The sanguine assessment of the ACT budget ("Andrew Barr's budget to tackle hard times", canberratimes.com.au, August 3) is concerning.
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If Mr Barr's economic management has been as good as suggested why is the hospital system in crisis?
Why is there a large undersupply of social housing? Why is the tram extension being supported despite little evidence for its provision? Why is there an undersupply of detached housing blocks?
Where is the evidence supporting the 70 per cent infill policy? Why has there been flip-flopping on a new football stadium? Why has the maintenance of roads, footpaths, parks and gardens declined?
The Canberra Times should pressuring the government to justify its decisions rather than viewing the government through rose-coloured glasses.
Mike Quirk, Garran
Sons of anarchy?
Charles Gascoigne (Letters, August 5) appears to favour anarchy on our roads. If he gets his way, god help pedestrians and cyclists.
I thought Brendan Cox raised valid points about the behaviour of pedestrians and cyclists.
For our safety, we all have a civic duty to follow road rules and practice common sense.
No doubt Mr Gascoigne is one of the loudest complainants when motorists don't.
David Groube, Guerilla Bay, NSW
Hate begets hate
Well, we can accept that Charles Gascoigne (Letters, August 5) hates cars and motorists who do, however, pay a fee to use the roads.
Why, Mr Gascoigne asks, should pedestrians wait for a green light before crossing a road? Why shouldn't cyclists jump from road to footpath to get through traffic signals more quickly?
Why shouldn't scooter riders weave through cars? The answer has more to do with common sense than any self-righteously assumed personal rights: it is to avoid injury and death.
No rational driver wants to maim or kill other road users, but has to have time to react to avoid accidents caused by foolish and selfish behaviour.
Peter Fuller, Chifley
Letter writer 'dreaming'
John Smith (Letters, August 5) is "dreaming" if he truly believes that love can overcome (as he qualifies it as "if real") suffering in death. He suggests others supporting voluntary assisted dying of having remote experiences of such.
My experiences of several deaths of people I loved and suffered with was as close and as loving as any.
They were loved as much as possible, yet they suffered by the unnecessarily drawn-out, undignified and torturous deaths they experienced. VAD is a personal choice. If you and the Archbishop want to show love to others, then let them choose their way if they are suffering from a terminal illness.
Gina Pinkas, Aranda
Time to act on fuel
On May 4, 2020, Mr Barr said he was frustrated by high fuel prices in the ACT and accused ACT retailers of price gouging. He threatened to enforce fines of up to $40,000 and six months' jail if retailers were found to be gouging. He warned retailers he would cap margins if they didn't bring prices down. The situation with prices now is worse than it was in 2020. Where is the government now?
Peter Byrne, Chapman
Scrap the prayer
Jenna Price's call to drop the Lord's Prayer in Parliament is on the money. She cites census figures showing believer numbers are declining - thanks largely to science and the actions of many of God's own workers who have done much to destroy the reputation of the church.
David Pocock's suggestion of a moment of silent contemplation is much more inclusive (the god of whichever faith can surely hear a silent prayer just easily as a spoken one). We might though recall the words of Christopher Hitchens: "The man who prays ... thinks that God has arranged matters all wrong ... [and] thinks that he can instruct God how to put them right."
