Gary J. Wilson, Macgregor

Finally some sunshine into the dark spaces that pervade the current town planning fashion, with Tony Trobe's interview of Ken Taylor, ("Design Matters" CT, May13 ). We all need light, open generous spaces to be, play and think.

Burley Griffin & Marion Mahony were into light and space, what's happened? We don't need wanky high-rise signature buildings jammed onto our road intersections or rows and rows of units looking like boxes made of ticky tacky.

Economical electric cars with solar recharged batteries will be here soon. We need well designed highways so that those who want a quarter-acre block can afford them. Now that Northbourne Avenue will have units side by side from Civic to Watson, Jack Kershaw's vision of changing the entry to Canberra with a spur off Majura Parkway and a road up and over the hill past the American eagle more relevant.

John Skurr, Deakin

The Canberra Times was correct to deride the news, "After 15 years, 23 reviews and more than 35,000 suggestions" another town planning review is under way ("After 23 reviews, Canberrans are again being asked how to improve the city", canberratimes.com.au, May 15).

I suggest that whatever plan is adopted be backed by clear, unequivocal zoning with no allowance for variations or ministerial discretion. There is no problem living in a time capsule.

Gary J. Wilson, Macgregor

Most of the world is fed up with Israel's treatment of the Palestinians. Instead of blaming the Palestinian leadership, Malcolm Turnbull should show some spine and reprimand Israel for killing unarmed protesters.

The Palestinians have lost nearly everything since the acquisition of their lands by Israel in 1948 and 1967. They have no country and are under occupation and/or siege. In the absence of any useful diplomacy from the USA , it's time for Australia to step up, to lobby Israel to negotiate in good faith for a just solution to the conflict. Israel will have no security until the Palestinians get a fair deal.

Bill O'Connor, Beechworth

While the decision of the US to relocate its embassy to Jerusalem is being seen by many as the death knell for the possibility of a separate Palestinian state, the sad reality is that by virtue of its behaviour, Israel has long shown that it will never allow that to happen ("Deadly Gaza protests cloud Israel's US embassy opening in Jerusalem", Canberra Times, May 15).

While Australia is always ready to chastise China, Russia and North Korea for their alleged failure to respect the so-called "international rules-based order", including defying resolutions of the United Nations and breaching international law, I cannot recall a single occasion where our government has seen fit to apply the same standard to Israel for exactly the same behaviour.

Given that Israel's determination to steal the huge oil reserves lying under the occupied territories is really no different to our government's criminal attempt to steal East Timor's gas reserves, the horrible truth is that Palestinian independence has never really mattered to the west.

John Richardson, Wallagoot, NSW

I enjoy reading Ross Gittins' informative and usually balanced articles. However, "Tax martyrs? Not quite" (May 16) blotted his copybook.

Gittins began by complaining about Scott Morrison's "tricksy", "sleight of hand" "calculated to mislead" budget. I agreed with him. However, he then provided his own misleading arguments; these made Morrison seem a mere amateur in the game of tricks.

He stated: "What matters when comparing [tax cuts] is the amount of [tax savings] compared with [incomes]. This is incorrect. What is important is the comparison of [tax paid] to [incomes]." The miniscule cuts are merely a diversion. His examples were income $30,000/$200,000 (ratio 1:7), tax $2000/$60,000 (ratio 1:30), but he deliberately did not show the tax as dollar amounts.

Most essential payments by families (food, housing, transport, and clothing) are based on the principal of "user pays". However, "equalitarians" such as Gittins like to have as many personal costs as possible paid by government from taxes raised on a "progressive" basis: medicare insurance is a classic example of this. If the cost of medicare were $2000 per taxpayer, and paid directly as other essentials are, the example's net tax payments would be $0 and $58,000. This paints a different picture.

Furthermore, if other welfare payments are considered, it is seen that effectively the low-income earner doesn't pay tax but receives it. The current (sometimes deliberate) misrepresentation of punitive "taxation" of the poor generates ill-informed discontent. Clarifying education is required.

Bob Salmond, Melba

I find Jackie French's down-to-earth articles on gardening in The Canberra Times quite refreshing. But her conclusions of May 6 about lemon balm based on three doses of anecdotal evidence is hasty and out of character.

She asserts that one probably-belated attempt to stop an already restless hive of bees from swarming proves the remedy was worthless under any conditions for bees; and that a very occasional drink of a tea you dislike proved somehow that it wouldn't fix insomnia or digestive problems. These conclusions lack your usual flair for observation and comment, and look like a symptom of bias against herbal remedies in general.

It has been documented by more rigorous researchers that lemon balm has the remarkable quality of being able to normalise blood pressure. I also find the dried herb adds a delicious tang to any tea. I hope you will give lemon balm a better wrap very soon.

Jenny Hobson, Spence

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