However, a big sleeper without much focus so far is the damaging impact of budget provisions on healthcare funding and costs. Medicare Benefits Schedule fees are to be frozen for three years and the private insurance rebates until 2021.

Are we to believe that GPs and specialists fees or private health insurers premiums will not increase significantly in the intervening period? The government also plans to cut or amend items on the Medical Benefits Schedule that it believes are "clinically obsolete". Look out for the discretionary element here.

As well, it proposes to cut $1.2 billion for aged care providers for what it believes are "complex healthcare" treatments. Look out, for the same reason. And this is at a time when for demographic and health reasons more government funding in this sector is regarded as critical.

Beware, ordinary Australian families are in the firing line for significant increases in out of pocket health expenses. One would hope that much will be made of this before the coming election.

David Fisher, Curtin

The gangsters who call themselves our political leaders are again punishing smokers by raising tobacco excise. The 50 per cent excise increase proposed by Treasurer Scott Morrison apes the 50 per cent increase proposed by the petty tyrants of the ALP. Nothing distinguishes the major parties in this respect. They are addicted to the billions in tobacco revenue, but piously harangue smokers. Bullied smokers have nowhere to turn.

Both parties support continued unethical intolerant taxation of and social discrimination against those who choose to smoke, displaying open contempt for the notion of personal choice.

Governments at all levels lack moral authority when imposing controls without consent on consumers of an excessively taxed yet highly legal product. Such authoritarian meddling leads not to obedience, but to profound resentment. Millions of smokers will remember this latest unjust persecution at the forthcoming election.

M. Jarratt, Weston Creek

Elise Turner ("Smokers to cough up more than $30 for a packet of cigs", May 4, p3) laments the tobacco excise increase in the budget. A smoker for 15 years she says: "I really enjoy smoking."

What we think she really means is: "I really enjoy the release smoking gives me from my addiction." Cigarette smoking produces a rapid distribution of nicotine to the brain, with drug levels peaking within 10 seconds of inhalation. However, the acute effects of nicotine dissipate quickly, as do the associated feelings of reward, which causes someone like ET to continue dosing to maintain the drug's pleasurable effects and prevent withdrawal. Nicotine withdrawal symptoms which ET may experience from her 15 year habit include irritability and anxiety if she is not able to smoke that next cigarette. And on it goes.

Sebastian Cole, Ngunnawal

As Latika Bourke's article ("Malcolm Turnbull defends saying wealthy parents should 'shell out' to buy their kid a house", canberratimes.com.au, May 5) revealed, what precisely was so horrendously offensive about Malcolm Turnbull's modest and common sense affirmation, that parents have a part to play in assisting their children to break into the competitive and often elusive housing market?

As a cultural concept, inter-generational benevolence is surely a noble act, and not akin to civil class warfare.

I bought my first house 15 years ago in the south-west of Sydney for a quarter of a million dollars. Despite my previous years of spirited saving on a single income, I was only able to garner 5 per cent of the sale price as a deposit, and not the expected 10 per cent.

However, a generous short-term loan from grandparents ensured that the house could be purchased, and they were swiftly paid back, once the loan had been settled.

No one in the family was ashamed of this transaction, and in time to come, I expect that I will also follow suit in regard to sharing the blessings of a lifetime of earnings with my respective progeny.

Such sharing of common wealth is not primarily concerned with the lucky dip of being born unto rich parents, but rightfully recognising our custodial responsibilities to those we have chosen to bring into this world.

Peter Waterhouse, Craigieburn Vic

We are urged to avoid "misty eyes" over Australia's shameful treatment of refugees – treatment endorsed by an executive and a parliament in which self-professed Christianity is pervasive. But these "Christians" seem to have rewritten the parable of the Good Samaritan, a parable that is redolent – even to non-believers – with clear-eyed morality. In the politicians' version, voluntary but dangerous travel from Jerusalem to Jericho is banned.

The role of the parable's robbers is now taken by a "Border Force" and its mercenaries. Those innocently but desperately attempting the journey are subject to indefinite extra-judicial detention in dehumanising and brutal conditions. Those seeking to emulate the Samaritan are persecuted, pilloried and punished.

The citizens of Jericho are encouraged to demonise the would-be travellers. This is not what was meant by "go thou and do likewise".

Professed Christianity is not needed to accept the morality of the parable. But claiming Christianity while so comprehensively repudiating that morality is clear-eyed hypocrisy.

Stephanie and Mike Hutchinson, Reid

I am one of the activists vilified by Peter Dutton's egregious attack, blaming us for the dreadful self-immolations done by people in Australia's "care." Whenever I think he has reached a new low in moral turpitude, he finds a way to go lower. I am outraged by his comments, but equally outraged that The Canberra Times could not see fit to report them, with one shining exception: the principled Bruce Haigh called him out for what he is, a sycophantic lackey ("Ashamed to be Australian", Times2, Mary 4, p4).

Bob Gardiner, Isabella Plains

Thank you Bruce Haigh for writing and The Canberra Times for publishing his article "Ashamed to be Australian" (Times2, May 4, p4). He has expressed the opinions of my wife and I better than we could have. Unfortunately we are now past being able to go to demonstrations and we are told that politicians no longer read letters to editors so we would like The Canberra Times to publish some suggestions about how people who agree with Bruce Haigh can make it known to politicians and their advisers.

John F. Simmons, Kambah

Israeli ambassador Shmuel Ben Shmuel ("Bringing down Israel is not helping Palestinians", Times2, May 4, p5) says "No other nation in history ... has ever adhered to higher standards of human rights, been more sensitive to the safety of innocent civilians or been willing to take more risks for peace".

Does that include stealing Palestinian land and building settlements, setting up hundreds of check points, burning or uprooting Palestinian olive orchards, incarcerating children, arresting people in the middle of the night, executing or imprisoning suspects without trial or building a separation wall that prevents Palestinians from leading normal lives, to name a few of Israel's high standards of human rights?

Gwenyth Bray, Belconnen

Max Jensen (Letters, May4) really should read letters thoroughly before criticising them otherwise his responses will be codswallop. I clearly pointed out (Letters, May 2) that negative gearing resulted in real outgoings from the property owner and thus was a short term position until the mortgage was reduced or rent increased. Nothing to do with goodness in providing accommodation for renters – it is a simple business transaction.

Similarly I stated that the actual returns to revenue from full taxation of capital gains is similar to that of 50per cent taxation because the method of calculation is different.

I despair for the future of Australia if electors cannot understand the facts about negative gearing and capital gains tax as stated in my letter.

Michael Lane, St Ives, NSW

While your correspondents may rejoice in Canberra as the unashamed NIMBY capital of the nation with most of us willing to support civic improvements as long as they are 'Not In My Back Yard', I think we underestimate our collective curmudgeonry.

In my view, former chief minister Kate Carnell was much closer to the mark when she identified the city as the BANANA capital: "Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone".

John Clarke, Pearce

Ric Hingee has misrepresented my background once too often now for me to allow his claims (Letters, May 5) to go unchecked.

I have never been a high level executive of government. I reached the dizzy heights of personal secretary (grade 2) in 1976 in the Commonwealth public service before moving to Victoria to work as a middle manager in public hospitals. I returned to Canberra in the 1990s, working for two very poor NGOs that were focused on improving the health and wellbeing of women, children and babies.

Unfortunately, I became ill in the early noughties and had to retire from the workforce. But I worked, as a volunteer, in assisting Australians who had lung illness to obtain oxygen to help them breathe. I also worked, again as a volunteer, for an NGO to raise organ donor awareness.

I would have thought that I'm quintessentially a community representative in touch with community values and expectations.

Anne Cahill Lambert, former chairwoman, ACT Remuneration Tribunal

SCOTT SHOULD WHISTLE

There was one thing missing in David Pope's brilliant editorial cartoon (Times2, May 5, p1) on the Budget Outlook. It would have struck an even stronger chord if a smug Scott Morrison was shown "whistling in a carefree manner" while pumping up the "negative gearing investment vehicle" and looking indifferently at the run-down "affordable housing vehicle".

Bill Handke, Kambah

WEALTH ON BACK OF POOR

There's never a more exciting time to be a millionaire, with a $17,000 tax cut in this year's budget. Malcolm Turnbull suggests parents "shell out" to help their kids buy property.

This budget is designed for the wealthy, by making others poor. It is the old story of capitalism, getting rich by making someone else poor.

Richard Ryan, Summerland Point, NSW

BRING ON CLASS WARFARE

If taking steps to address the widening gap between rich and poor is class warfare, then let us have a bit more class warfare.

Don McCallum, Isaacs

ONE RULE FOR MPS ...

Earlier this year I recall an announcement our federal MPs were to be paid a 2per cent pay rise – with no reductions in conditions of employment – unlike what they have required of the rest of Australia. A typical "do as I say, not as I do" scenario.

Now Scott Morrison has given them a second pay rise in only a couple of months. What part of la-la land do they live in?

Roger Laws, Bonython

SHOULDN'T ELECTION WAIT?

How can the Governor-General grant Mr Turnbull an election, especially with a double dissolution, when the High Court is still pondering the challenge to the electoral legislation designed to rid him of the Senate crossbench?

James Gralton, Garran

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.

Keep your letter to 250 words or less. References to Canberra Times reports should include date and page number. Letters may be edited. Provide phone number and full home address (suburb only published).