It was a nice block with a cruddy house in a lower, but still decent area. The property sold for $1.25 million, well above the online prediction of $950,000.

My guess is investors dropped out at around $1 million and the young couple were raised $50,000-plus by vendor bids.

This is modern Australia and I despair. Boomers (my generation) win, but society and our kids lose.

It took just 30 years: one generation from home ownership to rental inequality. If you try to do something about it, as Labor did under Shorten, you lose an election.

Citizens' ignorance is the most depressing form of ignorance of all.

Spot on, Alison Hutchison (Letters, April 6), for pointing out the ludicrous planning failures in Coombs regarding the poor provision of essential suburban facilities. I refer to the Coombs shops (that aren't shops) and the Coombs Hub's community space (that sits empty and inoperative).

Alison could have commented further on a block (nearly 5000 square metres) very nearby in Wright (adjoining Diesendorf Street) which supposedly was zoned for community facilities and has been sold to the developer (Little Penguins) for that purpose. The developer has reportedly lodged a development application (DA) seeking to build a four-storey medical/health centre and a child care centre and a community space.

Guess how much space Little Penguins have allocated in their DA for desperately needed real community public space? Reportedly 130 square metres. There are probably houses in the Valley with home theatres approaching that size. The DA proposal is totally out of balance.

The community forum should offer Mr Gentleman (and his comrade the Chief Minister) an escorted visit to the precinct. I'm sure neither know where it is.

Yes, Minister. You just can't make this stuff up.

The world has been dealing with COVID-19 for the past 14 months. For the past three months it has been dealing with COVID-19 variants P1 and P2 in Brazil as well as B117 first identified in the United Kingdom.

These variants cause more serious disease, are more infectious and are able to evade the immune protection provided from both vaccination and from previous natural infection immunity.

While is true that there has been a great reduction of cases in high-income countries such as Australia and New Zealand where governments have been congratulating themselves on the vaccine rollout, they should be aware that only about 20 per cent of populations of low-income countries will be vaccinated.

This may mean that notwithstanding advice from our chief medical officer that the current rollout strategy is effective it may be less significant given the worldwide surge in cases from new variants now appearing in Brazil and parts of Africa.

As the next federal election approaches, candidates and parties will make promises and perhaps declare platforms.

Promises, promises. Remember how John Howard invented the concepts of "core promise" and "non-core promise"? Promises and platforms are a poor basis for choice.

Further, in the life of any government, problems and issues will arise which were not conceived of at all at election time.

A voter must therefore make his or her choices based on the character of the candidates and parties.

The only available indicator of character is current behaviour and how it displays qualities such as honesty, integrity, moral compass, regard for the national interest (above others), equity, fairness, empathy, accountability, adherence to proper process and administrative competence.

The federal government's behaviour has rightly drawn much flak for some time. Recent examples relate to the treatment of women and the underhand attempt to white-ant the NDIS.

As things stand, the election is a way off. Will we remember recent observations at election time? We must, so that well-founded voting choices can be made.

Sally Coleman, in her article "Canberra isn't my home, but it's still my home town" (canberratimes.com.au, April 4), has fond memories of the wide streets and local shops where people stopped for a chat.

Why aren't the planners giving us new suburbs that are like this anymore?

You'd think the urban planners would be concentrating on doing surveys to find out what everyone wants and tweaking the old designs to make them suit.

The current planners however now design suburbs on what they think is environmentally ethical for all of us. Lincoln's definition of democracy being "of the people, by the people and for the people" is completely ignored.

Bad luck if most of us have more inclusive ethics that include the benefits of community feel and reduced crime or deciduous treed spaces for enjoyment and refuge in future plagues.

Coombs and Wright are good examples of what the current planners dish up: high crime, narrow streets, tall sterile apartment blocks that look at each other, insufficient car parking and poor or non-existent community feel.

Nobody is stopping for a chat, especially at night in case they get bashed up and robbed.

All the fuss about native grasses adorning the tram lines on Northbourne Avenue would be unnecessary if the tram had simply run on the road, as they do in Melbourne.

The mature gumtree central median could have stayed. Furthermore, with the tram running in the left hand lane, commuters could have simply boarded from the kerb without all the complexities now involved in getting them to and from the middle of a six-lane highway.

A note to motorists: following the tram in Melbourne is often faster than staying in the congested traffic lanes.

Was the "on the road" option rejected as being too sensible for Canberra?

Andrew Podger thinks the super guarantee levy could stay at 9.5 per cent ("Reform needed to deliver on potential", Public Sector Informant, April 6).

A key part of his argument is encouraging retirees to maximise the use of their super by insuring themselves against longevity risk. Podger wants retirees with substantial super to dedicate a significant proportion of it to life annuities that activate in advanced old age.

As well as expecting people to forgo immediate income, this strategy has a limited focus on maintaining the retired person's standard of living into their later years and ignores the risk they will need very expensive high level care over their last decade.

The best way to get Australians to contribute more to their care is to raise the super guarantee levy and quarantining the increase to fund later life care.

This would reduce the burden on younger taxpayers, fund quality care for non-home owners and remove inheritance pressures on retirees to stint on care.

Ian Pilsner writes "...the same old letters [in The Canberra Times] from the same old left-whingers. Some things never change." (Letters, April 9).

He's right of course, but so is the old saw about pots and kettles.

Dare I hope Ian's next "same old right-whinge" will be about freedom of speech (and not just his).

I just heard a COVID-19 press briefing given by the NZ Prime Minister.

She spoke openly of the challenges and how they were meeting them; answered direct questions directly, and never engaged in personality politics or blame-gaming.

It was, in short, a commendable masterclass in how a national leader can bring the public into their confidence.

As the rooster said to his hens on seeing an ostrich egg: "I am not blaming anybody, I am not criticising anybody; I am merely pointing out what is being done elsewhere."

So anti-harassment laws and similar legal protections in workplaces will now apply to politicians and the judiciary.

Can we assume conversely that this new "equality" will apply to average workers having equal access to wage and superannuation level determination decisions?

I shan't damage my health by holding my breath on that one.

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