How many of us are sick and tired of the status quo?
The ACT Legislative Assembly… serious systemic failures by and within the elected ACT Government and its senior directorate officers, is increasing deficit in our happiness economy. Photo: Paul Costigan
“Call it what you will, but the emphasis on constant Big Build projects is not conducive to harmony with our natural environment and mental health,” says letter writer ILONA CRABB.
Re-reading the various readers’ letters regarding serious systemic failures by and within the elected ACT Government and its senior directorate officers, is there an increasing deficit in our happiness economy?
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Call it what you will, but the emphasis on constant Big Build projects is not conducive to harmony with our natural environment and mental health. Surely, we can do better?
Our constant daily pressures appear to be skewing our choices in happy community relationships, and personal relationships or to value our precious wildlife and remnants of habitat.
The ACT Conservator says it plainly that we now have fragments of nature corridors and residents have differing and strong opinions on how to manage wildlife.
Report cards on the success of spending huge amounts of our budget do not seem to help our happiness economy – our CBD is a disgrace. The lakes are sewers. Some of the scientific reports are difficult to respect as contesting evidence is clearly ignored on issues of wildlife and urban expansion.
Changing the topography of our peri-urban areas is not helping low-cost housing but adding to infrastructure costs and new property values.
How many of us are sick and tired of the status quo? There is definitely an outflow of disillusioned people that should be considered against the offset from new arrivals.
Ilona Crabb, via email
Embarrassed for Katy Gallagher
I feel sorry and embarrassed for the Minister for Women and ACT senator Katy Gallagher, who was clearly placed in the unfortunate position of having to publicly defend a prime minister, whose crass and infantile jokes, including a visual reference to a unique and culturally significant gift of prize melons as a metaphor for women’s breasts, in a recent media interview.
I also feel sorry for the other Labor women who have obviously been pushed out to defend this prime minister, knowing full well that such comments are sexist and degrading – not only to the Japanese prime minister who gifted the fruit, but to women generally, including women within his own party.
It is difficult to see how comments of this nature can be reconciled with a prime minister, government and political party that claims to champion respect, equality and the advancement of all women.
Darryl Johnston, Tuggeranong
Barr’s done precious little for homeless
I have been collecting stories for 20 years about the state of homelessness and the long public housing waiting list, and the cockamamie ballsup that is Housing ACT.
I can say that Chief Minister Andrew Barr has done precious little to resolve these issues in the past 20 years.
He could reduce the sale cost of land but, like our rates, has chosen to raise the costs to an extraordinary level and push us further toward bankruptcy.
Canberrans are pro-Voice and anti-Pauline Hanson, yet they keep electing this mob for what? We are to blame, too!
The government has a choice with the CSIRO land, which must be built with the homeless and public housing waiting list in mind before any further expenditure on a tram, or resign and hang your head in shame.
Russ Morison, Theodore
Homelessness – we’re doing better
Our housing crisis shames us all. No one in our wealthy country should be sleeping rough.
Nevertheless, Australia is doing far better than most other countries in addressing a worldwide housing crisis.
Forty-eight in every 100,000 Australians are sleeping on the streets on any given night. The equivalent figure for NZ is 217, and in the UK it is 56.
Trump’s America has solved this problem by making it a crime to be homeless. There are only 20 rough sleepers in every 100,000 Americans. However, some 200,000 are in prison on any night merely for being homeless. Hundreds of thousands more are jailed for petty crimes in a country without a social security safety net.
Noel Baxendell, Holt
We can now create clean energy
In response to letter writer Anthony Hordern, I agree carbon is indeed the basic building block of life on earth.
However, when we burn substances like coal, oil and gas, a substance called carbon dioxide is created.
When released into the atmosphere, this helps to form a blanket around the planet from which heat cannot escape−hence global warming. Currently, there is a total of around 3380 gigatonnes of CO2 in our atmosphere. Our planet is sick.
Painting your roof white can definitely help to reduce temperatures in urban “heat islands”, but unfortunately that’s not enough to fix the problem.
The only real remedy is to drastically reduce our use of the pollutants that are fuelling global warming. The good news is, we now have the technology to create clean energy, using solar and wind power backed up by battery storage.
Anne O’Hara, via email
Good bang for our tax bucks?
Over the years, there have been articles about politicians rorting taxpayers’ money for travel.
Remember Bronwyn Bishop’s $5000 helicopter ride from Melbourne to Geelong in 2015? And Sussan Ley’s 2015 jaunt to the Gold Coast to purchase an investment property on taxpayers’ time and money.
Recently I’ve read media articles about Pauline Hanson’s supporters funding $860 a night for her swanky accommodation in London.
And on to our chief minister; I have him travelling on 16 trips taking up 62 days in 2024-2025; this equates to two months away from his office.
One must ask, are ACT taxpayers’ getting a good bang for their buck? If so, what is the bang?
Janine Haskins, Cook
The true value for the ratepayer?
When looking at benefits/extras for our elected members, some are warranted but others seem to be self-serving.
For example, there is “sister city” travel, which is nothing more than a ratepayer-funded jaunt. On return to Australia we are amazed to be told about transport and education studies justifying this nonsense .
Existing privileges need better scrutiny and intelligent questions must be raised about the true value for the ratepayer because there is a sinking feeling we’re being dudded.
I wonder if Parton and his crew are awake to this one or if it interests them. On past form probably not, with them also being a benefactor!
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