And for hundreds of thousands of Australians, it is indeed Australian rules football which continues to provide an endearing escape from the daily grind. For this resonating reason, why has the AFL, once again, sought to polarise its fan base, by seeking to recast the game into a social engineering tool, and lend its weight behind the "yes" vote in the current plebiscite? Did it poll all its supporters and players beforehand, asking their opinion, or just arrogantly assume that it speaks for everyone devoted to the sport?

Forcing spectators to subscribe to the rainbow agenda, will only introduce another level of sexual segregation and unfairly promote potential gay footballers as a novelty to be marvelled at. For the sake of the equalising nature of the great game, please just leave it alone.

Peter Waterhouse, Craigieburn, Vic

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce (and Qantas) in promoting same-sex "marriage" ; along with Andrew Penn, CEO of Telstra are way out of order, as far as I am (and many, many millions of other senior; and not so senior Australians are) concerned for signing (along with up to 19 other major Australian corporate "leaders") a letter "In support of marriage equality" to Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull who (to the PM's great credit), rebuked Penn (and his, misguided mates) for trying to socially engineer changes that only the entire, Aussie people should decide!

I've had a gut-full of elitist people like Penn (and the AFL demeaning Good Friday) ruining our traditions and long-standing beliefs! So I am now calling on all seniors disenchanted with "corporate cowboys (and girls)" ramming their agendas down our throats to look at where their (and their super funds') investments are; and shift such investments to those not signing-off on/supporting such blatant smack-downs of our (and our forbears') beliefs/traditions (and to stop buying the products/services)! Now is the time to strike/fight back!

Howard Hutchins, Chirnside Park, Vic

It was reported this morning that the Chief Minister wants freedom from religion, apparently in the context of the same-sex debate. As his advisers seem to have been asleep on the job, I offer this advice to the Chief Minister.

Your government has too much in common with the left's portrayal of religion for this thought bubble to be taken any further. Indeed, some commentators would observe that this government relies heavily on an all-knowing authority structure for promotion of its belief systems — drive the message home with relentless persistence, treat dissent as peripheral noise, pursue the cause with the hard-earned contributions of the little people and plead to increase those contributions, discourage introspection, and look down on all that you do with satisfaction. Leave it alone, Chief Minister. Not a well-considered thought bubble; perhaps your minders were busy with major issues. But in context, maybe not.

M. J. Carton, Kaleen

G.T.W. Agnew (Letters, September 20) suggests that the distinction of a "mum and dad" family does not lie in its development environment for the child that has been preserved in Western civilisation to date, but just in the mode of conception. So, in an attempt to slur the "no" campaign, Agnew raises the red herrings of the purpose of marriage and IVF.

Apart from recording the marriage, the only interest of the state is in the welfare of the children within the family. So, what legal rights does Agnew think "no" campaigners could advocate being withdrawn from childless married couples? Even though it is 37 years since the first IVF baby was born in Australia, with hardly a murmur of debate, Agnew suggests that "no" voters will be "hunting down customers in IVF clinics". Does Agnew think there will be hundreds, or even tens, of lesbian women rushing to IVF clinics if the state recognises their same-sex marriage?

The real problem lies with the potential for increasing surrogacy and the use of donor sperm, and the demand for the identity of the biological parent that donor children and other separated children are now demanding. This is the area where the law needs to be changed, as has been done for adopted children.

John L. Smith, Farrer

Of course there are going to be conflicting ideas at various deist schools over the concept of gay marriage. That is similar to the conflicts at Catholic schools when I was a boy because there was only one true church and non-Catholics had no access to heaven. Many came from mixed (inter-religion) marriages. Inter-racial mixed marriages are a different issue. Children can easily grasp the concept of the conflict of ideas. They're surrounded by adults. It would be best if they are not used as weapons — the children, that is.

Gary J. Wilson, Macgregor

After much anticipation the letter arrived. I opened it and read the question a first time.

I then wasted time, yelling abuse across the room and acting like a schoolyard bully by calling out childish names. At one point I nearly had to remove myself from the room. My lap dogs seemed amused.

After reading the question a second time I sat doing nothing from four minutes apart from ringing a bell. I then locked the lounge room door to tick one box. Having performed the duties required of a politician, I resumed my normal adult demeanour. I now look forward to receiving, in the mail, my parliamentary entitlement.

Jeff Bradley, Isaacs

On the floor of the United Nations General Assembly – an organisation dedicated to solving global problems peacefully – Donald Trump threatens to kill millions of North Koreans as a result of escalating bombast between himself and a loopy dictator, and Australia's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister endorse Trump's appallingly reckless rhetoric. Shame! What price Western civilisation now?

Ian McFarlane, Wallaga Lake, NSW

I too want a faster rail service between Canberra and Sydney (Letters, September 20). The ageing XPT train is at the end of its life, and if we contain our ambitions for travel time to, say, under three hours, the replacement chosen is the key to trimming the time.

Yes, there are nine stops and they necessarily add about 30minutes to the trip (although I question the need for three stops within 12 minutes at Moss Vale, Bowral and Mittagong), but the real speed killer is the inability of the XPT to handle the gradients and curves. The XPT can get up to 160kph, but a gradient of 1 in 33 knocks that back to 50kph, and the line has a lot of curves.

There is one imperative here that doesn't get enough attention: it is that the speeds on the slowest part of the journey are far more important in determining travel times than the maximums reached on the fastest, so getting up those hills and around the curves is vital. The run to Sydney has enough curves to warrant a good hard look at a train designed specifically to handle them, like the Talgo.

Right now the typical travel time (achieved, rather than timetabled) of four and a half hours gives us an average speed of below 70 km/h, highlighting just how slow the XPT is when the going is tough. That speed was achieved in other parts of the world in the 1800s and it would seem high time that we readjusted our sights. As a starting point, we should be looking to a journey time of less than three hours, with nothing spent on track improvements.

It does make the Talgo offer of a free trial very attractive, especially given that we are looking for a replacement for the XPT right now.

Sydney wants it, Canberra wants it. Let's just do it.

Terry Werner, Wright

The Spanish Talgo company has found by modelling that their train can go from Sydney to Canberra in 2.5 hours, which is fast enough to take business away from roads and air. However, they have not accounted for rail congestion, which usually delays the train.

In Sydney, suburban trains usually delay it. South of Campbelltown, improvements to the Southern Line to facilitate freight have caused more delays for passenger trains, making them slower and less reliable. The condition of the line south of Tarago probably needs improvement to allow faster trains, but the slowest section from Bungendore to Queanbeyan would be the most difficult to fix, and should be the last thing to tackle. If more than four trains per day were to run to Sydney, a proper automatic signalling system would be needed between Goulburn and Canberra.

But the easiest problem to fix is the lack of buses to take passengers in Canberra to and from the train, particularly the evening arrival from Sydney, which usually arrives after the last bus has left. My repeated requests to fix this have got nowhere.

Dave Kelly, Aranda

I sympathise with Carol Kell (Letters, September 20) and the other residents of Kurrajong and central Canberra about the closure of the Dickson Shopfront and wonder if the "powers that be" considered the adverse effect this decision would have on other shopfronts and their clients.

I went to the Belconnen Shopfront earlier this week to get my drivers licence renewed and was confronted with a packed waiting room and a wait of about 45minutes for what is a simple process. There were many elderly people forced to stand as there was not enough seating to cater to the crowd. In my very sad experience, it is a waste of time and energy to write to Minister Gentleman, who is responsible for the operation of the shopfronts.

His arrogance and ignorance never ceases to amaze me, as not once has he acknowledged my (in my view very constructive) correspondence to him. I can only conclude that the closure of the Dickson Shopfront, is yet again another source of revenue to help fund the "white elephant" called the light rail.

Mary Robbie, Aranda

If Michael Warrington (Letters, September 18) is open to new evidence on Indigenous Australia before 1788, I recommend Bill Gammage's The Biggest Estate on Earth (2011) and Bruce Pascoe's Dark Emu (2014).

These books show that Indigenous Australians before the British invasion had quite sophisticated systems of land management and agriculture. Describing the First Australians as mere "hunter-gatherers" is highly inaccurate.

David Stephens, Bruce

One can readily agree with Michael Warrington (Letters, September 18) relating to British occupation of Australia.

However he fails to reveal the plight of the Indigenous people who were dispossessed and subjected to a life of hardship and discrimination over generations.

While he calls for an injection of reality in the debate today, no mention is made of a treaty, similar to that adopted by many ex-colonial countries, decades ago.

Australia still has this key task to complete before we can proudly declare "We are one".

Keith McEwan, Bonython

It's a good thing Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi will not be attending the coming UN General Assembly.

The Rohingya crisis and her failure to speak out against the brutal military crackdown, which the UN Secretary General has described as ethnic cleansing, is keeping her home.

Often leaders go to the UN and make grand speeches about their commitment to democratic values, human rights and the rule of law, which the gathering there like to hear when back at home there is flagrant disregard and gross violation of the same.

At least Suu Kyi spares us that hypocrisy.

Rajend Naidu, Glenfield

The Canberra Times wants to hear from you in short bursts. Email 50 or fewer words to letters.editor@canberratimes.com.au.

FOREIGN INTERESTS

Kathryn Kelly (Letters, September 21) says that she has seen no discussion about Channel Ten being sold to a foreign company. I will happily begin the discussion if Kathryn can tell me the difference between CBS and Channel Ten and Rupert Murdoch and his financial interests in about 150 newspapers and periodicals and in pay television.

Roger Terry, Kingston

ABBOTT OUT OF TOUCH

Tony Abbott should get his facts straight before assuming a steel mill could not run on renewable energy. Sanjeev Gupta and Ross Garnaut will prove that not only can a steel mill function using a variety of renewable energy sources but it will also lower the price of base line power.

Estelle Ross,Riverside, Tas

COAL KING

The Turnbull government is so devoted to coal and coal-fired power generation that one could conclude that it's a "coal-fired government".

Sankar Kumar Chatterjee, Evatt

CYCLE OF DENIAL

The soft drinks lobby and their friends the government are reading the script carefully crafted by the tobacco/alcohol/anti-renewables/anti-climate change/vote no/Chicken Little crowd ("Demand for 20pc tax on soft drinks", September 19, page 2). In essence it says "The Sky is Falling." When are we finally going to break this stupid cycle of denial?

Bob Gardiner, Isabella Plains

SAYING YES

Optus has been a "yes" company for some years.

Robert Irwin, Queanbeyan

PLEASE, A REPRIEVE

Vote "yes" for freedom from Tony Abbott's speech.

Frank McKone, Holt

A.I.G ARGUMENT TOSH

The smug dissemination of "alternative' facts suggesting", workers in the fast food industry emerge better off than were they paid according to awards, reflects the overall Australian Industry Group attitude that workers should work for love alone (Coles case has made fast food pay deals 'unworkable', BusinessDay, September 20, page 21).

Albert M. White, Queanbeyan

SIGN OF TIMES?

I presume the highly educated, tolerant and enlightened ACT is as appalled as the troglodytes across the border on hearing about the young woman being sacked from her job from a children's party business in Canberra. Her unremarkable view that marriage should be between a man and a woman is apparently the reason. Is this a snap shot of the future should the "yes" case succeed?

H. Ronald, Jerrabomberra