I am starting to think that Australia is a Third World country after all.
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I tried to book a COVID-19 vaccination on Thursday as I am in the 1b category. I was dismayed at the process.
After finding my nearest clinic from the government website I called them for an appointment. The recorded message stated that I needed to log into the healthdirect.gov.au website to make an appointment.
I then logged into the website; went through all the eligibility questions; was informed that I qualify, and was presented with a list of clinics where I could make an appointment.
All the clinics displayed had a "phone appointments only" message.
I again called the clinic to make an appointment; received the same previous message to go to the government website but ignored that and waited until I could speak to a real person.
I was informed that as I was not a regular patient of the clinic I could not get an appointment as first preference was to regular patients.
Am I the only person in this situation? Or, as I stated at the outset, are we in a Third World country?
H Zandbergen, Kingston
School zones work
Jim Derrick (Letters, March 17) wonders why ACT school zones apply all day. They don't, just from 8am to 4pm.
School zone speed limits were introduced into the ACT in 1985-86 and were unique at the time, with other jurisdictions later following the ACT lead. Their implementation followed extensive consultation and review. The discussion paper that formed the basis of consultation was produced by the Department of the Capital Territory (prior to self-government in 1989). Schools were and presumably still are responsible for the folding away of signs during school holidays and their reopening during school terms.
At the time it was decided that all school zones should have the same times of operation to avoid potential driver confusion. ACT schools have a three-tiered system, with colleges, high schools and primary schools. Colleges operated, and presumably still do, with students attending, arriving and departing at various times of the school day. College students were afforded the same level of road safety consideration as other school children, hence the times of operation of college school zones were adopted for all school zones. This strategy is not inconsistent with reduced-speed zones that have recently been implemented in higher pedestrian areas throughout Canberra.
The exceptions to the installation of school zones are stand-alone preschools, where children must be under the full control of a responsible adult to arrive and depart. They require a much higher level of control than unaccompanied children attending primary and high schools as well as colleges. Co-located preschools are included in the school zone installed for primary schools. Out-of-hours school sporting events were not considered frequent or active enough to justify extending all school zone times.
Tom Brimson, Dunlop
Change the limit
Dallas Stow makes a good point regarding the imposition of lower speed limits in deserted roadworks zones ("Driving me crazy", canberratimes.com.au, March 20).
Situations such as this lead to a general and habitual flouting of the posted speed limit. In addition to ensuring that such limits are applied only where roadworks are actively in progress, authorities in Australia could do worse than consider the Canadian system, which imposes double penalties for speeding in "construction" zones.
The rationale for this is that all workers are entitled to a safe workplace. If this provision were implemented here, perhaps I would be less likely to be "driven crazy" by tailgaters and other selfish speedsters wilfully ignoring these limits.
Chris Ryan, Carrs Park
Winging it
James Penny, ("We want Wing", Letters, March 18), many in Palmerston would be happy to hand over Wing to your suburb, although other Harrison residents may not be as eager as you.
Sure, you might get a Wing-delivered coffee, or a pack of over-the-counter simple analgesic (not PBS) medicine delivered, but not if it is raining or windy.
Canberrans are being used by Alphabet. They are not interested in delivering coffees. They are perfecting software that they will sell worldwide. Andrew Barr, whose idea of progress is activity, was an easy target.
Greg Carroll, Palmerston
Supply and demand
Ken Hubbard ("Why so dear?" Letters, March 19) should recall price is a function of both supply and demand.
One component of demand is immigration and non-resident, non-Australians buying property.
One aspect of supply is not because we don't level and pave over enough bush and farmland, but because our system allows the holding of residential land for speculative purposes.
There are unoccupied building, and even unbuilt-on, blocks, even in Canberra's CBD. The supply is there, but our system allows it to remain locked up for the profit of people much wealthier than those who would live at the locations.
Keith Thomas, Ainslie
No confidence
How can Canberrans have any confidence in buying a home in the ACT when the government and the Planning Directorate randomly encourage developers of selected blocks under the guise of the "Demonstration Housing Project" to demolish the family home?
With a potential focus on profit, developers can strata title the new units? These pop-up blocks are mostly in RZ1 zones (residential, low density, single dwellings, Strata titles prohibited). One could pop-up next door to you.
The most recent is a so called Manor House in Griffith. This will allow developers to build a two-storey, four-unit apartment block with nine carparks with the ACT government willing to tailor and amend the territory plan to make it lawful.
Families need certainty, not their privacy, amenity and family home devalued. It is little wonder Canberra residents are moving across the border.
Paul Russell, Griffith
Adversarial approach
Public conversations around sexual assault remind me that I was on a jury some years ago, and we were asked to decide "beyond reasonable doubt" whether a sexual assault took place.
The adversarial system was such that we jurors had an almost impossible task, as the lawyers on both sides muddied the waters and restricted the available information.
The result was an acquittal. There is clearly a need for sexual assault cases to be held through inquiry or investigation rather than contest, in a separate forum with judges and advocates trained in a different way.
David Purnell, Florey
Pause on pom poms
The opinion piece "Cheerleaders are athletes. The NRL should pause on packing away the pom poms" (canberratimes.com.au, March 21) seems to be missing the point of cheerleading.
It doesn't mention actually leading the crowd in cheers. When I attended a baseball game in Japan, the cheerleaders were in stands with the fans. Using old-fashioned megaphones they led the crowd in chants, singing the team song and timing the release of balloons with whistles on the end. I don't recall any acrobatics on the field though.
Rather than replacing cheerleaders, sports teams should look at evolving their role to improve the game-day experience for fans.
Yuri Shukost, Isabella Plains
Exhibition please
The ACT Planning Directorate, as part of its mea culpa to the community over its now aborted plans to auction off a tranche of early 20th-century heritage items ("Records auction mistake costs govt", canberatimes.com.au, March 21), could mount an informative exhibition of all these historical objects as part of the upcoming ACT Heritage Festival.
The City Renewal Authority should be able to help fast track such an exhibition, by identifying suitable vacant yet easily accessible and appealing ground floor space in the middle of Civic and promoting such an activation. By taking overall responsibility for such an event, and telling the story behind the exhibition, the Planning Directorate could show how it now appreciates the value these items have over and above the dollar signs associated with any auctioneer's gavel.
Sue Dyer, Downer
Change of heart?
Minister Karen Andrews is to be commended for speaking out in favour of quotas for Liberal women MPs, but where has she been up until now? I'd guess she, like her male colleagues, has been arguing that women should be selected on merit? If so, can we take it as read that all male Liberals have always been chosen solely on merit?
Eric Hunter, Cook
TO THE POINT
RED LIGHT DISTRICT
Patrick Wagner (Letters, March 25) asks if Parliament has become a house of ill repute. Has he noticed that there is a red light on top of the flag pole that sits atop Parliament House?
Don Sephton, Greenway
SECURITY CHECK
Perhaps Parliament House security should have a responsibility to inform an appropriate official if anyone enters their office outside normal working hours without written permission to do so?
Peter Brittliff, Kambah
REACTION EXCESSIVE
Heather Sorensen ("Calm down", Letters, March 23) deserves to be congratulated. The tripe perpetuated by the chattering classes over the last week or so has only served to mask the real situation in Myanmar where people are being shot. Meanwhile, I don't know if said level of tripe has achieved anything at all on the home front. I hope Heather's call for calm is not in vain.
Michael Doyle, Fraser
RANK STUPIDITY
What do you call a government that forever claims it is a good financial manager and then launches a $100 billion plus financial support program with soft entry criteria and no provision for clawback when the unintended happens? The two-word answer: brain dead.
Trevor McPherson, Aranda
BOOZE BAN
Why is alcohol served in Parliament House? Does it make for better decision-making? A better workplace culture? Less misogyny and bad behaviour? If so, why aren't boozy lunches encouraged across the public service in the public interest?
Richard Manderson, Narrabundah
SOLAR RIPOFF
I am outraged at the proposed charges for solar panel owners. The whole point of getting solar panels is to reduce costs for the homeowner and to do something for the environment. How dare this commission try to charge us for electricity that comes from the sun?
E R Moffat, Greenway
MUSIC TO THE EARS
News that Australia's population ceased to grow in the last quarter for the first time in 100 years was music to the ears. A respite for our diminished natural landscape and ecology from our relentless encroachment.
Graham Clews, Kambah
WRITER WAS RIGHT
Gillian Bellas was spot on (Letters, March 24) when she said the hundreds of millions of dollars that will be spent bringing the tram to Woden would be better spent on The Canberra Hospital.
John Milne, Chapman
BACK BELCONNEN
Apropos the article "Light Rail drives Uni's 'aspirational' vision" (March 25, p1), Stage 2 of the Canberra Light Rail project should always have been Belconnen Town Centre to the airport, not Civic to Woden. The former is a much more viable proposition.
Patricia Watson, Red Hill
NSW NO BETTER
ACT residents unhappy with their local vaccination arrangements should spare a thought for the many regional NSW residents who won't be able to access the program until mid-April.
N Ellis, Belconnen
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