Prof Brian Cox… “Bouquets for exposing us to this modern scientific genius. Brickbats, however, for the venue,” writes Dennis Martin.
What a privilege it was to have been present to hear one of the world’s great scientific gurus… pity about the venue, bemoans letter writer DENNIS MARTIN.
An ever youthful and always engaging Prof Brian Cox spoke for over two hours, electrifying (sometimes stupefying) an audience of around 3500 fellow Canberrans, the majority of whom were young.
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From the nanosphere of the building blocks of life (as we know it) to the barely imaginable possibility of a multiverse (noting that apparently there are over a trillion galaxies in our localuniverse), at rockstar ticket prices such was his gravitational power.
He started with Keppler’s snowflake, which became a metaphor for scientific observations. Over about 400 years scientists have been able to verify them. Patterns observed in space are replicated in the natural world. He asserts they are connected.
What a privilege it was to have been present to hear one of the world’s great scientific gurus.
His talk was interspersed with dramatic visuals on a massive screen behind him.
The venue was Exhibition Park called EPIC, originally built as an agricultural pavilion for the Canberra show, but it was anything but epic. As a Canberran I was ashamed to think that this venue was the best on offer for such scientific royalty.
Why our federal and territory governments haven’t prioritised the building of a world-class Convention Centre for such events is beyond stratospheric comprehension.
Everyone was seated on a flat auditorium floor. There were no side screens to be able to view Brian Cox and the visuals and graphics on the screen.
We were about one third the way from the stage and because of the bobbing heads of those similarly compromised in front of us we barely saw him and the graphics. Goodness knows how anyone seated behind us saw him at all.
Bouquets for exposing us to this modern scientific genius.
Brickbats, however, for the venue.
And though the subject for another letter with so much congestion getting to and from the venue, desultory planning was on display with no traffic control on the road or in the car parks. The few trams observed going in both directions had barely a soul on them.
Come on, Canberra, we can do far better than this. The nation’s capital warrants it.
Dennis Martin, Deakin
Greens ‘support’ Canberra Metro shareholders
Light rail Stage 2B will probably increase the ACT’s greenhouse emissions.
The draft Environmental Impact Statement for Stage 2B identifies two major emissions sources.
First, construction of Stage 2B will cause 100,000 tonnes of CO2-e emissions.
Second, Stage 2B will increase annual car travel by about 12 million kilometres. That extra car travel would currently cause about 3000 tonnes of annual CO2-e emissions. Those emissions will fall as electric cars replace petrol and diesel cars.
The total emissions increase from cars, from commencement of Stage 2B to the year 2050, would be of the order of 20,000 tonnes CO2-e.
The biggest plus for Stage 2B is that it would reduce emissions from buses. Stage 1 temporarily reduced annual bus emissions by a few hundred tonnes CO2-e. Stage 2B will have a similar initial impact. Bus emissions will in any case fall to zero by 2040, when all our buses will be zero emissions.
ACT Greens Transport spokesman Andrew Braddock is reportedly calling on ACT Senator Katy Gallagher, and ACT MPs Dr Andrew Leigh, Alicia Payne and David Smith, to publicly back Light Rail Stage 2B.
The ACT Greens seem to be supporting Canberra Metro’s shareholders, at the expense of the environment.
Leon Arundell, Downer
Is light rail just Barr’s vanity project?
The ACTION bus fleet currently numbers 106 electric buses. Job well in hand, environmentally. And they can service every route and suburb needed in the ACT.
Nevertheless the ACT Government is intent on building a massive concrete rail track bed and overhead catenary on a fixed-route extension to Woden with staggeringly unnecessary higher construction costs. And on a route that is fixed and widely condemned, which will only service 10 per cent of public transport needs.
Is the entire ACT community really in favour of Light Rail Stage 2B or is it just a vanity project of Chief Minister Barr?
I was gobsmacked watching the news: there was “breaking news”. The war in Iran? The war in Ukraine? The ongoing war between Israel and Palestine?
The “breaking news” was Ivan Cleary’s decision to step down from coaching the Penrith Panthers following next year’s NRL season.
Never mind the budget that was just handed down, nor the inquest into Clare Nowland’s death, nor the stories about the wars where people, including innocent adults and children are being killed, and the impact on countries and communities on a global level, physically,psychologically and fiscally.
All of that was as nothing when the great Ivan gave notice about an event far into the future.
Let’s just hope that it all works out for the Penrith Panthers.
Meanwhile, go you Mighty Tigers (Richmond); if we win another game this season, perhaps it will make breaking news. Got to get our priorities right.
Janine Haskins, Cook
There’s Eric at the table, but why?
As a long-time political tragic, with a voracious appetite for “traditional” media, I have not seen, read or heard any mention of the significant role his son, Eric, appeared to play in the recent visit to China by the US President.
While there has been considerable vision of the younger Trump accompanying his father to official functions, no mention at all about why Eric was there.
The most significant event of any high-level visit was always the state banquet.
Here, Eric sat at the head table, close to his father, and next to Wang Yi, the Chinese Foreign Minister, and arguably the most powerful man in the CCP after President Xi.
Given that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was in the visiting delegation, I would have thought that protocol would deem that he would have been seated with his Chinese equivalent.
Is it too Machiavellian to ponder that Trump is positioning Eric as the “chosen one” and anointing him as his successor.
Given Trump has long been infatuated with British royalty, perhaps it’s his attempt to emulate this heredity process.
Ian De Landelles, Murray’s Beach, NSW
I like cats, but they should be indoors
Re the letter from Robyn Soxsmith (CN May 7) about feral cats: feral cats are now at home in all of Australia, including the most challenging of our biotopes, eg the deserts.
They have had and are still having extremely destructive effects on our wildlife, which evolved without these very efficient predators.
They have almost certainly caused some extinctions.
All Australian cats should be indoors only. It was humans (Europeans) who introduced cats here.
By the way, I like cats, but Australian cats should always live indoors. I have known some indoor cats and they were perfectly happy.
Angela Giblin
We’re stuffed, welcome to the club
Just when I was beginning to despair about the poor job our generation has done in advancing democracy, I am reminded that the wind did actually change a bit.
Jim Fraser WAS a model for elected representatives in a democracy. He did not appear to be intimidated by other people associated with the political party with which he was associated. He also did not appear to be in Parliament to get himself a better job than merely representing an electorate.
Which takes me to letter writer Ric Hingee’s observation that we need better people to represent us. I think the real situation is that we need to elect people who are looking to represent us and not their pre-selection standing, personal career aspirations and the like.
One way of starting the push for some proper democracy, might be to prohibit our elected representatives from holding any office other than the one they applied for and were elected to perform.
Surely there is more talent in the community which does not wish to represent a political party, than we are ever likely to get a chance to elect through the existing processes.
The ACT, like Tasmania and – I argue – the Senate, have voting systems that provide for even less than 20 per cent of the electorate to choose a representative who they feel is willing to be part of the political process, to represent their interests.
It never ceases to amaze me that in the ACT, with such a high level of education, the voters are still choosing by significant margins to vote for candidates on the basis of their assumed capacity to RULE the territory.
Instead of working to get their own snouts into the troughs of office, elected representatives in a democratic government situation, could work as a team to support accountable, skilled managers, in the business of running the business of the ACT for the population of the ACT.
I don’t really care that much if the population of the ACT cannot be bothered using the opportunity they have. I live over the border and we are stuffed anyway. Welcome to the club.
Lawrie Nock via email
You get what you vote for!
John Lawrence in his letter “London Circuit Club Med needs a shake up” (CN May14) is rightfully concerned about the ACT Government’s poor economic performance.
He mentions light rail, the debt, the past AAA rating and then he implores voters to show their disappointment and shout, “enough of this nonsense”.
John is disappointed with the government, but he is a little more disappointed with the opposition who he calls “radio static and Hare Clark Hoover free-for-alls”.
There’s an old saying – you get what you vote for.
Maybe some of those rusted-on voters could show their disappointment at the next election, but somehow I don’t think so.
Paul Temby via email
‘Hidden’ greenhouse gas emissions
A new report from non-profit Changing Markets Foundation says that the huge amounts of greenhouse gas emissions produced by meat and dairy are being kept off the climate agenda due to “hidden” partnerships with international climate bodies.
The report states that, although climate change is a real threat to food security, the narrative of groups such as COP30 is reframed and exploited by meat and dairy industry corporations to justify the continued growth of animal agriculture.
Scientists agree that we cannot stay close to a 1.5°C temperature increase, as stipulated by the Paris Agreement, if we do not significantly cut methane emissions and reduce consumption of animal products – yet both are projected to increase.
This matters even more in Australia, with meteorologists predicting a “super El Niño” developing this year and into 2027. This is likely to produce severe droughts, extreme temperatures, and the risk of catastrophic bushfires.
In Australia, cattle and sheep farming accounts for about 70 per cent of Australian agricultural emissions, largely from methane (CH₄) emitted from enteric fermentation.
These animals are all unique, feeling individuals, who suffer horrendous cruelty that includes branding, dehorning and castration without anaesthesia.
The best way to combat disastrous climate change, and the accompanying suffering, is with your knife and fork – by switching to vegan meals.
"A quatrain is a stanza or verse in poetry that has four lines. It often follows a rhyming formula of 'couplets', 'alternating rhymes' and 'enclosed rhymes'," writes Whimsy columnist CLIVE WILLIAMS.
"A bit harsh? Alas, as at the end of 2025, only 37 per cent of surveyed Ombudsman customers were satisfied. Also telling, and dismal, is that the office aspiration is only 65 per cent." bemoans HUGH SELBY.
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