culture of feckless outrage not backed up by reason, responsibility, or a sense of history.

Receiving a Whinge of the Week Award might, in a small way, encourage some perspective.

The Anzac Day ceremony at the Australian War Memorial on Thursday was moving and emotional, with spectators clearly demonstrating their appreciation for the sacrifices made by past and present members of the defence forces.

Could similar ceremonies be held each year to express appreciation for the first responders, such as firefighters, police officers, ambulance officers and all those head towards danger in times of crisis?

If the Raiders are so keen to get a stadium built in Civic why not offer up Northbourne Oval/Braddon Rugby League Park? It is already a rugby ground and is closer to bars, restaurants, parking and public transport than the Civic Pool site.

I'd love to join the Apatheist Party with David Wilson (Apatheism Trumps Atheism, April 25), but the trouble is I can't be bothered.

Clive Palmer should have paid his 800 workers their entitlements when he sacked them in 2016 - and certainly well before spending $30 million on political advertising.

When I read 'One in 10 APS jobs lost', Apil 24, p1) I found another 7200 reasons not to vote for Zed. He has hardly been a strong defender of jobs in the ACT.

Rob Ey (Letters, April 25) forgot to mention disenfranchising ACT voters from making our own laws (regarding euthanasia). So yes indeed, vote alphabetically with Zed last. It's objectionable when our Senate representative says his personal morality overrides our right to choose.

There's no difference between the Islamic fundamentalists believed responsible for the attacks in Sri Lanka over Easter and Christian fundamentalists who preach hell and damnation. They are all equally dangerous.

Has the cult of celebrity for Harry and Meghan addled Wendy Tuohy's judgement? Surely she can't be serious in mounting a case for Prince Harry to be GG. It's 2019, not 1919. There are many eminent Australians who would make a better GG than a spare, albeit celebrity, royal.

Wendy Tuohy (Comment, April 23) speculates Prince Harry "...would not be the worse man for the job". I would certainly support that proposition when it can be established that there is not one Australian woman suitable for the post of governor-general.

In addition to Hawaii, (Stan Marks, Letters, April 26) there are five other USA counties and cities that acknowledge their British heritage by including a Union Jack in their flags.

It is interesting to note that while John Howard has featured heavily in the Liberals' campaigning to date the ALP is not capitalising on the familiar faces of its own former prime ministers. Where is Julia and what is Kevin Rudd up to now?

Plug-in hybrids are the solution to Australia's electric car challenge.

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