The government has decided to close a loophole in the superannuation system that will disadvantage many of our returned servicemen who through their disabilities are unable to work.

Why then does the same government refuse to close another loophole whereby a person who is legally blind can access a means test-free pension, while others who are equally or more disabled, such as those with quadriplegia, are unable to do so.

The answer is simple and cynical. In the first case, by closing the loophole the government gains in revenue, whereas in closing the second loophole the government would be required to lose revenue.

Seems to me there are core loopholes and non-core loopholes.

John Galvin, Weston

How hilarious it is that the PM claims "the ALP has no concept of fairness".

A mild case of the pot calling the kettle black.

To illustrate that the Coalition has simply no clue as to what is fair and what is not, one can cite: reduction of corporate taxes in the vain pursuit of "Jobson Groath", reduction of penalty rates, increases in HECS and acceleration of repayment, defence of Centrelink's issue of phoney debt notices, inaction on Peter Costello's ridiculously over-generous capital gains tax concessions, and final abandonment of the 2014 budget's so-called "zombie measures" but with no recognition of their intrinsic unfairness.

The list goes on and on from here. We can only be thankful that the Senate has rejected or modified the worst of what the Tories have wanted to inflict on us.

T. J. Marks, Holt

Recently, the churches of Canberra were asked to display banners advertising the Palm Sunday rally designed to pressure politicians to free the political prisoners incarcerated in concentration camps (at huge public expense) on Manus and Nauru and bring them to Australia.

Many churches agreed to do that, but many did not.

To those that refused I say this: There is no neutral ground on this issue. If you are not supporting the freeing of those prisoners then you are tacitly supporting their imprisonment, as only sustained public pressure will make the politicians change their minds.

You are siding with the oppressors. What Jesus would do in this situation is, I think, abundantly clear.

Keith Binns, Goulburn

Crispin Hull ("Debt changes are good", May 6, Forum p.2) suggests that an inland rail link from Brisbane to Melbourne via Parkes is "good" debt. My understanding is that Infrastructure Australia gave it a benefit cost ratio of 1.1 – that is, only marginally beneficial.

But the rail route would pass through a number of National Party seats. On the other hand a fast rail link – Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne, one of the most heavily air trafficked routes in the world – would have, according to the international consulting company AECOM, a benefit cost ratio of 2.3.

It would also traverse a wide range of political party seats. I would classify the latter as good debt and the former as pork-barrelling!

Rod Holesgrove, Canberra

G.T.W. Agnew (Letters May 3), Jeff Carl, Bill Deane (Letters May 4) and David J. Richards (Letters, May 5) were all wrong.

The first Japanese land defeat was not Kokoda, not Milne Bay, not even Tugali.

By the time Western allies joined the battle against the Japanese in World War 2,

the Chinese had inflicted many defeats on the Japanese land forces.

Admittedly, many of these battles were won with overwhelming numerical superiority, but even this wasn't true for all those victories.

Western historians tend to ignore history of those outside the West unless it directly has Western involvement, something in a globalised world we should look to correct.

Brendan Dobson, Macgregor

TV host Stephen Fry has been quoted as saying "Why should I respect a capricious, mean-minded, stupid God who creates a world which is so full of injustice and pain?"

What a load of piffle that is. Being a conscious part of this wonderful world is worth any price, even that of pain.

Moreover, even a debilitating death from cancer can evoke a good which outweighs it, as the story of Connie Johnson ("Coins for a cause", May 11, p.1) shows.

"I've never felt so much love in my life," she said. What price love?

Life after death shows that life on earth is just the first chapter in a book, the later chapters of which can throw the first chapter into a totally new light.

Reg Naulty, Hawker

The recent commemoration of the Battle of the Coral Sea reminds me of a little-known fact.

The turning point of the sea battle came when the Japanese invasion fleet was finally spotted after countless searches.

USAAF bombers based in Townsville sank many ships which forced the Japanese fleet to retreat.

Although the bomber pilots were American, many aircrew fighting under the US flag were actually Australian due to a shortage.

I met one such fellow in 1986, an in-law of sorts to my wife whose father, incidentally, flew a Lancaster for RAAF 467th squadron in '44 and '45.

Gerry Murphy, Braddon

The gas debate is warming up while reserves are dwindling. It's time to embrace electricity now climate change is proven and a grid of renewables can guarantee supply - with gas from non coal seam sources (the best of many evils) injecting volts at times of low supply.

All very well, except for the millions who have invested in gas appliances, believing them safer and cleaner, and who now should to be recompensed and given rebates to switch from natural gas to electricity.

Matt Ford, Crookwell

ACT government schools have been assessed as being "overfunded" (i.e. above the Schooling Resource Standard), so their funding is being increased.

Many ACT Catholic and independent schools have been assessed as being "overfunded", so their funding is being decreased.

One Sydney school charging fees around $30,000 a year has been assessed as being "needy", so its funding is being increased.

Our independent school has been assessed as being "underfunded" (i.e. below the Schooling Resource Standard), yet at the same time "wealthy" (according to our SES score). Despite two government funding inquiries identifying our school as being funded unfairly (at half the rate of all our neighbouring schools serving the same local community) for the past 16 years, we now have to wait another 10 years before our school gets the same funding rate as neighbouring schools.

How do we explain this mathematical logic to our students and their families?

Is anyone seriously suggesting this is a fair and equitable school funding model?

Maureen Hartung OAM, executive director Blue Gum Community School, Hackett, ACT

The Turnbull government could treat the big five banks as every other business in Australia, and withdraw the guarantee of "Lender of Last Resort" provided to the banks.

The banks have a unique privilege in Australia that effectively allows them to socialise their losses, that is, the taxpayers foot the bill for poor management decisions.

The Greek hero Hercules was set a number of labours. The fifth labour was to clean in one day the Augean stables of the accumulated droppings of thousands of cattle, in other words, bullshit.

He accomplished the task.

Would Brian Hartzer (Westpac), Andrew Thorburn (NAB), Ian Narev (CBA), Shayne Elliott (ANZ) and David Murray be as hairy-chested if they confronted Hercules rather than the nine former bankers in the Turnbull ministry?

The bank CEOs need to be reminded Lender of Last Resort could be withdrawn if that is what is needed to stop their advertising campaign against the levy.

John Stickle, Daglish, WA

Here's a thought — have the relevant CEO's salary (and bonus) package inversely proportionally linked to the cost of energy to consumers. The higher the cost of energy, the lower the CEO's remuneration.

Pete Howe, Evatt

J. Halgren (Letters, May 12) thinks the xenophobic, isolationist, and borderline racist policies of Donald Trump, in the form of Marine Le Pen, are the antidote to France's militant Islam problem, and somehow draws an analogy with Britain's entry into the Second World War, ignoring the fact that such policies would likely lead to even more resentment among an already disenfranchised Muslim population and only serve to perpetuate the problem.

James Allan, Narrabundah

$26.1 million government funding to access Chilean telescopes.

Perhaps the ANU astronomers will find us a nice cool empty planet so that when this one becomes even hotter, and even more overpopulated, we will all be able to migrate.

Adrian Gibbs, Yarralumla

Another year, another budget, and the usual tsunami of conflict and commentary. What's in it for me; what's in it for us. Myopia dominates.

Meanwhile we remained locked into 19th and 20th century economic thinking and policy to deal with 21st century realities and challenges.

The addiction to growth remains central while the imperative of building an economic and social foundation of human well-being for all and ensuring that we do not go beyond any ecological ceilings on key planetary limits is sidelined.

We need to ditch GDP, or national output, as our main and overly narrow measure of progress. We need the bigger goal of meeting the real human needs of every person within the means and limits of our life-giving planet.

We need to replace the assumption of a self-contained market with the reality of an economy embedded in an ecology, society and culture.

We need to replace the fantasy of "rational economic man" so central to conventional economic thinking with the complexity of social, diverse and adaptable humans.

We need to understand economic systems as dynamic, contradictory and complex.

We also need to acknowledge the failure of growth to clean up pollution and ecological damage and develop processes and policies that are regenerative and sustainable by design.

Nothing in nature, not even the universe, grows forever.

Nevertheless, today we have policies and budgets that assume we need to grow, whether or not this makes us thrive. While we really need budgets and economic policies that make us thrive, whether or not our GDP increases.

Stewart Sweeney, North Adelaide, SA

Donald Trump is shaping up to be a strong international as well as national leader, and we could do worse than be a strong political ally of the United States.

His first lady will no doubt also prove to be a valuable international asset, a la Jackie Kennedy.

Claude Wiltshire, Queanbeyan, NSW

Donald Trump is certainly keeping his promise to make America "grate" again (and again and again).

Maureen Fisher, Hawker

FIGURE IT OUT

NSW Liberal MP Peter Phelps said obesity had increased slightly from 5 per cent to 8 per cent over the last 20 years. Slightly? That is a 60 per cent increase. Scott Morrison raises the Medicare levy from 2 per cent to 2.5per cent. That is not a 0.5 per cent increase — it is a whopping 25 per cent increase.

Keith Calvert, Chapman

BITING THE HAND

A lot of nonsense has been written and said about Yassmin Abdel-Magied and her Anzac Day comment, when she is an insensitive ingrate who is biting the hand that is feeding her. If her intention was to generate some free publicity , than she has achieved that in spades. Shame on you Yassmin.

Mario Stivala, Spence

POOR RECORD

One of the nation's major issues is house affordability, particularly for those seeking to enter the market.

However, the press, including The Canberra Times, becomes excited when a house sale breaks a record for a suburb or an area, thereby conferring prestige which is perceived as desirable.

Bruce Kennedy, Melba

LABOR WRONG-FOOTED

The biggest loser out of the budget is the Labor opposition. Not only have some of its policies been "borrowed" but it's now been left with the problem of redefining its raison d'etre. On pre-budget trends it clearly had a chance of winning the next election without major change; that's no longer true. Labor must now build a structure that has the goal-oriented intelligent leadership it needs to present its special vision for the country's future.

Philip Telford, Tarago, NSW

COMPLIANCE PROBLEM

The story of Professor Laurie Brown's gambling addiction reveals that if an industry requires guidelines and codes of practice because of poor practices, it requires legislation to enforce compliance.

Self-regulation does not work.

Gary J. Wilson, Macgregor

DEFENCE RISE ILLOGICAL

With the only threats on the horizon being from "lone wolf" attacks, against which Defence is ineffectual, why must the Defence budget be raised to 2 per cent of GDP except to pay for the hare-brained, erratic behaviour of, Australia's, off-shored, Commander-in-Chief, Trump.

Albert M. White, Queanbeyan

ON WITH THE SHOW

Come on, Gary J. Wilson, "No call for first lady", (Letters, May 11), everyone knows that the show isn't over until the first lady sings.

Peter Baskett, Murrumbateman, NSW

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