Well Treasurer, let's start with an end to demeaning comments about leaners and lifters, and an end to cuts which unfairly target the less well-off. All the international research shows that countries which have fairly high rates of taxation and ensure that the gap between rich and poor is minimised, perform better on almost every social, health, educational and economic indicator.

With that in mind, perhaps Mr Hockey could be more determined about raising revenue.

He could start by enabling the ATO to re-employ the experienced auditors who are needed to support an efficient tax-collection system; he could ensure that the major corporations which are not currently paying their fair share of tax actually do so; he could slash the diesel rebates for mining companies; he could tighten up the rorts associated with the FBT; he could gradually phase out negative gearing; and he could get rid of superannuation concessions for the well-off.

That's for starters, Joe. I look forward to your reply.

Catherine Rossiter, Royalla, NSW

If the Australian people have let it be known through polls and state elections that it does not want government services cut, and if the issue is that we can't "borrow from the future to pay for today", then the solution seems straightforward enough. Raise the taxes. Raise revenue.

It's not like we, collectively, cannot afford to.

Drew Parsons, Watson

A competitive evaluation process in Defence acquisition is linked to the process the government wants to follow to acquire a particular capability which satisfies its strategic assessment (still to be completed – sometime later this year). The process first determines the capability and acquisition options the government wishes to pursue.

If that process involves a commercial solution then the competitive evaluation is in respect of the commercial responses.

If the government determines not to pursue a commercial process, then the process is the evaluation of the best government to government arrangement that will give it the desired capability.

In the commercial process the principle criterion is value for money. In a government to government arrangement value for money may not as significant.

The Abbott government needs to advise the public what process it intends to pursue in the acquisition of the new submarines and where it is in this process.

B.L. West, Yarralumla

Given the aggregated effect of confidentiality for diplomatic reasons, for national security reasons and for commercial reasons I do not expect the detail of the "competitive evaluation process" to be made public.

But if the submarines are largely built in Australia a significant part of the cost might well be returned to the Government through income and company tax.

Additionally there would be some saving through lower social security payments given the large number of jobs involved.

These side effects could amount to billions of dollars given the size of the project.

If the submarines are built in Japan any such benefits would accrue to the Japanese Government.

I wonder if we can be assured that any proposals received will be adjusted to reflect this and similar aspects of the project in the quest for the best possible price.

Wal Collins, Scullin

The recent Human Rights Commission report puts forward a clear case for why we need to end our policy of detaining children. This has been a failure, for which both major political parties bear responsibility. We are the only country in the world, which detains children as the first option. No other country does this.

There are still more than 100 children in detention on Nauru. Evidence from health professionals has clearly shown the severe damage prolonged detention causes to children, both physically and mentally.

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has ruled that Australia's policy of detaining children is a violation of children's rights. We need to put an end to this policy once and for all.

Heather Haughton, Batemans Bay, NSW

It can never be morally justifiable to inflict cruel punishment causing permanent damage on children.

The boats are no longer arriving in Australia and it is time for some basic humanity for asylum seekers who have committed no crime. The government and the opposition must stop using asylum seekers as political pawns. We are better than this.

Jane I. Keogh, Downer

I am astonished that Human Rights Commission Gillian Triggs has undertaken such a partisan and precisely timed report, targeting the Coalition when the worst excesses occurred under her Labor appointers.

A predecessor of hers (who produced a report on the same topic in 2004 and which was well received and acted upon) Dr Sev Ozdowski, who spoke before the tabling of the latest report, said: "What's happened ... undermines the good name of the commission, undermines the nature of human rights commission inquiries because it politicises it – it is very regrettable." Triggs also recently recommended the release into the community from immigration detention of an Indonesian man who had brutally murdered his pregnant wife, had numerous bail breaches, and to also compensate him with $350,000.

The Prime Minister is accused of poor judgment and people want him gone. Well, Gillian Triggs should be in the queue in front of him.

M. Gordon, Flynn

So, the so-called "independent" ACT Remuneration Tribunal is to consider once again pay rises for politicians and their hangers-on in government ("MLAs in line for another pay rise", February 11, p1). Joe Hockey says that the age of entitlement is over but the most entitled among us are politicians and members of the Remuneration Tribunal comprised of CEOs, deputy CEOs and senior executives from business and government.

The ACT Remuneration Tribunal is a non-elected body that cannot have its decisions disallowed. Furthermore, its decisions can then flow from the newly expanded Legislative Assembly on to judges, magistrates Public Service executives, full-time statutory officers and part-time members of statutory and non-statutory tribunals, boards and committees.

It is time that this tribunal was abolished and MLAs become responsible for bids for their own increased pay which have almost always been well ahead of the community pay rises under the Tribunal's decisions.

Ric Hingee, Duffy

I note with some amusement that Jon Stanhope is mixing it up with the local Labor politics again ("Stanhope's gambling call stirs Labor unrest", February 10, p2). Having stood down a number of years ago as chief minister, you could be excused from thinking that he has had an elegant sufficiency of the local fare. However, this does not seem to be the case. His persistence in pursuing the sale of the Labor Clubs is not in line with the thinking of a good number of local branch members and the Labor Party is not going to kill a cash cow.

At the next election he could stand as an independent, take a number of votes off Labor and possibly re-join the assembly.

The Liberal Party could manage to recruit a number of high profile new members before the next election and be in with a show of forming a minority Government with Jon's help. As they are opposed to the Labor Clubs' donations to the local party coffers they would make a good team.

Warwick Priestley, Amaroo

Architect and planning activist Jack Kershaw told the ACT Government that "private sector planning has gone way too far" ("Architect slams Dickson 'urban blight", February 8, p3). He was referring to a system in which private developers gamble their own money on being able to find enough buyers who are in the market for a "one-bedroom flat with an in-board bedroom" in a "low grade slum development". Mr Kershaw obviously thinks such buyers would have to be monumentally stupid, and therefore the developers will go bust, and that will be the end of "private sector planning".

Far better to rely on public sector planning, which gave us a network of satellite cities criss-crossed by tens of thousands of cars belching out satanic gases, as drivers negotiate congested roads and bottle-necks on their daily commutes to work in a Town Centre far, far away; and, as if that wasn't enough, a "business park" on the outskirts of the ACT, a long way from just about anywhere, where thousands of Belconnen residents could find themselves working in the not too distant future, when a slightly unattractive but functional Town Centre, will finally live up to its nickname of South Central Belcompton.

Indeed, who would want to live in an apartment close to shops, pubs and restaurants, just a short tram-ride to the CBD? Clearly not a planning activist!

D. Zivkovic, Aranda

Both the Dickson Centre Master Plan and the Weston Group Centre Plan have one design feature in common – it is proposed to build on top of the existing car parks, and replace these car parks with underground car parks.

While planners are good at drawing pretty pictures, they are bad at economics. I have discussed the financial viability of building underground car parks with various developers around Canberra. I have been told that car parks are not financially viable for any commercial retail development. Aside from the excavation costs, there has to be air-conditioning and maintenance. If the underground car park is for the purpose of a shopping centre, the necessary free period to attract shoppers will reduce the parking fees to a level where the underground car park is not financially viable.

Unless ACT Planning has an underhand motive of making the suburban shopping centres non-viable, the proposal for underground car parking is not financially realistic; unless of course the ACT Government proposes to pay for the construction cost and maintenance.

Tim Walshaw, Waramanga

Simon Corbell continues his too-clever-by-half management of the tram planning, seeking to shore up this untenable project. Back in November, pandering to the bike riders' lobby, he announced that bikes would be able to be taken on regular tram services. The Canberra Times in its Editorial 'Bikes on light rail pose a challenge' (Times2, November 24,p2) brought reality back to that argument, by pointing out the obvious limitations and problems of that.

The minister then had to contend with Graham Downie's excellent article 'The trouble with Canberra's light rail' (Times2, December 10 p1) in which Downie argued, not only the non-viable financials of the project but also the way that ACTION bus services had been managed in a way (dare I say, run-down) to make bus-based services appear a less-attractive option, relative to a light rail system.

Now we have Corbell announcing that he has asked for detailed costings of an extension of the proposed tram line to Russell Offices and how this will make it possible to easily extend light rail to the airport and Parliamentary Triangle ("Light rail extension to Russell in melting pot for consideration", February 7, p1)!

Very clever: if your story so far doesn't stand up to scrutiny, change the story. Corbell is quoted as saying "... a final decision on the viability of the extended route would be made based on cost." Huh?? The irony of this is that independent analysis has already shown the tram to be monstrously unaffordable, with clear evidence of massive inter-generational inequity being generated.

How does a possible commitment to its extension and its additional cost, justify a project which is so fundamentally unaffordable in the first place? And what of ACTION? Imagine the world-class public transport system that an injection of $800 million could provide to the whole of Canberra?

Peter Cummins, Monash

It is good to know that Ford, Uber and Carnegie Mellon University are working on autonomous vehicles – so, it seems, is just about everyone else with an interest in transportation and robotics.

However, it is a bit misleading for Kent Fitch (Letters, February 10) to claim that autonomous vehicles "will soon provide safe, efficient, on-demand, door-to-door, 24/7 transport". A scan of the literature makes little mention of using robotic vehicles in mass-transit systems.

When MIT Technology Review last July asked experts in the field when they would trust a fully automated car to take their kids to school, more than half said "2030 at the very earliest". One in 10 said "never". There may be good arguments against the ACT's light rail proposal, but the imminent arrival of robotic vehicles isn't one of them.

Peter Fuller, Chifley

Sadly our government, given its approach to boat people, has no moral capital on which to draw when appealing for clemency for the two Australians likely to be executed in Bali this month. It cannot become good soon enough.

But there are others in our community who, meeting with the Indonesians, might together arrive at a solution that leaves these two reformed lives breathing and also addresses the drug scourge. There is very little time but surely a half dozen Australians well respected by Indonesians can engage with them by Skype to everyone's benefit. Let's have some wheels turn now for that.

Hugh Selby, Lyneham

FLIPSIDE OF ATTACK

"Beaches along a 600,000km stretch of the entire Pacific Ocean remain closed while police investigate human attacks that claimed the lives of thousands of whales and dolphins."

You didn't read about that? No, I didn't either.

Greg Battye, Bruce

WHAT? GET REAL TONY

Tony Abbott claims that he had a near-death experience. What? He nearly loses his job and faces the prospect of having to go and sit on the backbench or retire with a very generous superannuation?

Tell that to those who struggle with unemployment, sickness and addiction. How does that compare?

Irene Eliason, Flynn

DOUBT OVER ADANI

A Google search is sufficient to cast doubt over Adani's commitment to Queensland's environment (Greens want investigation into Abbot Point and Adani mine, BusinessDay, February 10, p7).

Adani's cavalier approach to the Gujarat environment and patronage of high political office, suggests its Carmichael enterprise deserves assiduous scrutiny.

Albert M. White, Queanbeyan, NSW

ENDS JUSTIFY MEANS?

It seems that the government is not too fussed about using stolen corporate information. According to the story, "ATO reaped millions from Swiss accounts" (BusinessDay, February 10, p7), that harvest was because "an informer in 2010 handed the agency a list of hundreds of Australians with Swiss bank accounts". Does that mean that the ends justify the means?

Gary J. Wilson, MacGregor

SAME TAX ENTITLEMENT

Pauline May (Letters, February 10) wonders why her tax dollars are shared with private schools. My kids go to a private school and are entitled to the same funding as children who go to government schools.

John Howell, Bonython

CHILDREN IN DETENTION

The Prime Minister apparently loves things royal, so I imagine he will be right behind a royal commission into children in detention centres.

Annie Lang, Kambah

DOCK PAY FOR WALKOUT

It might be said that those MPs who walked out on a parliamentary speech by Bill Shorten ("Coalition MPs in Gap speech walkout", February 12, p5) deliberately left their place of employment: that is, took industrial action. If so, will they have their pay docked for the period they were on strike?

L. Christie, Canberra City

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