Letter writer RICHARD JOHNSON has an idea that will give the West Basin high-rise residents something to look at… 

ON a recent trip to the US we saw not just one but two large sports stadiums on the waterfront at Pittsburg, a medium-sized city.  

Wouldn’t this be great for West Basin? It’d give the residents of the apartment buildings behind an interesting outlook (although they might need to close their windows against the noise).  

And it may be necessary to extend out into the lake a bit more, but no one would object to that, would they?  

It might even make some sense of Light Rail Stage 2A, at least occasionally. Go for it, Andrew!

Richard Johnson, Kingston

‘Amazing’ place on the doorstep of Canberra

CANBERRA is certainly having some beautiful autumn weather. Recently, my wife and I visited the Namadgi National Park information centre just south of Tharwa. 

We were most fortunate to come across the stunning exhibition by local photographer Graham Gall “Our Forest in Focus – Life in our Trees”. Complementing Gall’s photographs was the engaging commentary from the Australian National Botanic Gardens, the National Arboretum Canberra, the Australian National University and others. 

Accompanying the exhibition is the informative short film “The Importance of Trees” in the visitor centre’s theatrette. Gall is the ACT’s Attenborough. The exhibition is free and runs until June 28.

Given the stunning day, we also strolled around the woodland discovery trail. An easy loop with brilliant historical instalments. 

One featured the surveying of the ACT, another “Gudgenby in a Box”, the early pioneers and their stories in the context of Gudgenby homestead. But perhaps the most powerful story was that for thousands of years, our First Peoples gathered on Mt Gudgenby to feast on Bogong moths and socialise. What an amazing place right on the doorstep of Canberrans.

Ray Peck, Hawthorn, Victoria

Time for a little humility, Mr Barr?

HAVING read Michael Moore’s column (“Hospital takeover raises enormous red flag”, CN May 18), I couldn’t help but wonder if Andrew Barr might repent, get down on both knees and beg the Little Company of Mary to take over the Canberra Hospital? 

It seems to me that the healthcare of Canberrans and the surrounding regional community would only stand to benefit enormously from such an appropriate act of penitence. 

I think a little humility from our chief minister could go a very long way, but I won’t hold my breath.

Dione Smith, via e-mail

Leading us into a renewable obsession mess

MIKE Quirk (Letters, CN May 25) relies on a poem from a washed up, old musician to describe Opposition Leader Peter Dutton. 

Maybe Mr Quirk could publish a few lines from Annie Lennox’s “Would I Lie to You?” to describe current Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. 

As our electricity bills skyrocket, I am left wondering what happened to that election promise that helped get Labor elected that said it would reduce our energy bills by $275. Not to mention the 24-hour nurses promised at aged-care facilities and not to touch our superannuation. 

His criticism of Tony Abbott is strange considering Abbott led the party to a landslide election victory against the Rudd/Gillard debacle. Abbott cleaned up Labor’s mess in a year, but was backstabbed by the Labor lite embarrassment that was Malcolm Turnbull.

Albanese and his not so merry men (and women) look like they are leading us into a renewable obsession mess, something Climate and Energy Minister Christopher Bowen keeps making a fool of himself about. 

Ian Pilsner, Weston

When the editor makes the mistake

ONE of my pet peeves is when the editor of our daily local paper [ahem, not this one – Ed] amends one’s letter to give a completely different slant to it and then refuses after several requests to correct the error. 

My letter mentioned that my default position when a government is pushing a particular issue too hard, is to vote “No” on the basis that in most cases the government’s advocacy is to improve its own position rather than that of the community. 

This is the position with the Voice. Having stated my viewpoint I then concluded my letter with the following sentence: “If Albanese wants the Voice to succeed then I suggest he back off”. 

The editor [of that other paper – Ed] took this sentence out completely, which left readers thinking that I would vote against the Voice, which is not the case at all. So be careful about how your letters may be altered, without contact with you, before publishing.

Ric Hingee, Duffy

Australia’s largest houses cheek by jowl

IN his column “Rage, rage against heat islands and fewer trees” (CN May 25) Paul Costigan wrote “The reality of the… ACT Greens is that Canberra has enough birds, trees and other critters – so a few less and more heat islands is just fine. That’s Greenslabor’s gentle urbanism!” Regrettably, that’s all too true in Australia’s increasingly crowded capital city.

Drive around any of the newer Canberra suburbs, such as Whitlam in Molongo, and you will see row after row of Australia’s largest houses cheek by jowl, with barely space for a fence – and perhaps a bush or two – between them.

The area at the front of each house is almost entirely paved with a concrete driveway (as shown in Costigan’s article), concrete footpaths, kerbs and gutters, leaving little or no space for trees to grow. 

An aerial view shows that backyards are little better, with little more than room for children to play – if their parents can be bothered planting a lawn.

Such suburbs are likely to be heat islands, which will become progressively hotter as global heating continues relentlessly.

Dr Douglas Mackenzie, Deakin