“Ben Roberts-Smith earned his Victoria Cross for Australia and Medal of Gallantry in some faraway foreign land that his Australian government saw fit to send him in order to fight an enemy of a terrorist regime,” says letter writer and former soldier ROSS E SMITH.
Life on a battlefield is not for the faint hearted and disgustingly inhuman – kill or be killed.
My duty as an infantry soldier was to hunt and to close with your enemy in all types of weather and terrain and KILL. Period!
In combat your adrenalin rush is super high, and one becomes insensitive to any form of humanity such as life.
My comments come from my ancient heart as an Australian Army soldier of 27 years and as a veteran of the bloody Battle of Long Tan (August 18, 1966, South Vietnam) and other countries my government sent me. My family never saw me for a sum of five-plus years due to my military commitments.
Ben Roberts-Smith (BRS) earned his Victoria Cross for Australia and Medal of Gallantry in some faraway foreign land that his Australian government saw fit to send him in order to fight an enemy of a terrorist regime.
Columnist Hugh Selby is a disgrace (“National embarrassment: take the medals back now”, CN October 9) stating that it’s time to take back BRS’s bravery decorations.
Soldiers do what they have to in time of war and sometimes unpleasantries of combat happen, brutal and inhumane.
Therefore, Hugh Selby, pull ya head in and there will be no further trial by media nor public outcry for BRS to hand back his well-earned bravery decorations.
I suggest Hugh Selby thanks the Australian Defence Force service personnel, past and present, for allowing him the freedoms he has in our great nation, Australia.
Ross E Smith OAM, via email
Time the AWM honestly told the story
If the Australian War Memorial does not get cracking soon on telling the Ben Roberts-Smith story confidently, honestly and clearly, then it will permanently damage its own reputation and legacy, especially if any of this story continues to be exhibited in the memorial’s Hall of Valour (“National embarrassment: take medals back now”, and “Bomber’s wars on wet blankets and woke warriors”, City News October 2 and 9).
The Roberts-Smith story is certainly not just about him and his medals, as numerous high-level inquiries, court cases and other expert investigations have shown.
A thoroughly revised display and interpretation space for the story in the memorial’s Afghanistan war gallery should include mention of Mohammed Essa and his son Ahmadullah, who were killed in Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan in 2009 by unconscionable military activity.
The murder of these two men, and the subsequent contemptuous abuse of Ahmadullah’s prosthetic leg, are integral parts of the Roberts-Smith story.
After all, this time the two men’s wives, children and other family members deserve to see how Australians are willing to address and consider the circumstances of these deaths and learn from them.
Sue Dyer, Downer
‘Contaminated’ land needs to be investigated
We are all aware that negotiations are currently under way between the ACT and Commonwealth governments regarding the future of the former CSIRO Research Station in north Belconnen.
As a former CSIRO soil scientist I am fully aware of the lingering contamination on the site from agricultural chemicals.
Before any determination is made on the future use of this land there should be an investigation (Commission of Enquiry) into the contamination and the most suitable use of this land in the future.
That may not necessarily be development, but something more akin to a native grassland or nature reserve.
Dr Chris Watson, Latham
Correct call for a planning commision
Richard Johnston (letters, CN October 2) hit the nail on the head with his call for an independent planning commission in the ACT.
It is a widely shared view that developers call the shots in the ACT and that the ACT Planning and Land Authority falls well short of the mark in its role as a professional planning organisation. Of course, that reflects what the ACT government wants to see.
Richard highlights the damning finding of the Tasmanian Planning Commission against the construction of the proposed Hobart Stadium. He also contends, correctly, that the respective ACT and national planning authorities are toothless tigers, a widely held view.
How could the NCA possibly support the extension of light rail into the Parliamentary Triangle – indefensible on financial, environmental and transport planning grounds?
A competent planning commission in the ACT would have strongly opposed an extension of light rail. They might also have recommended against approval for some other developments such as the high-rise monstrosities in our town centres.
Colin Lyons, Weetangera
Tram obsession looks like obstinate stupidity
No one should doubt the experience and wisdom of Jon Stanhope, a former chief minister of the ACT, and Dr Khalid Ahmed, a former senior ACT Treasury official.
Their recent analysis (“You were warned, but you didn’t listen, Mr Barr”, CN October 9) once again sounds alarming warning bells.
The progressive downgrading of the ACT’s credit rating from AAA to AA+ and now to AA tracks the path of the ACT government’s sustained financial mismanagement.
Stanhope and Ahmed say the reasons cited by S&P Global for the credit downgrade refer to the “territory’s significant budget deficits and large capital spending pipeline, including an extension to the city’s light rail”.
It is high time the ACT government does not just blunder on and create a financial disaster for the ACT’s ratepayers. The lack of foresight on the part of the ACT government is now looking more like obstinate stupidity.
Murray May, Cook
Funded council waves through light rail stage 2
The Conservation Council ACT Region recently made a submission on the draft environmental impact statement for light rail stage 2b.
Climate Action Canberra’s contribution to the Council’s submission pointed out that the draft statement had not met the requirement that it assess alternatives to the proposal and identify the consequences of not proceeding with the proposal.
The Council ignored Climate Action Canberra’s contribution. Its submission endorsed light rail stage 2.
The Council’s submission was not endorsed by Council members Climate Action Canberra, Pedal Power ACT, 350.org Canberra or Extinction Rebellion ACT.
Most of the Conservation Council’s funding comes from the ACT government.
Leon Arundell, Downer
Looking for a ‘Whitlam’ in the Liberal Party
From the late ’50s, and through the ’60s, the ALP was unelectable as a direct consequence of the ideological battle that became known as The Split, and gave rise to the creation of the Democratic Labor Party.
During that time, the flow of DLP preferences ensured that coalition governments continued to be elected federally and in most of the states.
The current ructions in the Liberal Party, also have their genesis in an ideological battle for the hearts and minds of both branch members and the electorate.
During their days in the political wilderness, voters rightly decided if the ALP couldn’t govern itself, they certainly couldn’t be trusted to govern the country.
For Labor, it wasn’t until Gough Whitlam became leader that their electoral fortunes changed.
There may well be a “Whitlam” in the Liberal Party, but it’s not evident to me.
Ian De Landelles, Murrays Beach, NSW
‘Firebomb’ gully was a lovely experience
Robert Macklin in his column “Sad things Mr Weston could not have imagined” (CN September 23) goes dramatically off track in his assessment of the causes of loss of views from his back deck.
It seems that you can blame suburban expansion, the Barr government and, of course, “the bloody tram”, for every ill that supposedly befalls our city.
Walking through the “firebomb” of a gully between his estate and Cooleman Court this morning was a lovely experience – the grassy swale lined by both eucalypts and sheoaks, and the rocky outcrop overlooking it.
Maintenance of the cycle path is needed, yes, and the swale drains are choked with leaf litter that blocks runoff. But 30-metre tall Roman candles waiting to explode?
What’s so special about this gully, Mr Macklin, other than the tops of the trees now blocking your views?
All of Weston Creek is threaded with similarly aged native trees, wide fairways of them stretching between houses in all directions. They make this town what it is
The 2003 firestorm poured over Narrabundah Hill into Duffy, Chapman and Holder fed by the monolithic pine plantation, and then the houses and eucalypts burned together.
Your gully may lead to Cooleman Court (where shopping and parking is far from the Dantean nightmare you describe), but if there ever is another firestorm like 2003, Cooleman Court would be well ablaze before the flames reach the gully, given the prevailing westerly fire weather winds.
In any case, if a non-Labor government is ever elected in the ACT, somehow I think their inevitable “emergency budget repair” would involve a lot of costly light rail contract cancellation and consequent cutting of funding and staffing to (amongst others) suburban greenspace maintenance.
Rob Lipping, Holder
Suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome?
Columnist Michael Moore (“Liberals aren’t liberals, they’re really conservative”, CN October 2) is another person who seems to suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome in his defence of Jimmy Kimmel and John Lyons.
The mainstream media in the US and here in Australia have always given Trump a hard time and failed to properly recognise any of the many good things he has done for his country and others, especially in his attempts at world peace, which the previous government under Joe Biden saw two major wars start in Ukraine and Gaza.
He states Trump hates liberals, but no mention of Labor PM Anthony Albanese “hating Tories” or failing to meet with likely next leader of the UK Nigel Farage, because according to Albanese he is too far right, yet he is leading the polls there and appealing to the majority of British people, hardly far right. It is more that Albanese is far left, so anything to the centre is far right to him.
He states that domestic terrorism is the work of the right wing, but if he had bothered to look at more recent research such as that from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies he would have found that in recent years violent attacks from the left wing have increased and this year has seen the majority of domestic terrorism from the far left.
He also doesn’t take into account that a lot of terrorism is from radical Islam, who the left love to support, I guess that is why he has trouble understanding why Liberal leader Sussan Ley would rescind the recognition of Israel. What did that great, centrist Labor PM Bob Hawke say about Israel?
Maybe Michael and others should ask themselves why nearby Muslim countries such as Egypt and Syria don’t support Palestine.
Ian Pilsner, Weston
Descent into a dark age of hate and ignorance
In America, the progressive centre, motivated by compassion, fairness and empathy, is called the radical, lunatic left.
The mainstream media is called fake for presenting the pros and cons of issues.
The criticisms are from an immoral foppish philanderer with fake skin, fake hair and fake religiosity.
An inveterate liar guided by the deceit that if you tell a lie often enough it becomes the truth.
A vicious bully, except when it comes to holding Putin and Netanyahu to account for their atrocities
A divider, who incited rebellion, manufactured the existence of an enemy within, repressed the disadvantaged, preferred the wisdom of his gut and hip pocket to scientific or historical evidence.
Boosted by a self-aggrandising tech-billionaire oligarchy intent on restricting freedom of expression and the dissemination of knowledge, he is facilitating a descent into a dark age of hate and ignorance.
Supported by an obsequious and increasingly morally bankrupt Republican Party
Can sufficient Americans be shaken from a stupor fuelled by this Mephistopheles and his moronic, plutocratic and authoritarian oligarchy? If they can’t, America will never again be a beacon on a hill or truly great.
Mike Quirk, Garran
Highly risky experiment in electricity supply
The opinion of the former chief scientist Alan Finkel quoted by Ray Peck (letters, CN October 9) does nothing to change the fact that the development of the AEMO grid is a highly risky experiment, and if it fails it will result in unreliable electricity supply.
We won’t know if the experiment is a success until the grid is nearing its final configuration of 500 widely dispersed generator sites, and the expanded transmission line network is substantially in place.
This compares to about 50 base-load generator sites and the simpler grid that would be sufficient.
The environmental degradation will be considerable and opposition to developments for that reason alone is likely to grow. There are many other unknowns.
Can the configuration maintain supply without interruptions caused by the frequent faults that will arise from natural and system events over such a wide area, and at what cost?
Unless transport can be electrified, the experiment would be deemed of marginal value. Will the production and recycling of the relatively short life-cycle component modules be sustainable? For example, if the world were to move its car fleet to EVs, battery supply would have to be at least 5TWH annually, just for that segment of energy storage.
John L Smith, Farrer
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