The Barr-Rattenbury government is treating voters like fools

Rather than being merely frustrated, the ACT community should be outraged by this latest show of contempt for due process and good governance.

Ms Haire's attack on the independent umpire comes in the wake of the ACT government paying two wages (with recent pay rises) for two CIT CEOs (for how much longer will this continue?) and Minister Steele's bungled $70 million HR IT project.

The squandering of ACT taxes and associated lack of accountability (and willingness to be held accountable) by the ACT government and its senior bureaucrats is breathtaking.

Meanwhile, the ACT government expects us to believe that technology that has successfully delivered digital drivers' licences to nearly 4 million drivers across the border in NSW since 2019, similar technology in use in South Australia since 2017, and on trial in Queensland, can't be used in the ACT.

Because we appear to accept that, the ACT government is treating us as fools. Or is it just that Chris Steele's magical IT project management skills are yet to be applied to digital licences?

I, and no doubt all our fellow road users feel your pain, Ed Highley (Letters, May 17). My cause célèbre is Mouat Street in Lyneham, for years riddled with old and new unrepaired potholes.

But generally the state of our arterial and suburban roads is appalling: non-existent, faded line-marking; new, historical, unrepaired potholes and depressions, and faded, unreadable signs.

Individually and combined, they are damaging, dangerous and potentially life-threatening. One would have assumed with the imminent ACT election a road repair blitz would have been well under way, but alas priorities seem to be directed elsewhere and we all know where.

How much more will the government spend on compensation for damaged vehicles or personal injury claims before it realises that it would be more of a responsible use of public resources if it were spent on critical road repair.

As the tragic war in Gaza gets worse, the justifications for Israel's excessive attacks on the people there ring hollow.

Even the Jewish Council of Australia recognised that in a recent statement:

"Israel's ongoing violence in Gaza and the West Bank is the greatest impediment to peace for Palestinians and Israelis ... The Jewish Council calls for an immediate permanent ceasefire and urges the Australian government to do everything in its power to achieve this."

Our government can and should use its diplomatic resources to support negotiations within and beyond the region to bring about a political solution.

One of the problems of getting old is that you have seen it all before. Been there, seen that, done that, bought the T-shirt.

Adam Triggs' piece on Australian production of solar panels and batteries shows it has all been done before (May 16).

A number of decades ago I was physically involved in the Australian production of two imperial tons of a special steel used in electrical transformers.

At the time Australia imported 20,000 tonnes of this steel. The minimum viable plant to make the steel was 50,000 tonnes per year.

Too many countries had this capacity. There was worldwide over-production. The steel was being dumped on the market by the producer countries solely to support their workers. The steel could be bought and landed in Australian wharves at less than the production costs.

Does this sound anything like the car industry and proposed solar panel and battery manufacturing?

I recently attended a presentation about Kidsafe and learnt that it is underfunded and is struggling to provide its services into the future.

What a fabulous service it provides in helping keep our kids safe.

Kids are taught how to be safe and services such as the fitting of car seats are provided.

As a grandparent I accessed the service some years ago to have my own grandchildren's car seats fitted and to learn how to fit them myself. I ask myself: why do services like this struggle? The cost of preventing deaths is so small compared to the cost of losing children to preventable death or injury. The ripple effect of a child lost is heartbreaking.

Parents, siblings, friends and communities are impacted.

There are significant costs incurred emotionally and in dollars. Come on, pollies, make sure this service is on your radar and gets adequately funded into the future.

John Howarth (Letters, May 18) asserts that those of us who generate solar credits are not going to benefit from the proposed $300 per annum ($75 per quarter) federal subsidy to household electricity bills.

He says the subsidy "is for people who incur electricity costs". I suggest that John take a closer look at his electricity bill. The very first item is "supply". In my case this inescapable cost is 94 cents per day or $86.48 per quarter, irrespective of how much electricity I use (or not) and how much I export back to the grid.

Thus, each quarter I incur a minimum cost of $86.48, which will be much ameliorated by the proposed $75 federal subsidy. Thank you, Mr Treasurer.

In response to Chris Doyle (Letters, May 17) I can quite understand his frustration with the Greens.

Having been a lifelong supporter of 46 years I have now called it time as well.

They have completely lost their way. Supporting the annual kangaroo cull since 2008 is a huge blot on their record. Shane Rattenbury and now Rebecca Vassarotti should hang their heads in shame for supporting the barbaric killing of these gentle creatures year after year.

Free speech is flourishing as evidenced by the various protests on university campuses and elsewhere in support of Palestine and the condemnation of Israel. The plight of the Palestinian people is absolutely terrible and horrifying and must stop.

But if these protesters want the military activity in Gaza to stop then they should be calling for the immediate departure of Hamas from Gaza. Whilst Hamas is entrenched in Gaza there will be no peace. Their departure would immediately negate the need for IDF to be in Gaza and bring to an end the conflict there.

It's Hamas's continued presence in Gaza which is prolonging the suffering of the Palestinian people. When this conflict is finally brought to a close a just peace will have to be negotiated. But this will only be accomplished if Hamas is no longer present in Palestine.

Those individuals who have made offensive claims in support of Hamas should be mindful that relevant agencies would be taking an interest in their activities. This could have implications in the future if they seek employment requiring a security clearance.

Both the government and opposition are in agreement over the need to cut immigration numbers but have clashed over by just how much.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has promised to cut immigration to 140,000 a year before increasing it again. He has claimed that it would "free up" 40,000 homes in the first year, an approach welcomed by the Queensland premier but not by the Nationals or the Greens who apparently still believe in real estates' wish list.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has hit back at Dutton's proposal, claiming it would devastate the economy.

The Grattan Institute is suggesting it would cost the economy $34 billion over the migrant's lifetime.

Based on a working life of around 30 years that is scarcely economically devastating and, as the Treasurer well knows, even a small increase in productivity will outweigh the decline in the workforce.

Our heavy reliance on immigration has come at the expense of the take-up of robotics and has, according to the Productivity Commission, resulted in a decline in productivity of 3.7 per cent in 2022-23.

There has been a decline in the provision of infrastructure largely due to the increase in material and energy costs.

Mario Stivala says the Treasurer (Letters, May 23) should have means-tested the $300 electricity subsidy instead of applying it uniformly. What does he think of the Morrison government's "absurd decision" to gift $13.2 billion to businesses whose fall in turnover during COVID-19 was less than expected and $13.8 billion to businesses that enjoyed higher turnovers?

The US is persecuting Julian Assange. So says The Canberra Times (editorial, May 22). The only person responsible for Julian Assange's legal problems is Julian Assange.

Whatever possessed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to choose July 4 as the date of the next UK election. July 4 looms large in the annals of rebellion and revolution. An incumbent government should steer well clear of it.

Is July 4, 2024 going to be the UK's "independence day"? George Washington would be proud.

Several correspondents applaud an ACT election candidate's use of the word "subspecies" in referring to people who do stupid illegal things such as burnouts (Letters, May 23). The question, however, is does dehumanising language makes people less likely to do stupid illegal things? I would suggest the opposite is true.

Would I be correct in thinking the Snowy Scheme will unlikely be completed before there is little or no snow on the Snowy Mountains during which time our homeless are daily fighting for survival?

Minister Yoav Gallant said "we are fighting animals", torpedoing the idea of all lives having equal value. Netanyahu obviously agrees. Otherwise he wouldn't so freely soak the Gazan earth with Palestinian blood, using American munitions.

P McCracken (Letters, May 24) says that a nuclear reactor is "better value" because it "never shuts down". My car shuts down whenever I don't need it. I consider that to be an advantage.

Why is the ACT government trying to circumvent the ACT Integrity Commission at every turn? Is it because they have something to worry about? Why are ratepayers paying for the legal costs? Please allow the Integrity Commission to finalise their investigations without interference.

In a well-run jurisdiction the "missing middle" idea would benefit many. But allowing this government, with its history of debacles, to fast-track certain approvals that "significantly benefit the broader community" fills many with dread. Maybe a complexity and systems thinker could determine the benefits?