This is not the time for our politicians to come to Canberra

In the next few days over one thousand are gathering for federal parliamentary sittings.

For all the claims about safety "bubbles", how can it be in any way sensible to risk lives in this perilous endeavour?

Living in a time of Zoom (and similar) technologies, how can such irresponsibility be defended?

To our federal parliamentarians: "Please don't come to Canberra and risk super-spreading the COVID-19 virus", and if you have already arrived, "Please go home pronto".

I wonder if weekly updates on progress of the Australian War Memorial redevelopment are really so critically newsworthy ("Anzac Hall roof torn off", canberratimes.com.au, July 20).

The previous week it was the trees, now it is the roof, next week perhaps a story on several "historic" bricks being removed.

Is this really news, or just The Canberra Times trying to keep alive an issue long after it's been resolved?

The next big story should be the approval of the final design for the new Anzac Hall, which I bet will also become a "heritage icon".

The average Canberra public-transport journey currently causes about two-and-a-half kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions. That will drop to two kilograms if patronage returns to pre-COVID-19 levels.

Walking and cycling cause no direct greenhouse emissions. In the time it takes to walk to a bus stop and wait for a bus, you can walk about two kilometres, or you can cycle about five.

Distance is a major barrier to walking and cycling. The 2016 census showed 5 per cent of Canberrans walked to work. That more than doubled for suburbs within two kilometres of Civic. 3 per cent of Canberrans cycled to work. That figure more than doubled for suburbs within five kilometres of Civic.

Paul Magarey says "many actions ... could be taken immediately to make a rich but low-density city like Canberra one in which walking, cycling or public transport were the most attractive ways to get around". (Letters, July 18).

The ACT government can promote walking and cycling, and reduce emissions, by changing its approach to urban planning.

More trips will be within walking and cycling distance if every suburb has a shopping centre and a primary school, and if businesses are encouraged to locate close to their employees and their customers rather than in city and town centres. Shorter distances will also reduce emissions from travel by car and by public transport.

Well I guess it is no real surprise that the Commonwealth public prosecutor has "now determined, on the basis of the available evidence and weighing the relevant public interest factors, that no charges should be brought" against AMP for the fee-for-no-service scandal brought to light in the banking royal commission.

One rule for rich, another for the poor. Steal a packet of chips and you'll end up in court, steal $153 million, nothing to see, move on.

This says everything about how inegalitarian our society has become.

Good on the scientists working on a climate adaptation plan for cockatoos ("Climate change protection for Canberra cockatoo species", canberratimes.com.au, July 19).

But with rising global temperatures it seems that carbon emissions are almost out of control, as we see with the Amazon now a net source of emissions, record fires and heat in North America and Russia, and record floods in Germany.

In these circumstances it is difficult to envisage how any heat adaptation plan would work for wildlife. One important climate-adaptation measure for wildlife that would work, however, and for which no research is needed, is to stop land clearing, control ferals, and establish more nature reserves and wildlife corridors.

Peter Fuller (Letters, July 14) seems to have misunderstood the recent story aired on ABC News regarding the composting of feral animals.

I hate to think that his opinion would further entrench an existing attitude held by some that possums are nothing but a nuisance. They were here long before us, and if managed properly can live alongside us, even in suburbs.

The reason some may be eating garden produce and living in our ceilings is because we have built newer suburbs with no regard to habitat for native animals. Our focus should be on building habitat for birds and animals which have lost their homes.

The composting story referred to the enormous problem facing farmers and native wildlife from interlopers such as wild pigs, goats, foxes, dogs, horses, cats, etc.

These are also sentient beings which, through the folly of humans, have bred up in a foreign landscape. In some cases, farmers are also composting kangaroos. These are not feral animals and I don't advocate their destruction, however, they often end up as roadkill or are shot by farmers and any carcass rotting on the ground is food for other feral animals.

In New Zealand, the Australian possum is indeed a feral animal, but not so here.

Talking to Annabel Crabb on the ABC's Ms Represented program, former PM Julia Gillard stated that "research shows that even though men don't think they do, they actually take a disproportionate amount of the talking time ... if there's more than one bloke (in the room) they're going to dominate the time available for discussion".

Hardly surprising. Many years ago when studying for her B.Ed, my wife shared with me research which showed that even when teachers made conscious attempts to favour girls in the classroom, the boys still dominated.

Clearly the behaviour is hardwired in certain men from an early age.

Senator Zed asks "How much unchecked power should 13 people have?" (Canberra Times, July 21), referring to the controlling majority of the ACT Legislative Assembly in the matter of whether the ACT should have the right to legislate on voluntary assisted dying.

My response is "How much unchecked power should one senator have to deny the ACT Legislative Assembly the right to legislate on voluntary assisted dying in the same way as states?"

I refer to Isobel Cootes' opinion piece on Liz Cambage ("Why Australia has a problem with Liz Cambage", July 20, p37).

I, like several Canberra basketball fans I know, can't stand Cambage. It has nothing to do with her gender or colour. It is because, in my opinion, she is an egotistical, self-centred, disruptive individual unsuited to a team sport.

Has Cootes seen Cambage (technical) fouling out in important games through mouthing off at referees, then flouncing off the court waving imperiously to the crowd? She is not a team player. I suspect several of the Opals players and coaching staff are relieved at her departure.

I now look forward to wholeheartedly supporting the Opals in their quest for an Olympic medal.

In his article "We're going to be paying more tax" (July 21, p20, 21), Peter Martin wrote "An obvious place to look for the (extra) tax is high-income senior citizens, at present enjoying tax-free super, refundable franking credits and special tax offsets."

These are the same tax changes which, when proposed by federal Labor, were a major reason for its being wiped out in the "unloseable" 2019 election. Perhaps Mr Martin should reconsider his "obvious place".

I frequently glance through the Prime Minister's excellent, albeit taxpayer-funded, media site in order to get an unfiltered understanding of his latest flights of fancy. I was surprised to find that, for some reason, the transcript of the "S, O, R, R, Y" interview with Jason Hawkins of Kiis had not been posted as of Friday afternoon.

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