Although reducing wages will boost profits in the short term, in the middle to long term it will lead to falling consumption, reduced profits and, of course, higher unemployment. Then employers will lobby the government for lower taxes and other special deals to repair a problem partly of their own making.

A significant feature of a wealthy economy is high wages; this is true of most Western European and Scandinavian countries. If business leaders had their eyes on the longer term, they would be glad to pay good wages to maintain demand for their products and stay competitive by investing in technology. But our government, in abolishing penalty rates, is handing business a temporary lift in profits but permanently reducing our standard of living.

They are allowing business to cut costs the lazy way, through workers's incomes, instead of the more difficult path of competing by long term investment in technology.

David Hicks, Holt

The Abbott government has shown us that money can be spent twice. The proposed Medicare co-payment was supposed to help fix the ''budget emergency'', and at the same time set up the ''world's biggest medical research fund'' to find cures for cancer and Alzheimer's.

Now Mr Hockey tells us that the delay in implementing increases to super contributions will save businesses money. At the same time, workers will have more to spend - assuming they receive wage increases in lieu of the super contributions forgone. So businesses can save the same extra amount that workers are going to spend.

Again the money is being spent twice. It's the loaves and the fishes in our own Parliament.

Harry Samios, O'Connor

The article ''US funds silent on tax strategy'' (BusinessDay, September 4, p13), exposes how ''inversions'', tax avoidance devices, are used by many US pension funds to re-domicile. Inversions subject US treasury to substantial tax deficits while bestowing substantial benefit to stock holders and dividend recipients. Barack Obama has decried this immoral and unethical behaviour as ''wrong''! [Such] savage condemnation will induce policy change, immediately!

When one considers the resources devoted to shifting profits offshore, the views of individuals like Michael Elliot (''Global growth requires stamping out corruption'', Times2, September 4, p5), are sadly naive.

Expectations that that G20 talks will conclude a deal to restrict tax evasion should be viewed with cynicism, especially with Australian banks being less than enthusiastic about exposure. As well as the banks stalling, we have the Tax office being starved of resources ( ''Claim multinationals thrive on cuts to ATO'', September 3, p1). It is not just developing countries that are being duded by treacherous politicians and stateless multinationals.

Albert M. White, Queanbeyan, NSW

In reference to Wal Collins (Letters, September 3), of course the senior Liberals represent these wealthy seats as they are usually the safest. The same can be said of senior Labor figures being selected for safe seats.

However, I don't believe representing these seats can fully explain the government's economic initiatives (I don't know if anyone can). The Liberals seem hell-bent on giving big business whatever they want in the belief that if these businesses thrive then the rest of us will benefit as well. History shows the major benefits do not flow on proportionately.

Without a strong business sector the economy will stagnate, but the government needs to ensure that the benefits achieved by these businesses are returned to the whole community not just a privileged few. Abbotts's ideology gives business ''rights'' without corresponding obligations. He seems to believe that business will ''do the right thing'', whereas history shows differently.

It is interesting to note the number of former ALP politicians who having supposedly fought for the downtrodden, and held themselves up as beacons of righteousness, end up as multi-millionaires in their own right.

Les Neulinger, Farrer

To destroy our way of life, politicians need to enact legislation that produces as many disaffected angry youth as possible, which would lead some to join violent, extreme religious and/or political movements. Such legislation would involve:

1. Exporting unskilled work by ensuring items manufactured here were prohibitively expensive. This would involve reducing tariffs dramatically, introducing a GST and not pegging our dollar at a low rate.

2. Introducing fees for university students so potential students would know they would have a massive debt.

3. Stigmatising the young unemployed even when applicants far outnumber vacancies, as well as providing them with a very low dole that was hard to acquire and retain.

4. Making housing unaffordable by increasing our population dramatically.

5. Decreasing the top income tax rate from 65 per cent to 45 per cent to ensure the gap between the haves and have nots becomes blatantly obvious.

Wait! Aren't these the policies that have been inflicted on us by both sides since the Whitlam era? Aren't these the sorts of policies Menzies rejected because he believed that the best way to prevent civil unrest was to ensure people did not have reasons for wanting to engage in civil unrest?

Paul Remington, Gordon

In the Canberra Times on September 4, four articles and one letter revealed the distressing news of assaults, mostly sexual, on females, aged from one month to middle age, by men who were their fathers, partners and strangers.

These dreadful, unprovoked assaults by men confirm the cold statistics that every three hours in Australia, a woman is hospitalised because of domestic violence and one woman dies every week at the hands of her male partner or former partner.

Tragically, it is well known that victims living with a perpetrator, fearing further violence, are highly unlikely to report assaults to the police.

Measures must be advanced to combat the abusive power of some men, who express a fixed patriarchal view of women and a determination to exercise control over them, control that often results in assault or murder.

It is time to end the prevailing silence on everyday, widespread violence and support the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children by providing adequate funding as well as fostering the plan in every home, school, workplace and in the community.

Keith McEwan, Bonython

So Aleksander Vojneski stabbed Paula Conlon, a mother-of-three, to death (''Ice addict guilty of murdering girlfriend'', September 4, p1). Isn't it time that the illegality of different drugs was revisited, to actually reflect their different potential for social harm? When was the last time we saw a marijuana, ecstasy or heroin user stabbing someone to death?

Up is different from down. Ask ambos and street police attending incidents which addicts are ridiculously worst. Ice is an horrendous drug. Not only does it do progressive and serious physical damage to its users, including inducing ongoing psychosis, it routinely produces feelings of aggressive invulnerability: just the right state of mind (and massive source of revenue) for violent outlaw motorcycle gangs, its principal local source.

Constructively fine-tune drugs policies. Manage other drugs within some largely decriminalised legal framework but aggressively use resources freed-up to uncover and prosecute the importers, manufacturers and distributors of ice.

Michael Jordan, Gowrie

Trevor Cobbold (''OECD says competition in education is a fail'', Times2, September 3, p5) presents a quite an array of statistics in his short article on the OECD's view of Australian education. As with any statistics used to demonstrate one's point, they are open to misinterpretation, manipulation, or simply being downright discredited. I would have enjoyed Cobbold's article should he have been promoting something as simple as a ''motto'' for the delivery of school education in this country.

By way of example, we did it with narcotics - ''say NO to drugs'', and litter ''Put it in a bin'', so why are we as a nation not promoting ''Say YES to an education''. In all the articles on this issue, there is a void when it comes to stressing to parents, students and the teaching service of just how vital an education is to a student's future - irrespective of parental income, socio-economic status or the OECD's view of the world at large. Yet there is precious little evidence of Cobbold and other education writers stressing the ''essentiality'' of a education.

Recent examples of schools that have made major achievements have a common theme that might be summarised as : ''Warm and Fuzzy - OUT & Education IN''. These achievements have been the result of human efforts changing attitudes, not more and more dissertations on statistics and OECD productions. A simple examination of the school education sector in this country shows (as Cobbold indicates) a split between government, Catholic and independent institutions - with no one player able to shoulder the burden of the entire national education workload. Why does Trevor Cobbold (and others of a like mind) keep on pretending it should be otherwise?

Michael Doyle, Fraser

Martha Kinsman (Letters, September 5) has misread the article ''Light rail re-zoning plan already in hand, no cabinet must decide'' (August 30, p1). The article said ''Vibration would not present a risk to any buildings and no high-tech businesses susceptible to vibration operated along the route. Vibration was unlikely to disturb people in buildings further than 16 metres from the centre of the track,'' From this statement Kinsman has asserted that noise and vibration will intrude on nearby residences and stop high-tech businesses from locating to area. Both these assertions are false and are not implied by the article.

Light rail vibration and noise will be lower than road traffic vibration and noise. High-tech businesses are more likely to locate to the corridor because of the excellent public transport.

Kevin Cox, Ngunnawal

I am extremely grateful that Andrew Wrigley (Letters, September 1 and 5) has twice put me straight on independent school funding. In particular, Andrew has done my homework and applied the My School data to confirm that an independent school in Canberra can get as little as $3500 a student from all government sources.

Given the implication that this is an inconsequential amount, can I ask why independent schools need this funding at all and why can't it be covered by independent sources, such as from the asset-rich religious organisations that establish them?

This brings me to the point that I have always thought the word ''independent'' schools appears to be a misnomer, when they can't fund themselves and continue to crave government funding.

Michael Lucas, Conder

Apparently Malcolm Turnbull has begged public servants to be more creative, saying their fear of failure prevents them from experimenting with new ideas, while Terry Moran says innovation thrives in the public sector as long as ministers are not involved (''Creative differences: Turnbull, Moran at odds over PS innovation'', September 4, p4).

Innovative public servants aren't afraid of failure; they're afraid of being punished. The current federal government's desire to stick it to the Labor Party by initiating the Royal Commission into the Rudd government's home insulation scheme illustrates both Mr Moran's and my points.

Chris Ansted, Garran

As a practising Catholic, I was dismayed by Bishop George Pell's analogy of the church as a trucking firm which should not be condemned for the personal behaviour of its drivers. If one wishes to make motorway comparisons, the church is more like a bus company that draws customers to make life's journey on its coaches, with the implicit invitation to invest confidence in their trained driver. It would undoubtedly be the company's fault should the driver select some passengers for abusive treatment knowing they have been made vulnerable by the company's elevation of the driver to a position of authority. Bishop Pell's two-faced reaction (yes, we accept the blame but, no, you really shouldn't blame us) diminishes public confidence the church can successfully address the root causes of its problems.

Denis Coen, Macquarie

I was impressed by the honesty of criminologist David Biles (''Jail smoking ban worth it'', Times2, September 4, p1, 4).

He wrote: ''The New Zealand experience suggests that smoking bans in prisons can be reasonably successful … some provision must be made for those … who are simply unable to quit smoking.''

As successful as education and support can be, the bottom line is that prohibition does not work.

Gary J. Wilson, MacGregor

The expulsion motion against Geoff Shaw in the Victorian Parliament is a welcome precedent.

There should be more expulsions of corrupt politicians from both State and Federal Parliaments.

Claude Wiltshire, Queanbeyan, NSW

MONGOLIA ON THE MAP

John Brookes (''Around the world in 270 books'', Gang-gang, September 3, p10), should be aware of his facts. If he wants to travel to Outer Mongolia, he is in for a big disappointment. There is no such country. He could go to Inner Mongolia, a Chinese autonomous region, or Mongolia - an independent country, as is Australia.

Cynthia Moloney, Yarralumla

SAVE OUR LANGUAGE

With regard to the article ''Compulsory English on way for students'' (September 4, p2), I hope that means this includes the proper use of apostrophes, the difference between ''bought '' and ''brought'', and the use of ''I'' or ''me'' after the word ''and''.

Stewart Bath, Florey

AERODYNAMICS 101

Most conventional aircraft, unless operating from a runway of unlimited length, require a backward pressure on the control column before the aircraft leaves the ground. Is the Boeing 737 any different (''Children tip balance of plane'', September 4, p3) or did Matt O'Sullivan intend to write ''more than normal back pressure on the control column before the aircraft could become airborne''?

Ken McPhan, Spence

PEDANTS UNITED

Congratulations to Michael McCarthy on his etymological erudition (Letters, September 4). I have always prided myself on my rigorous devotion to grammatical precision, but Michael's effort with the adjectival ''Conregian'' leaves me without a colon to stand on. Michael, please accept, with acclamation, the captaincy of ''Team Pedantry''.

Eric Hunter, Cook

EXTREME HUMBUG

George Beaton (Letters, September 2) and Tony Judge (Letters, September 3) have conflated Islam and Christianity in order to apply the tar brush of ''extremism'' to both. Disingenuous humbug, I say.

P. Edwards, Holder

MARVELLOUS MERV

The gigantic dinosaur, Dreadnoughtus schrani (''Titan dinosaur as big as a dozen elephants'', September 5, p7) may be huge in size but it is nowhere near as colourful as the recently excavated Mervosous Hugeous (''Comets may rise again'', September 4, p24). Nor is it as ferocious. The Dreadnoughtus ate only plants whereas the Mervosous obviously devoured everything in sight.

Peter Crossing, Curtin

JOYCE FLIES ECONOMY

So Qantas chief executive Joyce has had his take-home pay slashed to $2 million. How will he be able to feed his family on this paltry amount?

Thos Puckett, Ashgrove , Qld

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