Tragedy upon tragedy: Australia only a great country for some

When the police commissioners of each state give top priority to funding domestic violence responses and have specialised units to deal with all domestic violence cases, then we will see real outcomes.

Unfortunately the DV training that police receive is very minimal - one day in some states. As the police are the first point of call, this is where the focus needs to be, or we continue to have one woman die every four days.

Full marks to the Prime Minister for taking his "enough is enough" stand on domestic violence. Those who criticise him for using a tired old cliché regarding this important issue miss the point. "Enough is enough" does not imply there is a quota to be met. Sensibly, the PM recognises that some level of domestic violence is unavoidable, perhaps even beneficial if it provides a pressure valve in certain family situations. Keep up the good work, Mr Albanese.

It's very sad when a cyclist is severely injured or killed on the roads.

Cycling is great but not everyone can do it or participate in Pedal Power. Northbourne Avenue could be retained as a thoroughfare for motor vehicles - it is, after all, a major route into the city from interstate, as well as for locals, and cyclists could use the parallel streets to get into Civic, rather than decreasing the car lanes on Northbourne Avenue. Bicycles can go where motor vehicles cannot and this would allow all traffic to move and might be a safer option for cyclists. If cyclists require dedicated roadways, is it time to introduce a road tax for cyclists?

Why is there a need to put lives in danger on Northbourne Avenue while there is a network of bike paths already provided through the suburbs? As a former emergency services worker, getting the emergency vehicle along Northbourne Avenue was a nightmare. Taking another lane away is going to exacerbate this issue. It is all very well blaming the cars for what happens, but I have witnessed stupid behaviour from cyclists also. How about a bike path along the side of the footpaths in the nature strip.

"Migration set to tumble", shouts the headline (April 27). Sorry, but the horse has already bolted. How will reducing the annual migration intake from half-a-million in the wake of the pandemic to 250,000 next year address, let alone solve, the housing and other social issues such a high level of migration has caused?

Another 250,000 migrants will only add to the problems, not alleviate them. Perhaps if we were to offer migrants incentives to return from whence they came then we would see an easing of housing pressures amid the cost-of-living crisis.

Well at least he's consistent(ly biased). Even though the APVMA won't be moved out of his home town, Barnaby's still mad. He just doesn't get it that he, alone, set back Australia's pesticide and veterinary medicine regulatory system by decades, because it'll take that long to regain the competency and lost corporate knowledge from the move to Armidale. It's his fault our farmers won't be getting the new, more selective and environmentally-friendly chemicals that our competitors overseas have. Instead, we're stuck with old broad-spectrum stuff that kills everything and hasn't been assessed to modern standards. Good one, Barny. Happy now?

Noel Baxendell (Letters, April 27) has revived the old furphy that nuclear power stations consume vast quantities of water. Like all good misinformation there is a grain of truth buried in it.

The main difference between nuclear and coal-fired power stations is simply that the nuclear version uses a nuclear reactor instead of a coal-fired boiler as its source of heat.

The steam/water flows are essentially similar, and to a very large extent recycled, not consumed.

More specifically, the water that is turned into steam to drive the turbine must be of very high purity to avoid problems of corrosion and scale formation in the boilers, and apart from very small amounts of leakage is virtually 100 per cent recycled.

The other main water "usage" is for cooling and condensing the exhaust steam from the turbines.

This water has much lower purity requirements and if a convenient source such as the sea or a nearby river is available this can be used.

However, in many cases there is no such free supply and this cooling water is then also very largely recycled. Cooling is commonly achieved in the big cooling towers that are a characteristic feature of inland power stations.

This involves some loss of water, visible as the plume of steam above the towers, so the level of recycling, though quite high, is somewhat less that for the steam cycle.

To get figures such as those quoted by Noel, one has to take the rate of flow in the circuits and ignore the huge recycling component.

I was very surprised that the movie review of The Teachers' Lounge that appeared in Panorama on April 27 didn't contain a spoiler alert.

I saw this excellent movie the day before and think that the review unnecessarily gave away some major plot points.

One of the best things about this terrific, nuanced and tense movie was that the viewer was never sure what was going to happen next, but if you read the review you will have a very good idea where it's going.

Giving away major plot points might be harmless for fun action films, as they are generally very predictable.

However, for clever and original movies like The Teachers' Lounge, this should not be part of a review, but if included, the review should come with a spoiler alert.

Great cartoon Anzac Day commentary by David Pope on April 25. Yes, how did we end up here again? From the AIF 's role in the downfall of the Ottoman Empire (including the Australian Light Horse troop's Surafend massacre of scores of Bedouin civilians in 1918) via the Balfour Declaration and the declaration of an Israeli state to the current Gazan slaughter, where the Australian government's initial lukewarm condemnation of Israeli aggression stood out, and wherein according the DFAT website we still allow weapons sales to Israel.

Do we still maintain a sort of colonial mentality of superiority over certain peoples of that troubled region?

Come now, Ian Jannaway (Letters, April 26), do you really think you can convince anyone that the United States is on the verge of instituting free universal healthcare, investing in its public education system, creating a robust and equitable social welfare safety net or announcing the construction of half-a-million inexpensive dwellings to house the homeless, but for the US$100 billion military assistance package for Ukraine that's just passed both houses?

There's no appetite whatsoever among the political class or their donors in the US to combat growing wealth inequality, spend public money solving societal problems that other developed nations addressed half a century ago, or generally allocate any resources to improving the lot of the poorest and most vulnerable in US society.

To pretend otherwise is disingenuous, and in fact that specific argument against this spending bill echoes a Kremlin-issued talking point being pushed by MAGA representatives on the extreme right.

Defeating and disarming Russia now for a few hundred billion dollars is a tiny fraction of what it would cost if Russia was able to defeat Ukraine, rebuild its army for two-three years, then enter into direct conflict with the US in a land war somewhere in Western Europe.

As Mark Twain observed, history doesn't repeat, it rhymes. Anyone who lived through the years of the Vietnam War will see the rhyme between the moratorium movement then and today's student protests against their governments' implicit backing of Israel's Gaza campaign.

Hindsight has vindicated the Vietnam War protests and no doubt it will soon in the case of Gaza. But tragically, probably not in time.

Mokhles Sidden (Letters, April 28) details the the things that he sees as being wrong with Australia and then asserts: "We are not living in a land of honey and milk."

I was wondering which country Mokhles sees as having the attributes that Australia does not?

Elon Musk is talking loudly about freedom of speech and the importance of not letting one government control the whole internet right around the world.

It's very nice of Mr Musk to defend Julian Assange in this way. I just wish he would come right out and mention Julian Assange by name.

The Canberra Times needs to brush up on its wombat knowledge. A wombat usually has one joey at a time, very rarely two. Five?

Rita Corbett, Spence

Just a memo for The Canberra Times:

The headline "Northbourne needs fewer car lanes and more room for bikes: Pedal Power", published April 28, was well overdue. April Fool's Day occurs once per year, on the first of the month.

Peter Dutton says prepare for war, in reference to China. It reminds me of the saying "if you want peace, prepare for war".

It would really help the cause for peace if Australia stopped trying to project a military presence into the Asia-Pacific area, and stopped arming foreign countries in the Northern Hemisphere.

The solution to keeping cyclists safe on Northbourne Avenue is simple. Catch the tram.

Findings that one-quarter of university boards comprise unelected corporate appointments is consistent with disdain for "democracy" displayed by plutocrats who buy legislative capture, courtesy conspiring politicians, and totally negate "the will of the people" by populating Parliament with their lobbyist shills (April 27).

Of all the things that can be done for $60m, changing the Sculpture Garden at the National Gallery would be at the bottom of my list. You can't improve on perfection. It's nothing short of scandalous vandalism and a shocking waste of public money.

I read with interest the concern for kangaroos, gang-gangs, etc, arising from the proposals for the Federal golf course. I have been around this area for many years and I have never seen a letter expressing such concerns from the many people who bought blocks adjacent to the golf course and then cleared the block and built their house without much thought for the wildlife. Those people complaining about the effect (much of it being made up) of the proposed golf club development should think about what might happen to the golf course land if the club goes broke.