I know there have been others over the years.

I clearly recall that in 1980 the Young Australian of the Year, Peter Hill, was a physically disabled quadriplegic swimmer when he was honoured. And likewise Canberra's own champion wheelchair athlete and powerlifter, Deahnne McIntyre, when she won the nation's heart as Young Australian of the Year in 1985.

Like most Australians I wish Mr Alcott the very best in his new role but I don't see how overlooking the achievements of other people with disability helps the cause.

I was very disturbed to hear in the Coroner's Court on Thursday the heart-rending story of yet another young person who died after being discharged inappropriately from the Adult Mental Health Unit at The Canberra Hospital.

If someone has a physical health problem and there is no suitable facility in the ACT to care for them they are transferred interstate to receive that care.

They are not simply discharged while desperately unwell and told to take a pill everyday and see if it works. Why is this course of action deemed appropriate for someone desperately ill with mental health issues?

Pleas for help from a distressed family were once again ignored. This put the wellbeing and safety of not only the young person at risk, but his loving family and our community as a whole.

It's time we had a specialist comorbidity facility in the ACT so people like this young man can get the treatment and support they need.

It was with great sadness that I saw the front cover of The Canberra Times on Thursday, January 27 ("50 years strong; Aboriginal tent embassy's anniversary").

What greeted me was threatening placards, angry faces, and raised fists. This was not a holistic approach to Australia Day but quite the opposite.

Surely if we are to work together to make Australia the wonderful country that it is, let us try not to do it with so much aggression.

Brad Tucker, "Should we fear aliens from distant planets and galaxies?" (canberratimes.com.au, January 23) says most alien life is likely, if it exists at all, to be simple, like bacteria.

I disagree.

Given that scientists tell us there are trillions of stars and planets in the cosmos, the probability that we are the only, or the most advanced life forms, is very unlikely. That improbability becomes even greater when we consider that our solar system and planet appear to be relatively young as compared to the great age of much of the rest of the cosmos.

Moreover, given the great diversity of life on this planet, the probability of advanced life forms evolving beyond bacteria elsewhere must also be great.

As regards fearing alien invasions, it should be obvious that if life forms from outside this solar system have the ability to travel to this planet, their technological abilities would be so superior that attempting to fight them would be futile.

The probability that they are not hostile or aggressive towards us is therefore overwhelming despite the gaslighting fear porn movies pumped out by Hollywood for decades.

A far more appropriate museum than one focusing solely on the Holocaust for a multicultural population such as ours, would be one that covers all genocidal events over recent centuries.

The Genocide Memorial in Kigali, Rwanda, is a good example. It would be appropriate to include genocidal events in Australia in the 1800s.

It is to be hoped that the National Capital Authority will take a little more notice of the recent submissions regarding the ACT government's works proposal for raising London Circuit than they did to those regarding the War Memorial's remodelling last year.

A quick look at the 88 submissions on the NCA website showed some 58 opposing the works; some 21, while not directly opposing, felt alternatives should be considered; and only nine supporting the works, with only five of those providing a reason.

We look forward to a response from the NCA.

If Anthony Bruce (Letters, January 27) could not find the word "inclusivity" in his dictionary I suggest that he buys a new one. It's been around since the 1920s.

I suspect that, like me, he owns a second edition Macquarie Dictionary, which steadfastly ignores may words in common use.

To those who criticise Grace Tame for showing her true feelings towards Scott Morrison, may I suggest that respect has to be earned, no matter the person's position in society.

Scott Morrison's behaviour hardly engenders respect.

On a recent trip to the suburb of Eltham in Melbourne, I noticed that the local government had a variable speed limit on the main road that traversed through the town centre; at times being 40km/h and others 60km/h. This being a similar situation to speed limits through school zones in Canberra.

The way these speed limits are notified and enforced is via illuminated flashing solar-powered signs that advise the speed limit depending on the time of day and day of the week.

It is simple and there is no need for drivers to interpret the wording on a sign.

The flashing sign does it all and is also very attention-grabbing.

Such a simple system could be introduced at school zones in Canberra, and speed limits varied automatically to coincide with school starting and finishing times.

Similarly, illuminated flashing signs could be utilised on the new city 40km/h zones, which would be far more conspicuous than just larger speed signs as were suggested by Minister Chris Steel.

In her review of the book 'Gudyarra: the First Wiradjuri War of Resistance. The Bathurst War 1822-1824', by Stephen Gapps (Panorama, January 22, p28), Alison Booth repeats the myth that the reason for the Sydney settlement in 1788 was to solve a problem in England of housing convicts, after the American war of independence closed off sending them there.

However, the writings of figures such as Sir Joseph Banks and Arthur Phillip make it clear that the overwhelming reason for the Sydney settlement was the long-term expansion of the British Empire in the South Pacific.

The claiming of eastern Australia by Captain Cook in 1770 showed this long-term aim, and settlement was considered necessary to strengthen such a claim. Also, a more immediate aim was to stay one step ahead of the their global competitors, the French.

There was one big problem early on with building such a settlement: how to have a ready supply of cheap but non-slave labour. The answer was convicts. Therefore, rather than Sydney being the answer to a convict problem, convicts were the answer to a Sydney problem.

The very early acceptance of free settlers shows that essentially the settlement was never considered just a prison, but rather as the first step in creating a British society here, as part of imperial expansion.

Novak, will quite rightly, be choking on his Special K. It appears that there are tennis etiquette rules for all players, except Australians. Our players, in a petulant moment smashed a "dead" ball in the court of play. Novak was ousted from the US Open for doing this. Nick Kyrgios was not even sanctioned.

"Memo to the Australian population: there'll soon be plenty of RATs to go around. Please defer catching COVID for a couple of weeks until we get our act in order. Yours insincerely, ScoMo and the team."