In a touching letter of persistence and endeavour, reader PAT BOURKE, of Hackett, explains the difficulty of dealing digitally as an older person with the ACT government. 

LIVING in Canberra for an elderly person who is not really “computer literate” can be difficult.

The ACT government says that everyone with a dog must have it registered and this can be done online. So I found the registration form, read it, and thought: “Yes, I would give it a go”.

So I typed name, address, phone number, dog’s name, type of dog, colour, date of birth (don’t know as it was a rescue dog), microchip number (don’t know). 

So, I rang Access Canberra and said it was a rescue dog and I didn’t know the microchip number and was told not to worry about that. 

Do I have a concession card? Type the number and what type of card it is. 

Then rang the vet and was given the dog’s microchip number and birthdate. Okay, did that. 

The number had 15 numerals and was relayed to me as three numbers, space, three numbers space, etcetera, etcetera. I entered the type and number of my concession card. It is eight numerals followed by an “A”. 

So, answered all the questions and submitted an application. Rejected. 

I thought: “I can’t do this”. So down to the Dickson Shopfront I went, but there was a man standing outside saying unless you want the Land Titles Office you can’t enter. I explained I needed help and he suggested I go to the Gungahlin office.

On to the light rail to Gungahlin, found the office, the man standing out the front said the same thing, back on the light rail to Dickson and drove home. For one hour I tried to submit the form and finally did.

• First problem – my concession number had an “A”, don’t enter that (I have always added that).

• Second, the dog’s microchip number (15 numerals) has to be all typed together, no spaces.

• Third, I always say my phone number is my mobile number. Wrong! Have to place a landline first.

And why do they ask for your concession card number when you still have to pay the rego amount?

Not impressed! It’s not what the information is, it is how it is presented.

Pat Bourke, Hackett 

See if he loves the delays

DANNY Corvini, of Deakin (Letters, CN February 17) says he loves the tram. I wonder if he will love the delays, disruption, pollution and money-squandering of Stage 2 for the next three or four years as he travels Deakin to Civic and back? I won’t.

Michael Duffy, Curtin

Is Steel up to the job?

IN my last letter to “CityNews” (February 17) I was mildly critical of the ACT government for only tendering to replace 34 of its ageing diesel bus fleet (of 451 buses) with new electric ones.

To my horror and dismay, I then read in “CityNews” (February 22) that Minister Chris Steel had proudly announced the tender process had been abandoned, and only 12 new electric buses will be leased by “later this year”.

“A further 90 electric buses will also join the ACTION fleet in a further procurement process.” No indication of when.

But, “by 2040 the ACT government hopes that every bus on Canberra’s roads will be electric”. Minister, it will take more than hope for this miracle to occur! At the current miserable rate of progress it would take about 38 years to complete this relatively modest task.

The vastly more expensive Light Rail Stage 2 project, which will be of benefit to vastly fewer people, may even be finished by then. In contrast, the NSW government intends to electrify its entire 8000-strong bus fleet by 2030!

Seriously, is this Minister up to the job?

Richard Johnston, Kingston

Too many naive voters

MR Corvini might love the tram, but when rates double in the next few years to help pay for Stage 2A and (gulp) Stage 2B to Woden, he will be lonely in the inner south (Letters, CN February 17). 

Letter writer Richard Johnston, on the same page, makes the excellent point of money better spent on major infrastructure upgrades that would then enable (among other things) more electric buses (and vehicles generally). 

Ninety-five per cent of letters to various papers in ACT are opposed to further tram madness. Unfortunately, most voters in ACT are under 55-60 years of age and still naive (if not starry eyed) about the Labor/Greens.

I support buses (electric or otherwise) over trams. I vote. But my age cohort is too small to change the government. 

Christopher Ryan, Watson 

Take the tram via Acton

IN the outrageously costly scheme to raise London Circuit to Commonwealth Avenue, to suit the Civic-Woden tram and scatological City Hill property development, there will no longer be a right turn on to Parkes Way from the south. Good-oh (not!). 

And Commonwealth Avenue Bridge and the cultural landscape of that avenue will be wrecked. And we’ll have to pay for underground electricity for the trams, all the way to the far west end of Adelaide Avenue (to also pander to The Lodge). 

If we must have it, take the tram via Acton and the optics of sensible attractive overhead power lines would be fine all the way to Woden.

Jack Kershaw, Kambah 

Electric bus follies

THANK you for the letter by Richard Johnston (Letters, CN February 17). He must have known or suspected something by asking why the government is buying only 34 electric buses and raises the point of perhaps overloading the infrastructure. 

It has been reported that the government is scrapping a tender for 34 electric buses and is leasing 26 more diesel buses. It is also reported that the government has refused to say why it is scrapping the tender.

The government obviously has major problems on how to introduce electric buses in the numbers required. 

Smart Canberra Transport has no objections to electric buses as long as their introduction is shown to be economic and without unnecessary cost to ACT taxpayers. 

After all, why pay a premium when net, saved greenhouse gas emissions will have virtually zero effect on global warming let alone permanent climate change. 

Max Flint, co-ordinator, Smart Canberra Transport

Morrison’s no Tarzan

WHEN the PM beat his breast and relied on a 1959 novel “The Manchurian Candidate” and its 1962 film rendition for new ideas to guide his latest finger pointing and lying (“Morrison has sown the seeds for a scare campaign”, citynews.com.au, February 18), he seemed to hope that he would be seen as the Tarzan of the parliamentary floor and forthcoming election campaign. 

However his performance only conjured up a pertinent reply from another classic 20th century film, “The Castle”: “Tell him he’s dreamin’”.

Sue Dyer, Downer 

Morrison’s campaign worth remembering

MICHAEL Moore concluded his column “Fear rules as Liberals pile pressure on Labor” (citynews.com.au, February 23) with the questions “How will Labor respond? Will they consider it necessary to fight fire with fire or will they appeal to the electorate in other ways?”

Perhaps Labor’s campaign may be more effective if it reminds the electorate of the “So where the bloody hell are you” advertising campaign. This embarrassing episode cost the Australian taxpayer $180 million, a breathtaking expenditure that allegedly had not been approved by the tourism minister at the time, Fran Bailey. 

The campaign was the work of the managing director of Tourism Australia in 2006, one Scott Morrison. This man now expects to be re-elected in May as Australian prime minister.

Douglas Mackenzie, Deakin

A statue for Marion and Walter

I HAVE been asking for quite a while why there is no statue of Marion Mahony whose beautiful drawings reflected her husband’s plans to build Canberra.

I now realise a statue just of Marion is totally inadequate. Canberra needs to build a statue of Marion and Walter together for they were a brilliant team.

The next question is where is the best spot to place it? Down from OPH looking across the lake to the War Memorial or by the lake below the War Memorial looking across the lake to Parliament House? The best placed sculptures for me are John Curtin and Ben Chifley.

Why has it taken so long for Canberra to ignore the two people who led to it being built?

Penelope Upward, via email

(Editor’s note: Penelope writes also that her great grandfather George Upward was on the tour of senators who selected the site of Canberra and held the position of Black Rod in the first federal parliament, Melbourne, 1901).