If I had known this, I would not have voted Liberal. How dare our leaders act like gods and condemn many people to a sometimes painful and often undignified death. How can this possibly be regarded as democracy at work?

I dearly hope that the Labor party wins on Saturday and actually does something about this. A majority of people in the ACT want to have the choice.

We are a secular country and personal religious beliefs should not be involved in politics.

Albo is as confident, competent and energetic as Joe Biden was, probably for the same reasons.

QUOTE

For Australia's sake I hope he's not as successful.

I must take issue with Geoff Mander's condemnation of the Morrison government's handling of the COVID pandemic (Letters, May 18). Obviously there will be disagreements about the details of the response but we should look at the ultimate outcome.

The bottom line is that we have a very high vaccination rate, an internationally very low death rate, an historically low unemployment rate and reasonable community cohesion.

Our current death rate is 306 per million people (Worldometer). This compares with European rates of between 1500 to 3000 per million. In Asia, South Korea, which had a strong coordinated response, has a death rate of 464 per million.

Japan has a lower rate of 240 deaths per million, but this is still very much in the same ballpark as Australia's rate. The difference may be partly due Japan's culture of mask-wearing and lesser touching.

Incidentally if the deaths from the early Victorian disaster were discounted then Australia's death rate would be about 280 per million. New Zealand's death rate is also lower than Australia's at 195 per million but it is a small country which implemented an extreme isolation.

I am reminded of an article on the controversial and divisive General Bernard Montgomery. It said that despite all the criticisms of individual aspects of his conduct of the Normandy campaign, he would have been condemned if it failed. Hence, he should get some credit for its success.

On a non-political note, Mander's letter is also highly offensive to the skilled, committed and hard-working staff of Health and Treasury.

When I hear Adam Brandt's hubristic claims about how the Greens would use their supposed balance of power, I'm left waiting for the "or else". What are they going to do if a minority Labor government simply ignores them?

The media keeps reminding us that Katy Gallagher has been good for Canberra. As Chief Minister she bribed the ACT Greens with the tram to keep Labor in government, thereby giving us a billion-dollar debt.

Then she jumped ship to become a federal senator, leaving us with the legacy of a Green-Labor government, together with a never-ending tram story that will cost us billions more.

Electric buses at a fraction of the cost could flexibly service the whole community.

And who is David Pocock? He is certainly correct in asserting he has never been part of the Green Machine, he played union for the Brumbies rather than rugby league with the Raiders. But his Maules Creek mine protest certainly aligns him with a politically green team. Nothing will change if he is elected.

Scott Morrison recognises there are differences between the states and the territories and he said he won't be changing that to allow for territorians to vote on voluntary assisted dying.

But Mr Morrison, there is no difference between the residents of the states and those of the territories. We suffer equally in terminal illnesses. Why are you so cruel as to prevent us accessing a peaceful death which all other Australians who are eligible can access?

This is certainly not consistent with the mantra of a "fair go" for all.

I voted Labor as I find it more caring, more inclusive and judge that it will be a more collaborative government. Specifically, I support its Indigenous policy (a referendum is well overdue) and the strong ICAC it has promised (far too many rorts). Labor may well exceed its 2030 climate target and I like its multi-faceted approach to the South Pacific (the present trajectory is too dangerous).

I avoided voting independent. In this election it is impossible to predict the effect of that vote - it may not be what you intended. As well, only the major parties set the agenda.

The unemployment rate is 3.9 per cent. Hats off to the Morrison's government, really.

So the Coalition will rely on downsized government departments and fewer public servants (some 5500 apparently) by reducing funding to the public service by some $3.3 billion. What does Senator Seselja have to say about this? Will he try to protect Canberra or, as he usually does, follow the Liberal Party line?

This election the three best candidates for the ACT in the Senate are women.

They stand out above the others and way ahead of the incumbent Zed Seselja who has failed to represent the majority of Canberrans.

These women (Professor Kim Rubenstein, Labor's Senator Katy Gallagher and the Greens' Dr Tjanara Goreng Goreng) are easily the best-qualified, experienced and forward-thinking candidates.

Kim Rubenstein is the outstanding independent. A vote for her will address human rights, climate change, women's equity and equality and progress in moving Australia to a modern, constitutionally-sound country. The voice we need in the Senate.

The other independent, former footballer David Pocock, by contrast lacks the broad experience necessary evidenced by his recent advertisement stressing working for Canberra, climate change and presenting a bill for a strong federal ICAC, which will go nowhere.

Zed Seselja has disappointed with his failure to move forward on issues of important social issues to the electorate and no longer deserves support.

In the ACT we are very fortunate that we have two experienced politicians in Zed Seselja and Katy Gallagher. Both have experience in local ACT government as well as Senate experience. Why vote for an inexperienced independent no matter how sincere their good intentions are?

Thank you PM, for reminding us that you, like Margaret Thatcher before you, are "not for turning", on territory rights and voluntary assisted dying.

The Coalition's refusal to give so many territory voters an opportunity to consider how to improve end-of-life choices is typical of its strong and rigid anti-secular approach to policy making and social reform in general.

Fortunately David Pocock has made his position and plan for recovering territory legislative rights very clear. While the PM's approach to the ACT and NT may bolster the beliefs of those who support Senator Seselja, many others will vote for a candidate determined to bring about much needed change for territory residents.

It's laughable to see Albanese, who thinks that he will be Prime Minister, running away from the media as they ask him questions about his "Claytons" costings.

If he can't explain Labor's election costings to the media he will have no clue if he becomes Prime Minister. He did not know the unemployment rate and did not know the Reserve Bank cash rate despite claiming he had an economics degree.

He has had three years to swot up on economic issues as he had no responsibility to manage the pandemic. The challenges were left to Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg.

The Liberal nut tightening in Canberra is already on. The pain of the squeeze can be redirected on Saturday.