The grants made by Senator McKenzie did not follow an appropriate assessment process and were not awarded on the basis of merit under the program guidelines. The methodology used by the ANAO in reaching its conclusions is meticulously set out in its 76 page report.

On the other hand we have a subsequent report by a departmental head selected by the Prime Minister which substantially disagrees with the audit office. The second report is to be kept from the public and the methodology used is left undisclosed.

Apparently we are expected to believe this report trumps the ANAO's findings.

Since the work of the audit office, when inconvenient, is so easily able to be dismissed, one wonders whether the Prime Minister might now consider its abolition?

Think of the savings; not just to the budget bottom line, but to future ministerial embarrassment.

Heather Allsopp (Letters, February 1) asks why two beautiful, 12-metre tall, plane trees were removed from the paved area at Home World in Tuggeranong.

One report from Melbourne suggests plane trees are gradually being replaced with species more resistant to climate change.

A director of respiratory medicine also said the fine particles from plane trees could cause throat irritation and a spasm of the vocal cords even in people who are not prone to allergies.

Perhaps such tree removal is also a softening up exercise for the higher frequency bands for 5G to be auctioned off in 2021. This band is contentious with the millimetre wave band frequencies moving into unknown territory with respect to health and environmental impacts.

Most of the more than 450 submissions to the current Federal parliamentary inquiry on 5G are against the premature rollout of 5G on both health and environmental grounds.

I strongly support Penelope Upward's complaint about the neglect of the Sydney Building (Letters, January 27). That this very important heritage building can have paint peeling from its upper levels is a disgrace beyond comprehension.

The problem has existed for years. Perhaps Canberrans scurrying past the building don't bother to look upwards. I ask that they do so.

I put this challenge to Andrew Barr. Ensure that the building is repainted by the end of February or preferably sooner. Who pays for the work is not a matter of urgency. That can be sorted out later.

Watching PM Morrison in action at the press club filled me with alarm. He spoke at length on the economy, which he falsely claims is strong, and said it was the reason his government can spend lots of money to fight the devastation of the bushfires.

Those are the bushfires his government was woefully unprepared to deal with. He says he now needs to enact changes to state and federal powers. This, he said, was the reason he was slow to act. It has never been a problem in previous disasters.

He then deviously avoided answering questions on climate change and the sports rorts. There was a clear inability to be open and honest. What is he hiding?

Journalists need to work out a method of questioning that gives him no wriggle room. If not he will continue to get away with his deceptive answers.

We, the public, are left angry and confused because we have a Prime Minister who will not speak clearly to his people.

During the bushfire crisis ABC journalists have kept us up to date with reports and analysis from the front line and in studio interviews.

In some cases the ABC was the sole reliable source of emergency information and updates via battery operated radios. This may have saved lives.

We've seen how much of an asset a high quality public broadcaster can be to the nation.

I am concerned the ABC's additional workload and expenses from covering the fires has been a heavy and unexpected cost. This could impact upon its capacity to deliver its usual services. The ABC must be compensated for these additional costs. What it really needs is a substantial roll-back of ongoing budget cuts over the years, particularly under Coalition governments.

It must remain fully funded to fulfil its role as the national broadcaster.

I am writing to express my fascination with the ACT government's brilliant initiative, the "Barr Bell". Modelled on the "Doobie Dome" (a cover for the Olympic Swimming Pool in Civic), only bigger, the "Barr Bell" apparently protected the suburb of Higgins from all hail damage in the recent storm.

So good was this protection that while Holt, Macgregor, Scullin, Latham, Florey and Page all required an extra collection day for green bins to help in the clean-up it was decided this was not needed in Higgins.

Charnwood, Flynn, Dunlop, and Hawker (and probably other suburbs of Belconnen) did not receive the green bin initiative either.

This year is an election year in the ACT. I ask the residents of West Belconnen to vote wisely.

The biggest threat to the nation's security is the Federal government.

Both the Coalition and the Labor Party are wedded to coal and its more than generous advocates.

Both sides of politics have ignored our distinguished and very accurate climate scientists for decades.

The result is now obvious thanks to a charred east coast and multiple deaths.

We are quite possibly headed to a four degree temperature rise by 2100.

Meanwhile the Prime Minister spins and lies at the National Press Club.

He is pretending that his government's certainties about outdated carbon emission goals equate to responsible policy.

The choice is clear and stark.

We can have liars from the shires or lyre birds.

We can't have both.

We urgently need a third party to occupy the currently vacated centre in Australian politics, a party that understands and respects science and logic.

"Business as usual" is killing us and everything that defines us.

In his recent speech to the National Press Club ("Ministers know better...", January 30, p3) Scott Morrison suggested some of the more deserving clubs that failed to receive sports grants might still get some money.

As the grants that were made were obviously distributed for electioneering purposes, why should the clubs that missed out not be paid from Liberal and National Party coffers?

After all, we already pay the political parties large sums for their election expenses.

We have come a long way since there were "giants in the earth" like Arthur Tange and John Bunting who would speak the truth to power. We can't even know what is said now. It's "Cabinet in confidence".

The circus continues in Canberra with the latest Nationals leadership spill. This circus has an over abundance of clowns. Many of them are in the Coalition.

Jim Molan let the cat out of the bag on Q and A. The Coalition doesn't need evidence. All they need is what comes across their desks daily. Cheques from non-tax-paying fossil fuel multinationals perhaps?

Now Barnaby Joyce has been put back in his box can we please have some relief from the constant and boring media coverage of his bumbling political career? He always relied on the media to report his idiocies as a tactic to get where he was. Maybe now he'll go back to earning an honest living as a country accountant.

Let's have fewer submarines and more aerial tankers.

So the Greens leader has quit. Are you worried about what the Royal Commission into the bushfires might uncover Richard?

The Australian Army has acknowledged one of its helicopters started what is known as the Orroral Valley fire. The blaze crossed the border into NSW where it is known as the Clear Range fire. Will the army be paying compensation in respect of the property losses?

How amusing. A bunch of jubilant Brexiteer members of the EU Parliament celebrating the last rites with Stella Artois, a Belgian beer.

Nothing to see here. Bridget's ministerial euthanasia has been drawn out for so long for a simple reason. There were no plush diplomatic appointments available to be announced till March.

The ABC and SBS have been inundating us with series on British history, landscapes and the royals. While possibly preferable to series from USA we need to be wary of the colonisation of our minds. The Brits want us to spend up and keep them in the manner to which they think they should be accustomed .

The televised ESA updates regarding the nearby fires are outstanding. Georgeina Whelan is clear, confidant and informative. Not so outstanding is the "caught in the headlights" nodding Chief Minister in the background. A superfluous and insignificant distraction from the real hero.

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