“The prime minister needs to impose an immediate moratorium on this project, to examine and adopt an alternative route for the Civic to Capital Hill section of light rail 2.” Here’s why letter writer JACK KERSHAW thinks this should happen…

PARLIAMENT House’s architecture has been described as “sublime orthodoxy” – a “landscape solution”, respecting the symmetry, functions, and built forms envisaged by Griffin for the hilltop site; and expressing itself in readily understood forms, with references to relevant antiquity and Australian iconography. 

In contrast, the use of City Hill and Commonwealth Avenue for the Civic to Capital Hill section of ACT light rail stage 2 (Civic to Woden), could be described as “constipated and amateurish”, in the current shady world of “unsolicited urbanism” and “planning by deal making” – misunderstanding, disrespecting, and exploiting, in misguided, knee-jerk ways, those massively important national triangle elements, and their carefully thought out development following Griffin.

The nation would lose the important engineering, open-space, and urban-design heritage of City Hill, notably, important inward and outward vistas, along with the hugely important cultural landscape of Commonwealth Avenue, and the iconic bifurcation of its bridge, matching its Kings Avenue counterpart – all in the name of myopic “land value capture”. And there’s an extremely expensive requirement for no overhead power lines – a cringing afterthought.

The prime minister needs to impose an immediate moratorium on this project, to examine and adopt, an alternative route for the Civic to Capital Hill section of light rail 2 – one with more panache, creativity, and wider central national area coverage, via say, briefly, Edinburgh Avenue, ANU, Acton Peninsula, Griffin’s missing third lake crossing, and Flynn Drive – with the economy and sensible optics of overhead power lines.

Jack Kershaw, Kambah

On the rails to deeper debt

THE new Labor federal government is apparently prepared to subsidise ACT light rail Stage 2 to the tune of $181.2 million plus $132.5 million, supposedly already committed by the federal government, for a total of $313.7 million, so far. 

While this is a significant sum, it is still only about 10 per cent of the expected $3 billion or more cost of Stage 2 (construction and 20 years of operations) that the ACT taxpayers will be stuck with, all from debt. However, as Chief Minister Barr has said: “We are all Keynesians now” (ie debt is good). 

Given that Finance Minister Katy Gallagher is boasting that she started the tram, even though she was reported in 2014 as saying that “cabinet will not support a cost substantially beyond $614 million” (actually about $1.6 billion), even more of taxpayers’ good money can be expected to be thrown after bad. But Dracula is in the blood bank!

Max Flint, co-ordinator, Smart Canberra Transport

Minister Mick’s all ‘heart and soul’

SO, Planning Minister Mick Gentleman has used his call-in powers to reject a development application for the McKellar shops precinct, primarily, it seems, because it would “change the character” of the precinct and because local shops are the “heart and soul” of their suburbs. 

He also apparently reasoned that the development is “not in the long-term best interest of McKellar” and that the development would somehow limit the precinct’s “potential for the future.”

A quick look on Google Maps street view suggests that the character, heart and soul, best interest, and future potential of the current McKellar shops precinct looks like the screen grab published here. Or perhaps, unless Google Maps is hopelessly out of date, it knows something Mick does not.

Clinton White, via email

Please pay attention and not become a statistic

WE are often reminded, both officially and anecdotally, of our road use responsibilities as pedestrians, cyclists and motorists. 

As with all things in life, there are pros and cons to all views, approaches and potential solutions, and my fellow correspondents regularly remind us of that divergence of views. 

The legalities and government policies are often cited, but what is not emphasised nearly enough is personal responsibility for road use behaviour. 

Can I implore those motorists who drive at dusk (and later) with no headlights, cyclists in dark attire and similarly no or inadequate lights (or helmets) and pedestrians hypnotised by their phones, PLEASE think of your fellow road users, yourselves and your loved ones and exercise some personal responsibility to avoid becoming yet another unwanted road fatality statistic.

Angela Kueter-Luks, Bruce

Kangaroos are hard to predict

THE “Seven Days” column (“Ferment festers in city’s small-corner campaigns”, CN August 18) comments on the suggestion from former ALP Canberra Branch president Ian MacDougall that Canberra’s kangaroo population be allowed to increase naturally to keep down bushfire fuel loads. So far, so good.

Mr MacDougall went on to say that if the ACT Legislative Assembly were to legislate “to waive all obligations for all insurance companies to pay for repairs to cars damaged in collisions with kangaroos” the accident rate would decrease “substantially” and the standard of driving would “lift … enormously”.

 Anyone who has spent time driving on roads through “kangaroo country”, as I have in Far-North Queensland, would know that the behaviour of kangaroos feeding on the road verges is extremely hard to predict. 

On one occasion, a young ‘roo leapt headlong into the side of my vehicle and was killed instantly. Not even a Formula One driver could have avoided that collision.

Dr Douglas Mackenzie, Deakin

Beware of arrival card scam

IT is good news that direct Canberra to Singapore flights may be resuming. However potential travellers should be alert to scam activity. 

I was scammed $US80 when applying online for the new, compulsory Singapore Arrival Card last month. 

I later discovered the arrival card is meant to be free and scammers have found a way to superimpose their charge scheme on top of the official Singapore government site and harvest one’s credit card details and passport details.

When I arrived in Singapore I discovered the scam has been operating for some time. I am shocked the Singapore authorities have not put a stop to this scam nor does the Australian government smartraveller.gov.au website mention it.

John Farrands, Isaacs 

Thin-skinned; me? He started it!

AMAZING that Mario Stivala talks about me being thin-skinned (CN August 11) when he was the one to respond in invective terms to someone who simply mentioned he disagreed with him on the issue of the need for a Royal Commission into Robodebt. 

He also seems to think that telling someone that they are “living-in-the dreamtime” for not agreeing with him, is not an insult. I suspect if I had responded to him in such a way, that he would have found it insulting. I will not be responding to someone who apparently does not countenance views opposing his own.

Ric Hingee, Duffy

Editor’s note: And that’s where we’ll leave it, gentlemen. 

Setting a job criteria for pollies

THE next ACT election is approaching as quickly as a speeding red rattler. 

Here are some key issues for everyone to start considering:

• How can we ensure that those running for elected office or re-election actually meet the job’s selection criteria and are appropriately educated? More importantly, we need to define that criteria.
• Should politicians’ salaries be tied to government economic performance and its ability to manage responsibly, meet targets and deliver – all of which is acceptable in the real world? 

John Lawrence via email

Back to the caves for activists

WHENEVER a climate change activist opens their mouth or writes a letter or article, they tell us we must do away with fossil fuels because they cause global warming and pollution. 

I have an easy answer for them all. Get rid of your car/bike (they use fossil fuels to make steel – and, yes, even electric cars). You can no longer fly around the country or the world, not just the pollution from the fuel, but they are also made of steel. Anything made in a factory will be a no-no as the machinery is made from steel.

Get rid of all your plastics, your mobile phones, your computers, your man-made fibre clothes or anything else you care to name that is polyester, tents, pens, credit cards, money notes (yes, money is plastic), anything but leather shoes (but hang on, that means killing animals, and that is not allowed). Get rid of your solar panels, they contain quite a few fossil fuels and nasty chemicals. The wind turbines use litres of oil (yes, it is a fossil fuel) and it takes many tonnes of coal to make them. Oh, and by the way, how do you install the turbines without very large petrol-driven trucks to carry them around and huge cranes to install them?

Basically, you will all have to live in caves with no clothes (don’t forget, no animal skins). You cannot burn wood (it is polluting), you will have to walk everywhere unless you have a horse. I could go on about a lot of other things, but I think you get my drift.

Don’t forget a lot of Europe and Britain are now going back on their commitment to climate change and re-opening generators that burn fossil fuel. I wonder why!

Vi Evans, Macgregor