“Dr Hughes should have chosen his words more carefully as it gives ACT residents the impression that our elected representatives in ‘backbencher’ positions are in a job that’s very easy and pleasant, requiring little or no effort,” says letter writer TONY FALLA.

In his column (CN December 5) Andrew Hughes writes that Elizabeth Lee MLA, who lost the Liberal leadership, can now “take it easy” with her “feet up” and more “family time”.

Is that what it is like to be a backbencher in the ACT Legislative Assembly? An easy job with the feet up on the desk and home early to be with family? 

Dr Hughes probably forgets that Ms Lee is also the Member for Kurrajong and is there to represent the constituents of that electorate, while earning an annual salary of more than $188,000 a year. 

Dr Hughes should have chosen his words more carefully as it gives ACT residents the impression that our elected representatives in “backbencher” positions are in a job that’s very easy and pleasant, requiring little or no effort.

Tony Falla, Ngunnawal

Terror maybe, but it’s not genocide

So some person or people set fire to a Jewish place of worship in Melbourne and it’s classified as an act of terrorism even though no-one died. 

And the state of Israel killed more than 40,000 innocent women and children in Gaza in just over a year and they say it’s not genocide. That’s weird, hey?

Keir Hall, Florey

Netanyahu has made world unsafe for Jews

The Netanyahu government has undermined the respect for Israel and made the world less safe for Jewish people.

Its disproportionate response to the Hamas butchery has resulted in the deaths of 45,000 people, predominantly civilians, in Gaza. Clearly it has not carefully targeted Hamas fighters.

Israel, thanks to the actions of the Netanyahu government, has lost much of its support emanating from the Holocaust. The decline is reflected in the recent UN vote of 157 countries in support of a resolution recognising Palestinians’ “permanent sovereignty” over resources in the occupied Palestinian territories in Gaza and the West Bank.

To avoid becoming viewed as a pariah state, for any hope of more peaceful relations with Palestinians and its Arab neighbours and to quell rising anti-Semitism, it needs to stop its disregard of the rights of Palestinians. 

Mike Quirk, Garran

It’s population that’s the energy problem

Peter Tait (letters, CN December 12) wrote that rather than arguing about nuclear power versus renewable energy, we should “significantly reduce our materials and energy use, so we can live within planetary limits”. He is partly right.

In their GenCost final report for 2023–2024, the CSIRO and the Australian Energy Market Operator demonstrated clearly that nuclear power is far too costly and would be realised far too late to have the slightest effect on Australia’s emissions. The draft GenCost 2024–2025 report is apparently even more conclusive.

Energy demand must be met much more from renewable sources, and much less from fossil fuels such as coal and gas. 

However, the elephant in the room is population. All conceivable (pun intended) steps should be taken to stabilise, and to aim for the reduction, of Australia’s, and eventually the world’s, population. Only then will we have a reasonable chance to slow – or halt – the progress of global heating.

Dr Douglas Mackenzie, Deakin

Gobsmacked by lack of empathy for kids

I have read a number of articles about young detainees at Bimberi being denied hugs from their family members.

While I am aghast at this, I am particularly gobsmacked at some of the comments I have read by members of our community; a complete lack of empathy and understanding of young people embroiled in the criminal justice system.

As a previous probation and parole officer, I was later employed as a senior case worker at Child and Youth Protection Services. I became familiar with many children of my previous clients at ACT Community Corrections.

Statistics say that if a child has experienced having a parent in prison during their childhood, they are nine times more likely to end up in the criminal justice system than children and young people who have not experienced this misfortune.

It is time for people in our community to drop their judgemental and stigmatising attitudes towards children and young people who often are left with very little hope of avoiding the “system”. Simply, you do not know their stories and the pain they may have endured in their short lives.

Janine Haskins. community advocate, ACT Justice Advocacy Group

The right medicine from Dr Di Dio

As a hardened social worker/small-business woman, I have seen horrors that come with both jobs. Now seeing the gorgeous almost tame kangas killed across Canberra and feeling helpless, and the rise in homelessness and disconnectedness in society, l read columnist Antonio DiDio’s beautiful narrative. (“Some dumb rules don’t apply at Christmas”, CN December 12).

His eloquent story ends with hope. Hope that kindness can win, that human kindness can supersede rules that bind. Thank you, Antonio.

Gillian Jewell, via email

Visitors alert: driving is different here

It’s that time of year when interstate visitors are at risk of collecting an unwanted souvenir of Canberra: a fine for exceeding 40km/h in Civic.
As driving in Canberra is different, here are a few tips to help visitors cope with local conditions:

• Use of indicators is optional
• Stop signs are advisory only
• At traffic signals, an amber light means accelerate
• Leave a safe gap between you and the vehicle in front, so a Canberran can cut into it.
• On divided roads keep right when not overtaking
• Canberrans joining major roads, such as the Tuggeranong Parkway, from slip roads have right of way over the traffic already on the main road. (Canberra always gives priority to the Left.)

John Dowden, via email

Nuclear outburst ‘completely unfounded’

Mike Quirk’s outburst against Peter Dutton’s nuclear energy proposal (Letters, CN December 12) is completely unfounded. It stems from the politicising of a complex engineering scheme that has no precedent.

By its own admission, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) does not know how it is going to successfully develop a secure low-emissions power system (see AEMO – 2024 Transition Plan for System Security). It is relying on technology yet to be developed and proven.

Even if a secure grid using only wind and solar generators can be developed, it would be unsustainable in the larger scheme of net zero emissions involving green hydrogen and other actions such as carbon capture.

Nuclear energy will prove expensive, but we know it will work securely with other types of generators and be sustainable. It will be more expensive than it should have been because of the bad decisions and wasteful expenditure made over the last two decades chasing the pipe dream of renewables only.

John L Smith, Farrer

Times on ‘journey to obliteration’

Your competitor, The Canberra Times, seems to be on a self-imposed journey to obliteration.
For $3.30 (plus bank charges) I recently received my copy of the CT – 40-odd pages of newsprint, including the wraparound.

Hang on, take out 12 full-colour pages of advertising for homewares, three half news pages and six pages of advertorial, and purchasers are left with just 20 or so pages of full-page news.

That is, more than half the CT is for its benefit, not mine, as a consumer of news and opinion.

I am a newspaper devotee. I want print media to continue, but not this way. No disrespect, but the CT now looks like CityNews (steady fella, we’re free! – Ed), without the very enjoyable satire of Keeping Up the ACT.

Carry on CityNews, very soon you will be the only readable newspaper in this city.

Bill Brown, via email

NB. I have submitted this same letter to the editor of the Canberra Times. I doubt it will get published.

Thank you, scribblers all

This is our final letters post for the year and I want to thank all our letter writers – regular and infrequent – for their thoughts and wisdom over the past 12 months.

Ian Meikle, editor