Perhaps it's time for the Australian government to legislate to require multinationals - regardless of the continent or country from which they originate - to publicly disclose the amount of funds being shifted offshore. They should also be required to substantiate to the ATO the value of transfer prices, or pay tax where the price is unduly elevated. Further, intangible capital that has been created only on paper (such as goodwill) should not be able to be transferred offshore as tax-free cash. Cash is extremely tangible and such transfer should be subject to tax.

Despite its free-trade rhetoric, the US is well known for its anti-competitive trade practices (look at the impacts of the Buy America Act, the Jones Act and the Patriot Act, together with the US Federal Register relating to government procurement. These are just starters for its duplicitous approach to domestic and internal trade).

Consideration could be given to making it illegal for companies that operate in Australia to provide any information to the US government or US companies about Australian consumption, including downloading, of films, videos, music, books and the like.

An alternative to this could be to allow parallel importation of such products or services so that Australians are not continually price gouged, as has been the case for decades. Or perhaps the US and its multinationals can act on a more ethical basis. This would require an acceptance that it is every individual's and business' responsibility to pay tax in the jurisdictions in which revenue (whether wages, salaries or sales) is earned, if we are to continue to expect our governments to provide the level of social, community, business and other services that we now demand. I wish.

John Grant, Gowrie

So, where is the "community conversation on taxation" taking place? Past practice is the cabinet has a chat and tells us how it is going to be. As our tax laws are pre-computer and now outdated, why is not a Tobin tax (transaction tax of 0.1 per cent in the dollar) being discussed?

If this were implemented, experts tell us all other taxes would be unnecessary. It was muted by the EU and ruled out by the UK's biggest "industry", the finance industry. I wonder why that "industry" would do that?

Colin Handley, Lyneham

Is Julia Cronin (Letters, April 9) serious when she says the GST is "the worst tax" and "most unfair" for her as a pensioner?

Unlike most countries with a value-added tax, Australia has significant exemptions. There is no GST on basic food items, such as flour, dairy, eggs, meat, fresh fruit and vegetables and bread. When I checked my grocery receipts, I noticed that even the coffee capsules for my morning coffee do not attract GST. There is no GST on financial fees, including interest on loans, council rates and water/sewerage charges and housing rent, medical treatment, medications (including over-the-counter medication).

Ms Cronin can have a roof over her head, and eat to her heart's content, all without paying a single cent of GST.

Of course, not everything is GST-free and to compensate people on low incomes, there are allowances paid over and above their welfare payments.

The biggest impact of GST is on discretional expenditure, such as consumer purchases, including eating out or buying processed food items. As a consumer, I have a choice of whether I purchase a cup of coffee at a cafe for $5 or have one at home for 30 cents GST free. I choose whether I buy a car for $20,000 or $60,000 and whether I keep it for two years or 10 (or 15, as I tend to do). GST is a fairer tax, as it taxes consumption and has the biggest impact on discretionary expenditure, while basic living costs are largely untouched. And let's not forget that at 10 per cent, the GST in Australia is one of the lowest VATs in the world.

G. Bell, Franklin

I totally agree with the comments by Kym MacMillan (Letters, April 9). I served in the RAAF for 33 years as an armament fitter and armament officer. One of my tasks, in the 33 years, was the clearance of unexploded explosive ordnance at the former RAAF bombing range at Leanyer Swamp in Darwin.

Despite my best man management practices, the civilian staff were surly and often failed to follow instructions from my SNCOs.

Following my departure from the RAAF, I obtained a position with the Directorate of Armament Engineering - Navy. I found that the TO2 to TO4 APS personnel in the directorate in which I worked had no suitable qualifications to be in their positions.

My conclusion is that uniformed ADF personnel have to be assessed as competent before they can perform any task. This does not apply to the APS.

Vic Robertson, Page

The supervisors responsible for the April idiots' message at the Passport office ("April cruel office TV tells staff jobs are to go", April 2, p1) deserve more than just "counselling".

It is a clear breach of the code of conduct by the people responsible and by any more senior officers who were aware of it and did not instantly shut it down. The appropriate penalty for such a breach is at least reduction in rank, away from any position of supervisory or management authority. From where I stand, they clearly fail to meet the selection criteria for their roles.

Bernard McMinn, Mawson

Tagging is not a game

There is a new generation of graffiti vandals out there and they're even more moronic, if that is possible, than the ones we're (sadly) so used to.

Nothing is safe - street signs, tourist signs, bus shelters - from their idiotic tagging. Their talent is non-existent. No effort is made to produce anything valid in any way. It's just tags, tags; just to cause maximum damage and annoyance in minimum time.

Two (their tags are IRUN and HBK) are especially active, and it's high time that they are stopped and made to pay for their crimes. When I say "pay", I mean "pay".

Their damage should be assessed and they should pay up to the cent. Their cars (used to transport them to their crime scenes) should be confiscated. Their unemployment benefits (it's impossible that they have time to hold down jobs) should be immediately stopped. We want justice. We want criminals, vandals to be stopped and punished. I know that "justice" is an alien concept for our civic and legal leaders, but enough is enough.

Name and address withheld by request

I would like to echo the comments of B. M. Cooke (Letters, April 6). I live in Gungahlin and have not seen a litter patrol in this area for over 12 months. The amount of rubbish around the Gungahlin CBD, the college, sportsground and wetlands needs to be seen to be believed. Not just a few plastic bottles, but literally hundreds of containers of every description. Add to that the signs of neglect; many trees and plants dying because they are being strangled by weeds or poorly planted in the first place.

Is this to be the fate of all Canberra infrastructure as the government cuts back on services? It would appear that our city managers and government just don't want to hear any complaints on matters such as this. I have contacted them all and the silence has been deafening. I challenge all of them to take a walk around these areas and not be disgusted.

Tony Pelling, Nicholls

I see a lot in common with the movie Christmas Vacation and the current ACT government. Both have promised significant infrastructure expenditure based on funds they were never guaranteed to get. Clark Griswold expected a Christmas bonus to pay for his pool and the ACT government keeps expecting the federal government to hand out grants, presumably, amongst other things, to help pay for the light rail. But, sadly, I don't see a happy ending here in the ACT. Why not postpone the light rail for just one more year, instead of having to borrow more money? Oh, that's right, Labor won't be in government then.

Stephen Petersen, Dunlop

It is most concerning to hear of the increase in the cases of whooping cough in the community, most recently at Turner School ("Whooping cough cases found at Turner School'; April 9, p1). May I suggest schools install cages in the back of their classrooms to contain any unvaccinated students. That way they will still be able to participate in the class activities, but will be kept at a distance from the other students whom they may infect when they potentially carry the multiple diseases, for which there are vaccines available, into their classrooms.

W. Book, Hackett

I read with interest J. Rushton's complaints (Letters, April 10) regarding the cancellation of ACTION school services in 2014.

ACTION cancelled the 445 direct morning route from Belconnen to my daughter's school and replaced it with a shuttle service from the interchange. The then chief minister advised on Chief Minister Talk Back (ABC 666) that the average boardings for a cancelled route were 10 to 12 passengers. I had FOIed the documents with respect to my daughter's route (to confirm the veracity of these statements) which showed average boardings of 23 on route 445, thus directly contradicting the information provided by ACTION in its post-justification. This is against a seated capacity of 45. I wrote to Shane Rattenbury pointing this out and I'm still awaiting a response some eight months later.

Rohan Goyne, Evatt

I hope that when Glenda Naughton (Letters, April 9) suggests the production for use in schools of "high-quality videos on mutual respect between the sexes", she means just that and not just that boys must treat girls with respect.

For example, if a little boy does something nasty to a little girl, the boy will be punished. But if a little girl does something nasty to a little boy, the boy will be told to be a man and learn to put up with it. Gender inequality, and lack of mutual respect, does start early and it is not all to the disadvantage of girls.

Stan Marks, Hawker

The tragic death of a motorcyclist ("Motorbike rider killed in crash with bus", April 9, p1) provides yet another reason to reduce the speed limit on this one-kilometre stretch of Haydon Drive. It is only a matter of time before a vulnerable pedestrian or driver from Calvary Hospital or the Calvary Retirement Community becomes a victim to one of the many motorists bent on rapid acceleration to 80km/h or 90km/h as they leave Belconnen Drive.

A motorist wishing to turn into Jaeger Circuit or the northern end of Mary Potter Circuit will typically be harassed by a driver or drivers impatient to get up to or beyond the currently allowed maximum of 80km/h. At the other end of this fast stretch, thousands of Radford and UCAN students are potentially endangered by selfish motorists driving at speed.

Chris Smith, Kingston

It is difficult to understand why Greens Minister Shane Rattenbury is persevering with his medical cannabis scheme rather than joining in with NSW's clinical trials. Doctors providing permits to patients to grow their own medical cannabis plants would put their registration at risk if their patients experienced adverse effects from their home-grown cannabis.

Has Mr Rattenbury taken into account the number of sufferers of medical conditions who will not be able to take advantage of permits to grow cannabis? Those who are physically unable to cultivate the plants and whose carers are not willing to become involved, patients who live in high-rise accommodation with no access to land to grow their plants, people who are unwilling to take the risk for their plants to become a target for "recreational" drug users, and so on.

Ed Dobson, Hughes

As my wife and I were enjoying an excellent meal in one of the West Row restaurants a few nights ago, I commented on how lucky we are in Canberra with the number, range and quality of eating establishments available to us.

As someone who owned and operated a small business in Canberra for 20 years, I often think about how competitive the restaurant industry must be as evidenced by the regular turnover in businesses we see from year to year.

We patrons have so much choice. If we have a bad night in a particular establishment, we need never go back. We have 100 other options. The restaurant proprietor has to cope with the difficulties of attracting and retaining good staff and a myriad of other issues. I admire them for their courage, enthusiasm and expertise.

Having said that, I would like to mention one small issue that was brought up once again by Kirsten Lawson in her restaurant review "Where there's smoke, there're fryers" (Food & Wine, April 8, p7). Kirsten commented that after ordering some wines by the glass, sadly, they came to the table already poured. I agree with her. It has always been one of my bugbears. By bringing the bottle to the table, not only does the customer see that he/she is getting what they ordered, but they get the chance to take in the label for future reference in case they would like to buy the wine.

I realise this may bring up the issue of training all staff to ensure that they dispense the correct quantity and may make things awkward when there is less than a full glass left in the bottle but these are not major problems. The top restaurants pretty well all pour wine by the glass at the table. Many often offer you a taste first. It is a point I often hear raised by friends. In an extremely competitive market, it might just be the tipping point that makes a patron decide to return to the restaurant rather than go to a competitor next time.

Brian Wenn, Garran

STOP THE LINE NOW

Yet another financial blow, this time due to the serious reduction in GST from the federal government. In light of this, and the inability of the public to pay any further hikes in motor transport charges, TPI, rates, water and electricity, land costs, further consideration of the so-called Rattenbury railway line is absolutely stupid. Stop all the work, now.

Rex Williams, Ainslie

HERITAGE SOLUTION

Woden looking run-down ("Fears job-hit Woden on the slide", April 10, p2)? Grant it heritage status. Problem solved.

John Howarth, Weston

A MATTER OF CHOICE

The editorial "Poor decisions still haunt Canberra jail" (Times2, April 10, p2) concluded, "Better strategies of keeping people out of prison, while not making Canberra a less safe place for all of us, must, therefore, become a matter of priority for Mr Rattenbury and the government."

I am told that in Indonesia miscreants are given a choice between a custodial sentence and signing up for military service.

Gary J. Wilson, MacGregor

A SONG FOR LABOR

Regarding Jack Waterford's column "What does Labor stand for" (Times2, April 8, p1) I have penned a little ditty to the tune of What does Delaware?

What does Labor stand for?/ For what does Labor stand?/ It stands to save our country/ it stands to save our land/to fight greedy politicians/ to fight lying politicians /who want to cut our pensions to make themselves look grand.

Valentine Deacon, Womboin NSW

AVOIDING H. RONALD

A quick tip for all those letters readers who vent in the letter's page about "H. Ronald". Do what I do, read the name at the bottom of all letters before reading the letter. If it is from "H. Ronald", move straight on to the next letter.

Malcolm Paterson, Greenleigh, NSW

BLUEPRINT IGNORED

N. Bailey (Letters, April 8 ) says Labor should start announcing its policies. I seem to recall that Tony Abbott did not announce any policies before the 2013 election, stating that the Labor government would just copy them.

It was not until two weeks before the election that the now redundant little blue book was issued.

As we all now know, that blueprint was not followed as policies were aimed at the sick, disabled, pensioners and low paid wage earners.

Lyne Dobson, Waterview Heights, NSW

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