I've seen hundreds of empty peak hour buses enter and leave the Woden bus station over the past few years. People simply will not catch a bus that doesn't travel directly to TCH.

Changing buses at Woden Town Centre to get to work at TCH is a big waste of time.

Thousands of people work at TCH. Relocating the Woden bus station there could take thousands of cars off a ridiculously congested Hindmarsh Drive at peak hour and free up car parking spaces at full TCH car parks. It's a no-brainer!

And the new Light Rail has to stop at TCH. Hundreds would use it to get to work on a daily basis. If it stopped at a dead Woden Town Centre, you'd get empty peak hour trams as well as buses.

If the ACT government is intent on revitalising Woden Town Centre as a high-rise residential centre, that's a great idea. A lot of these people are likely to work at TCH. They'll use the bus to get to work many more times than they will on the weekends for leisure – they've got to realise that public transport is predominantly used by people to get to work, so a transport hub should be besides a large employer, not a high-density residential area.

These are obvious solutions to fix traffic problems, empty buses, potentially empty trams and a Woden Town Centre that will no longer be a major employment hub.

Andrew James Grose, Torrens

So Canberra Airport doesn't like "political" advertising such as that sought by the ACTU ("ACTU angry at airport rejection of billboard", canberratimes.com.au, March17).

This is the same airport that continues to grant, year in and year out, prime advertising space to the industry that profits from the horrific daily bloodshed in the Middle East and elsewhere, violence which appals every decent person.

To the weapons industry, warfare is simply a business opportunity, and the more of it the better for them.

The No Airport Arms Ads campaign has sought since 2015 to have the weapons ads removed. Stephen Byron, managing director of Canberra Airport, wrote in response to the campaign in The Canberra Times on October 24, 2015, "We are a vibrant and diverse capital, and that goes hand in hand with entertaining debate and a diversity of views."

Really? The airport believes in diversity, with its wall-to-wall weapons promotions? This is anything but diverse.

In discussions with the airport management, the No Airport Arms Ads campaign has also been told that the airport doesn't promote any particular industries, and don't think they should have to be the arbiters of what is appropriate advertising in the community.

In that case, they are doing a good impression of being arbiters. It's looking more and more like a case of all ads being equal, but some – especially for the merchants of death – being more equal than others.

Sue Wareham, Cook

We have a problem at the airport. Expansive images of military hardware floating through azure seas or lofting through clear unpolluted skies are not the images that should greet visitors to our city. They hide the truth that Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems and the like are using this important gateway to Canberra to showcase their weapons of war designed to carry destruction and associated with incredible harm to the environment both in their manufacture and in their deployment.

An ACTU advertisement calling for social justice and improvements to the economic viability of our workforces is not in the same ball park, so it seems that some spurious criterion has been used to reject such a billboard. Nevertheless, I think your recent article "Airport refusesto display 'political' ACTU billboard", canberratimes.com.au, March16) blurs the real picture.

The NoAirportArmsAdsCampaign.org.au rightly argues that multimillion-dollar outfits like Raytheon don't need photos of their wares to influence MPs.

Their million-dollar cheques are bargaining chips that give them ready entree to the top. Canberra's gateway deserves better – advertisements which showcase a university city, with national institutions, and a pristine environment are a much better message to sell. A consistent approach would get the arms ads out as well.

Sue Salthouse, Kingston

The ACT RSL is finalising the march order for the Anzac Day Parade ("Tykes barred from Anzac Day Parade", canberratimes.com.au, March17).

The RSL could invite a First Nations ceremonial party to commemorate the Frontier Wars by leading the parade and laying a wreath as part of an Acknowledgement or Welcome (as appropriate) to Country at the War Memorial service.

As an older woman whose father was a proud UK veteran of WWII, I have great respect for the memory of service people killed in war. But in addition to remembering past losses (as the Ode of Remembrance eloquently invites us to do), we need to imagine forwards to a peaceful and sustainable world for future generations.

In Australia, that future must surely include proper healing of the terrible losses inflicted on our First Nations.

Hence, I believe that on Anzac Day we should respectfully and sorrowfully acknowledge the First Nations people who died on these shores in defence of their native lands. This is our nation's true foundation story.

Last year, Indigenous returned soldiers were invited to head the Anzac Day Parade. This won great support and praise from the Australian community. Similarly a didgeridoo player at the Dawn Service has been much welcomed, as has new artwork at the Australian War Memorial depicting defence of land by First Nations people.

It feels like the right time to officially include the Frontier Wars in Anzac commemorations. Let's not miss the chance.

Dr Janet Salisbury, Yarralumla

In 1968 I returned from Vietnam and joined the RSL. Inthe recent past, my two grandsons have marched with me, one wearing my father's medals; the other my father-in-law's medals. Now these little ones are banned and I have decided not to march. Instead, I will volunteer to help others on the day.

One of the pleasures of marching was the diversity of the bands which added very much to the feeling of being together.

That is replaced with piped music to keep us in step.

Well, I was air force and marching in step was never my thing. I have been out of the RAAF for 30 years and keeping in step is a very military, army, thing.

Sorry RSL but you have spoilt this important day and lost me.

Alastair Bridges, Wanniassa

No matter how he dresses it up, Mr Shorten's plan to confiscate imputation credits will affect many hundreds of thousands of middle and lower-income families, including self-funded retirees.

The main fact of his planned policy is that any shareholder with a taxable income below the tax-free threshold of $18,200 will have 30 per cent of their due dividends confiscated by Mr Shorten. It gets weirder. In the case where a couple jointly owns shares with unfranked dividends of say $1500 each, one partner with a modest income who pays tax at a marginal rate (say 20 per cent) would get to keep $1200 ($1000 — $300 tax + $500 imputation credit). The other partner with a taxable income below the threshold (including declaration of $1500 unfranked dividend) would keep $1000, the other $500 being confiscated by Messrs Shorten and Bowen.

Who other than this greedy pair in class-warfare mode would think that fair? It gets worse. Most of the people disadvantaged would be self-funded retirees who, through a responsible lifestyle have planned not to be any burden on the taxpayer, not like some 40per cent of Australians who do not pay any tax at all after generous welfare payments. All shareholders affected should complain bitterly to their respective MPs.

M. Flint, Erindale

Don't get me wrong. The franking credit refunds appearing in the statements of our little SMSF have provided a nice boost to our income. Thank you Peter Costello, thank you John Howard.

But let's get real. Surely the ATO must tax company dividends on the community's behalf at least once. Franking credits were created to avoid company dividends being taxed a second time in the hands of the shareholder.

Sound justification, but if the company has paid tax, then the dividends are earned by my tax-free SMSF, then paid to tax-free me, the job is done — the tax has been paid only once.

Surely if the ATO then refunds me the franking credit, the community has collected absolutely no tax on those dividends.

That's very dodgy, even for Peter Costello. In all honesty, it can't go on.

G. Williams, Gowrie

I presume that the ALP, through Paul Keating, had two basic aims in the 1990s when they introduced dividend imputation.

One was to assist the dividend recipient when faced with end of year tax liabilities, and the other was to ensure that the Tax Office got in first. Perhaps the ALP, or for that matter the present government, could rescind dividend imputation and simply require companies to issue all dividends on an unfranked basis.

In that way all recipients would be required to pay their fair share of tax on their total income. Those on low incomes would be unaffected. Thus there is no need for cash reimbursements or adjustment to pensions, etc. Those above the tax-free threshold may find it desirable or necessary to adjust their "pay as you go" tax deductions.

Tom Cooke, Pearce

Why does this government insist on still deeming part-pensioners to earn interest at a rate which the banks do not pay?

If my memory is correct deeming rates were introduced by the Howard government to force the banks to pay pensioners, who had a deeming account, the same rate of interest as the government deemed them to be earning.

For many years they were the same. Now the banks call them seniors accounts and pay as little interest as possible.

The government deems pensioners to be earning interest at a rate far greater than the banks will pay.

It is time to stop this farce and use pensioners' taxable incomes as the assessable amount to determine the amount of pension to be paid.

Jacqueline Burnett, Bonython

The ALP's latest brain spasm is its attack on the imputation tax system.

Paul Keating produced a good and fair policy where the profits of a company were not taxed twice, once at the company tax rate and secondly at the marginal rate of the person receiving a dividend. A good and fair policy.

The LNP brain spasm was the tax concession policy legislated by Howard and Costello in 2000 when the income from superannuation became tax free.

Giving tax-free income including the reimbursement of imputation credits to all superannuation investors.

This gave multimillionaires (including Howard and Costello) tax-free income and is the cause of our budget deficits. This loss of tax has been estimated at approximately $40billion/year.

The imputation tax system was good and fair. The tax concession on superannuation income is unfair and is damaging our economy.

Under the new LNP legislation a couple can have $3.2million of superannuation and pay no tax on income from that money.

While a self-funded retiree with no superannuation is paying their full marginal tax rate.

A fair policy would be that income from superannuation be taxed at marginal tax rate less 15 per cent.

Australia deserves better politicians than these clowns in the ALP and LNP.

Max Jensen, Chifley

According to teachers' unions and school principals (Letters, March 20) it is a folly to draw "conclusions about the quality of ... any Canberra school based on the narrow lens of point-in-time literacy and numeracy results".

I wonder just how your correspondents consider that parents should evaluate the school into which

they enrol their child or children.

Gary J. Wilson, Macgregor

What does Turkey have against the Kurds?

Turkish forces, in best ethnic cleansing style, have just wiped out a town full of Kurdish people.

During the Iraq war, Iraq's troops having fled in terror before the enemy, Kurdish forces swooped courageously into battle on Iraq's behalf.

I'd give them medals and a piece of land of their own.

What's biting the Turks?

Barrie Smillie, Duffy

A "prescribed burn" on Sunday got away because the severe conditions "were not forecast" we are told. Well, it may not have been forecast by the Bureau of Meteorology in Mongolia but it certainly was by the one in Australia. The forecast on Saturday for Sunday was quite clear about strong winds. The Sunday Canberra Times forecast predicted winds of 35-50km/h. The implications for fire management were unambiguous.

Bruno Yvanovich, Waramanga

Ged Kearney for David Feeney. I'll take that any day.

Jeff Bradley, Isaacs

Most political parties that lose an un-loseable byelection, tank in the Tassie poll and see their vote go backwards in the SA election would wonder about their leader's performance. The Greens are different so rather than question Di Natale's poor leadership they are planning a Stalinist purge of whingers, backstabbers and leakers. Before bringing in the Daleks to exterminate the green anters, will they be setting up a leak inquiry?

Thos Puckett, Ashgrove, Qld

Apparently retailers don't want their staff having any more money to spend in their stores.

Peter Edsor, Bungendore

The High Court seems to have finally entered the spirit of Enlighten. While this year it again rejected the idea of being externally flooded with strange garish patterns, it did apparently participate by dramatically boosting the internal light levels in its unique voluminous foyer, replete with one massive towering column, galleries, staircases, and ramps, all dramatically visible through its vast front-glazed curtain wall.

Jack Kershaw, Kambah

How much are Google drones paying CASA? It must at least cover the cost of CASA's complaints officer. I hear he's pretty busy at the moment.

John Goodall, Royalla

Mark McKenna's article "Whitefella Dreaming" (Forum, Saturday March 17, p6) erroneously claimed "our governments go to extraordinary lengths to repatriate the bodies of our soldiers buried in unmarked graves on the former Western Front in France". The only body repatriated from France was that of the Unknown Soldier.

Ian Douglas, Jerrabomberra

I agree with Alvin Hopper (Letters, March 16) when daylight saving was introduced (many years ago) it served a purpose, but not now. I suggest we leave our clocks where they are, and enjoy the extra hour of sunlight.

Philip Robinson, Bruce

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