Naming lobbyists with passes to Parliament makes good sense

Third-party lobbyists are required to register on the public Australian Government Register of Lobbyists. No privacy concern there.

"Own account" lobbyists may not need to register, but there is no public interest in concealing their identify, especially if they hold passes to Parliament House.

Any assurance of confidentially given by DPS to pass holders is unnecessary, grossly improper, and wholly inconsistent with the "public expectations of transparency, integrity and honesty" that explicitly underpin the statutory Lobbying Code of Conduct.

Those complaining that advocacy of recognition for a Palestinian state rewards terrorism should remember that Israel was founded on the lie of "a people without land for a land without people", and is itself rooted in terrorism.

The declaration of an Israeli state salved the guilty conscience of nations which denied refuge to Jews fleeing the Nazi terror and then took no action to save Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe. The existing population of Palestine was disenfranchised in 1948.

Its too late now to unscramble the eggs and Palestinians will never have right of return, but peace might, just might, be obtained by genuine recognition of their grievances - perhaps an internationally recognised Palestinian state.

Israel has been rewarded for 75 years of oppression of displaced Palestinians and their descendants with billions of dollars in American aid and unfettered expansion of its territory.

The West Bank now contains over 500,000 Jewish settlers in violation of international law. If Hamas is ultimately destroyed, a phoenix with the same aims will rise from the ashes. Support for Hamas in the West Bank has risen from 12 per cent in September to 44 per cent in December 2023.

In a historic first in America the parents of a teenage son have been sentenced to 10 to 15 years in jail for "failing to prevent their son from killing" in a mass school shooting in Michigan. By extrapolation should those countries that supply arms to Israel - the same arms used by Israel for killing civilians in Gaza - be held accountable for war crimes?

It is astounding the Health Department wants to rename the Sirius Building because "some" public servants have expressed concern with its association with the First Fleet.

Discrediting our colonial origins disrespects the vast majority of citizens with British and European ancestry; indeed many of our Indigenous people have such ancestors.

Certainly we need to recognise the terrible depredations that were inflicted on our Aboriginals, however, to whitewash our history in this manner is senseless. If we are to achieve true reconciliation, those who protest against anything that recognises our colonial history, and tear down or deface monuments associated with it, must realise that if we are to respect their heritage and culture then they must also respect ours.

Surely the name Sirius is not so offensive that it demands to be changed.

While I strongly support reconciliation and respect for our Indigenous heritage and culture, it is time to call this out as "wokeness" that has gone too far.

Despite your headline "Dismay at rename plan" (April 9) about the plan to rename the Sirius building, it seems the only people objecting to it are the architect and a conservative polemicist.

You've given them some free publicity - well done you.

Is that who you really represent, as opposed to ordinary decent working Canberrans?

NSW, Queensland, and WA banned the archaic practice of duck hunting decades ago. As a Victorian, I am deeply disappointed that, in 2024, the Allan government continues to allow beautiful native waterbirds to be shot ("Anger as trigger to be pulled on duck hunting season", April 9).

Last year, mine was one of over 10,000 submissions (the most in Victorian parliament history) to a public inquiry. A recommendation to enact an immediate ban on recreational duck hunting ensued.

Why use public funds and resources to undertake an inquiry if parliamentary decisions are not informed by the findings?

Sadly for precious quails and ducks, the Victorian state government's allegiances lie with unions over public sentiment and reason.

Re "Anger as trigger to be pulled on duck hunting" (April 9).

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan defended her seat of Bendigo East with a thumping majority at the 2022 election. She has no reason to fear the 1 per cent of her constituents who hold a duck licence, many of whom would not be Labor voters anyway.

As for the suggestion that duck shooting dates back thousands of years, the minister (Dimopoulos) seems to have forgotten guns arrived with the colonists. Many Indigenous groups oppose duck shooting.

Only two in a thousand Victorians are involved in duck shooting. Allan's decision to back this tiny minority rather than the considered advice of a parliamentary inquiry and bird experts is indefensible.

With other journalists, I stood near Menzies at Regatta Point on a sunny morning in October, 1964, when he dedicated Lake Burley Griffin.

As the driving force of Canberra's post-war development, he said: "There is a pride in Canberra being developed, not just for us because we live here. This is a matter of national importance ... and that the nation is symbolised by the capital of the nation in this place".

Canberra instead has become just another city, hell-bent on "growth" for growth's sake, realising profits for a few at the expense of the rest. If the Liberals want to win this October, 60 years almost to the day after Menzies' speech, I suggest they re-visit their founder's aspirations and think about how they could revive a Canberra that we who live here could be proud of and also instil that pride in the rest of the nation.

Mr Barr, reminiscent of Arthur Daley from Minder, is again spruiking light rail. His pitch, a great city needs light rail not buses. The government continues to divert attention from its dodgy 2012 decision to build light rail. It was made despite advice a bus-way from Gungahlin to Civic would provide similar benefits to light rail at half the cost.

B Jones (Letters, April 8), exposes the shallowness of Barr's position by documenting what great cities have - excellent hospital and education systems; high quality sport, recreation and cultural facilities; city wide fast and reliable public transport; affordable housing; adequate land supply and sufficient public housing.

Great cities develop from the guidance of visionary leaders. Mr Barr's vision is blurred by an obsession with a shiny red tram.

Port Power footballer Jeremy Finlayson used a homophobic slur towards an Essendon player on the field during the Gather Round in Adelaide on Friday night. His slur was heard by other players via the umpire's mic. Finlayson reported himself to his club and apologised to the Essendon player.

The AFL has launched an inquiry pending sanction and Finlayson has issued an online apology proclaiming contrition. Essendon has remained steadfastly silent - for now.

What should not be overlooked is that a game of AFL is a footballer's workplace. It should also be noted that the AFL strives to be inclusive of the LGBTQI+ community evidenced by its recognition of Pride, some of its clubs participating in Mardi Gras and it lending its logo to the "yes" case in the marriage plebiscite. Understandably given the prominence of AFL in the sporting life of Australia, the conduct of Jeremy Finlayson and the AFL management of the issue will be closely scrutinised by the wider community.

Sadly the wider community is not without fault in the trafficking of homophobic slurs along with those of race, colour, gender, and creed. Too many Australians are regularly vilified for who they are and where they are from. The damage can be lasting.

Community leaders, schools, advocacy groups, unions, and workplaces labour to make our society safer for people who are seen to be different. Their efforts are relentless, well placed and often inspirational.

Regrettably, their work becomes unnecessarily harder because of a football game last Friday.

Sirius is the name of the brightest star in the sky. It is also known as the dog star. Sirius is appropriate for a high-rise building reaching for the stars. Indigenous peoples do know how to navigate by the stars and used them in their stories.

I think the new name of the Sirius building should be Holodomor House to remind those who want the change of the inconsistency between their undoubted support for Ukraine, on the one hand, and their love for the cultural Marxism that's behind this move on the other.

I thought Adam Bandt had won the gold medal for sanctimonious silliness when he hid the Union Jack before a speech mentioning Aborigines but the public servant who is worried about the name Sirius and the shape of the building that has it is obviously daft enough to try to win it himself.

Hopefully the staff of the Department of Health will be given the option of voting to not change the name of the building they work in.

Considering that Australia is the world's third-largest exporter of fossil fuels (after Russia and Saudi Arabia), contrary to M. Flint's assertion (Letters, April 10), were we to "disappear off the map tomorrow", we would undoubtedly make a difference to global warming and climate change.

I was glad to see the letter from Judy Bamberger (Letters, April 9) which provided some balance to those of Jamie Hyams and Athol Morris (Letters, April 9) and Alan Shroot (Letters, April 10). None expressed any regret or compassion for the deaths of Palestinian civilians or the total destruction of their homes. It's hard to see Israel's response to October 7 as proportionate.

Years ago lobbyists relied on taking politicians out for lunch or dinner to make their pitch. This would seem a win-win. Pollies can go about their business without running the risk of bumping into a lobbyist while getting plenty of "free meals" in upmarket restaurants which welcome the business.

S W Davey (Letters, April 9) doesn't remember "anywhere near" six avenues radiating from City Hill. Originally, the area between the concentric London Circuit and Vernon Circle was regarded as part of City Hill with the six avenues radiating from it being Northbourne, Ainslie, Constitution, Commonwealth, Edinburgh and University Avenues.

On the matter of construction companies going bankrupt, will they now be "phoenixed", meaning that when they have shed their guarantee obligations and debts through bankruptcy proceedings, they reappear as "new" companies?