There is a noteworthy concern which appears to elude question, discussion or scrutiny. Senator Polley please ask Parliament why providers of packages both for profit and not-for-profit receive considerable sums of money to fund services in the community yet are neither held accountable for how such funds are allocated nor audited for fees charged.

Though scrupulous providers do deliver much needed supportive and caring services, unscrupulous providers continue to thrive. 

Yet, the appalling lack of transparency in funding the home and residential care of older people living in Tasmania and on the mainland continues. 

We need to question whether a significant number of care packages would become available if providers were held financially accountable, audited and legislated. 

Whoops, not politically correct language in an age of deregulation, competition, corporatisation and profit.  

Dr Kim Wylie, Prospect Vale.

BY TRYING to depict Israelis as the 'bad guys' for defending their border against recent Hamas attacks, your cartoonist Wilcox couldn't get the realities more wrong.  

This is proved by news that 50 of the 62 attackers who died were members of Hamas, who declare destruction of Israel, not a peace settlement, as Article One of their constitution. 

Why should any nation should allow thousands sworn to its destruction to push over a border fence separating the would-be murderers from peaceful civilians they plan to attack?  

Does anyone imagine Hamas chose to violate the border merely to open dialogue with Jews they have pledged to drive into the sea? For further evidence, Google the short Pierre Rehov video entitled Behind the Smokescreen: Hamas Unrest in Gaza. 

Judge for yourself if the hate-ridden speeches of Hamas leaders' are designed to deceive and manipulate Gazans who are poor precisely because their neighbours, including Egypt, dare not trust Hamas ruses.  

As Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz says, it is because media coverage reports 'only the body count, not the Hamas tactics leading to it', that many in the West remain confused about what really keeps the Arab-Israeli conflict at boiling point.

Lew Bretz, St Marys.

TAXATION has always been a bane for all sides of Federal politicians. 

I have always contended the simple ways require less adjustments and are more transparent compared to the current system with it’s complicated deliberate loopholes favouring the top of the town.

Much to my surprise Judith Sloan on Q&A recently hit the nail on the head when she said, “An old tax is a good tax”.

Let’s do just that. I remember not long after World War II, I started work in the UK. Tax was on a graduated scale and fairer than today’s ambiguous system.

The system had fewer variable rates, it still favoured the top of the town but extracted from them a fairer contribution than our current system. 

Throughout the war top tax rate for the very wealthy was 99.25 per cent. It reduced throughout the 1950s and 1960 to 90 per cent based on total income. 

Similarities to today, the working class still suffered at the hands of capitalism. How much simpler could that be and thank Judith Sloan for her recommendation.

Today there are two careers I can think of that are "permanent" - undertaker and hairdresser.

Wally Reynolds, Perth.

REGARDING Timothy Haas’s letter (The Sunday Examiner, May 20), I believe St Paul’s Church was demolished to make way for works at the Launceston General Hospital , of which a replacement chapel of St Paul’s is now located within the existing LGH. As a direct result, the parish seemed to have gradually disappeared, without redemption. My mother’s family were regular attendees of the old St Paul’s Church, and if any fellow Examiner letter writers have any experiences or knowledge of the aforementioned church, I am sure it would be of great historical interest before collective memory is unfortunately lost. 

Kenneth Gregson, Swansea.

COUNCILLORS are asked to consider reducing future unnecessary, expensive works upgrades and projects with savings applied to reducing our rates instead of annual indexed rate increases. I believe the majority of ratepayers would approve and councillors would earn more respect.

John Snooks, West Launceston.

IT’S question time for TasWater.

While reading the brochure included with my account I saw that all towns would have a good supply of drinking water by 2018.

If this means major infrastructure will be complete, can I expect a reasonable account instead of a total of $202.61, with only $9.18 of that amount being for the product they are selling me?

Will they also contribute to the separation of sewage and stormwater in the Inveresk precinct? If yes, will this happen before or after the new folly, oh sorry, university, is built on top of the problem.

Ron Baines, Kings Meadows.

WITH the millions of dollars spent on multi-lane highways, which will slash a few minutes from our extremely long trips in our small state, could I urge drivers to follow the simple rule of keeping to the left unless overtaking? It even seems to be beyond the "experienced " who are teaching our future road users.  

Chris Madden, Newstead.