Views on the news from Canberra’s top columnists
What the High Court justice did in his talk was to pull aside the curtain emblazoned with Sir Samuel Griffith's name and reveal the sad spectacle on the other side. The response was strident and personal, writes legal columnist HUGH SELBY.
"What this government is now doing is abandoning any effective control on residential densities in suburban areas… at the same time reducing standards for on-site car parking," writes planning expert RICHARD JOHNSTON.
"Minister Steel specifically stated in his announcement that the government is looking at making changes to the existing taxation regime arrangements for property." says letter writer RON EDGECOMBE.
"The bushland ring surrounding Parliament House was a central element of the original design... Any substantial intrusion into this perimeter warrants careful public examination". GEORGE WILSON has concerns about the tram route to Woden.
"Australia’s cocaine trade illustrates how strong domestic demand, exceptionally high prices and globalised criminal supply chains can sustain a resilient illicit market," writes CLIVE WILLIAMS.
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.
"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.
KEEPING UP THE ACT reveals the power of ACT Labor's Justice Warriors and how they get things done for the community! Yeah, naw!
"In Treasurer Jim Chalmer's intergenerational equity-obsession budget, the boomer generation in particular is being punished for the temerity of working hard, and taking risks in buying properties!" writes columnist ROSS FITZGERALD.
"A fraction of the money saved by not extending the tram to Woden could be used turning the Kingston Railway Station into a welcoming and convenient environment for tourists and business travellers alike," writes BEATRICE BODART-BAILEY.
The treasurer has 'totally' squibbed it in making changes to unsustainable superannuation benefits, says letter writer IAN DE LANDELLES.
'In justice, we converted the desirable aim of taking seriously those who make complaints of being forced into unwanted sexual acts into the prejudiced assertion that what they allege is true,' writes legal affairs columnist HUGH SELBY.
Why has the weather been so unseasonally warm? And what will winter look like? KIMBERLEY REID decodes the climate science...
Winners and losers, it's budget time, says cartoonist PAUL DORIN.
With apologies to Britney Spears, KEEPING UP THE ACT devotes the column to Betty Blunder, Labor's lady of lapses.
Specialist doctors are charging too much. ANTHONY SCOTT has four options to rein in excessive fees...
"So who are the main under achievers, apart from the obvious ones of Chief Minister Andrew Barr and his Treasurer Chris Steel?" Letter writer RIC HINGEE isn't shy to name names...
