“There should be a public inquiry, not just into the mistreatment of whistleblower David McBride, but also into serious allegations about the inhumane conditions other inmates face at the AMC,” says letter writer ANDREW WILLIAM HOPKINS.

The fact that Australian Army war crimes whistleblower David McBride has been granted a chance to appeal against his five years and eight months sentence at the dreadful Alexander Maconochie Centre prison in Canberra is long overdue.

It is important to understand that this occurred only because of the tireless efforts of Prof Ross Fitzgerald and other key supporters who continued to reveal the inhumane conditions that Mr McBride was facing. In a number of articles, Prof Fitzgerald also documented in detail, with first-person corroboration, deeply disturbing revelations about the terrible treatment of other prisoners at the AMC.

It is a condemnation of all the mainstream media that the only outlets that were courageous enough to publish Prof Fitzgerald’s revelations were CityNews and John Menadue’s national newsletter Pearls and Irritations.

But the campaign to free David McBride has only just begun. Whether or not the Public Defender’s Office can help with his appeal is unclear.

The federal government may spend millions of dollars opposing McBride’s appeal.

If so, there is an urgent need for those who value justice and the human rights of prisoners to contribute to his online fundraiser. 

The appeal may not happen until mid 2025. Well before then, there should be a public inquiry, not just into the mistreatment of Mr McBride, but also into serious allegations about the inhumane conditions other inmates face at the AMC.

It is ironic that probably the worst jail in Australia was named after one of the world’s greatest prison reformers, Alexander Maconochie. 

As Neal Price explained in a letter supporting a call for a federal parliamentary inquiry into the AMC, in 1840 Maconochie became governor of the brutal Norfolk Island prison colony.

In four years he had made remarkable progress in prisoner rehabilitation. Despite, or more likely because of his success, in 1844 the authorities shipped Maconochie back to England.

Is it beyond the dreams of avarice to hope that the disturbing revelations about the AMC prison are publicly debated?

And that they are widely covered, not just by CityNews and Pearls and Irritations, but by the mainstream media as well.

Andrew William Hopkins, Galston NSW

Lack of land crushes housing hopes

Dr Douglas McKenzie (Letters, CN September 26) complained about the consequences of houses being built only a metre apart with no back yards for kids to play in. 

These houses are not family friendly, are unattractive and are unaffordable for most couples seeking their first home.

What is the cause of this? Quite simply, lack of land, causing a high price for land. 

On the edge of Canberra, indeed at the edge of all cities and towns, there is plentiful land that can easily be developed for housing. But nobody wants to talk about this. 

Let’s freely, without any restrictions, develop this plentiful land for housing. As land prices fall due to the increased supply, house prices will come down and be a lot more affordable. With cheap land, houses will have adequate land for children to play and owners can develop gardens.

An article by Mike Quirk, an ex-ACT planner, on the facing page comes to the point: “Increased density is a key component of any strategy to date”. Why? 

There is an unexplained ideology that prevents greenfield development. But what if all the proles say that we have had enough of this? They say they want detached houses with large gardens, like our masters.

The cause of high house prices, anywhere, is the high cost of land. This so-called planning preventing the free development of land I believe started around 1995. Before then, the cost of house and land had a maximum ratio of 4.5 times income. Now this ratio is nearly double that.

As Henry George (on whose beliefs Canberra was founded) pointed out, high land prices are the only direct cause of poverty. The ACT government restricted the rate of development and is building slums on the edge of Canberra, and high-rise tenements towards the centre.

Tim Walshaw, Watson

A bad sign for Access Canberra

Following some lowlife stealing my street sign for the fourth time attempts to have this resolved though Access Canberra via their on-line service and direct phone contact leaves me with frustration, despair and anger. 

Lots of recorded messages about tree cutting and number button pushing options. It’s apparent this system doesn’t work adequately!

Would members of the Legislative Assembly please test run it in their spare time to determine whether it’s worth retaining or discarding? I come down on the latter.

John Lawrence via email

Not provoking China, it’s being prepared

Prof Ross Fitzgerald (letters CN September 26) claims that “Gareth Evans is utterly correct in maintaining that the AUKUS submarine agreement is a dangerous deal”. 

What would be more dangerous is if we had no means to fight back should we be attacked. It is not, as Ross claimed, that we would be provoking China, it is being prepared. 

China has a huge arsenal of weapons, warships and planes. Is he suggesting that we should not have military weapons to defend ourselves? This would be an invitation for an enemy to attack as we would be defenceless.

Vi Evans, via email

Price gouging at the base of profits?

The Guardian has placed Coles and Woolworths profits as the highest in the world. Is price gouging at the base of these profits? 

The only true indication of price gouging is to see the difference between the duopolies’ purchasing price and their selling price of those goods.

That knowledge will come when pigs fly. But the average person knows fact from fiction!

John Quinn, Spence

Weak-kneed response to Indian Mynas

After being a strong supporter of MLA Marisa Paterson, particularly for her stand on gambling advertising, I was disappointed to see the weak response by the Assembly committee she chaired into the impact of Indian Mynas on the local small bird population.

As one of the founding members of CIMAG (Canberra Indian Myna Action Group), I have managed to remove the large Indian Myna population from my backyard and been rewarded by the return of small birds, such as fairy wrens, blackbirds, sparrows, small owls and even larger bower birds and butcher birds.

It is a pity that the Committee on the Environment, Climate Change and Biodiversity is as weak-kneed as the Albanese government has been on gambling reforms, which have led directly to marriage breakdowns, suicide, family violence, homelessness and addiction among all levels of our society.

Ric Hingee, Duffy

Was it me who sent you to France, Ric?

I don’t know if I’m the “ex-journalist” who, according to Ric Hingee, writes too many letters, but being of generous mind I’ll take it as a compliment anyway. 

He did hint that this unnamed high-productivity letter writer forced him to take a holiday in France to escape the scribblings of those with whom he disagrees. 

Here I have to agree with Ric most heartily (at least his selection of country). I too, with my family, have vacationed in France and more than once. What a joy to forget the cares of Canberra’s local political machinations to absorb the charms of Paris and savour the scenery and products of provincial Burgundy and surrounding areas. 

Perhaps my ongoing alleged prolixity could cause Ric to reflect on his statement (letters, CN October 3) that if the Greens form government he would consider going back to France permanently. He might feel a lot better by doing so, regardless of the election result.

Eric Hunter, Cook