Letter writer RON LEICHT says: “We can’t get roads fixed, footpaths fixed, hospitals to run efficiently, but we sure need the tree police!” The tree police? We’ll let him explain…

THE tree police have just arrived. One of the stupidly placed random gum trees went “missing” across the road. 

It was placed so that when it grew bigger, the neighbour would get no winter sun into their house therefore they would have to turn on the heating and make a bigger “footprint” in the neighbourhood. 

Maybe it should have been a deciduous tree and they could have kept it. The government car had a yellow flashing light and the occupant was wearing an orange high-vis jacket on a quiet neighbourhood street. 

They recorded whatever necessary information was needed, took a few photos and then off to the next house where a tree had gone “missing”.

We can’t get roads fixed, footpaths fixed, hospitals to run efficiently etcetera, but we sure need the tree police!

Ron Leicht, via email

With God on ‘our’ side, no matter the side

ROBERT Macklin’s nail-on-the-head hitting is becoming as accurate as the best local chippie (CN November 9). 

As Rob says, it seems force is the only solution to the Middle-East crisis because each side is relying on religious teachings to justify their determination to wipe out the other. 

As I read recently, it is a shaky proposition to include biblical injunctions as evidential criteria for waging endless war. Yet, as Rob says, that’s exactly what’s happening.

We might distinguish the creator/instructor as God, Yaweh or Allah (I include Christians for obvious historical reasons) but the irony is the three identities must be one and the same. 

How do we arrive at the logic of that? The answer is simple, you can justify anything if you can find passages in your particular text that may be interpreted as justifying your consequent actions, however catastrophic they may be. 

How convenient, because none of the texts, the Torah, the Bible or the Koran, require normal evidence-based authentication of the primary sources of the alleged teachings, ie, proof of the existence of God, whatever you choose to call him (sic).

Sadly, that leaves us with the same dilemma we have been facing for centuries – the idea that God is on “our” side and against the other no matter which side we happen to be on.

Eric Hunter, Cook

Macklin makes two unsettling comments

IN his “The Gadfly” column “Winds of a religious war know no boundaries” (CN November 30) Robert Macklin makes two very unsettling comments. 

After comparing the burden of US President Joe Biden to that of Abraham Lincoln, Mr Macklin looks to the very likely contest between an ageing – and some say showing early signs of dementia – Joe Biden and Donald Trump, “whose vision of presidential governance is self-aggrandisement and revenge”. 

I would add “feeding his insatiable ego” and “indulging in dangerous delusions”. 

In my opinion, a Trumpian second coming would be a disaster for America.

The second unsettling comment is Richard Marles’ preference for being addressed as Deputy Prime Minister rather than Defence Minister, which he no doubt regards as a lower rank. 

Macklin regards this trait as “ominous”. I agree: I have long thought from just looking at the body language, let alone some of his public utterances, that Mr Marles covets Anthony Albanese’s job, with its status and power.

 Were Marles to realise his ambitions, having “swallowed the Pentagon perception whole”, I would fear that Australia could be just another vassal state of the US.

Dr Douglas Mackenzie, Deakin 

Last thing is to increase demand 

SEVERAL letters in recent editions of “CityNews” have helped spread disbelief in the comical line that decriminalising/legalising dangerous mind-altering drugs will have little adverse effect on drug consumption. To oversimplify for purposes of example, stand on a street corner day and night and hand out lollies and chocolates either free or at the lowest street price and see if the consumption of confectionery jumps. Common sense dictates that if not enough drugs smuggled in by gangs are being captured, then the last thing to do is to increase demand for use through legalisation.

Colliss Parrett, Barton

Important articles, thank you for publishing them

ARTICLES like that of legal columnist Hugh Selby’s on the presumption of innocence (CN October 30) are important for the information they provide the public with critical thinking and awareness of issues. 

Many thanks for publishing articles like these.

Robert Laine via email

Why a by-election is the only fair way

“SOME will argue that a candidate with just three per cent of the primary vote ought not be able to be elected,” wrote columnist Michael Moore (CN November 23) about the election by countback of Greens member Laura Nuttall to the ACT Assembly. 

There’s concern that allowing candidates with very low percentages to be elected could undermine the perceived legitimacy of the elected officials. 

Some believe that representatives should have a substantial level of support to be considered as truly representing the will of the people. Candidates with extremely low percentages elected may raise concerns about the effectiveness and stability of governance. Officials with higher levels of support are more likely to be effective in representing their constituents and making decisions.

Allowing candidates with very low percentages to be elected could, in some cases, result in individuals with extreme or fringe views holding public office. 

The Greens are a good example and this could be a concern for those who believe that elected representatives should reflect more mainstream perspective, especially due to the changes in the past three years

The by-election system in my opinion is the only fair and just way to cater for the will of the people.

Errol Good, Macgregor

Evidence of smoke health harms overwhelming

Malcolm Sherren (Letters, CN November 23) argues for critical thinking skills and sound reasoning. Yet his letter exhibits the very reverse, suggesting that wood-smoke pollution is akin to fear-based “contaminants of the mind”.

In reality, there is now overwhelming evidence of the health harms from wood-smoke pollution. A NSW government publication summarising the findings of the Sydney Air Quality Study states that residential wood heaters top the list of emission sources, with health costs of more than $2 billion annually. 

A small minority of households use wood for home heating (10 per cent or less), and yet the entire population in that same airshed is exposed to the harmful effects and cannot easily escape breathing it in.

The link between wood-heater smoke and adverse health outcomes has been reported in the scientific literature and by national and international agencies such as the World Health Organization for more than two decades. 

A good overview is the human health section of the ACT Environment Commissioner’s 2023 report on wood heaters.

Another example. An important recent study involving 50,000 women in the US finds that using an indoor wood heater or fireplace increases women’s risk of developing lung cancer by 43 per cent compared with those that do not use wood heating. 

Murray May, Cook

‘Labelling’ is not helpful, it’s hurtful

In response to Vi Evan’s (Letters, CN November 16), I too feel the same way as Janine Haskins (Letters, CN November 23), appalled and offended by Vi labelling people who are drug dependent on substances as “druggies”.

This is, because I, too, watched my beautiful and sensitive son become dependent on illicit substances while he suffered from a mental disorder and mental illnesses. He also is no longer here to defend himself.

There are many stories behind the tragedy of “succumbing to the tentacles of dependency” for many people and “labelling” them is not helpful, it’s hurtful.

Caterina Brice, Nicholls

Expelled from Transport Working Group

HOW can the ACT government justify giving public funds to the Conservation Council?

In February, I was told that, because I had written a “CityNews” article, “Let’s build bus rapid transit to Woden”, I had been expelled from the Conservation Council’s Transport Working Group and I was no longer permitted to contact any member of any Conservation Council working group, or to enter the council’s premises.

Contrary to natural justice, that decision had been made without informing me that it was being considered.

I asked to resolve the dispute. All I was offered was a confidential meeting with a single board member, who was not authorised even to make recommendations to the board.

I have had no response to my request for an appeal to be decided, in accordance with natural justice, by someone independent of the original decision-maker.

Leon Arundell, Downer

Putting leadership to work in an emergency

AS we head into summer, another bushfire season is top of mind. The devastating Black Summer bushfires now nearly four years ago yet the memory vivid for many today.

Multiple reviews outlined recommendations on what could and needs to be done better. When securing funding from the Australian Government’s Black Summer Bushfire Recovery program, the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation (ARLF) explored how leadership could contribute. 

Together with Tharwa-based ARLF Associates Karim Haddad and Ali Wass, the Regenerate Capital Region leadership development program was conceived, targeting emergency stakeholders, government agencies and rural land carers.

This wasn’t the typical professional development training to tick a box. It was an experiential learning program that pushed the 31 participants well beyond their comfort zone. 

It’s here they transition to a “growth zone” and where change begins.

They learned the value of adapting in the face of change, systems thinking, leading with difference and reflection. 

The residential approach at Cuppacumbalong in Tharwa and the surrounding Namadji region, removing participants from everyday distractions, created deep bonds of trust and connection between participants, and a greater acceptance of diverse backgrounds, personalities and views. 

Collaboration is the result of this connection, the graduates already actioning their learning to be better prepared for future fire seasons.

The core of what we do at the ARLF is exposing people to situations and ideas that will enable them to see a bigger picture, a different perspective and ultimately have the courage to put their ideas into action, bringing others with them.

With this program, the objective was to build a strong leadership network that crosses borders and agencies to be able to respond to future bushfire emergencies while building long-term resilience in bushfire impacted communities. But it’s more than this. When future fire emergencies occur, this network will be invaluable – they won’t be just names and positions; they’ll know and trust each other and be able to work through the challenges in front of them and our communities.

Matt Linnegar, chief executive, ARLF