Instead of tampering with vital payments to carers and pensioners, the Government's razor gang might well scrutinise the Defence Department's employment of hundreds of contractors and consultants.

I know of cases where IT contractors hire their own subcontractors and so on down the chain. The security of Defence's crucial IT asset has effectively been handed over to them.

Mike Phoenix, Greenway

MAGNETIC VORTEX

The $6 billion "black hole" in the defence budget, revealed by Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon, should surprise nobody.

Somebody has to pay for those wretched fridge magnets!

Dave Diss, Glengowrie, SA

ONE PERSON'S WINDFALL

The article headlined "Carbon trading to reap billions" (March 20, p1) should have read "Carbon trading to cost billions".

After all, who do you think is going to pay in the end?

J. Dinn, Ngunnawal

PROSPECTS FOR PEACE

Sixty years ago, the nation of Israel was established in Palestine and 45per cent of the land was set aside for its indigenous owners.

Today, Palestinians live in less than 10 per cent of the area.

It is rather naive of Colin Rubenstein ("Much to celebrate in Israel's 60 years", March 20, p23) to expect Palestinians to settle for peace under those circumstances.

Gwenyth Bray, Belconnen

JUSTIFYING THE MEANS

Pine Gap, anti-logging, anti-battery hens, anti-whaling and anti-cull activists all suffer from the same affliction: that is, that the perceived rightness of their cause is sufficient justification for the breaking of laws and for vilifying those who do not agree with their views.

Ken McPhan, Spence

WIDESPREAD SLAUGHTER

Those who criticise the RSPCA for the ACT kangaroo cull confuse the objectives of animal welfare versus animal liberation.

It is surprising that the latter are not more concerned about the 45million sheep, lambs, cattle and pigs that are slaughtered in Australia every year.

Philip Purcell, Wanniassa

RED HILL INDEED

Terry Birtles (Letters, March 20) says, "Fortunately, when Walter Burley Griffin proposed that Red Hill be replanted with red flowering trees, controllers of Canberra's budget did not have the funds or access to water resources to support him." In fact, Weston planted red-flowering bottlebrushes (Callistemon spp) were planted in 1917 at the direction of Griffin. They survived.

On Easter Saturday morning, we took a look at the original site on the north-east slope of Red Hill and many have regenerated after the 2001 bushfire.

Robert Boden, Swinger Hill