As drought dries the land, fire follows closely behind and destroys whatever remains. Our Deputy PM has attacked our claims and urges for climate action, due to the recent bush fires, and called them disgraceful and disgusting!

He also accused activists of being inner-city lefties and lunatics! I mean, are you serious? All they seem to do is find reasons not to act on climate change and abuse those who want to. The Morrison government even denied a meeting with emergency service leaders who were demanding climate action. Of course its horrible and unfair that people are killed by these fires, but we can't sit here and cry, we have to pick ourselves up and make sure fires like these are kept to a minimum in the future. And this means taking action on climate change, but with a government like this, all our futures look like they are going up in smoke.

It is well known that the Murdoch press has adopted a stance of climate change denial. But it did come as a surprise that on a day of two state emergencies and catastrophic fire conditions the leading headline in The Australian constituted an attack on the Greens.

The insinuation was that all of this is linked to the policies of the Greens. Rather ironic I would have thought for a party that has been at the forefront of warnings about climate change. What next? Blame directed at the dreaded ABC, no doubt, for also being responsible for the fires, if not the drought, and even, if it really exists, climate change.

Our fire fighting volunteers are mostly absent from full time employment in order to attend to fire fighting duties. Their absence affects each of the private businesses which employs these men and women.

Calling out army reservists is another call on people mostly employed in private enterprise. This could easily be a six-month period of fire fighting. Before the fires are extinguished the flooding rains will be upon us and the same folk will be changing to their SES uniforms.

The regular army should be deployed. Their full time job is working for Australia. Why not in Australia? We know it can be done. It has been done before. The need for rotations to allow rest periods requires that the Federal Government allocate the manpower of our great military to this great task.

As a fire engulfs many parts of eastern Australia our prime minister again niftily sidesteps calls to reflect and act on the impacts of human-induced climate change. Unfortunately the Coalition's 'it's not appropriate now' approach is likely to be long lasting as ministers race from electorate to electorate over a tinder dry summer and witness more economic and environmental ruin.

Just as well John Curtin's Labor government did not hang back from giving Australians hope and evidence of setting goals and implementing 'bigger picture' practical strategies during the big crises of the 1940s. Curtin could do two things at once. He did not just offer prayers, or focus only on those badly affected by bombing and shelling at home and the localised responses of armed service personnel. He and his ministry knew such actions would be neither sufficient nor reassuring for the nation in those critical and dangerous times.

Very interesting reading about the ACT Govt "trialling" an electric bus in the ACT (November 12, p7) Although the article didn't say it, it is apparently starting its 12 months test runs in December 2019. The cost of this one bus is $122,000. Even with 100 buses the price would be cheaper than stage one of the light rail. And more flexible, more comfortable to ride in, and very much more available as needed.

I have always maintained electric buses, and even solar powered buses would have been a much more economically and practical alternative to the light rail. And it can be tested - not like the light rail.

My hope is that the electric bus proves so successful the Govt will face the fact that the light rail has been a colossal waste of money and has caused tremendous disruption to public transport for the average commuter in the ACT. My suggestion is that the electric bus be used almost exclusively on the Civic-Woden route down Adelaide Avenue the way it goes now. I am confident it would prove an outstanding success. And hundreds of trees would not have to be cut down either. And the ACT taxpayer would see something for their money.

Having at one time lived and worked in Canberra, I have followed with interest the building of the new light rail system from Civic to Gunghalin. So I am happy to report that last Saturday I had the opportunity to take this journey for the first time. All those involved in this new transport development are to be congratulated.

The journey was on time, quiet and afforded passengers comfort and great views on the landscape. In addition I found the announcements for place arrivals by students from a Canberra College entertaining and innovative. What a brilliant way to include the student population who, after all, will be one of the prime users of the service. I look forward to seeing further extensions of this long overdue transport system for the nation's capital city.

How is secularism "religion's best friend", if also, as stated by Glen Fowler (Letters, November 11) "religion should play no role in secular schools"? Religion is part of the diversity of teachers and students in Australian public schools. The presence of chaplains in schools is a visible expression of the fundamental right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.

However, now that the ACT Minister for Education and the ACT Branch of the Australian Education Union are interested in the pastoral care of students, apparently only they know what form is best, and it is not faith friendly. This heavy handedness does not respect the wishes of many students and parents who requested chaplains, nor acknowledge the success of chaplaincy, supported by the independent 2016 Kantar review.

Could I congratulate Glen Fowler of the Education Union for his letter explaining the circumstances around the termination of religious chaplains in our public school system.

Now we have a letter from Judy Douglas (Letters, November 12) concerned that school chaplains will join the ranks of the unemployed. Firstly the school chaplains will be replaced by more appropriate skilled practitioners, so on balance the numbers of unemployed should not swell. And why don't the wealthy churches continue to fund them elsewhere. Aren't the landed churches supposed to support the poor and oppressed?

Greg Adamson (Letters, November 12), it is worse than failing to take care of the 30 per cent of the population who are in the rental market by denying them access to solar panels. Here in the ACT we punish them with Land Tax. Its main outcome would appear to be impede those people from saving for a deposit on their own house.

Expanding on figures in Table 66 of the 2012 Quinlan Report, in 2011-12 a household representing the poorest quintile of disposable income paid about $1200 more in total tax (Rates and Land Tax) than an owner-occupier household representing the richest quintile (Rates only). Using 2017-18 tax scales the extra tax becomes $1400. If the owner-occupier property is on a block and the rental is a unit-titled property, the difference is more like $2600. More casualties of ACT Labor's "war on the poor".

On Sunday the architect Harry Seidler is being celebrated with a tour around his Lakeview Townhouses and a conversation at the National Portrait Gallery. Harry Seidler designed the Canberra South Bowling Club in Griffith in the 1950s. This beautiful building was demolished in 2014 to make way for apartments. This could only happen in Canberra.

National Galleries Scotland has stated that it will no longer show the BP Portrait Award Exhibition as "We recognise the need to do all we can to address the climate emergency," Isn't it about time the Canberra Symphony Orchestra ceased receiving sponsorship from Shell Australia for the same reason?

As I understand it the Aboriginals used to burn off the bush to hunt game. Given the current bushfire emergencies could our indigenous Australians tell us how they contained such blazes without the technology now available?

Perhaps the Nationals could impeach Di Natale and the danger will go away. So sad.

Regarding the "disgraceful and disgusting" behaviour of "raving inner parliament bubble lunatics" and their claims that climate change is not linked to the impact of humanity. They belong with Nero, King Canute, the Emperor with no clothes, and the many other deluded self important failures.

The statement "When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the losers" is apocryphally attributed to Socrates. Regardless of who said it, clearly they were referring to Michael McCormack.

Along with the usual fuel reduction measures, it is time to reopen our national parks to controlled logging. Allow the men who understand the bush to manage our national parks.

To those communities experiencing bush fires, like the PM, I offer thoughts and prayers. In addition, I say: remember votes count.

Can anyone else see the irony in the fact that school kids were lambasted - mainly by right wing social and political commentators - for striking for one day over changing climate and environmental issues and the fact that an unprecedented 600 schools and colleges have had to close due to the bush fire emergency?

The US Republican Party after yet another shooting massacre : "Now is not the time to talk about gun control." Australian conservative politicians in the midst of catastrophic bush fires : "Now is not the time to talk about climate change." Both groups are beholden to special interests.

It's hardly surprising that Federal and State LNP leaders are exploding with anger during the current climate change assisted fire emergencies. Frustration begets anger and the LNP leadership must be incredibly frustrated that they've yet to find a way to pin the lack of response to climate change on Labor.

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