Time to make sensible stadium decision and send it south

The location should be a quintessential Canberra one; and certainly not wedged into Civic, sadly aping the likes of Melbourne and Brisbane. The best, and most visionary location by far, is in the oft neglected south, on the west side of Athllon Drive, Greenway.

It's a vacant site, making it simpler, quicker, and cheaper to build on, compared to other sites being put forward - including an upgraded or new Bruce Stadium (Bruce should remain as a fine mostly athletics and events venue, and be progressively upgraded).

The site is north of, and adjoining existing sporting and accommodation facilities, and near the Tuggeranong aquatic centre. It's a very large parcel of suitable land, already zoned for the purpose (Commercial Leisure and Accommodation).

It's located in a beautiful riparian, lake and mountain setting, making it a superb "destination" location (like Perth's new stadium). It's adjacent to a growing town centre, and is right on the planned tramline system, linking Tuggeranong to the rest of Canberra.

It has been made clear for many years that the introduction of vehicle emission standards is a necessary, even vital contribution to emissions reduction.

Developed countries around the world, with the notable exceptions of only Russia and Australia, have done this.

These numerous countries have long lived successfully with fuel efficiency standards in place. The USA (a big country like Australia) has had them for over 40 years. Economies haven't trashed as a result. Motor vehicle dealers and users have had a great deal of notice. Action is overdue. Let the bleating and mindless objection please stop. Let's get a grip on reality and get on with it.

I was moved by Geoff Davies' article ("We don't notice just how far we've sunk", Opinion, February 11). We do indeed need more co-operation, less competition, and indeed love.

One paragraph stood out, however. It was about backyards disappearing because of developers and high immigration rates. About unemployment falling when the pandemic closed the immigration rates. And how now, at the behest of big business, immigration and unemployment are pushing back up along with rents and city congestion.

At some point the community has to assert its rights for clean air and space against the greed of big business that simply wants a bigger market for its products.

We are in a climate and biodiversity crisis; we have to slow down and contemplate what really matters.

David Purnell (Letters, February 6) echoes UN official Francesca Albanese in claiming the UN charter on self-defence doesn't extend to Israel's current war because it's not fighting a country.

Given Gaza is autonomous, obviously not under Israeli control, this would mean a country like Israel has no right to defend itself against attacks from enclaves. Does he and Albanese suggest Israel simply allows Hamas to repeatedly attack it and kill its civilians?

Like Mandy Cox (Letters, February 9) I use my plastic cards for shopping on a regular basis. I'd estimate my usage at over 90 per cent of all purchases but lately I've been making an effort to use cash more and more.

My cards are a convenient way of conducting transactions and provide a record of same so why am I reverting to cash transactions as much as possible? It's simple really - I'm a little bit skeptical and very wary of the big banks, most large merchant and business operations and the government.

I want to keep control in my hands and not pass it over by default. At present there simply are not enough consumer protections in place to safeguard against fraud or unauthorised data sharing. More than that, however, I'm inclined to agree with the federal member for Kennedy, Bob Katter, that there are a host of good reasons to ensure cash is never replaced by compulsory cashless transactions.

Anyone who has travelled outside the main urban centres will know that internet connectivity can be very unreliable meaning that businesses have to have a cash option for those times when they can't get online.

Many of these regional centres are, as Bob Katter noted, are at greater risk of natural disasters and when they hit, having cash on hand can make a big difference.

And while Mandy Cox is worried about the possibility of theft of cash from businesses and individuals, the risk of internet fraud is probably now a far greater risk.

Add to those reasons the vulnerable folk at the lower economic end of our society who are shunned by banks and it's apparent there'll always be a need for widespread use and acceptance of cash.

Only those of us who have secure incomes and spend most of our time in the major urban areas of the country will ever be truly able to go 100 per cent cashless.

Yes Kathryn Kelly (Letters, February 8), a ceasefire in Gaza would stop deaths and calm regional tension - for now.

However, it would leave Hamas in control, and with some of its military infrastructure intact.

This would allow it to start another war any time it wants, as it has promised it will do. In the meantime, it would continue to steal aid, especially building materials, from its people, as it has done after every other war.

This would just result in greater misery, devastation and loss of life for both sides than if Israel finishes the job of destroying the Hamas military infrastructure and uprooting it from Gaza now.

Cristina Talacko made a whopping error in her estimate of land needed for renewable energy ("Food, energy and the power transition", February 7). She overestimated the land that will be alienated 300 times!

The total area of land that will be alienated to completely decarbonize Australian energy is about 1000 square kilometres (about 35 square metres per person). This includes all the solar farms, wind farms, rooftop solar, batteries, pumped hydro and transmission.

For comparison, the area occupied by agriculture in Australia is 4000 times larger.

Sheep and cattle farming continue nearly as normal in and around solar panels, wind turbines and transmission easements.

Developers pay substantial lease fees to farmers to host solar farms, wind farms and transmission lines ($200,000 per km), which helps droughtproof farming incomes.

It's remarkably presumptuous for someone to tell a neighbour that they must not allow a solar farm onto their property (and thereby collect large land-lease fees).

Perhaps they should mind their own business.

The Canberra Times reports that the two men who were part of a group that stole 12,000 vapes have avoided time behind bars (February 9, p2).

I have been curious in this story as to why the person who sold the vapes is never reported as being under investigation. Is it actually legal firstly to advertise 12,000 ecigs on Facebook marketplace and then is it legal then sell them in the manner described? Did the seller have a licence?

Could I go into a physical shop and buy 12000 ecigs in Canberra without questions?

I watched my brother suffer through acute myeloid leukaemia without a registered compatible stem cell donor in Australia. A transplant done early might have saved his life.

I am absolutely bewildered as to why the government doesn't provide more funding and resources towards growing our stem cell donor pool, to save more lives. Currently, there are around 1000 children and adults suffering with terminal illnesses that could be treated with a stem cell transplant.

Sadly, because our donor pool in Australia is tiny and lacks cultural diversity, many people are not able to find a matching donor in Australia, and people are dying.

A matched donor could live one suburb away, but if they're not registered, they can't be contacted to help.

I implore the government to put more funding into Strength To Give's cheek swab program. A simple cheek swab is all it takes for 18-35 year olds to join.

It's time for Australia to grow our own stem cell donor registry and to stop relying on the generosity of other countries, who have put the funding into such programs, to donate stem cells to Aussies in need.

Go figure, after the HR system and the CIT complexity thinker consultancy fiascos costing the taxpayers and the ACT budget bottom line dearly, the responsible minister gets promoted to a more senior portfolio, that of Planning. Talk about irrationality! It raises serious questions about the competency and credibility of the current ACT government. Perhaps it is time for change.

I found Sarah Lansdown's report on reading in ACT schools depressingly familiar. In over 10 recent years of volunteering to assist young children in four schools to improve their reading, I rarely came across a poor reader who knew how to decode the syllables in their readers.

No wonder they were having difficulty in reading.

Canberrans should embrace our car dependence ("We'll believe better public transport when we see it", February 5), and learn to use cars more efficiently. Trips take half as long by car. Cars are more reliable than buses or bicycles.

Car travel competes on cost with public transport, which we subsidise by $10 per trip. Car travel causes no more pollution than travel by public transport. Canberra's cars carry an average of one and a third people. Taking an extra person in the car adds nothing to traffic congestion. A 10 per cent increase in car occupancy would take more cars off the road than would similar increases in public transport, walking and cycling.

Re your article "Door open for Wighton to make Origin return: Maguire" (February 8). Surely it is time for the Raiders and The Canberra Times to stop using Jack Wighton as the focal point, for your own performance this rugby league season. Get over him.

Jack doesn't live here anymore!

So Ian Jannaway (Letters, February 9) is offended by people who are "actively looking for ways to be offended". Something of a paradox there I fear, but I'm not offended by it, just puzzled.

Given Ian's advice for others to get a life, should we be advising him to practice what he preaches, or would that offend him?

Mandy Cox (Letters, February 9) argues for cashless payments. Banks agree, with ATMs now hard to find. I was told on entering a Woolworths last week that their system was down, possibly for the day. Recently at DJs I was told their system was down and no transactions possible for who knew how long. In both cases cash still worked.

At least my local post agency can still supply cash.

Senator Pocock recognised the right to disconnect as a "desperately needed protection", while Michaelia Cash would prefer "red tape and complexity" be replaced by Darwinian survival ("A worker's right to disconnect now law", February 9). The Australian Chamber of Commerce dismiss worker deaths as a mere temporary inconvenience