The arrest and charging by ACT Policing of an Aboriginal man with being drunk and disorderly while walking at night, alone and calmly down a Canberra footpath is a sober reminder of just how little progress we have made in Australia in the last 50 years in addressing racism and achieving reconciliation.

As an aside, when might the victim of this travesty expect a formal public apology from the ACT government and an offer of compensation for his false arrest?

I applaud the federal government's decision to vaccinate people in Papua New Guinea.

I was also delighted to read the Prime Minister's statement that "throughout the course of the COVID-19 pandemic we have always been extremely concerned for our Pacific family".

I look forward to this concern being continued regarding the effects of climate change on Pacific countries.

It would seem, from all of the publicity given to the high jinks in Parliament House, that we are now fully apprised of the sleazy goings-on there by a cohort of loose-moraled men and some women who seem to think the Australian public fully condone their sexually depraved antics and, in the case of the males, their attitude towards women.

I think that we are utterly appalled that this situation has gone on for so long without anyone stepping forward to bring the problem of sexual discrimination in all areas of society out into the open with a view to stamping it out, not just in Parliament.

It is now up to our legal and government agencies to lead the way by working through the legalities of cleaning up the toxic attitude presently existing.

At the same time, it is to be hoped that our politicians can also work together on the other current crises affecting the majority of the population; keeping COVID-19 under control and coping with the disastrous flooding in parts of the country.

I feel fantastic. On Tuesday afternoon my wife and I got our first AstraZeneca vaccination at the Queanbeyan Riverside Medical Centre as part of cohort 1b. I am happy to report there were no side effects. My congratulations to the doctors and staff at the clinic who have put a lot of work into launching the program. It is great to at last feel part of the solution to this global health problem.

Mario Stivala (Letters, March 21) identifies some potential challenges of co-operative living in our Stellulata Cohousing project.

We have a clear understanding of these concerns, and believe the benefits of creating an inclusive and collaborative community far outweigh the difficulties that may arise.

Our published statement of principles explains that we will protect the independence and privacy of our individual units while also managing our shared resources prudently for the benefit of all residents.

Cohousing will not suit everyone. People venturing into a project such as this must be committed to working together with their neighbours and solving problems as they arise.

We are confident that shared values and a sense of responsibility will allow us to fairly participate in the costs and benefits of living in our community.

I spent 40 years in the army, posted overseas but not to a war zone. I also had the privilege of organising funerals for those who died in service, including suicides, and over the years have lost my own troops to suicide.

I firmly believe that one of the major contributing factors in defence suicides is the fact that we take young people from a First World country, who in most cases have not seen a dead person, and we send them off to war, where we expect them to kill if need be.

In war they may be exposed to dead people, including children, who may not just be dead but may be fragmented.

Is it any wonder they return screwed up?

Sorry, Jack Kershaw (Letters, March 22), Magpies Belconnen Golf Club did not "sell off" any land. The land and golf course are all owned by the developer. The new estate was built on our disused third nine holes.

These holes were abandoned when the exorbitant treated sewage-water costs imposed by the wholly government-owned monopoly provider, ICON, made them too expensive to maintain.

Neil Williams (Letters, March 19) asks those in vaccine category 1b to have some patience.

I am quite happy to be patient. That said, I, like many others, merely did what the Health Minister asked us to do; to register. Unfortunately the system was flawed and many GP clinics were overwhelmed with inquiries.

I'm happy to be patient but I'm not happy to be lied to - or about. And, by the way, I didn't panic-buy toilet paper either.

In the face of women's rising anger about the lack of effective action to reduce the incidence of sexual harassment and violence, the Morrison government is hiding behind the law.

The problem is that the relevant law, and the way it is administered, are clearly ineffective and therefore not fit for purpose.

One-fifth of Australian women experience sexual abuse and violence, and research shows that very few women who accuse men of these crimes lie. But most women find the prospect of going to the law too daunting. Only a very small proportion of the accusations submitted to police are put to the courts, and only a very small proportion of the cases that are put to the courts are successful.

The government hopes telling women their best response to abuse is to let the law take its course will placate them. It won't and it shouldn't. What it should do is inspire more men to join women in this cause for justice.

The government might have got away with not holding a hose, syringe, or bedpan, but it does hold a pen. It must pick it up to change the law and the way it is administered.

Alastair Bridges (Letters, March 18) was right to point out the folly of a PM - any PM - confronting thousands who would shout him or her down with no chance to have a real discussion (which was offered but shunned).

By way of example, in her classic history The Suffragette Movement (1931), Sylvia Pankhurst wrote about a 1914 deputation of "half a dozen female brushmakers and housewives" who accepted an offer to meet with PM Asquith as "the breakthrough, speak-truth-to-power moment that finally shattered Asquith's adamantine hostility to the women's cause".

Civility has its advantages, boorishness rarely does.

It is unsurprising a report commissioned by the Chief Minister would tend to agree with the Chief Minister's ad hoc planning proposals. However, the article heading "Report backs Civic stadium" (March 15, p1), is not truly correct. The report found it would be "feasible" and slightly cheaper than building one at EPIC, but it also stressed that the city site provided significant extra challenges.

Viewed by any thinking person, these challenges (a severely restricted site, realignment of Parkes Way, and no on-site parking) clearly demonstrate exactly why an open-air stadium for some 25,000 people should never be built on the site suggested, or, in fact, on any inner-city site whatsoever.

The logical way to proceed is for the ACT government to come to an agreement with the federal government for the upgrading/refurbishment of the Bruce GIO Stadium, and to not consider ruining either the city or EPIC. A win-win situation all round.

The "panic" being shown by members of the 1b cohort about getting vaccinated is really quite irrational and can't be justified.

What do they think will happen if they don't get vaccinated tomorrow? That they will suddenly get infected by COVID-19? Who will they catch it from? There is no evidence of the virus in the community, and obeying the standard restrictions will mitigate almost any potential risk anyway.

People need to wait with patience for their turn. It will come.

It's good to see that the Australian Defence Force is going to deploy two rescue helicopters to assist in the NSW flood emergency search and rescue operations. At least with all the wet weather their chances of starting a fire should be minimal.

Would the Federal Parliament operate more efficiently if it was relocated to Fyshwick so staffers and politicians were closer to sex workers and fireworks?

Given the Morrison government's newfound, COVID-19-induced love of "trusting the science", maybe it should commission some research into what is causing the extremes of weather we are experiencing.

An own goal by Jennifer Bradley (Letters, March 19) in "debating" the case against Crispin Hull about debating techniques being unproductive in Parliament House. She "argued the obvious", ignoring Crispin's main point that debates too often ignore merit and context to get a win regardless.

If you want to stop climate change protests, it's simple: take action to stop climate change. If you're angry about the protests, blame the people who cause them, the climate change deniers in government and industry. Don't blame the victims.

Pope has excelled himself this time with his unfeeling cartoon of a widely televised floating house similar to the one lost by the young couple about to be married. (Editorial cartoon, March 23). I suggest he goes nowhere near Taree.

Both my wife and my daughter, the centre of my life, have asked me if Scott Morrison has been taking acting lessons from Christian Porter.

Were the millions of dollars taxpayers had to spend on turning Parliament House from a relatively inviting place into a fortress a few years ago expended to keep drunks, criminals and other shady characters outside or inside?

I am amazed by the recent rash of improprieties occurring in Parliament House under the Coalition's watch. Has Parliament become a house of ill repute? Or is it merely a whited sepulchre?

Ryan Goss (Letters, March 23) has got it wrong. It is not important how many members the Lake Burley Griffin Guardians have, it is how many people, like me, they represent.

Apart from "let it all hang out", I wonder what other thoughtful and insightful advice our political leaders are getting from their advisers?

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