No arguments were brought to bear in that burst of hot air.

The major case to rebuff is why departmental operations are not part of the nation's information industries and therefore ideally suited to gradual decentralisation as the NBN is rolled out.

Taking a positive approach, now that the limit of a "10-kilometre radius of Parliament House" that was raised in the Department of Immigration proposals of 2015 is no longer a constraint, workers on the south side could make a case for the definition of Tuggeranong as a country town. At least that's the way Mr Barr sees it with his stupid never-never proposals for a tram network and CBD development.

I welcome this debate as a wake-up call to the Barr government. Instead of basing the city's economy on property development and public servants, they should be focused on generating new jobs that could stem from our sizeable tertiary education and research sector.

The Griffin quote displayed in the Regatta Point Planning Exhibition – "I have planned a city that is not like any other in the world" – should replace the existing quote on Northbourne Avenue as a reminder to the government to stop flouting Griffin's dream and planning to hide its unemployed behind a Northbourne Avenue facade.

John L. Smith, Farrer

Just when I thought Barnaby Joyce's absurd ramblings proposing to locate Australian Public Servants to rural areas seemed to have run its course, we now have equally ridiculous proposals from his deputy, Fiona Nash.

Although it appears that the policy has Coalition endorsement, the Nationals appear to be running with it. Nash states that she will be preparing the template for ministers to decide if their departments are suitable victims of this ill-conceived policy.

The cost of moving the APVMA to Joyce's electorate of Armidale, a mere 200 or so public servants, is $26 million. This figure would not take into account the cost, in terms of loss of experience, of the resignation of a large number of the staff from the Authority.

It is clear that the cost of the policy will be astronomical at a time we are supposed to be addressing an enormous budget deficit.

The Nationals, having failed their rural constituencies, are now on a course which will gut the experience base of the APS in a selfish attempt to keep their backsides on the Treasury benches. The Liberals, equally mercenary, are seeking to aid and abet them.

It represents the biggest pork barrelling exercise in Australia's history and the two parties deserve to be roundly condemned.

If Turnbull had any backbone he would put a stop to it.

Arvi Biela, Gordon

Decentralisation is a jolly good idea, eh? Australia is big, but the people crowd into a few cities and moan about the price of housing.

But it seems to me that Canberra, instead of being part of what is decentralised, should be seen as an example of how decentralisation can work and the sort of resources which need to be put to work to make it happen. May it continue to flourish (and no, I am not a public servant).

The prime candidates for decentralisation are the three big eastern cities, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. If you want to use public servants as the "seed" populations for new centres, take them from there.

The state governments can also do their bit instead of wringing their hands and achieving nothing with regard to housing affordability, by decentralising some of their public service (I realise some already do, a bit).

The other component required, apart from warm bodies, is normal amenities and services for these people. Simply dumping them in some country town is not going to achieve much. It needs a national effort, as was made with Canberra, and it will need more than just herds of public servants to make it really work.

It also needs long-term vision, time and a bit of leadership. We might have a problem there.

Les Sullivan, Cook

The problem of decentralisation of the public service is easily and cheaply solvable. The Commonwealth government take a rubber to the map of Australia and remove the very short border between the ACT and NSW.

Tradition is served as that is from where the ACT came. Now at no cost the federal public service is located in amedium-sized rural city in NSW.

So where does this leave the 25 members of the ACT Legislative Assembly? Unemployed, they all took their place knowing they were democratically unwanted. We would need to expand the NSW government by seven to have the same representation as the rest of NSW.

Glen Torr, Fraser

The charm offensive by Fiona Nash at the National Press Club was a well constructed, logically based and fluently delivered exposition on the merits and potential benefits of decentralisation.

Unfortunately what was rather glossed over is the fact that the actions required to best achieve the outcomes that she so eloquently outlined are to move people and economic activity from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to regional centres, possibly including Canberra.

Roger Quarterman, Campbell

I wish the media would stop using the word bush when they talk about public servants being relocated.

Armidale is not the bush. It is a cultured, university town with private schools and lots of interesting activities.

Housing far more affordable, too.

Penelope Upward, O'Connor

In terms of the Turnbull/Joyce government's desire to move as many public servants out of Canberra as possible, it will be hard to understand why any Canberran would vote Liberal at the next federal election.

Rod Holesgrove, O'Connor

Will Senator Zed Seselja successfully try to save public service jobs in Canberra, or is that just a cardboard cut-out we see routinely hovering behind the Prime Minister?

John Davenport, Farrer

The end of the 457 visa program, while welcome, is a distraction from bigger immigration issues.

Australian residents' access to jobs, housing and adequate infrastructure is most impacted by the historically high permanent immigration quota, yet there is no word that this will be moderated.

While the list of jobs eligible for temporary workers has been culled of trivia such as goat herders and antique dealers, it is unclear whether the visa changes will improve prospects for graduate nurses and engineers.

Our low-skilled school leavers, seeking work in warehouses and convenience stores, are more likely to be gazumped by foreign students, usually illegally exploited.

Farmers claim that they need foreign workers to fill seasonal jobs, yet the government's harvest-jobs advertising facility remains virtually unused. Unless the immigration changes reduce Australia's population growth, infrastructure crowding, underemployment and household debt levels will only escalate.

[It is] time for root-and-branch changes, not window-dressing.

Jane O'Sullivan, Chelmer, Qld

Well, what a scam, confidence trick or whatever one would like to label the LNP abolition of visas as announced by Prime Minister Turnbull.

Because the figures, according to Roy Morgan Research, put the number of unemployed in Australia at 9.2 per cent in excess of 1.1 million, Australians are in dire straits.

The 457 visa has come under constant attack as employers import workers in order to pay cheap wages, as happens in many instances.

Prime Minister Turnbull thinks he can hoodwink the Australian public by changing the name that applies to all these overseas workers, and splitting them into two separate groups; one group can stay for two years and the other for four years, there are a few very minor rule changes but essentially nothing has changed.

This is simply designed to relieve the political pressure of the anger directed at the LNP government for allowing tens of thousands of 457 visa holders into Australia to do everyday Aussies out of a job.

Shaun Newman, Townsville, Qld

While 457 visas should be replaced, the planned changes don't cover all cases.

The fastest-growing component of our workforce, both skilled and unskilled, doesn't get a mention. They are our robots, and we should have protection against those assembled overseas taking the jobs of Aussie robots.

The visa application form simply needs the additional question: Are you a robot? In those cases where robots provide fake information, pretending to be human, we're lucky to have Peter Dutton in charge who can instantly spot them by their expressionless faces.

Philip Telford, Tarago

Give the Christians a break from persecution for having the temerity of having the view that "marriage" is the expression of the biological duality of the human race and the procreation of children not just "our love choice".

When we legislate "same-sex marriage" this will no longer be "marriage" as we understand it now. However, roll on, whatever, we are all fed up with the "non debate" including Christians being accused of being homophobic, right-wing reactionaries!

Sylvia Miners, Isabella Plains

My 24-year-old daughter works in retail, a job she loves and has been doing for the last six years. Due to her time mostly as a casual she has low income, no savings and will have even less superannuation to rely on as she gets older.

She was at university, but the erratic and mostly badly rostered hours ended up in more stress than was necessary and she had to defer. She also could not afford the textbooks, the costs to drive from Woden to UC and then pay for parking.

Public transport is not a great option for young girls at night.

She cannot move out of home as affordable rentals are impossible to find and so I support her as much as a self-funded retiree with no income can.

She is desperate to be more independent and study, but she sees it as an impossibility leading to stress, depression and frustration. To lose her weekend penalties puts her dreams even further from reality.

Why is this LNP government making it harder for our kids every day?

Maree Duffy-Moon, Chifley

Y'know, we had a sunburned country,

But I think we've just been burned,

By polticians takin' salaries home

That they've never, ever earned.

They stood up for election,

With stirrin' tales so grand,

Of how they'd stick up for the people,

Who had built this great proud land.

But when the votes were counted,

And they found that they had won,

The thoughts of how they'd conned the mob,

Became a random bit of fun.

Then, like a mob of hungry pigs,

Who had found a trough of swill,

They used their snouts, found all the perks,

And simply gorged their fill.

And when asked how they would serve the land,

They simply looked nonplussed,

"Sir, we are all the elected here

We think the country should serve us!"

Alan May, Isabella Plains

As colder weather approaches, Canberrans may become aware of an apparent increase in furtive emissions.

These occur as a result of surreptitious release of wind in congested areas, for example inner suburban apartments, restaurants, and shopping malls where increased populations gather.

It is unclear whether increased furtive emissions are associated with climate change.

Peter Baskett, Murrumbateman, NSW

During Prime Minister Turnbull's veneration of the Magna Carta he summarised quite well the importance of rule of law. Yet his government ignores the rule of law by denying citizenship to many who are entitled to citizenship (asylum seekers and refugees). Hypocrisy is an occupational hazard for cabinet members, but even so I expect better from their leader.

Christopher Budd, Turner

With the mooted citizenship clampdown and 457 visa changes, is it now Malcolm Trumpbull?

T. Puckett, Ashgrove, Qld

Jerry Lewis ("Missile of the unguided", April 19, p.16) says "... we are hopeful that our political leaders will find solutions to a weapon we cannot control".

[It is] a sentiment already remarked by Hillaire Belloc in The Modern Traveller (1898):

"Whatever happens, we have got the Maxim gun and they have not."

Jack Palmer, Watson

With Sydney and Melbourne bursting at the seams the best the Minister for Regional Development can come up with is to suggest transferring public servants out of Canberra, the one city where decentralisation actually worked.

Don't spoil it now.

Canberra is still a public service town.

It may never recover.

Peter Brittliff, Kambah

Didn't Labor say that the Fair Work Commission was about "fair work"?

What part of "fair" don't they like any more?

Mario Moldoveanu, Frankston, Vic

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