But isn't it great the tram is coming to Woden?

The door to the toilet did not shut, the safety rail on his bed was broken (he was a falls risk), and the brakes on the wheelchair faulty; it all required maintenance.

My husband, because of his recent strokes, needed help to open food and drink packets. But there was often no one to help him. On a few occasions he did not eat or drink for most of the day. This left him significantly dehydrated with very low blood sugar levels.

But isn't it great the tram is coming to Woden?

My husband needed help to get to the toilet and to access his dinner tray (when it was placed outside of his reach). In some instances, when there was no one to help him do so, he fell out of bed trying.

On discharge, Canberra Hospital was unable to provide him his medications which included some prescribed by the hospital doctors.

But isn't it great the tram is coming to Woden.

The hospital is desperately in need of significant funding to support good medical care. The hospital is at breaking point. But not to worry; the tram is coming to Woden. Just make sure you don't get run over by it.

The Lake Burley Griffin Guardians are calling for plans of future residential development at West Basin to be publicly released ("West Basin development opponents seek answers" March 22).

I support the concept of redevelopment in this area to recreate a part of the Griffins's intention for the lake shores, but I am all for transparency and community consultation to be undertaken as early as possible regarding the ACT government's future development plans.

Given the very substantial cost of creating the proposed new foreshore park and promenade, the government will be tempted to overdevelop the available area. This needs to be closely watched.

It's gobsmacking that someone was arrested because "I can smell [alcohol] on your breath" ("Police slammed over disgusting arrest", March 22, p7).

I remember when my brother was kicked out of class for acting "loopy" and because the teacher smelled alcohol on his breath. The vice-principal (bless him) ascertained my brother was reacting to a new asthma medicine. They chatted until my brother could return to a following class. Cutting corners shamed my brother and has caused a young Canberran to be treated unlawfully.

The magistrate asserted: "police should not resort to a power of arrest they find easier to administer, particularly in circumstances where the conditions for its exercise do not exist". Proper law enforcement supplants expediency. Bravo.

My brother continues to achieve unanticipated excellence with precedent-setting, human rights decisions in American courts. Hopefully, the young Canberran gets the assistance he deserves to have similar opportunities.

Of all the things The Canberra Times could have focused its tight news resources on in recent weeks, it has given oxygen to "the sh*ttest town of Australia". Seriously?

There are many, many issues our rapidly-growing city and region are facing. Issues which need far better (or some) coverage in our quite limited local media. And issues in relation to which the ACT government and its agencies need to be held to account.

The "sh*ttest towns" concept is a completely negative, vulgar, unfunny and pointless exercise. How about allocating your resources to matters that are of importance and in the public interest?

Cane toads have recently been found in Sydney, and the north coast, south coast and north west regions of NSW.

As the experts tell us, cane toads are disastrous to many forms of Australia's unique and wonderful native animal species as well as a major nuisance in communities and for pets.

The Canberra Times recently reported on new toad sightings in Canberra and previous sightings in the ACT.

Decades ago, in the Federal Environment Department, I managed a program for dealing with feral animals and it was a major worry that the toads would spread. Since then they have reached the Northern Territory (Kakadu National Park), Western Australia, and south into NSW and the ACT.

The latter might be related to global warming. While hard to control, it might have been possible to confine the toads to manageable populations in Queensland. But probably what has happened is that with the lack of serious federal government programs on feral pest controls, and with global warming, the toads and other significant ferals will continue to spread to the detriment to much of our native wildlife.

My guess is the inner south area has one of the higher older population ratios in Canberra, you know, the 70-year-olds-plus on the 1B vaccine list.

But there is not a single GP in the area available to deliver the vaccine. My local GP, in a practice with at least eight other doctors, is fuming that their practice has been overlooked.

Who comes up with these lists? Are there any lights on up there?

Yes "Unfairly maligned" (Letters, March 16). Most public housing tenants do look after their homes and take pride in them.

But I live next door to an ACT Housing property and the first thing my husband does every morning is to check our rat traps, empty them and then gather of all the rat dropping off the path to my clothesline.

We have been living with this for over six months. Despite months of written complaints to ACT Housing and the ACT Housing Minister not one thing has been done to clear out the rat nest from the property next door

After hearing that vaccination appointments for Group 1B are now available, I went through the eligibility checker on the health.gov.au website and it directed me to a vaccination centre, which I called, only to be told that they were not taking appointments yet because the federal government had not told them when their vaccine supplies are scheduled to arrive.

Looks like just another government "announcement" with no substance behind it. What a surprise!

Those who are trying so desperately to crush the spirit of Hong Kong would do well to recall that the values and tolerant principles steadily being strangled have long given comfort and refuge to many of their predecessors.

Those giants of modern China, Sun Yat Sen and Zhou Enlai, at different periods found refuge and succor in Hong Kong at crucial times in their struggles.

No one tried to silence them then. Further afield, Karl Marx wrote Das Kapital undisturbed in the reading room of the British Museum (which then housed the British Library collection) protected by the same values of tolerance and free speech.

The tragedy of Hong Kong is that its present masters do not understand its history or their debt to it.

Young Australians are finding it increasingly difficult to break into the market and housing ownership rates are plummeting for younger people. A life of insecurity and high costs lies ahead for so many.

Those who are able to make the leap are having to borrow huge sums of money, putting them in a precarious financial position and eating up a large proportion of their income that would otherwise be spent on other goods and services, supporting a range of industries in Australia.

Banks are dangerously reliant on mortgage lending. This makes the financial system vulnerable to a crash in house prices.

A very large factor in the sustained increase in housing prices is the favourable tax treatment available to investors. Owner occupiers by definition only buy one house. There is no limit to the number of houses an investor can buy.

Housing should never have been turned into a vehicle for speculative investment. Government policies must be focussed on deflating the house price bubble which is damaging the foundations of our society.

Canberra's water supplies were 99.96 per cent full on Tuesday. Surely, we can have all our dams showing 100 per cent full for the first time on Wednesday.

So, the Prime Minister says that he was too busy to find the time to go outside and meet the March4Justice demonstrators. But, on the other hand, he could apparently find the time to meet the organisers of the demonstration in his office if they wanted to. What am I missing?

I didn't like the "Ditch the Di*cks" sign either (Letters, March 17). The best sign I saw was "Men of quality don't fear equality". And ain't that the truth. I was delighted to see so many men of quality joining the March4Justice.

Instead of letting it stand idle and inundating our GP's, why not use the surge centre for vaccinations? And have the terrific nurses administer the vaccine.

Amid the controversy about Minister Dutton's comments when sending a minor back to New Zealand one pertinent fact has been omitted. Why was the 15-year-old boy deported?

For a sense of balance, as our Ministers for Women seem ineffective and there is no minister for men, why not try a minister for equality?

We are to assume sexual predation in our parliament is rampant. Banning the consumption of alcohol on the premises could curtail the problem. Also, this measure may favorably impact on overall productivity.

If Scott Morrison does not hold the hose, maybe it is time he pulled the plug.

Re: Ken Murtagh (Letters, March 20) on water quality in Lake Burley Griffin. If he were to look at the Public Notices in Saturday's The Canberra Times he would see the National Capital Authority is responsible for monitoring water quality in Lake Burley Griffin.

Desperate to survive politically, Morrison plighted his troth to One Nation whose dismantling of the Family Court was its sole vindictive raison d'êter, but, fortunately for workers, the poisonous liaison fell short on numbers ("Casual job definition survives gutted industrial relations bill", March 19, p19).

When will the Commonwealth and the states cotton on to the supreme waste of natural rain water with which we are blessed every now and then? Flood waters should be conserved, not allowed to flow into the ocean.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:

Email: letters.editor@canberratimes.com.au. Send from the message field, not as an attachment. Fax: 6280 2282. Mail: Letters to the Editor, The Canberra Times, PO Box 7155, Canberra Mail Centre, ACT 2610.

Keep your letter to 250 or fewer words. References to The Canberra Times reports should include date and page number. Letters may be edited. Provide phone number and full home address (suburb only published).