Unmanned Aerial Vehicle The latest drone news
The ACT Emergency Service Agency (ESA) Commissioner, Dominic Lane, this week stated that Canberra’s bushfire risk is as high as it was in the 2003 fires and warned against community complacency. Is it community or government complacency that is the problem here?
The Strategic Bushfire Management Plan sensibly prohibits developments that concentrate members of the community in areas at high risk from bushfire unless approved by the ESA.
In light of the commissioner’s warning, the rezoning of Canberra’s fire region to exclude the Darwinia Park area and other areas affected by the 2003 fires should be urgently reconsidered, as should the Darwinia Park medium-density housing development project. This is a matter of life and death and needs the ACT government to give it more serious attention. If the government is prepared to take the risk of building medium-density housing on bushfire-prone sites, it should also be prepared to take more responsibility for managing the risks it is creating for both existing and future residents.
Alice Corby, Canberra
Trees can save us
Once again fires have ravaged farmland and almost engulfed a Canberra suburb. When will we realise, that the one sure way of mitigating these fires is with the planting of deciduous trees?
The deciduous trees are fire retardant. They save homes and livestock.
They should be planted around the borders of each farm and each nature reserve in thick stands.
They should be planted within farms and natural reserves in regular clumps to mitigate the spread of bushfires.
They must be planted as a protective border around suburbs, especially those that back onto bushland or farmland.
It is simple and life-saving.
It shows complete negligence and ignorance for national government, local government, and shire councils, to completely disregard this information which can save lives and stock and property.
M. Sirr, Gowrie
Honour minus politics
In response to Jack Waterford’s brave and impassioned plea for Australia to abandon its cult of remembrance extravaganzas (“Time to pull the curtain on memorial industry”, canberratimes.com.au, November 2), there might be a couple of minor changes that could transform the long-standing tradition from what some see as a grotesque endorsement of nationalism and war to a genuine expression of national gratitude for the sacrifices made by so many to preserve the freedoms that we all enjoy today .
Why not remove politicians from any pedestal in planning, directing, officiating or participating in remembrance activities, other than on those rare occasions where they can take their rightful place as returned servicemen or women?
And just as we rightly seek to honour and remember our heroes through fabulous monuments and tributes, let’s also ensure that our memories are enriched by prominent displays acknowledging the wicked politicians and officials who betrayed them and us by sending them off to conflicts on the back of deliberate lies and deceit.
John Richardson, Wallagoot, NSW
Funding imbalance
No one should begrudge the largesse provided for the Australian War Memorial’s revamp. Protecting and celebrating the national memory is an investment, not an expense.
But our memory and our soul resides in the other national cultural institutions too, and the funding disparity is now starker than ever.
AWM chairman Kerry Stokes is completely wrong when he claims that Australia’s collecting institutions are looked after better than in any other country.
He need only go north to, for example, the National Film Archive of Thailand, let alone to the cultural centres of Europe and North America, to see the resources that other countries devote to protecting and celebrating their audiovisual heritage.
The Australian government has instead relentlessly cut budgets, year after year, while collections and pressures grow.
When will the imbalance be corrected?
Ray Edmondson, president, Friends of the National Film and Sound Archive, Kambah
Correct centenary
There is a lot of conversation going around at present about the upcoming Remembrance Day being the 100th anniversary of the end of the Great War.
Remembrance Day does not commemorate the end of the Great War. The November 1918 Armistice was just that, an armistice, a truce.
The war actually ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919.
The Allied forces remained in Western Europe after the Armistice because, whilst the fighting had finished, the war hadn’t.
A good number of memorials dedicated to the war, both here in Australia and across the world, have the dates of the War as 1914-1919. In addition, and more accurately, the reverse of the war’s Victory Medal lists the name of the war as “The Great War” and its dates as “1914-1919” (and no, this does not cover the North Russia Relief Force).
The 100th anniversary of the war’s end will be 28th June 2019.
Christopher Jobson, Monash
Outlaw alt right groups
I recall the head of ASIO stating that alt right groups were his greatest concern hence I’m unclear whether or not they were monitoring the deliberate infiltration of the NSW Young Nationals by members from these various groups. If not, why not? There needs to be further questions of ASIO if they were not aware of this alt right enterprise.
The simplest solution would be to outlaw these various groups by listing them as terrorist organisations.
Rohan Goyne, Evatt
Compassion Overdue
I write re the article: “Watchdog to examine magistrate’s conduct”, November 6, p1). Magistrate Bernadette Boss demonstrated timely compassion in dealing with a person with a mental disability who was in urgent need.
The system has failed this individual with the result he has come into frequent contact with the judicial system.
It is quite clear that what he has really needed all along was effective health and welfare support.
Now the system, in the form of the DPP, is shooting the messenger by complaining about Magistrate Boss’ decision to show a raw, and warm, humanity.
Her actions should be praised, not condemned.
We need a much better response to the issues confronting people with mental health issues.
We also need a lot more magistrates like Bernadette Boss.
Steve Blume, Chapman
Blundering over buses
What a strange government we have here in Canberra. We need more buses, not fewer and yet under the new bus network we read far too often that the very people who need and use buses regularly are having their bus services taken away. University students, school students and the elderly all dependent on public transport, now seem to be struggling to find ways to get to their destinations. Our new bus network may take some cars off the road in some places, but will add more in other areas.
The end result will be greater congestion on our roads, which will only get worse until we have a reliable regular bus service within Canberra that serves all people in all areas.
Only then will we leave our cars at home and those without cars will be able to travel within this fine city on a public transport system that actually works.
Elizabeth Chisholm, Red Hill
Protect route 3
I strongly support those who protest about the ACT government’s planned scrapping of the section of the No.3 bus route through the ANU campus (“ANU students angry over scrapping of No.3 bus”, November 5, p6).
I’m sure there are many other people, in addition to Nathalie Johnstone and Chris Cabuay, who depend on the route 3 bus to get to where they study or work on the ANU campus.
When I was working on a research project at the ANU a few years ago, I found it very convenient to use the route 3 busbecause it was virtually door-to-door and avoided the hassles of finding somewhere to park my car.
The reason given by the spokeswoman for Transport Minister Meegan Fitzharris as to why the route was being scrapped — that the ANU provides a free shuttle bus within the campus — is totally unsatisfactory.
Douglas Mackenzie, Deakin
Invasive drones
On Thursday, November 1, I watched and listened to our Legislative Assembly discuss the matter of the Project Wing drone trial in Bonython.
Members from all parties waxed lyrical about the wonder of drones and their technological and economic potential.
One might be led to think that someone is going to make a lot of money from an eventual rollout of drone delivery services across our city and elsewhere in Australia. No matter that so many residents are now, and will continue to suffer greatly from the insidious presence of and extreme noise generated by these drones and the loss of the peace and quiet sought and experienced when they settled in the suburbs.
The current trial in Bonython has shown up one unfortunate attitude of many in our society.
Some residents have no respect or concern for their neighbours when subjecting them to the noise and invasive presence of the drones.
Chris Vincent, Bonython
Horrors of war
My wife and I recently attended a U3A course on the “first contact” between Indigenous Australians and the white “settlers” that dealt with dozens of instances of murder across the country.
Only a couple represented “good” outcomes, that is, white men being brought to justice for murdering innocent Indigenous women and children — but even then against strong local opposition.
There was recent redress (of sorts). The Victorian federal seat of McMillan was renamed after it was finally acknowledged that pioneer and community “leader”, Angus McMillan was directly responsible for the murders of up to 150 local Indigenous locals of all ages and gender.
Indeed, there is a plaque honouring McMillan showing the impression of human skulls through his saddlebags in blatant recognition of the fact that he and his “Highland Brigade” beheaded numbers of those they massacred.
Sadly, this barbarous practice seemed acceptable also in other parts of Australia during the early 1850s. Many other horrific instances are now well documented; examples of the lethal treatment handed out to our first Australians simply because they were deemed to be “in the way”.
The Liberal member for the former seat of McMillan agreed that his electorate name needed changing, but it is high time the horrors of the “Frontier Wars” were nationally acknowledged.
What better place can there be than the proposed new additions to the Australian War Memorial?
Eric Hunter, Cook
Let’s learn full history
I would urge Bec Cody to return to school and this time pay close attention to her history teacher.
Edward John Eyre, one of our greatest European explorers, in 1841 walked under appalling conditions from Adelaide to King George’s Sound in Western Australia.
He was hailed hero.
However in 1865, as Governor of Jamaica, he put down a negro riot with unusual ferocity and zeal, killing or executing more than 400, flogging 600 more and burning down a thousand houses.
Despite this he is remembered as an Australian hero who has a lot of landmarks named after him, including the Eyre Peninsular in SA, a street in Kingston and of course the mighty Lake Eyre.
Let’s leave place names as they are but teaching children, and their parents, the history behind them.
T. Walsh, Garran
TO THE POINT
DON’T FORGET THE LIVING
How come Brendan Nelson gets $500million for his memorial but returned service personnel have to battle for support from crippling injuries sustained in unsuccessful wars promoted by the US?
Gerry Gillespie, Queanbeyan
ENTHUSIASM FOR WAR
Won’t the people who visit the new War Memorial come out enthusiastic about war?
Reg Naulty, Hawker
ANU ROUTE SCRAPPED
The Number 3 bus route I use to get to and from my weekly meeting at ANU is to be scrapped. As an elder person I hope I can find an alternative route that will provide me with a seat rather than a “bus full” sign.
D. Grantham, Melba
DECISION SHORTSIGHTED
How shortsighted of the ACT government to cancel its No 3 bus through the ANU, one of the best universities in the world. I don’t think this would happen in other countries. Very parochial.
Rod Holesgrove, O’Connor
VETERANS’ BEGGING CARD
Fifty veterans take their lives over a 45-week period. What does our government do to help them? It issues a charity begging card for ex-servicemen and women and builds a $500 million memorial to the glorious dead.
Doug Steley, Heyfield
TIME FOR FIXED TERMS
ScoMo is keeping us guessing about election dates while he’s on the road with a “Look at me! Twinkling eyes and smiling face” image emblazoned on the side of his taxpayer-funded, not-to-be-ignored bus as it hurtles up the Bruce highway. Isn’t it time we had four-year fixed-term elections?
P. Vespucci, Reservoir
SCOMO’S WEAK PRODUCT
Prime Minister Morrison should know that having a good product to sell is basic to success. But because of factional in-fighting, or maybe incompetence, the Coalition is incapable of developing a coherent policy package. Instead, we see a grab-bag of pork barrelling announcements and insubstantial thought bubbles. Pursuit of populist support in this way will fail.
Keith Croker, Kambah
NAURU FATHERS
It is good to hear all children will be off Nauru by Christmas. Sometimes I hear mothers and children. I have not heard a statement that includes fathers. Are they to be left behind?
Auriel Barlow, Dickson
THAT’S NOT CRICKET
I don’t know whether or not David Peever should have declined to be re-elected chairman of Cricket Australia.
But I am perturbed that what amounts to a lynch mob has reversed the outcome of due process.
That’s not cricket.
M. F. Horton, Adelaide, SA
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