In order to adequately bulwark domestic Australia from terrorism and serious riotous behaviour, such a rapid response model can be deployed to various ‘‘hot spots’’ at short notice.

 Currently, the three arms of the ADF post its personnel to tri-service national ceremonial guard duties that operate from the precincts of Canberra.

Perhaps to defray costs the ceremonial tri-service contingent could also be trained for deployment – at short notice – to  control and contain all terrorist and serious riotous behaviour.

D.J. Preece,  Balgownie

Photocopier votes

 Minister Paul Toole (Mercury letters, August 28) paints his changes to local government voting as minor fine-tuning when they are in fact quite radical. 

If the minister just wished to have the electoral roll for non-resident electors not be refreshed for each election, he could have moved that change rather than supporting  anti-democratic measures. 

It’s telling that the minister made no attempt to defend the proposal to create entities (businesses and landlord businesses), that could each generate two votes where citizens hold only one. 

Contrary to the minister’s straw-man argument about an ‘‘injustice’’ preventing non-residential voters participating in the City of Sydney’s last election, all the entitled voters in Sydney or anywhere in NSW had to do was fill out a form – not too different from filling out a postal vote as many thousands of people do. 

I take the view that citizens have civil and democratic rights and corporate structures have other legal rights – the two should not be confused. 

Giving extended voting rights to corporate entities rather than people makes as much sense as giving democratic voting rights to the office photocopier. 

Cr David Brown, North Wollongong

Shock jock hysteria

With his excellent contribution “Embrace peace, please” (Mercury, September 1); Andrew Reveley offers up a sensible plan for all Australians, irrespective of race, religion or colour to consider.

  Unfortunately, despite the merits of the concept Andrew Reveley has put forward; it is one that is unlikely to resonate positively with a large section of the Australian society.

 “Embrace peace, please” for example; will probably be lost on those whose thought processes are reliant solely upon the advice of Alan Jones, Andrew Bolt or Ray Hadley or similar.

 “Media shock-jocks” rely heavily upon divisiveness and xenophobia to lift ratings and will continue to stoke the fires of both with little concern for the consequences to our nation.

 Fortunately as “Embrace peace, please” demonstrates; Australia’s future will never truly be determined by the contrived hysteria of media shock jocks while  people of good conscience can offer sensible alternatives.

Barry Swan, Balgownie

Power brokers rule

Re  slashing the Renewable Energy Target, until someone within government, Labor or the Greens challenges the On Shore Petroleum Act governing the right of land owners to veto sub-surface mining of petroleum in its natural state across the country, the current government, as with any future government, will remain at the mercy of the biggest beneficiaries…coal seam gas, coal-fired power stations and the current government in power.

 Brian Johnson, Gymea