Steggall's climate bill deserves bipartisan support

It includes a 2050 target for net-zero greenhouse emissions and a pathway to achieve this, including a risk assessment and adaptation plan, an independent climate change commission and appropriate technologies.

The Coalition holds that its technology investment roadmap is the best approach and, unfortunately, is not planning formal consideration of this bill. It has not acknowledged the bill incorporates the technology roadmap, if not the proposed gas-based economic recovery component.

I am one of many scientists, and others, concerned about the government's circumscribed approach to climate change. It appears to be constrained by conservative interests willing to gamble on the future of the world without a comprehensive risk assessment, let alone an independent holistic evaluation of the costs and (many) benefits of urgent mitigation actions.

Obfuscation and spin are far from convincing, and are becoming increasingly irritating. If the government wants to show Australians and the global community that it is really serious about tackling climate change, it must schedule meaningful discussion of Steggall's bill.

How many readers know that Australia's Regional Forest Agreements currently have a special exemption from our national environmental law?

Graeme Samuel has now called for the removal of these exemptions in his review of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act ("Samuel review of environmental laws urges watchdog and standards", canberratimes.com.au, January 29).

These exemptions explain the frequent breaches by the state forestry agencies. In Samuel's own words, a separate "rigorous compliance and enforcement regime is needed" to uphold the law and national standards. Australia has a poor track record on species extinction and was notably absent in the list of more than 50 countries which pledged to protect 30 per cent of the planet to halt species extinction and address climate change issues.

Given the recent devastating forest fires and this highly critical report, there should be at least a moratorium on the logging of all of Australia's remaining native forests until national standards and an enforcement regime are in place.

We often hear politicians and political parties speaking of certain issues or causes being in their DNA. Well, one thing that is in the DNA of the Labor party is leadership ructions and coups, most notably during the tumultuous Rudd-Gillard years.

While not totally absolving the LNP from similar behaviour, it will be interesting to follow the the current Labor leadership machinations in the lead-up to the forthcoming federal election. Anthony Albanese's leadership days are numbered if Tanya Plibersek's recent musings on what governments should be doing to deliver its policy agenda are anything to go by.

It was a brilliant leadership and campaign speech.

Lights for the bus shelters are decades overdue. That is not surprising given it is highly unlikely that any ACT cabinet minister has caught a bus late at night since 1989. Too precious. Too important. Greens backbench MLA Ms Le Couteur was a regular bus user. And a bike rider. But she was never a minister. Before self-government the federal minister, Michael Hodgman, caught the bus from and to Queanbeyan. Which party? Liberal.

Well said Bob Salmond (Letters, January 28). I say penalise the bowling team for the continual use of bouncers by awarding five runs to the batting side each time one of these head-high intimidating deliveries is deliberately used.

On day five of the fourth Test match with India, it became monotonous listening to an ex-Australian cricket captain, now a TV commentator, continually urging Tim Payne to demand his fast bowlers to bowl potentially maiming deliveries.

It's no wonder why other, safer, summer sports are now preferred by parents of young children.

Professor John Hewson makes it crystal clear that Prime Minister Scott Morrison refuses to recognise the urgency of concerted action on climate change ("Morrison needs to face climate reality", Opinion, January 29, p16).

With the demise of the Trump regime and the recent conversion of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to climate reality, Mr Morrison, along with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, are the only two leaders of large economies who refuse to take urgent action on what is now the greatest ever threat to civilisation.

Has Kym MacMillan (Letters, January 29) noticed the significant differences between presidents Trump and Biden?

The distinction is not "your own president in power" vis a vis your opponent's president in power. It's a good president as opposed to a rotten one.

Trump proved himself to be a very rotten one. Some people were perceptive enough to know that from day one of Trump's presidency.

Some only realised that towards his last days in office.

Some, of course, have not realised it all.

Does the removal of Mark Butler from the shadow climate and energy portfolio mean Australia's government and opposition will both defy the efforts of the Biden administration and others to step up global action on climate? When will the ALP recognise that it will be attacked by some vested interests whatever its policy on climate, and that the best way to respond is a strong climate policy that clearly articulates benefits to people like the one the US Democrats' successfully campaigned with in 2020?

Some 80 years ago members of my family were engaged in shooting and bombing Nazis. I understand they killed many hundreds of them. I'm still pretty proud of that. I have no time for these new wannabe fascists. They have no respect for the more than 27,000 Australians who were killed, and the 23,000 who were wounded, by fascists and Nazis during World War II. We are Australians. We respect human rights and freedoms. End of story.

On January 22 the head of Google Australia told a Senate Committee hearing the company might pull its search engine from Australia if the government persisted with its policy of getting web platforms to pay for Australian media articles.

The government's policy proposal makes sense to me and Google's statement might just be part of a negotiating process.

But, that said, the Morrison Government must be careful of not scoring another "own goal" and cutting off a crucial Australian information search capacity.

The Morrison government's lack of action on media concentration, particularly its Murdoch media friend, if reversed, would also be an important step for a wider and more comprehensive Australian news scene.

Recent letter writers have suggested Summernats should include electric vehicles.

Members of the Canberra Branch of the Australian Electric Vehicle Association displayed various converted-to-electric cars at Summernats for several years around the middle of the last decade.

Professor Bongiorno's opinion piece ("Order of the day needs a shakeup", January 27, 21) presenting a case for change in our national honours system is both timely and compelling.

The current system has lost direction with too many awards going to individuals who have already received one, significant ideological and gender imbalance, and clear political interference, usually as Professor Bongiorno says, from right field.

As someone who has recently had a nomination rejected for a woman who had "spent decades in voluntary work for no pay and limited recognition" I was left wondering what do you have to do to be recognised.

News flash to Mr Deane (Letters, January 27). Premier Andrews did not object to Margaret Court's receiving an AC because her views were different to others. He objected because her views are repugnant, nasty, homophobic, hurtful and dare I suggest it, un-Christian and un-Australian. I am tired of the ultra-conservative argument their opinions must be exempt from criticism for no other reason than they managed to form one.

Mario Stivala (Letters, January 22) doesn't understand that in Rattenbury world you don't worry about bus stops for vulnerable people who can't drive. Not if it interferes with golden tram worship.

Andrew Barr's dismissive attitude to public concerns about the Orroral Valley bushfire is disgraceful but is at least a response to the people voicing their concerns. Far better than his response over the past six years to the questions of Mr Fluffy homeowners: he's ignored them utterly and refused to speak to representatives, even banning them on social media. Just saying.

Has the petrol-pricing watchdog paraded by the ACT government last May been defanged or euthanised? Despite the Australian dollar appreciating over recent months, Canberra service stations celebrated the Australia Day weekend by hoisting their prices by six to eight cents per litre for those motorists encouraged to see Australia first.

One day an old familiar rain will come along and know his name, yet the kisses sweeter than wine where like the honeycomb, in any event he was part of a world we used to know ("US singer Jimmie Rodgers dead at 87", Canberra times.com.au, January 24).

I think N. Ellis (Letters, January 22) is in la la land and still dreaming.

I think the ladies' WBBL competition should also have the DRS referral system. The ladies should also have a sub for a extra to come into the team. I wish the ladies would implement these changes along with the extra point and along with the "x-factor".

I dislike it when premiers announce that masks are no longer compulsory in some parts of a state. This gives the impression that wearing a mask is a burden.

The truth is we are frequently reminded the precautions we are taking now are likely to continue for some time after the vaccines are rolled out.

Masks should be "business as usual" until this virus has been eliminated in the community.

Looking at the weather page of last Monday's The Canberra Times I learnt Canberra would be the second hottest place in the world on Monday at 37 degrees, after Melbourne at 39 degrees.