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Letters / Bruce can do it better!

THE Carnell government made a serious error of judgement when it spent $50m reducing the playing area of the Bruce Stadium – all for the hosting of a few second-rate soccer games at the time of the 2000 Olympics.

quillIf it cost $20m to turn it back into an oval shape for cricket and Australian Rules Football it would be money well spent and save spoiling the character of the Manuka precinct.

Should the Canberra Liberals return to power at the end of the year, it would be incumbent on them to rectify this blunder and spare us from this Manuka nonsense.

The amenities at the Manuka oval are third rate compared with the Bruce Stadium where there is plenty of parking, comfortable seating and the facility to host private suites.

As for spending half a billion dollars putting an oval in the middle of Parkes Way, that’s just plain nuts – as is forking out a billion dollars for a 12-kilometre tramway.

John Miller, Stirling

Lock up the liars

MICHAEL Moore’s column (“Trust the first casualty of scaremongering”, CN, June 30) is timely, indeed.

When a company makes a false claim in an ad it is prosecuted, as was the case recently for baby food. Why are there no consequences for politicians who deceive the whole of Australia and subvert the selection of our representatives?

I am sure that once one or two are prosecuted, preferably with a jail term, we will have far less lying and deception. Their morality may not improve, but we will at least get more of the truth.

Too many politicians no longer care that we know they are deceptive, in their eyes we are ignorant dupes to be taken for granted. They know that unless one lives in a “swinging seat” we can do nothing about it. It’s time to think of ways to change that and make the system more responsive and honest.

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,” said Edmund Burke.

Arthur Davies, via email

Get over it, Robert

ROBERT Macklin (Seven Days, June 30) certainly has a hate thing going against the British, which makes his sneers about their alleged xenophobia and racism hypocritical and ironic. Not to mention inconsistent, because according to his take on history the Aborigines must have been xenophobic to oppose the settlement of British boat people.

He should try to get over his unnecessary guilt complex.

Pam Lai, Weston Creek

Look for alternatives

I READ John Griffiths’ column (“The woeful world of homelessness”, CN June 30) regarding housing in the ACT.

I know how hard it is to get a foothold in the housing market. When I wanted to buy a house in 1980 for $28,000, the manager of the CBA told me I had to have a man as co-signer as I would need a man’s protection one day!

There are affordable houses for sale if you think outside the square.

People are obsessed with capital gain for a house and need to reconsider.

I have a three-bedroom house at White Ibis Holiday Park, 15 minutes from the centre of Canberra on the Federal Highway. It cost $195,000 and is currently rented. I own another house as I saved so much from living at White Ibis that I am mortgage free.

Not all they say is true about housing affordability

Ann Clifton, via email

Careful not to make Europe’s mistake

THE far-too-rapid movement of many people with cultures quite different to those in Europe has caused substantial conflict on that continent.

In my view, Australia must be careful not to make a mistake of similar proportion. Multiculturalism has, and is, contributing significantly, but by definition it connotes differences as well as unity.

Too many differences, too soon, create friction. Even the world’s tectonic plates protest violently if pressured too much. So, against the background of a less-than-perfect humanity, do let us exercise mercy and compassion by allowing in those of different cultures in numbers according to their ability to integrate. This is not politically incorrect, it is commonsense.

Colliss Parrett, Barton

 

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One Response to Letters / Bruce can do it better!

Nicholas Swain says: 12 July 2016 at 11:24 am

Using Bruce Stadium was suggested to our Chief Minister and he replied that it is not owned by the ACT Government.

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