“I have read that the ACT government is cash strapped, but I think this is a low way to treat visitors and locals,” says Young visitor CATH SMITH, who copped a fine for exceeding 40km/h in Civic in August… last year!

I EXCEEDED the speed limit in Canberra on August 11, 2021. I didn’t know there was a 40 km/h speed limit. 

I had gone to Canberra to surrender my dear nine-month-old pup to ARF, as they are the best rescue group I know. I was in tears, off and on, all the way home to Young. 

I got a fine in the mail. I applied for a waiver due to the upsetting circumstances of my visit. I wrote two letters and filled in an online form. Hearing nothing, I rang up and was told: “Your fine has been put on hold”. 

A few months later, having heard nothing, I donated $400 to ARF, as they had been so good to my pup, and kind to me. I assumed the fine had been withdrawn.

I was stunned to receive a notice last month, 13 months later! I dithered because I didn’t know what to do. Now, I have received another notice for $478 and loss of three points. As a pensioner I feel that’s pretty stiff, I live out of town and need to drive.

I have read that the ACT government is cash strapped, but I think this is a low way to treat visitors and locals. 

I wrote a letter to Mr Franco Tao, chief infringement officer, on September 12, asking if I could have a reason for the 13 months’ delay, before I pay. As of September 26, I am yet to get an answer.

Can anyone tell me how, after 13 months, they can send me a fine, please?

Cath Smith, Young

NCA should reject tram over heritage bridge

THE “Seven Days” column’s (CN October 20) discussion of the upgrade to Commonwealth Avenue Bridge to support heavier vehicle loads and more pedestrians was instructive, but detail for provision of the proposed not-so-light rail crossing was so not forthcoming.

Expectations are that the “heavy rail” option would likely necessitate (due to load/vibration issues) a separate bridge shoe-horned between the road lanes.

That this new structure can be resolved in the heritage landscape of the Central Basin, consistent with National Capital aspirations, underestimates the difficulty of the task, particularly the treatment of the sub-structure, in my view.

In executing its guardianship role, the NCA should consider rejection of such an intervention for this sensitive location.

An outcome that resolves these issues in a responsible manner, should examine the option of a trackless, rubber-tyred bus, following sensors on the existing road surface, battery powered, with no overhead complications. Brisbane City Council has recently ordered 60 such Swiss-made vehicles, after an extensive trial period. 

More importantly, the potential energy footprint and cost savings, boosted by elimination of another bridge, should be compelling for our cash-strapped government.

To placate Rattenbury, consideration should be given to a virtue-signalling red paint job!

A wise mentor of mine on engineering philosophy had a point, when he stated that “the true test of engineering is not just to solve the problem, to eliminate the problem”!

Ken Murtagh, Hughes

Stop the crazy roadworks and land grab

KING Charles’ quote: “A carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant old friend” is a fit description of a proposed, extremely expensive tram bridge inserted, apparently with its own independent foundations, between the elegantly bifurcated carriageways of the Commonwealth Avenue Bridge (“Seven Days”, CN October 20).

Where’s the panache and verve in that design and siting and, for that matter, in the proposed wider Civic to Capital Hill section of the proposed Woden tram? 

Where’s the respect for the iconic bridge, and the cultural landscape of Commonwealth Avenue South? 

Where’s the clear visual lake experience for the passengers? 

Where is the respect for the elegant free-flowing carriageways of City Hill South, the iconic open space there, and the fine views to and from the hill? 

And where are the “Visions of the future – Voices from the past”, the admirable catch-cry of a former NCA administration?

City Hill and Commonwealth Avenue remain unsuitable as part of the tram route, and for the land-value-capture property development sadly planned to go on and along them.

Stop the crazy roadworks and land grab at City Hill, and re-route the tram via say, Edinburgh Avenue, ANU, Acton Peninsula, Griffin’s elegant, but currently missing, yacht-friendly lake crossing for trams, pedestrians, bikes, and scooters, (cleared for implementation in the NCA’s “bible”, “The Griffin Legacy”) to Lennox Gardens North, and on up to State Circle and Woden, as planned.

Jack Kershaw, Kambah 

Tram bridge won’t fit; measure it!

IN “Seven Days” (CN, October 20) columnist Ian Meikle wrote that there was word from the NCA about the new tram bridge over Lake Burley Griffin, though nothing has been officially announced. 

Apparently, it is intended that the new tram bridge will be built along the vacant centre span of the Commonwealth Avenue road bridge, and the new tram bridge will have a separate structure.

If anyone with a tape measure measures this gap, and then measures the width of the tramway, they will see, unlike the ACT government, that this space is not wide enough. 

They will have to include both of the traffic lanes on each side of the tramway to make room. These planners obviously have no concern for traffic flow. But this construction will have obvious structural effects on the bridge itself. 

So you are getting a tram bridge carved out between the road bridges. How exactly this is intended to happen has not been announced. But what’s clear is: 1. The process will destroy the structural integrity of the road bridge. Despite so-called “strengthening” it will certainly collapse before long. 2. The tram bridge will have to be built of steel, not concrete, or it too will certainly collapse. 3. Also, the tram vibrations will transmit to the road bridge and will cause it to collapse suddenly in the near future. Concrete cracks. It cannot be used for reinforced concrete rail bridges.

As in my previous letter in “CityNews”, I recommend that if they want to go ahead, the only possible solution is a separate steel bridge some distance from the concrete bridge. 

The ACT government ought to get proper independent advice. Certainly not advice from their PR department or “consultants”. 

Tim Walshaw, Watson

How ‘appropriate’ is Budget tram boost?

TREASURER Jim Chalmers wants the public to believe that he has delivered a responsible and equitable budget. Hardly. 

On the one hand, the treasurer and the finance minister have cancelled past Coalition allocations deemed by them to be “inappropriate”. But, on the other hand, they have allocated $86 million towards the white-elephant light rail Stage 2A project. How “appropriate” is that? 

In the Budget speech, the word “responsible” was mentioned innumerable times.

How can the treasurer possibly advocate that his Budget is equitable when workers will have to wait another two years for wage increases and, in the meantime, electricity and gas prices will be skyrocketing, electricity by 30 per cent in mid-2023 to 40 per cent in mid-2024, gas by 20 per cent in mid-2023 and 2024. I was singularly unimpressed, could do better.

Mario Stivala, Belconnen 

Demand accountability from arrogant government

I FULLY support Dianne Deane’s letter “Give this government the message. Do it now” (CN October 20) regarding the extraordinary rises in unimproved land values in the ACT. 

Like her, the valuation on my block in Duffy went up $359,000 or 63.7 per cent this year, and $410,000 or 80 per cent since January 1, 2021. The government says the rates help fund essential services like hospitals, schools and roads, but there is little sign of improvement in these by 80 per cent since last year. 

I feel the rise is more to do with the Rattenbury/Barr light rail project which is of little benefit to residents of Weston Creek and Molonglo. Furthermore, the valuation rises flow through to rate rises and then on to rent rises for tenants, which are already among the most expensive in Australia.

These rate rises result from the arrogance of the current government and the laziness of ratepayers and the Canberra community in general for not objecting strongly enough to wasted spending and false economic priorities of the Barr government. 

Like Dianne, I strongly urge home owners to object to the valuation rises and to lodge objections within 60 days of receiving your notice, not only on the government website, but also by letter demanding a reply in writing. I did this some time ago and have yet to receive a reply. 

What is most annoying for me is that the infrastructure in my area of Weston Creek has been allowed to run down, potholes are not filled, police presence is minimal and the hoons are having a field day. 

I am not blaming the police, who are trying to do their job with minimal resources, but this government which thinks, against all economic arguments on a cost-benefit basis, that the tram is more important than all other services. 

Come on, Canberrans and do something to improve the governing of the territory you live, work and raise your families in, and demand accountability.

Ric Hingee, Duffy

Bring on the teals for next ACT election

GIVEN the Liberals’ apparent inability to rein in the Labor/Greens spending preferences, what the ACT really needs is a teal-type consortium, such as seems to have been so successful following the recent federal government elections.

If the ACT government really is operating way beyond its financial capacity – as has often been reported – surely it’s time for a serious change of approach from Canberra residents, who have to keep footing the ever-changing bill.

With the next ACT elections coming up in two years, there is still plenty of time to get the ball rolling. But who is going to step up to the plate?

As for the cost of the tram south to Woden, that doesn’t make any economic sense whatsoever, and can only have a deleterious effect on other more urgent issues, such as health, housing, education and community amenities. So can the tram, keep the bus service and save money for us all. 

MJ McGregor, Curtin

A speed van at 6.30am; seriously?

THERE is something inherently perverse in the decision to deploy a mobile speed-monitoring van on an otherwise ordinary Friday morning at 6.30am. Yes, 6.30am, in Lyneham. 

Actually, I can’t really understand why they are being deployed at all, forced as we are to drive at a pedestrian speed to avoid crater-proportioned potholes or, in our paranoia, navigate the seemingly universal 40km suburban speed zones. 

And no, you can all save yourselves the effort of responding to my letter. I don’t exceed the speed limit in any case and, therefore, have nothing to fear, but the cynic in me can’t help but see the 6.30am effort as a revenue-raising exercise par excellence.

Angela Kueter-Luks, Bruce

Peter needs our sympathy and understanding 

WHILE tempted to reply in pejorative kind to Peter Robinson’s mistruths and misunderstandings about the value of the Voice (“The Voice is a dead horse”, Letters, CN October 27), I believe that Peter instead needs our sympathy and understanding. 

I find it sad that he seems to not grasp the truth of our history which includes 65,000 years of continuous care of the land we all call home. The Uluru Statement from the Heart isn’t a demand for reparations or special treatment. It is, in its totality, a respectful and reasonable invitation for all Australians to come together after 230 years of now well-documented white denial, official discrimination and institutional violence against our First Australians.

I am sure Peter would agree that we ought never to stop learning, regardless of our age and despite prejudices inculcated in many of us from childhood. I respectfully urge him to read the conclusions of leading constitutional experts, such as Prof Anne Twomey, of the University of Sydney, who persuasively argues the desirability, both morally and legally, of enshrining the Voice in our Constitution. He might also take regard of noted historian, Prof Henry Reynolds who has painstakingly detailed the legal, ethical and historical justifications for adoption of the Uluru statement in full. 

Finally, if Peter holds to the religious values many people regard as essential to the Australian way of life, he might also reflect on those that read, “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”, “love thy neighbour as yourself” and the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Taking up the Uluru statement will not divide us, it will help remove the divisions that currently exist and enable us to become a more fully engaged nation. We should welcome and embrace all three branches of the Uluru Statement; Voice, Truth and Treaty. We’ll all be much better for it if we do.

Eric Hunter, Cook

The NCA is kidding us, again 

THE NCA is kidding us, again (“A new bridge for the tram over troubled water”, CN October 20). It treats us like polite, passive viewers of a poorly performed play. 

In relation to the upcoming maintenance works and then expected light rail project on and over Commonwealth Avenue Bridge, the NCA’s project manager claims: “We’re looking to maintain what’s described as a slimline bridge. It’s one of the most elegant bridges… in Australia”. Filling in the bridge’s “gap” with a rail base and tracks will surely destroy the “slimline” and “elegant” appearance of this significant structure and its current relationship to the water below. 

We are already seeing a lofty NCA vision squandered and below-par results emerging from its cosy 2018 handover relationship and agreement with the ACT government about a framework for making Northbourne Avenue and the southern part of the Federal Highway a notable national boulevard-style entrance to the national capital. 

Only bulky undistinguished-looking residential complexes are popping up in regimented dormitory style, with minimalist landscaping, along the kilometres of what is basically now a busy eight-lane, mass-transit corridor. 

So far the NCA’s standards and quality settings for north of the lake have delivered this underwhelming major “boulevard” concept and the hard-surfaced, heat-trapping wasteland expanses along the West Basin foreshore. 

Requirements for lush and softening treescapes obviously don’t fit its agenda. 

Both the public interest and the national interest have been let down by what is transpiring, with ACT government pledges of much more “cramming and jamming” to come in both areas. 

Perhaps it will help to ensure that south Canberra is spared such outcomes as Stage 2b rail planning is addressed. 

It also needs to mend more than Commonwealth Avenue Bridge to win back the hearts and minds of many who live north of the lake – it is not too late to pressure the ACT government into vastly reforming and improving the physical and visual amenity associated with its “gateway” planning and delivery. 

Well before the 2024 election, new and existing residents living along and near to this corridor deserve evidence of how more open spaces, parks, urban forest “infill” and improved community-use facilities planning and delivery will be integral parts of the Northbourne/Federal Highway urban densification processes.

Sue Dyer, Downer

Repeating Barr’s spin on greenhouse target

MICHAEL Moore (“Labor: doing what we said we’d do, no surprises”, October 25) repeats the spin that the Barr government’s greenhouse emissions “aim is net zero by 2045”.

The Climate Change and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act set targets “to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the ACT to 40 per cent less than 1990 emissions by June 30, 2020” and “to achieve zero net emissions by June 30, 2045”.

The government applies those targets only to annual emissions in the ACT, rather than to total emissions over time.

“ACT Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory Reports” show that annual emissions in the ACT rose from 1.1 million tonnes CO2-e in 1990 to 1.7 million tonnes in 2020. Emissions in the ACT totalled 48 million tonnes during that period. The 2020 figure doesn’t yet include about a million tonnes of emissions from the Namadgi bushfire. The government plans to continue to add to that total every year until 2045.

The government’s targets apply to only six per cent of the ACT’s annual carbon footprint.

The remaining 94 per cent occurs outside the ACT, in providing Canberrans with food, construction materials and other goods and services that are produced outside the territory, and from transport outside the ACT.

The government’s only commitment to address those emissions is, “to work in partnership with state, territory and national governments to discuss initiatives to reduce scope 3 emissions across jurisdictions”.

Leon Arundell, Downer

There are so many questions…

SHOULD equity in the family home be treated as an asset? Does treating the family home as a sacred cow keep the price of overall housing (and as a result rent) artificially high?

Is manipulating one’s money and assets to get the full old-age pension fair? 

You are a homeowner wanting a full old-age pension but you have too much money and too many assets. Can anything be done? You put the money and liquidated assets into home improvements. As far as the government is concerned, your home is invisible. 

It goes way up in value and your money and assets are now below the “limbo stick” and you can get the full pension. How do renters stand a chance when the government is so unfair?

Would the implementation of a transfer tax on the sale of freehold property to foreigners influence the price of housing? Would a transfer tax of 100 per cent on the equity in freehold property purchased by foreigners discourage them from buying such property in Australia?

Should we examine all aspects of negative gearing and its effect on housing prices?

Do we need the creation of a think tank to discuss vexing questions? Would doubling the refund deposit on cans and bottles from 10 cents to 20 cents encourage recycling? Would applying the same refund deposit of 20 cents (where practical) to other containers made from non-degradable materials help in the fight against pollution? 

Would a scrupulously controlled release of iron (and most probably manganese) off the coast of Antarctica to encourage the growth of carbon-absorbing algae be of use in the battle against climate change? Can we turn the justice system on its head? Can we put the interests of victims before the interests of offenders – especially young violent offenders?

Peter Hart, via email

No forgiving, nor forgetting

I AM writing, inspired by a seemingly persuasive argument for forgiveness of Japan for its behaviour during World War II (“Concert of forgiveness puts POW pain to rest”, CN October 20).

In early ’50s Australia, into which I was born, everybody loathed

Japan for its barbaric conduct of war. Mass murder, rape, torture were 

the reported stock in trade of the Imperial Japanese Army. 

We are now stuck with Japan as an ally. Do we want that?

Unfortunately, war-crime prosecutions of Japanese prisoners ceased in 1950. Hundreds more should have been tried and executed. But, the UN/US needed a compliant Japan as a base for the war against the Communist invasion of South Korea. 

So, no forgiveness, and definitely no forgetting. 

But keep playing rugby. It amuses us to see you consistently beaten. 

Christopher Ryan, Watson

China’s doubling nuclear power capacity

DR Douglas Mackenzie in his letter (CN October 13) says China currently has no plans for “nuclear-powered electricity”. I assume that means that currently China is not using nuclear power to produce electricity. 

The World Nuclear Association website says that in 2019 China produced 348 terawatt hours of “nuclear-powered electricity”, five per cent of its electricity production. 

The website also says: “The impetus for nuclear power in China is increasingly due to air pollution from coal-fired plants.”

Nikkei Asia in an article dated April 22 says: “The Chinese government has approved the construction of six reactors as part of a plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than doubling nuclear power capacity this decade.” 

According to the article, at the end of 2021 China had 53 nuclear power plants with a total generating capacity of about 55 gigawatts. A Bloomberg article, dated November 2, states: “China is planning at least 150 new reactors in the next 15 years, more than the rest of the world has built in the past 35.”

Chris Rule, Conder

Inspiration for cartoonist Dorin 

PLEASE could cartoonist Paul Dorin try drawing a tram vehicle speeding up tracks pointing into the sky from London Circuit. At the windows are the aghast pro-light rail politicians. A “flying boat” or sea-plane just might be waiting below on Lake Burley Griffin to rescue them.

Rosemary Blemings, via email

Keating should apologise to King Charles

ALTHOUGH he has become very bitter in his old age, there is one thing that Paul Keating has not lost, and that is his penchant for purposefully misinterpreting comments by others to suit himself.

In his talk given at La Trobe University on Wednesday, October 12, he proclaimed in Keatingesque style that: “If Australians have so little pride in themselves, so little pride that they are happy to be represented by the monarch of Great Britain, why would somebody like me want to shift their miserable view of themselves.”

He also said, wrongly, that he believed the royal family would have been “so glad for the referendum to have passed” and for Australia to break away.

Just because the Queen had stated that change to a republic was a matter for the Australian people themselves to decide and that she would accept the decision of the Australian people whatever it may be, in no way means that neither she nor any member of the royal family would have been “so glad for the referendum to have passed”.

To say so demeans Mr Keating himself and the Labor Party in general for propagating fiction to support their push for a republic.

Mr Keating also conveniently forgets that it was his icon, former Labor prime minister, Gough Whitlam, who declared that the Queen in Australia was Queen of Australia.

Mr Keating should apologise both to the King and to the Australian people for these falsehoods.

Philip Benwell, chair, Australian Monarchist League

We must preserve our democratic constitution

I AM very grateful to have my little essay on the repugnancy of the word “republic” published (“When a republic seems repugnant”, CN October 15).

But I must object! And I must do it quickly before I am attacked by a horde of angry, red-bandanna-ed, axe-wielding activists who wish to deal with me like a King Charles I.

In the introduction you described me as an “unashamed monarchist” and yet the article was entirely about the peaceful transition to self rule that we have enjoyed and the fear that we would fall into a constitutional staked pit, like so many nations under a presidential regime where autocracy is a risk.

I may be a monarchist or I may not – that is immaterial – but what we must do is preserve our incredibly robust and democratic Australian Constitution.

Why should we identify ourselves with these other rabid regimes when we are (and very dignified it sounds, too) already called the Commonwealth of Australia? There is no Britain in that.

Or should we change so that we can be known as the Democratic Peoples’ Socialist Republic of the Commonwealth of Australia?

Richard Forster, via email

Learning comes before perfection

TO Colliss Parrett (“Shocked by weekly road crashes”, Letters, CN October 13): Despite your near 3/4 century of driving experience, it seems to have escaped your notice that most of us need to learn how to do things before we become as perfect as you claim to be.

Perhaps we should have you instruct all new drivers in the ACT to address the issues you describe.

Peter McKinlay, Gunning

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