“What efforts have been made to save these gentle wombats from being run over when they attempt to cross the highway in a country area near Canberra?” asks letter writer SUSAN CRUTTENDEN, of Dalmeny, NSW. 

As convenor of the Global Nature Positive Summit, it would have been difficult for Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek to convince ecologists from home and overseas that our federal government is doing enough to reduce our present record-high rate of native animal extinction. 

Take the case of the wombat, a native marsupial that is already extinct in parts of our great southern land, but can still be found in some rural and semi-rural areas. What efforts have been made to save these gentle creatures from being run over when they attempt to cross the highway in a country area near Canberra? 

The accompanying photo is of a dead wombat, one of many along the Kings Highway between Braidwood and Bungendore. It also shows a tiny wombat joey half out of its mother’s pouch.

Effective signage, including digital smart signs, could help reduce the number of such road deaths, according to experts such as Prof Darryl Jones, an ecologist and expert in wildlife signage from Griffith University. Unfortunately such signage with follow-up speeding fines for offending motorists have not been widely applied in all states. Wombats become most active at dawn and dusk, which is the time drivers should be made aware of the danger of collision. 

The wombat is an inoffensive creature. It eats leaves, roots and grass, and digs intricate burrows for its young to provide shelter and a safe retreat from extreme weather and bushfires. Such burrows also sometimes form a refuge for other creatures. 

The foetus wombat joey is born very small and under-developed. It weighs about two grams and is roughly the size and colour of a pink jelly bean. 

The tiny black joey in the photo lying between the hind legs of its dead mother was certainly too young to survive the impact of a car. 

The blue cross on the bloated corpse of the adult indicates that it has been marked for removal. How many similar deaths have taken place over the past few years. Do we know? Do we care?

Susan Cruttenden, Dalmeny, NSW 

On the beat with Cold Chisel and the fun police

I recall memories of many years ago, decades in fact, when the Food and Wine Frolic was one of the highlights of my year. 

We would gather in a group, a picnic blanket, a cask of wine or two, and purchase tickets to buy food from the amazing array of delightful delights at the event. It was so much fun.

We would party like there was no tomorrow – no violence, no aggression; just a whole bunch of young people enjoying the day and each other’s company.

Fast forward about 35 years; the Frolic is no longer a thing, as is the same with the Birdman Rally. We live in a risk-adverse territory now, which is so very sad.

A couple of weeks ago, some of my crew and I attended the Cold Chisel concert at Stage 88 in Commonwealth Park, the same venue as the Frolic.

At entry to the event, I was directed to tip my beautiful cold water out of my water bottle (substituted by lukewarm water inside the venue), and having my bag rigorously checked for contraband (alcohol, umbrellas, butter knives etcetera). It felt like going through security on an overseas flight!

At $16 for a pre-mix can of spirits, I decided not to bother imbibing.

Then, walking to the toilets, I saw a bit of a furore at the designated smoking area, and with my innate curiosity (or perhaps nosiness!), I decided to see what was going on.

The security company staff, XPG, were directing smokers to leave their drinks outside the designated smoking area while they smoked. This caused quite a ruckus between punters and the security staff, as many were concerned their drinks could be spiked while they left them unattended. I concur; I would feel the same way.

Then the constabulary arrived, and I mentioned to a police officer about community safety in relation to drinks being potentially spiked. The response I received was that people need to keep an eye on their drinks. Pardon? It seemed that I needed to explain the bleeding obvious: “Hello, harm is caused because people are oblivious to the fact their drinks have been spiked, umm, if someone saw their drink being spiked, do you think they would then drink it?”

So, safe to say, all is well and thriving with the fun police, and confirmation that the ACT is indeed a nanny territory.

On the flip side, Cold Chisel was brilliant!

Janine Haskins, Cook

Sensible option is live within planetary limits

John L Smith (letters, CN November 28) seems to be arguing for nuclear and against renewables.

His point about capacity (ignoring pro-nuclear arguments) is not without foundation.

The more realistic and sensible option open to humanity is to significantly reduce our materials and energy use, so we can live within planetary limits.

Peter Tait, O’Connor

Dutton’s indifference to good governance

Peter Dutton’s use of scare campaigns and thought bubbles as policy, demonstrate his indifference to good governance. 

He is relying on the community’s inability to identify truth in the mountain of misinformation and disinformation spread on social media and by some Murdoch outlets.

His claim Labor is responsible for the cost-of-living crisis ignores the contribution of Coalition spending during the pandemic; the impacts of the disruption of material and labour supply chains, the surge in the prices of energy, fertilisers and food from the invasion of Ukraine and that increased housing costs were also a product of failed housing policies over decades especially the distortion of negative gearing and the capital gains tax discounts. 

House prices could increase from the Coalition’s plan to allow homebuyers to withdraw up to 40 per cent of their super savings to buy their first home as it increases demand. It would also lower retirement savings. 

His nuclear “policy” won’t keep the lights on or keep prices down. Even if his nuclear reactors were viable, they won’t be providing power for at least 15 years. The policy makes climate targets impossible to meet by extending the use of coal and requiring the use of more gas. 

Extending the life of coal-fired power stations will have to be funded from higher bills to consumers, higher taxes, a reduction in services or increased debt. 

Similarly, increased use of gas would increase prices from the need for substantial new infrastructure, including LPG terminals.

Overwhelming scientific evidence demonstrates climate change is not a hoax. Political parties too frequently bow to the demands of powerful interest groups, including the mining industry. 

Is it no longer possible to advance the national interest by debating issues informed by the truth? Or are we trapped in a Trumpian post-truth world?

Mike Quirk, Garran

We dodged a bullet in defeating the Voice

Apparently, Eric Hunter believes “Voice misinformation is still flying around” (letters, CN November 28) and how the Voice failed because of issues that seemed to become lost in the cloud of politically based misinformation that destroyed the Voice nationally.

I challenge Mr Hunter to identify exactly what he believes to have been such misinformation. To the contrary, I can identify many aspects of skullduggery by the government and supporters using real misinformation. See my analysis, posted at the time on my website alogstudycente.com.au.

The truth is that Australia dodged a bullet in defeating the Voice. Ironically, voters did it for whatever reason, but most would not have been aware of the ticking time bomb buried therein, being the principal requirement of the Aboriginal elite pushing the Voice.

That was their refusal to accede to the request of both the attorney-general and PM to exclude representation by the Voice to all levels of government, which could have crippled our country’s administration.

Of course, the PM should have pulled the plug then and there but, in sheer hubris, did not.

And as for the ACT voters who “thought carefully enough about the issues involved to favour the Voice”, who is Mr Hunter kidding when he and the 64 per cent of rusted-on Labor voters have put Labor into government in the ACT so far for 28 years, despite the financial scandals, sheer incompetence and spiralling debt?

Max Flint, Erindale Centre

Voice silenced by Albanese’s ego

I note Eric Hunter is still carrying on about the Voice, “Voice misinformation still flying around”, (letters, CN November 28) when in fact he helped contribute to the “misinformation”. 

Nowhere in his letter does he mention Albanese’s part in the Voice failing, along with his own and all the others who were promoting a “Yes” vote so voraciously. 

Shortly after Albanese promoted a referendum on the Voice and pushed the issue day after day, I expressed reservations about his strategy in CityNews and was accused by Hunter of being a “No” advocate when I was no such thing.

What Albanese was doing with his constant promotion of the Voice and his refusal to take it off the agenda when it was obvious it would fail, is that it was an ego trip for him and a vote on his popularity. 

I stated that I felt the Voice would fail if he continued in this vein, which was made even worse when large businesses, sporting bodies and other discredited bodies like Qantas, got involved. 

The First Australians, who should have been running the show, hardly got a look in. Others, like Hunter, made it worse by promoting a “Yes” vote on an almost daily basis, which resulted in the feeling that this was an operation being masterminded by an “elite”.

No wonder only the ACT voted “Yes” when the general population, especially in rural areas, gave it the big “No”. 

It was never going to succeed and Albanese should have pulled the referendum before it came to a vote, but his ego would not allow it. As a result the indigenous cause has been put back years, if not decades. 

I presume that Hunter was unaware that I worked with and on ATSIC under Senator Collins for some years, so actually had an idea of what I was talking about. 

So it was not “politically based misinformation that destroyed the Voice nationally”, but Albanese’s ego, big business seeking to make profits and various organisations and sporting bodies being seen to be woke. 

I would hope that Eric Hunter will at least see some credit in my viewpoint.

Ric Hingee, Duffy 

Multi-billion dollar folly that is light rail 2B

Two comments in the letter from Colin Lyons (CN, December 5) caught my attention. 

He was justifiably scathing of the inordinately high cost and long time taken to install traffic lights at the intersection of Athllon Drive and Mannheim Street in Kambah.

In any event, as Mr Lyons’ “very experienced civil engineer” told him, traffic lights increase the incidence of tail-end collisions. Of course this incidence could be reduced or eliminated if drivers exercised caution and slowed as they approached traffic lights.

Mr Lyons also referred to persistence with the light rail project as the “grand-daddy waste of money of them all”, despite much less expensive options such as expanding the electric bus fleet to service the entire city and not just the narrow transport corridors that suit certain developers.

The electric bus option would not only provide public transport for many more people, it would be far less costly than the multi-billion dollar folly of light rail stage 2B.

Dr Douglas Mackenzie, Deakin

Liberal boffins must have worked hard on this!

Voters were duped, conned and fell for trickery in the May 2022 federal election (“Seat wobble pushes Fletcher to dump on teals”, Michelle Grattan, citynews.com.au December 4). 

So says a senior federal Liberal frontbencher who now insults those who thought carefully and chose to vote for a progressive community independent instead of a Liberal candidate.  

No doubt Liberal Party boffins worked long and hard on this latest part of their strategy to win back the hearts and minds of voters, especially  women.  

Sue Dyer, Downer  

Happy days, but there’s a question

Now the dust has settled on our Legislative Assembly elections and the referee’s result is in finding us joyfully functioning under the Hare Clark happy-days-are-here-again system of electoral brilliance, the burning question must surely originate from television’s celebrity doctor Phil Mcgraw and that would be: “And how’s that working for you ??”

John Lawrence via email

McBain ‘ignores’ community and the parliament

On November 13, Minister Kristy McBain published a media release entitled “New Local Governance for Norfolk Island” that imposes on Norfolk Island a modified version of the Queensland Local Government model.

The Accommodation and Tourism Association of Norfolk Island (ATA) categorically rejects this new governance model, which basically imposes more of the same on the community.

In October 2023, the Norfolk Island community elected three representatives with a resounding majority of votes to faithfully represent the will of the community on the Norfolk Island Governance Committee (NIGC).

The three members were elected on a platform that opposes a local governance model as it continues to deny true democracy to the people of Norfolk Island and fails to address the democratic deficit.

In representing the will of the community, the NIGC community representatives have rejected the local governance model being imposed by the minister on the community. 

One of the NIGC community representatives has voiced her opposition to the imposed model by publishing a statement and resigning from the NIGC, while the other two are attempting to make it very clear to the federal government that, on behalf of most of the community, they also oppose a local governance model.

Opposition to any form of a local governance model has been expressed in an overwhelming number of submissions to the NIGC, as well as by many of the organisations on the island, including the Council of Elders and Norfolk Island People for Democracy. 

A local governance model is not fit for purpose, resulting in negative impacts in many areas, including the accommodation and tourism sector, which is the main driver of the Norfolk Island economy.

The minister has ignored the will of the people. Consequently, the ATA’s trust in the negotiation process has been eroded.

The minister plans to implement the new Norfolk Island Assembly by an Ordinance made under s19A of the Norfolk Island Act 1979 (Cth), which clearly avoids the democratic advantages of parliamentary debate and scrutiny. 

The minister’s stated reason is speed and limited government resources for creating legislation. However, it would enhance democracy by accepting a delay, and obtaining community acceptance, rather than rushing the process, ignoring community sentiment and sidelining the Australian Parliament.

Rael Donde, president, 

Norfolk Island Accommodation and Tourism Association