Recently Maersk (a Danish company) announced it was moving its financial centre of operations from Darling Harbour to Auckland involving the loss of jobs to Australian workers.

One of my family members who worked in the financial planning section of Maersk at Darling Harbour has had to seek other employment.

Malcolm appears proud of the fact that the Liberal Coalition governing this country has exported the jobs of Australian workers to New Zealand.

I find his poor judgment astonishing.

Gavin Holmes, Macquarie

It's breathtaking but predictable that the ACTU should commission "law experts" to try and torpedo the Coalition's PaTH interns program ("Coalition's interns plan illegal: lawyers", May 12, p4). One may even be excused for believing that the trade union movement might pay even a smidgen of attention to the public's already suspicion of its antics following the royal commission's findings which, despite squeals of discrimination, exposed sufficient heavy-hand tactics to confirm long-held concerns about union activities.

Here we have a genuine opportunity for up to 120,000 young Australians to be given a fair go at gaining valuable work experience – leading to better future job prospects.

Enter the ACTU and legal academics already in well-paid jobs to immediately search out the negatives – who cares about opportunity?

Sure a handful of unscrupulous employers may try to exploit the program. So does that justify penalising all 120,000 prospects?

How can we ever give today's young Aussies a fair go when attempts to do so are jumped on by the ACTU for cheap political purposes?

Len Goodman, Flynn

Your editorial "Escaping the 'empire of rules"' (Times2, May 12, p2) picks up an important point about policy research and planning from Michael Pezzullo's talk. I'd like to focus on another point raised by the quiet man: cultivating institutional memory and historical perspective. Every public servant knows that some bad ideas keep coming back. When "back room" functions are cut, record-keeping suffers. When staff are overworked and demoralised turn-over goes up, communication breaks down and we forget lessons learnt on the taxpayer's dollar. The productivity dividend is like DDT for institutional memory. This lazy alternative to management ensures that every program cuts its "back-room" functions and demoralises staff who struggle to deliver the public benefits.

Eventually some programs are cut so far that they no longer deliver but they keep getting funded because a little cut to everything is easier to administer than making actual decisions. Over time everything is sick but nothing is dead. The productivity dividend also guts the small agencies and institutionalises lying into the budget process but that is a whole 'nother story.

Kate Roediger, Melba

Keith McEwan (Letters, May 5) suggests David Biles's overview of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody is negative.

As someone with knowledge of events of the time and those leading up to the inquiry, I found Biles' comments factual and accurate.

From the beginning, the commission was wrongly premised on the conviction that Indigenous offenders in custody were meeting their deaths via abuse or neglect while in the custody of police or prison officials. That this premise was flawed was unequivocally reinforced by the fact no charge was ever instituted against a police or prison official as a result of the commission.

A tragic fact, shown in the commission's own findings is that during the years 1987 and 1988 when publicity and media attention was at its most intense 34 of the 99 deaths investigated occurred. This phenomenon could have been as the result of the same media attention.

Tom Clews, Kambah

I applaud last week's calls for plain English writing in government documents. Unfortunately, I have discovered that the problems start far before employment in the public service. My son recently came home from school with an instruction sheet about essay writing, which recommended that students use "prior to" instead of "before", "in the event that" instead of "if"', and so on. We need to recognise, right from these early stages of teaching about writing, that such bureaucratic language does not improve the message trying to be conveyed.

Kylie Evans, Bruce

Shmuel Ben-Shmuel ('Bringing down Israel is not helping Palestinians', Times2, May 4, p5) perfectly illustrates the old adage "An ambassador is an honest man sent abroad to lie for his country".

It is no good Stephen Langford (Letters, May 9) getting upset and reporting his Jewish credentials to criticise Zionism. If you are a non-Jew anti- Zionist, Shmuel Ben-Shmuel calls you an anti-Semite; if you are a Jew he calls you a self-hating Jew. A big test is coming soon with the trial of IDF soldier Elor Azarya for the callous, cowardly shooting of a no-name hor-de-combat Palestinian alleged terrorist.

Actually, the IDF already failed the test – Elor Azarya is being tried for manslaughter, when the whole on-line world witnessed a murder. Shmuel Ben-Shmuel probably thinks like Dick Cheney that alleged terrorists deserve summary execution, not a trial.

Now, you take me, I'm a philo-semite. I loved Einstein, I love Steven Pinker and I loved a red-haired Jewish girl in Bradford in 1969. I would probably love some Israeli Jews if I knew any. But I am an anti-Zionist and an anti-colonialist. Zionism is the last European Colonial project in the Middle East.

Only two things will deter the Israeli colonists. One is an uprising by diaspora Jews. I recommend Australian Jews join BDS and let Shmuel Ben-Shmuel know they have done it. The other is American abandonment of Israel in its present configuration.

Kenneth Griffiths, Tegal, Indonesia

The Department of Immigration and Border Protection, and its operational enforcement arm the Australian Border Force, is only 10 months into life as an integrated workforce ("Immigration staff pan 'military-style' culture", May 12, p4). This process has been complex.

Change is unsettling; it leads to uncertainty, so it is not unusual or unexpected to see survey results that bear out the legitimate concerns of our staff. Some decisions won't please everyone – but that is not an excuse to resile from them. We need to work with our people to equip the organisation to meet the demands of the future.

In coming years we will see a huge increase in the movement of people and goods to and from Australia. This will bring with it opportunities and risks. Reform within the department will reflect this reality: it will need to be intelligence-led, risk-based and more agile in adopting innovative technologies.

Already we are seeing benefits in establishing blended teams of former Immigration and Customs who are working with new colleagues who bring specialist skills in areas such as intelligence, analytics, investigations and operations.

Effecting this workforce transition, and with it a fresh culture, will take time.

We reject categorically the inaccurate and unhelpful meme that the Department has a "militarised" culture: the only staff required to be in uniform and to carry weapons are those whose duties require it and who are properly credentialed and trained.

Finally, the Australian Public Service Commission provides clear guidance on participation in political activities. APS staff may participate in political activities as part of normal community affairs, but need to be mindful of perceptions of conflict of interest or partiality, and their involvement should be considered carefully.

Your editorial ("A new broom sweeps clean", Times2, July 25, 2015,p2) got it right: 'While the creation of the new Department remains a politically charged issue, the bureaucratic changes being implemented may be a breath of fresh air – and even result in a more professional and responsive bureaucracy.'

Michael Pezzullo, secretary, Department of Immigration and Border Protection

Roman Quaedvlieg, commissioner, Australian Border Force

I suspect that Rick Hingee (Letters, May 5 and 11) expresses the concerns of many Canberra citizens when he complains about the process by which Assembly Members and senior public servants get remuneration increases.

But I suggest a different solution. The tribunal with Mr Hingee's improved makeup should set the total remuneration, ie, including the value of all the perks of office, for every job classification paid from the public purse. No exceptions; politicians, judges, statutory office holders and other public servants all the way down to first-year trainees.

That remuneration should not be set as a dollar value but as a multiple of the poverty income, ie, half the median weekly 'equivalised disposable household income'. See the ABS product 6523.0 – Household Income and Wealth, Australia, 2011-12 and 2013-14.

The government might have to prevail upon the ABS to do the survey every year and publish the data within 12 months so remuneration can be automatically adjusted once a year. The tribunal should be given a limited time, maximum a year, to do the necessary consultation and hand down its determinations, and then it can be disbanded for good.

John F. Simmons, Kambah

We would all like to have a world-class stadium for football and cricket in Canberra. It would be a good thing and its almost inevitable, but its not red-hot urgent that we get it this year or next. So, let's take this year and next to really plan for the best outcome, not a quick fix to a non-urgent issue. There are two options.

Please could our government take time, in amongst the tumult and the shouting, to evaluate them? The first is to upgrade Manuka. This is only sustainable if it is part of a bipartisan political commitment to provide effective public transport for events.

There just isn't room or money to provide private parking for even a useful percentage of the crowd. Let's plan designated remote carparks and shuttle buses or better still, light rail looping through Kingston or Manuka on its way to Fyshwick or wherever.

The second option is to do a land-swap: give the developers the existing site, which will allow them to happily build a hotel and home units where they will make their money.

In return, have them build a world-class stadium which the punters can get to. Either near Civic where we already have public transport and parking (that's a solution akin to Melbourne's) or on a greenfields site where its easier to embed private and public transport into the design (that's Sydney's). Either way, we win. But without the thinking, and a plan, we whinge. And in the long term, we'll all lose too.

Craig Pearson, Kingston

May I quickly summarise my understanding of the Brumbies saga as it would appear many are confused. It is actually quite simple. Following illumination of possible irregularities and anomalies in the sale and relocation of the Brumbies to the University of Canberra, the Brumbies Board and Australian Rugby Union endorsed the requirement for an independent investigation.

KPMG were engaged and their investigation was completed with a report issued in September 2015. As the CT has repeatedly reported, I understand the report is "explosive" and names Canberra identities and organisations implicated in the whole affair.

One can only assume there is misappropriation/redirection of funds and perhaps fraudulent action. Hence the Australian Federal Police have commenced a criminal investigation.

The entire saga surrounding the Brumbies' former chief executive is merely "smoke and mirrors" aimed at detracting attention from the true culprits.

There: not so hard to put two and two together to get four!

Mark Wheatley, Jerrabomberra, NSW

NSW residents opposing council amalgamations should think again. A few more rounds of amalgamations and there will be no more need for state governments. Surely that is a good thing!

Greg George, Burra, NSW

You have to be careful what you wish for in criticising the planning of Canberra by government (Letters, May 11).

Relative to just over the border our mob aren't too bad – generally governing for the whole of the population and having an eye to the future.

Yass Valley Council has just caved into a number of vested interests of few large landholders to put the whole shires future at risk.

The council is in the process of putting the finishing touches to make its whole rural area of the shire (an area larger than the whole of the ACT) a quasi rural residential zone/bedroom community for Canberra and basically giving up on farming.

The minimum subdivision size is to be drastically reduced and allowing two houses on each lot.

This doubling or even tripling of existing rural dwellings numbers and adding the potential for thousands of dispersed dwellings in the shire will bring even more pressure on the thin ribbon of the Barton Highway as residents make the long commute into the ACT for employment and education.

It will be the final death nell to the Yass River.

At the same time the council is pursing large increases in size in its closest urban villages at Gundaroo and Murrumbateman, in the Gundaroo case doubling the size of the existing urban zoning.

The council doesn't feel obligated to provide reticulated water and sewerage to new urban sized blocks with new residents having to relying onsite bores and septics.

When the inevitable acute water shortage and pollution of aquifer occurs Yass Shire towns and villages will rely on ACT will come to rescue with a reticulated service pipeline across the border.

Amazing the NSW government has given all this the tick recently finding the Yass council one of very few councils in our area "fit for the future" in the local government review. More like "fit for the 18th century" me thinks.

John Auld, Dickson

TO THE POINT

The Canberra Times wants to hear from you in short bursts. Email views in 50 words or fewer to

letters.editor@canberratimes.com.au

OUTSIDE BORDERS

Israel has recognised borders, Robert Cussel (Letters, May 13). It just that it hasn't lived within them since 1967.

Paul McElligott, Aranda

TREE FELLING

Robert Henderson (Letters, May 13) has missed the point being made by CanTheTram. The Northbourne Avenue trees may well have to go, but the tragedy is that the 700 healthy trees are to be axed for a project which is not rapid transit and barely an improvement on the existing bus services.

Dr John L. Smith, chairman, CanTheTram Inc.

If clearing the trees from Northbourne Avenue goes ahead (for whatever reason), what is the ACT government going to do with all that stored carbon?

Peter Tait, O'Connor

APATHY ASTONISHES

I would not expect Paul Pentane (Letters 10 May) to be able to answer my question about the true net reductions in emissions created by renewable power when a great deal of our backup power is always burning coal or gas to guarantee uninterrupted supply. But it astonishes me that he doesn't seem to care.

H. Ronald, Jerrabomberra, NSW

ELECTION MYSTERY

The recent changes to the Senate voting system were a good idea, though it is by no means clear that, in a double dissolution election, the number of cross-bench senators will be reduced.

But why does the new system mean that here in the ACT, where only two senators are to be chosen (not 12), we will have to number six boxes above the line or 12 boxes below (see Australian Electoral Commission advertisement, May 7, p7)?

Stephen Brown, Forrest

NAME CHANGER

Waleed Aly's less than graceful acceptance speech at the Logie awards last week told of a chap called Mustapha who didn't use that name because he couldn't get a job if he did.

Mustapha sounds like a wise man. Even though it may have hurt to loose his grasp on one of his links to the nation of his heritage, where he no longer wishes to live, he decided to integrate into his new country, to Anglicise his name.

Gary J. Wilson, Macgregor

INSPECT OUR SCHOOLS

Education needs accountability. Regulate school standards. Get in there and see what goes on. Restore some of the abandoned quality controls, like regular inspections.

Barrie Smillie, Duffy

Email: letters.editor@canberratimes.com.au. Send from the message field, not as an attached file. Fax: 6280 2282. Mail: Letters to the Editor, The Canberra Times, PO Box 7155, Canberra Mail Centre, ACT 2610.

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