Canberra Times letters: Serious about road safety? Drivers must show their plates

To me this is purely a money making exercise that has annoyed me ever since the ACT government sent my son a letter when he was seventeen and a half and had had his P-Plate for six months, 14 years ago. That it continues to reward still-learning drivers in this way I feel is reprehensible. Isn't the P-plate put on a vehicle as a warning for other drivers that the P-plate driver may be inexperienced and unpredictable?

The National Relay Service, which has been delivered by the Australian Communication Exchange (ACE) for the last five years, has allowed me and other hearing impaired Australians access to a CapTel phone which provides text streaming and audio at conversational speed.

I find that it is particularly useful on business calls where it is important to get the details right. In many cases the person to whom I'm speaking, has an unfamiliar accent which adds an extra layer of difficulty for a hearing impaired person. Although I use email where possible, sometimes it is necessary to speak to someone directly. This is true in relation to friends and family as well.

I have been told by ACE that from the end of this year, the new provider, Concentrix, will not support this service due to reduced government funding and may instead use TTY (teletypewriter) which is slow and cumbersome. I have also been told that Mitch Fifield, the previous communications minister, promised on ABC's Q&A that no one would be worse off under the new relay service. I hope the new minister is willing to continue the service I rely on.

Pamela Collett (Letters, June 19) takes the biscuit when it comes to shutting down debate. She demands that The Canberra Times not publish views that are at variance with hers. In short, no one should be allowed to voice an opinion on these pages that is not in line with her hard-left agenda. Such a position, on Pamela's part, exposes her as one bereft of the intelligence required to engage in rational argument. However, she is not alone. The tactic of shouting down opposition, free of rationale, is endemic to the left side of politics. For those familiar with Orwell, Ms Collett would be an ideal candidate to head a Ministry of Truth under our current ACT government.

I thought we lived in a democracy with free speech. Pamela Collett (Letters, June 19) states that because the ACT Legislative Assembly has declared that we are in a climate emergency, that no other view should be tolerated, and that The Canberra Times should not publish any letters that don't agree 100 per cent with this view. I had no idea that the assembly was so all knowing and all wise, but what Pamela Collett is arguing for is total censorship, Nineteen Eighty-Four-style supervision (that's a book) and a communist China-style approach to freedom of speech. It may surprise Pamela Collett that hundreds of millions of people don't agree with her. Think India, China, USA ... also, Adani has now been approved. Mind you, the CT is just as biased, they never publish my letters, so I don't expect to see this in print.

With her letter asking The Canberra Times to print no more letters from climate change sceptics, on the ground that the science is now perfectly clear, Pamella Collett makes an interesting point (Letters, June 19). I must say I felt instant agreement. But now Lesley Beckhouse has disagreed, raising a subtle point (Letters, June 20) concerning freedom of speech. Should letters be binned, just because they are wrong? The implications are enormous.

According to a June 18 paper in Nature Climate Change, climate records - especially in temperature - will continue to be broken for about 20 years, even with the most drastic emissions reductions.

The authors, Scott Power and Franois Delage from the Bureau of Meteorology, found that if greenhouse gas emissions keep increasing at the present rate, 58 per cent of the world will set at least one new monthly temperature record every year until the end of the century. Dr Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick, a University of New South Wales climate scientist, added that these records will be broken by increasingly large margins.

In contrast, Power and Delage found that by reducing emissions in accord with the Paris Agreement - limiting warming to less than 2 degrees by 2030 - the likelihood of setting temperature records will decrease significantly after 2040. By the end of the century this probability could drop to as little as 14 or even 10 per cent.

The Morrison government should take heed of these warnings and take serious - rather than token - action on reducing emissions, which continue to increase.

Restaurateurs and bar owners of Canberra: if your patrons aren't dancing or there for the music, turn it down. Your guests are probably trying to talk to each other. Sure, if you're empty and the staff are setting up, have the music up. It helps get the work done and gives a bit of atmosphere. But as you fill up with people, they want to talk and hear each other. So turn the music down.

I am 120 per cent thankful to, and in agreement with, Chris Uhlmann for his sober assessment of the situation with China ("Australia turned blind eye to deeply offensive threat from China", June 19, p20). It puts me in mind of 1939 when so many talking heads wanted to "get along" with Mr Hitler and "Winnie" was the only one willing to face the truth. I was only three-year-old at the time but I am so grateful for Sir Winston, or I wouldn't be here now.

I refer to comments regarding a contested history surrounding Douglas Haig and the ACT government erecting signs about this. Several questions arise from this outdated position: who made these representations and what was their substance? The modern historiographical analysis of Haig's conduct of the First World War is of a commanding general involved in an industrial war and the result would have been the same no matter who was in command at the time. The Lions led by Donkeys (Alan Clarke) and Butchers and Bunglers (John Laffin) treaties on Haig's command were relegated to the dust bin of history in the 1990s. For those still holding to this discredited view, they would be best advised to read Garry Sheffield's most recent reassessment of Haig's role in World War I. The funds for these signs could be better used reflecting on the role of Canberra in the Manhattan Project at Alinga Street in Civic where U235 samples were tested at the Minerals Survey Office on the site of the GPO.

While I am grateful to the Victorian government for launching an investigation into the sickening abuse of chickens at Bridgewater Poultry Farm, yet again it is only thanks to courageous whistleblowers and animal charities that this unforgivable cruelty has been exposed ("Investigation launched into shocking abuse of chickens at Bridgewater Poultry Farm", canberratimes.com.au, June 19). I hope we will finally see severe consequences for all those, directly and indirectly, responsible. This is just a snapshot of legal and illegal atrocities animals routinely suffer to end up on someone's plate.

Thank you very much, Elly Smith (Letters, June 20) to remind history that we migrants love and understand this land as much as others and so much so that many did not ask for a refund when the idea was shelved after receiving money from people still hoping that their family names would be eventually placed somewhere as "a monument to their contribution to Australia". That would beat not seeing one's name on a memorial plaque. Meanwhile, I'd rather see my name on a sunlit wall.

I am hoping that Andrew Barr has time to read the article "Looking for sanctuary this winter" (June 20, p4) and reconsider his decision to push back construction of much needed public housing.

Kathryn Kelly (Letters, June 19) and Paul Feldman (Letters, June 20) both urge that the ALP to continue with policies it took to the last election. Do I have to shout to remind them that LABOR LOST THE ELECTION?

Is there no limit to John Hewson's hubris ("Former Liberal leader slams new tax plan", June 19, p7)? The bloke lost an unlosable election unable to explain the proposed GST and now has advice for Scott Morrison - who won the unwinnable election! Not bad for a bloke who "has a pocketful of slogans" but little detail, and has yet to establish credibility.

What a nightmare it will be for footy fans and concert goers trying to attend an event at a new Civic stadium, the Canberra Theatre, Playhouse or Royal Theatre and Convention Centre if they are scheduled on the same night. Add the proposed university campus and throw in a concert at Llewellyn Hall, non-existent public transport and no parking and we have the makings of a fun night out.

People are very passionate about a new stadium in our ACT. But I am not. I am more passionate about better schools and hospitals.

I'm currently 20 and constantly worried about how long I'll be able to live a normal life due to the destruction of our environment. I'm trying my hardest to protect the environment but it seems like older generations are not on board. It honestly makes me feel like I'm not meant to live.

Many of the ancient pine trees in the local dog park have died. Removing half of the trees has doubled the pee-per-tree ratio as the number of dogs has not decreased. The future of the canopy in our part of town is not looking good.

I too remember some bus commute times from the northside blowing out, especially when hitting the dreaded Northbourne Avenue (Letters, June 6), but that was when tram construction meant lanes closed down for weeks and months at a time. I don't know how long a bus would take now, because Transport Canberra cancelled all of them.

Re: "Trump launches 2020 campaign" (June 20, p15). The man is a buffoon; an international embarrassment. He's totally self-obsessed, a narcissist, insecure, and fundamentally uneducated. The measured, thoughtful and thoroughly decent Democrat, Joe Biden, must surely be quietly confident of his chances next year.

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