Views on the news from Canberra’s top columnists
"We are more informed and better educated today about... the harmful health impacts of smoke from wood heaters, despite what the wood-heating industry claims," says letter writer DARRYL JOHNSTON, of Tuggeranong.
Long term underperformance in education outcomes in the ACT must be addressed. Submissions to the current Inquiry into Literacy and Numeracy suggest that vested interests may be acting as a roadblock to change, says KAREN MACPHERSON.
The judicial task of judgment writing is solitary work so that what remains is scrupulously fair. Let us be grateful for the work of Justice Lee, his staff, and the decision to show it all on YouTube, says legal columnist HUGH SELBY.
Cartoonist PAUL DORIN sees some budget-cutting ideas through young eyes.
Working from home is producing economic benefits that return-to-office rules would quash, writes LEONORA RISSE.
"The considerably lower per km cost of the Brisbane Metro compared to the Canberra Metro results from using existing infrastructure, including busways, and not investing in rails," writes BEATRICE BODART-BAILEY.
"The vice-regal operations would greatly benefit from the 'sunshine of public exposure'... we have every right to know the attitudes and actions made on our behalf by the governor-general herself," writes columnist ROBERT MACKLIN.
"I’m still trying so hard to impress mum and dad, and just because they’ve been gone 15 years now, I cannot be sure they’re not watching me from the sky somewhere". ANTONIO DI DIO continues his Short History of Kindness series.
"Prostitutes Appeal to Pope"... Whimsy columnist CLIVE WILLIAMS has been looking for examples of amusing headlines from international newspapers. He found quite a few.
"Until investigations demonstrate its merits, any attempt to introduce an urban growth boundary should be resisted. Like light rail, it could be an inadequate and simplistic response to complex issues," writes former planner MIKE QUIRK.
DENIS MULLER reveals how the Lehrmann v Channel 10 defamation case shone an unflattering light on commercial news gathering.
No doubt the ACT government's rhinestone cowboys will again be eagerly salivating the opportunity to fine citizens paying Anzac Day homage to those who did something worthwhile for their country, says letter writer JOHN MURRAY, of Fadden.
Rising food prices are certainly making things harder for many people, as cartoonist PAUL DORIN shows.
The solution to tempering the extra-curricular curiosity of jurors was to treat them as criminals. The crime of a 'Rattenbury' was born. HUGH SELBY says the new legislation is "farcical, doomed to ridicule and contempt".
"There’s something about Eddie Betts and his kids that takes it beyond the daily dispute between the contending forces," writes The Gadfly columnist ROBERT MACKLIN.
KEEPING UP THE ACT's having a little flutter on RattsLotto, where they say if you want to blow your dough, they won't say no!
"The extent of high-rise development in the Woden Town Centre is beyond the pale. Similarly in Belconnen it has gone too far," says letter writer COLIN LYONS, of Weetangera.
"Making money by publishing 'juicy extracts', using the protection against legal action that follows from the material in those documents becoming evidence, is shameful. It happened," writes legal columnist HUGH SELBY.
"If a person who wants to share litigation material, the media has to say: 'Step one is to seek the permission of the court'. Arguably a failure to do so means the whistleblower and the media are in contempt of court," writes HUGH SELBY.
