Self-government was always a grand illusion, perhaps a delusion, but now it has degenerated to be an oddity to be rorted at our collective expense by political insiders of any hue.

A. Whiddett, Yarralumla

The mind-blowing appointment of Liberal Brendan Smyth to the Labor, possibly deliberate created position of Commissioner for International Engagement, highlights the pathetic quality of our local politicians.

Barr is desperate to hold power. He knows he is facing potential defeat. And rightly so many Canberrans believe, including myself.

What do we make of Smyth's decision; what does it say about his commitment to Liberal ideals. May I suggest both men and their supporters are showing their true colours – look after yourself and play the electorate for fools.

The appointment is a minor example of the current bawdy state of politics in Australia and overseas. People are sick of self-serving, amoral politicians who show total disregard to the wishes of the people.

We are not fools. We deserve better politicians and should encourage noble people to step forward. I know that is not an easy gig but I hope we see it in the October election.

Geoff Clark, Narrabundah

Andrew Barr has confirmed the desperation of Labor as October 15 approaches. The captain's call to offer Brendan Smyth the specially created position of Commissioner for International Engagement for five years, at a salary of $300,000 per year, three months out from the ACT election is further confirmation of the man's arrogance, his contempt for the people of the ACT as well as his desperation.

Why was the position not advertised within the ACT community, or for that matter more widely? How could Mr Barr be assured that Mr Smyth, competent as he may be, is the best man for the job? Why was the position created three months from the election? What sort of people does Mr Barr think the people of the ACT are?

No thinking person will see the appointment as anything other than another grubby act by an Australian politician.

Such grubby acts display contempt for the electorate, which in turn holds those responsible for them in contempt.

It is these grubby acts which have undermined respect for Australian politicians throughout the Australian community.

Kirsten Lawson ("Surprise move shows Hanson in for a tough fight", July 16, p6) has called the appointment as showing "Canberrans much about the the audacity and troubling dexterity of Barr" . This is a euphemism. It is arguable it shows that Mr Barr has the morals of Dr Faustas.

Ken Brazel, Weston

What with excessive rates, taxes across the board, parking, motor costs, every Canberra taxpayer will make a contribution to the excessive Smyth salary for a fancy position of little or no value to the people of Canberra. The big finger, again.

Rex Williams, Ainslie

The demolition of the house immediately behind my house this week under the Mr Fluffy program has caused substantial dust contamination to my property.

The measures taken by the contractors to prevent any dust contamination to neighbouring properties was clearly inadequate. If there were asbestos fibres in that property there is a real risk some of those fibres have now contaminated my property and most likely other neighbouring properties. At the very least, we cannot be sure that there has been no contamination leaving us concerned that our property is no longer a safe place to live.

It would seem the demolishing of Mr Fluffy poses a far greater risk to public health and safety than leaving contaminated houses undisturbed. The program should be stopped.

Kim Chapman, Griffith

So the jail needle and syringe program rears its ugly head again ("Supervised injecting room at jail will go to staff vote", July 16, p4).

CPSU secretary Vince McDevitt is right when he says it is easy to push for change when you do not work in the system.

We suffered that in the jail I worked in, in Britain. Managers in offices far remote from the coalface, came up with ideas to justify their jobs, at the expense of the workers. Michael Moore of PHA Australia, sees that the deprivation of liberty as a punishment is an end in itself.

Well I have news for him, what he is advocating, is enabling addiction by providing free syringes.

Inmates have chosen a lifestyle outside the law, he says they are entitled to the same healthcare benefits as the rest of us.

I wonder how many inmates have contributed taxes like the rest of us to pay for healthcare?

They are not entitled to the things that the rest of us are , precisely because they have chosen to shun the values we espouse.

Honesty, integrity, duty, consideration for others rather than ourselves. Once the genie is out of the bottle, it wont go back, and you will be sorry if you go down this road.

Ian Jannaway, Monash

With the election result no longer in doubt it is time to comment on one of its distressing by-products. We are likely to have the same Attorney-General for the next three years. George Brandis appeared on the panel of Q&A on Monday, July 11, and, among his predictable assortment of ill-founded claims, he made one in particular that cannot be allowed to stand: that John Howard's years as prime minister (1996-2007) were "a golden age". Is our Attorney-General delusional?

The moral and cultural vandalism inflicted by Howard included: his vengeful sacking of a cluster of public service heads when he first got the job; his revival of the odious race debate; his rejection of reconciliation that led to him being literally shunned by Indigenous Australians; his manipulative role in the republican referendum that produced a "no" vote, when 65 per cent of Australians were in favour (and the PM had vowed he would stay neutral); his cloaked role in the "children overboard" horror, a grim forecast of the bipartisan legislative cruelty that is still with us, to our collective shame; and his formative role in the history debates as he encouraged Keith Windshuttle to misrepresent pre-contact and contact history in the pages of Quadrant magazine and elsewhere, which impacted on school curricula.

And I only have space here to mention a scattering of the damage. A "golden age"? The Howard years were regressive, parochial and, above all, mean in spirit and action.

Howard was the second prime minister to lose an election and his seat at the same time. Natural justice suggests he should have been the first.

David Headon, Melba

Here we go again ("Top Liberal women slam male culture", July 16, p19,) the familiar cries for "special treatment" from females like Sophie Mirabella who can't accept that the voters of Indi didn't think she was up to the job of effectively representing them before representing herself.

We should be celebrating the fact that so many women with real talent find that jobs in the public service and the private sector give them more satisfaction (and better outcomes for the rest of us) as opposed to working in the political arena where spin trumps substance for both policies and individual ability.

Roger Dace, Reid

Unfortunately it appears Wally Reynolds (Letters, July 16) isn't aware that for the world's poor to enjoy the same basic standard of living that the first world does would require the resources of something like three earths.

We are so far beyond the healthy carrying capacity of our planet now and causing so much damage to food-webs and their dependent ecosystems that it's doubtful we will be able to even maintain current standards in the first world.

A recent announcement by a peak business lobby group warning the federal government that Australia was dependent on immigration to grow the economy is as damning an indictment of our current economic system as I have ever heard.

Anthony V. Adams, Reid

I am puzzled why social conservatives in the Coalition, such as ACT Liberal Senator Zed Seselja, who are opposed to marriage equality still argue that the introduction in the Parliament of a bill providing for marriage equality should be conditional on a positive result in a plebiscite.

Marriage equality has overwhelming community support and there can be little doubt that a plebiscite would produce a positive result.

In that event, once a bill providing for marriage equality has been introduced in the Parliament those social conservatives will be faced with the dilemma of how to reconcile the result of the plebiscite with their personal opposition to marriage equality.

Seselja has already indicated that it is likely he would sit on the fence and abstain in the event of a positive result.

But I assume he would prefer to vote against such a bill in the knowledge that in so doing he would not be acting contrary to the express wishes of the Australian people.

Justin McCarthy, London

Many years ago, at school and at university, I was taught about representative government, the concept that a person was elected to parliament by a group, to represent the members of that group, and to express their views and to speak for them. On the issue of same-sex marriage, can we get back to basics? Each member of Parliament should canvass his or her electorate to find out the majority view of the people comprising that electorate.

Armed with that information, he or she returns to Parliament and votes; not according to his or her conscience, not along party lines, but in accordance with the wishes of the people he or she is elected to represent. The estimated cost of the non-binding plebiscite could then be directed to some useful purpose such as health or education.

Let's step back in time and get our MPs to do what they are elected to do, i.e. represent us.

Bob Gilleland, Gungahlin

John Warhurst ("Voters should demand Coalition reveal pact", Times2, July 14, p5) says "there is no rational argument against the Liberal-Nationals agreement being transparent" — meaning that it should be available to the press so that they can make "news" out of it. What nonsense.

The rational argument against it is that, when you delegate authority for a period to someone (which is what the community does to elected members at election time), you should let them exercise that authority, and not require them to report to you on everything they do in exercising it, and judge them on the outcome.

Warhurst tries to justify his view by saying the agreement indicates "the direction the new government will take".

Again, what nonsense. The public is only interested in decisions the government takes, not in the detail of the process in making those decisions. Warhurst might as well argue that the details of cabinet discussions leading to its decisions should be made public, that there should be no concept of cabinet confidentiality Would he?

R.S. Gilbert, Braddon

NOT OUR WATER

Graham Downie (Letters, July 16) lauds the extended Cotter Dam as a testament to vision and planning that will see Canberra through our next drought. But it is not our water. Why would the Murray-Darling Basin Authority prioritise us above others just because we impounded the common supply?

John Trueman, Downer

JOKE FROM HEAVEN

Pauline Hansen, James Ashby and 60 Minutes walk into an art show. Now there's the beginning of a joke made in heaven!

Like collects like. If they think that between them they have a shred of political or journalistic integrity they are deluded. Funniest thing I've read in ages.

Sue Cant, Kingston

LEFT–HANDED DOUBT

We have been told over recent weeks (most recently in Gang-gang, July 15, p8) that gangs are almost invariably left-handed.

I disagree and feel that the opposite is the case. They hold on to their perches with their preferred hand, which is of course stronger, and eat with their weaker right hand. Doesn't this make sense?

Anne Waight, Macquarie

BLAME GAMBLERS TOO

Much has been said about the owners and trainers of greyhounds, but no mention of the associated public.

If people did not pay money to attend this unnatural spectacle and to satisfy their gambling addiction then greyhound racing would not exist.

John Simsons, Holt

DRUM DEFINITELY LEANS

Jenny Goldie (Letters, July 12) has gone over the top in her defence of ABC TV's The Drum against the criticism it is dominated by green/left opinion. She maintains on this program, we are subjected to "balance" from the Institute of Public Affairs "or the likes of Gerard Henderson and Nick Cater every night".

Ms Goldie needs a fact-checker. I have never appeared on The Drum.

Gerard Henderson, Sydney

SMYTH TO THE RESCUE

How can the world get past this crisis of instability: Brexit and its fallout, the Nice truck attack, a military coup in Turkey, and "Trumpageddon"?

Is it a bird, is it a plane? No, it's the ACT Commissioner for International Engagement, Brendan Smyth, here to save us all.

John Howarth, Weston

SWIFT TURNAROUND

Can Mr Barr perhaps advise how a $300,000 job can be created, advertised, and filled within a week? Who were the other applicants, Mr Barr?

Michael Attwell, Dunlop

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