Lack of services in Page makes life hard for elderly

I can't help wondering if the author does any of these things on a regular basis? My wife and I live in a retirement village and we walk the tracks in Page and adjoining suburbs, most days, trying to stay fit.

They are in appalling condition, overgrown and broken in large stretches. This makes them very dangerous for older people who are prone to falls.

The tracks are shared with bicycle riders. While most are courteous, some travel very fast. This is extremely dangerous for pedestrians, especially older ones who don't see and hear as well as we once did.

The nearest bus stop is 10 minutes' brisk walk away (if you can walk briskly) along a track that is overgrown and broken. The only bus route serving Page terminates at Belconnen. It runs half-hourly on weekdays, with limited services, hourly, on weekends and no late services.

That puts a dampener on plans for theatre and dinner in Civic, travel to the airport and so forth.

After a recent shuffle of cast members the ACT's favourite soap opera, Days of Our Assembly has returned for the year.

For those that missed the opening episodes; Tara, while using statistics to mislead, chastised Leanne for using statistics to mislead.

In a twist on the Marie Antoinette plotline, Jo asked Andrew (patriarch of the blended Labor-Green family) why the poor aren't allowed to ride expensive e-bikes. Andrew replied that it was because they are poor, and they should ride e-bikes consistent with their place in society.

Viewers new to the franchise will soon recognise an underlying theme where members of the Labor-Green family express concern for the less well-off in the ACT while taxing the bejesus out of them.

One-time regular cast member Caroline sent a letter to The Canberra Times reigniting a recurring storyline whereby the Labor-Green family regularly pay too much for stuff, particularly land. It will be interesting to see if the scriptwriters depart from their usual punchline borrowed from Sergeant Schultz: "I know nothing."

Oh wait, an ad is coming on. Viewers will recall the refrain from a popular fried chicken company. Good governance in the ACT ... awkward pause ... did somebody say, 'Ministerial salary'?

The National Capital Authority (NCA) will soon respond to the ACT government's works approval request for the raising of London Circuit "to facilitate development of several undeveloped city blocks and to provide a path of travel for a future light rail system".

Perusal of the 2017 NCA document "Kings and Commonwealth Avenues Draft Design Strategy" suggests that it will embrace the changes to Commonwealth Avenue proposed by the ACT government, and so it would be very surprising if approval for the works were not given, despite much opposition expressed in the public submissions.

Blame for such a terrible planning decision would rest almost entirely with the ACT Labor-Green alliance, given the restricted functions of the NCA.

It has long been apparent that ACT planners have as much vision as a stone wall, with their failure to foresee the impacts of technology and focus on developing central Canberra while ignoring the previously established distributed town design.

Many people have rightly criticised the choice of, and continued preference for light rail technology, but it is the associated urban planning that is now under the microscope.

Working from home is a long-term phenomenon that will significantly reduce commuter traffic and public transport rides. Once a substantial portion of the workforce commits to primarily working in the suburbs service industries will follow, promoting development across the towns and undermining the rationale for light rail corridors.

Alexander Paine (Letters, February 11) wrote of his exasperation while watching the National Press Club address by Grace Tame and Brittany Higgins. I was also exasperated.

What most concerned me was the virtual non-reporting of Grace Tame's words about gender and division. Her answer to a question about gender was: "This division that's projected on to causes and the fighting and the hatred that I see really distresses me because it's not about that. It's about human beings and, if we take away whatever the form of division is, whether it's gender or whatever it may be, it's about abuse of power, and that's what we have to remember. Men are not the enemy ... behaviour is the enemy."

Her powerful words are 100 per cent correct. Yet sadly, it appears they won't be widely commented upon, perhaps because they contradict the prevailing feminist narrative that gender inequality underpins violence against women. This is a false narrative that neatly avoids any focus on toxic behaviour carried out by females against other females, men and children.

In regards to The Canberra Times article "Future unclear for Canberra businesses as local restaurants, shops fold" (canberratimes.com.au, February 11).

The Italian coffee shop closure was due to the three partners wanting go their separate ways. They decided to sell after 20-plus years in the business.

Yes, its cuisine and friendly atmosphere will be missed but ceasing operations was not due to COVID restrictions.

Emeritus Professor Ian Lowe, leading environmentalist, urges "having fewer children does more to slow climate change than any other action an individual can take" ("Fewer kids to cut emissions: report" (canberratimes.com.au, February 14).

The world's population still increases with over 80 million born per year and is becoming impossible on a finite planet.

Clearly, reproducing couples should limit themselves to one or two and help achieve the sensible replacement average. And wealthy countries such as ours must urgently increase aid to "poorer high-fertility countries" for funding contraceptives, and also increased schooling for girls and women to gain jobs.

As environmentalist Tim Flannery wrote so movingly long ago, "if we do not strive to love one another, and to love our planet as much as we love ourselves, then no further human progress is possible here on Earth" (Here on Earth, 2010, p280).

Scott Morrison says he doesn't care about what people think about him. This is astonishing given that peoples' perceptions of politicians determine whether or not they are elected at the next election. A more reasonable response would have been that he is disappointed at the negative perceptions and will work harder to gain peoples' trust. Either, he is either a simpleton, who doesn't understand how important it is for politicians to be well-regarded by the electorate, or he is lying when he says he doesn't care.

Scott Morrison also has indicated that it's not a problem that he had to withdraw his religious discrimination bill. Again, this is an astonishing proposition.

Politicians are there to make a difference. They make a difference by passing legislation. If legislation is not passed they cannot make a difference and have, therefore, failed. If the bill was as important as he claimed it was, how can Scott Morrison be okay with it not being successful? A more reasonable response would have been that he was disappointed by the need to withdraw the bill but will continue his efforts to address the issue of religious discrimination.

Again, we are confronted with the fact that either he is a simpleton, who does not understand how politics and government work, or he a liar, pretending all is well when important legislation fails.

Anti-vaccine mandate protesters claim that there were 1 million people at their protest on Saturday, February 12.

At the risk of being unfashionably rational, I got out my calculator to work out how likely this might be.

On their march up to Parliament House along Commonwealth Avenue, let's give them a roadway width of 30 metres to advance along.

To accommodate 1 million marchers, with a very disciplined spacing of 0.5 metres between ranks 60 wide, each file would contain about 16,000 people, making a column, say, 16 kilometres long.

No protest march I've ever been on behaved like that, and I didn't allow for flags or baby strollers. In a real crowd, toddlers, dawdlers, and chatterers would stretch the column out far further than that.

So the claim is probably out by several orders of magnitude. Sorry about that, but we could call it an alternative fact if you like.

During Question Time on Tuesday, February 15, the PM called on nations to rightly condemn Russian aggression towards Ukraine. During the Convoy of Clowns march on Saturday he did not vigorously condemn the racist and violent threats being made. Instead he said he understood the "frustration" of the protesters and that his government was not responsible. He is unfit to hold the office of Prime Minister.

How are these anti-vaxxers and anti-mandate protesters able to survive here for so long and pay for food, petrol and camping fees when they say they have either lost their jobs or don't have one. Where is their financial backing coming from? A well-known fringe political party, perhaps?

The PM says the LNP represents "certainty" in government. He's right. Certainty for rorting grants; appointing ex-politicians, staffers and supporters to government positions; not delivering promised community support; ignoring audit reports and directing support to Coalition electorates. It's certainly time for a change.

The PM's lack of diplomacy is damaging our national interest. By further denigrating China at a time of heightened international tension in the Ukraine he is upping the ante for a possible war rather than pressing for the accord within a rules-based order that is needed to resolve the crisis. His accusations against the ALP are baseless, have been rebuked by ASIO, and threaten global stability.

Is there nothing ScoMo won't throw under a bus in order to cling to power? We are preparing to take on world superpowers to defend a polluted and poisoned democracy which was sold to the plutocrats three years ago (and within three years of the probable death of US democracy).

Other mispronounced words that irritate me, apart from February, as mentioned by Robin Poke (Letters, February 16), are Martin, scrutiny and Antarctica. Many ABC presenters seem to have problems with these words. Perhaps a few elocution lessons would be in order?

There used to be a maxim there are only two things certain: death and taxes. I think we can add one more to the list: Mario Stivala accusing the ABC journalists of left-wing bias.

The editorial "PM has a bet each way on the protesters" (canberratimes.com.au, February 15) was spot on. Mr Morrison must decide whether he supports the anti-vax, anti-mandate, and anti-almost-everything mob or the rights and welfare of other, more sensible Australians.

He should stop trying to shift the blame for his government's shortcomings to the states and show real leadership, not just by donating to Canberra Lifeline, but by accepting responsibility for the mess he has created.