His argument might have had some validity in the first half of the last century when a single-income, male-breadwinner family was the norm in Australia.

In 2017, however, most families need two incomes to pay the mortgage (or rent) and all the other bills.

The Treasury officials who decided not to apply for a job in Darwin probably made the decision based on their family's circumstances as well as their own career prospects. If you were paying off a house in Canberra, had a spouse with a well-paid job in Canberra, and had a couple of kids that were doing well in ACT schools, why would you want to relocate to another city, whether Darwin, Townsville, or Sydney?

I also find it somewhat hypocritical for Senator Macdonald to criticise others for being job snobs for not going to Darwin when as a Senator he is paid very well for the few days per year he is in Canberra, away from his Townsville base.

He travels business class, is met at the airport by a chauffeur, receives a generous travel allowance and gets to go home every weekend. Such perks are not available to relocating bureaucrats.

Mike Reddy, Curtin

The recent vicious and ridiculous attacks on Margaret Court are a good example of how the authoritarian cultural Marxists operate; trying to silence anyone who dares to disagree with them.

Margaret has been personally attacked and pilloried with calls for her past sporting efforts to be denied and Margaret Court Arena to be renamed for merely voicing her own opinion on gay marriage.

If she happened to agree with gay marriage no doubt they would be shouting her name from on high and calling for Etihad Stadium to be renamed in her honour. How quickly they have forgotten Margaret was a role model for women and mothers with her achievements.

I support gay marriage but I also support Margaret Court's right to disagree with me and for her to voice her own opinion. My admiration for Margaret has only risen for her courageous act (and it shouldn't need to be courageous) in voicing her own opinion and sticking to it despite the attacks upon her and her freedom to do so.

Margaret Court you are still a great Australian who should be respected and admired.

Damon Fraser, Weetangara

I don't know why, as a commercial organisation, Qantas has a stance on gay marriage.

It doesn't have one on atheism or euthanasia or any other of the many issues around. I can't imagine Alan Joyce has steam rolled the board into this position; I can only conclude they think that there are more people who will fly Qantas because of this stance than there are people like Margaret Court, who won't.

If this is so then Qantas is cynically exploiting the issue for its advantage and supporters of gay marriage should feel used.

As for Margaret Court, I don't know why she doesn't choose her airline on the basis of service or timetable like others do. But I think the crowning glory of it all is the statement by Sam Stosur she and others will be looking at whether they will play on Margaret Court arena at the next open.

Surely, if Margaret Court's stance is inappropriate, so is this. I hope that, if a player declines to play on the designated court, they are deemed to have defaulted.

Stan Marks, Hawker

The uproar over Margaret Court's anti-gay marriage statement is incredible.

I am old enough to remember her as a wonderful tennis player in a golden age of Australian Tennis.

Ms Court expressed her private democratic opinion as an Australian citizen and she has been publicly ostracised for it.

Now the gay and lesbian tennis players want to boycott the Margaret Court Arena. That also is their democratic right, but if they do so as part of a scheduled Australian Open match, their right to continue in the championship should be forfeit to their opponent.

Tennis Australia should have the intestinal fortitude to make such a stand, if the threat is realised.

Dave Jeffrey, Farrer

A former tennis star states she won't fly Qantas because of the involvement of its CEO in the same-sex marriage debate, and Andrew Barr labels the pronouncement as intimidating.

I cannot see how the views could have been expressed in a less intimidating way! In addition to overstating the impact of a boycott of Qantas by one individual, Mr Barr then goes on to demonstrate his hypocrisy by indicating that everyone is entitled to express their point of view – the conclusion is that anti same-sex marriage utterances are intimidating, whereas pro same-sex marriage utterances are not.

Gordon Fyfe, Kambah

Samantha Stosur's attempt to garner the moral high ground with her recent outburst at Margaret Court and threat of boycott, do both her and the other same-sex marriage advocates more damage than good. Margaret Court is entitled to hold a different opinion on the subject and to express that opinion, as are the many others who are practicing Christians.

If you expect to be respected Samantha, you also need to show respect, we live in a Democracy.

Mark Sproat, Lyons

How surprising that Andrew Barr would come out and attack Margaret Court's comments on a certain style of union.

Could the left now enlighten us as to what name they want to call Margaret Court Arena?

I have a few but it would upset them.

Margaret Court, I am your new doubles partner.

It is time for the majority to become more outspoken and take a stance against the "darlin' of the left".

Mark Urquhart, Palmerston

Sweden, a leader in children's rights, recently reviewed child vaccinations, firmly rejecting them being mandatory, citing concerns of constitutional violation of human rights and health risks to infants.

Is there a lesson in Sweden having defied Big Pharma?

Linda Vij, Mascot

At a time of great trouble in the Catholic education system due to reduced government funding, the contribution to the debate made by the principal of St Edmunds seems to have been to suspend a year 12 student who, in conjunction with other past and present students, did not want the uniform to change.

How totally pathetic! How much more intelligent to congratulate students who stand up for their beliefs. As for the student bringing the school into disrepute, the principal has managed to do that all on his own.

Worse, he has made a mockery of one of Canberra's premier schools.

Bronwen Grey, Symonston

While I join in congratulating Phillip Green on his career as ACT Electoral Commissioner, I disagree with his parting view that a "good thing" about the ACT's Hare Clark system is that it produces parliaments that are not dominated by one party.

Surely electoral systems are only "good" if they produce parliaments that reflect the majority view of voters whether that be for one dominant party or not.

To artificially contrive a system — such as Hare Clark — which denies the majority will is to deny the very essence of democracy which, at its simplest, is 50 per cent plus one of the votes.

We do not have such a system in the ACT and by any measure, that is not "good".

Frank Cassidy, Kambah

The statement is made : "Mr. Frydenberg said the government was committed to a technology neutral, non-ideological

approach to energy policy" (Coalition wants green bank to fund clean coal", May 31, p.5).

Great, get rid of the Renewable Energy Target (RET) as it distorts the market in favour of renewables. As long as the RET remains in force cheap reliable electricity will remain unachievable.

John McKerral, Batemans Bay, NSW

Our parents, their parents and so on, for thousands of years, have fought for democracy, fought to be heard and fought for government policy decisions to be fair and sensible.

Why then now, are the ACT and NCA planners able to run riot wrecking Canberra the garden city, Canberra the well-planned city, the city with beautiful open spaces, birds, adequate car parking and minimal car congestion.

We need planners who carry unbiased surveys of what the people want and then the brains to figure out how to do the most they can.

John Skurr, Deakin

Phil Parnell (letters, May 30) implies that local car repairers are "snowed under" due to collisions with roos.

I doubt this is the only type of repair in local shops.

However if numbers of roos were the problem as he implies then how come there are many who have never collided with a roo in Canberra, myself included?

But there are skills such as defensive driving and scanning that some in Canberra seem to lack — the continued multiple crashes in the mornings on the Parkway are testament to that.

Mr Parnell should, instead, be worrying about the risk this presents not only to roos but cyclists, pedestrians and other drivers.

Carolyn Drew, Page

Senator Ian McDonald's pig-ignorant comments ("It's northern exposure or bust", June 1, p.6) suggest that, like many federal parliamentarians, his knowledge of Canberra is restricted to his (tax-payer funded) travel from the airport to his (tax-payer subsidised) accommodation in an inner suburb, then to his (overpaid) employment and thence to his (tax-payer provided) meals in the Kingston/Manuka restaurant belt.

He's risible.

Peter Moran, Watson

The European so-called Enlightenment threw out the baby with the bathwater, arguably as an over-reaction to excessive thought control by the Church.

James Allen (letters, May 29) makes the same error, confusing God with (man-made) religion.

He is correct that religion is largely a belief system. But God is by definition above religion – and can be experienced directly in the Mystical experience of at-One-ment reported by many within (or as in my case, outside of) the various religious traditions.

Overwhelming experience of infinite love in this event confirms that we should not blame the creator for the polar opposite of our own ignorance, violence and hatred, understood as part of our human learning curve.

David Collier, Narrabundah

Re "Is it appropriate to glorify the Boer War", (May 31, canberratimes.com.au).

Mr Eales objects to our new national Boer War memorial. He can't distinguish between commemorating an event or, in his word, "celebrating" it.

Who would take kindly to someone suggesting the AWM, for example, "celebrates" war?

Does Mr Eales believe any recognition of the sacrifices made by our soldiers is a "celebration"? I sincerely hope not.

Neville Barry, Blayney, NSW

The point missed by Patrick O'Connor (letters, May 29) and others who suggest conservatives such as Peter Dutton just turn off Q&A and other leftist ABC programs is that the ABC is funded by Australians from all political persuasions.

The so-called "national broadcaster" should therefore reflect a wide variety of views so that true discussion and debate are encouraged.

Jan Darby, Isabella Plains

COURT OUT

Margaret Court believes the old saying "It is better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and dispel any doubt" doesn't apply to someone from a fringe religious group pushing its barrow. Her latest attack on tennis players' sexuality is starting to wear thin and is doing more harm than good for her fringe dwelling religious organisation.

D. J. Fraser, Currumbin, Qld

Instead of getting angry at Margaret Court, perhaps more socially progressive citizens could demand of Alan Joyce that Qantas cease all flights to Indonesia, due to that nation's ongoing corporal punishment of homosexuals.

Peter Waterhouse, Craigieburn, Victoria

If Margaret Court should shut up, so should Andrew Barr shut up. Wouldn't that be nice?

R. Richards, Weston

MISSING THE BEAT

Is John Rodriguez (letters, May 30) being deliberately provocative, or simply living in la la land. The aim of the Islamic terrorist is to create a worldwide caliphate. To achieve this they are prepared to slaughter innocent children at a pop concert. Singing Beatles songs at a Geneva peace conference is not going to change their twisted and evil ideology.

Owen Reid, Dunlop

MOVE TO NATIONHOOD

Philip Benwell (Letters, May 30) asserts Australia became an independent nation in 1901. Rubbish. Our transition to nationhood has occurred over many years since then. A major step was the commencement of the Australia Acts in 1986. The remaining impediment is our continuing acceptance of the United Kingdom monarch as our head of state.

Frank Marris, Forrest

NOT A NEW SCHEME

The container deposit scheme is not new. In the 1980s I used to take my children to Seiffert Oval on Sunday afternoons. They would collect beer cans and sell them to the can man. They loved it. The worst part was the stale beer smell in the car.

John Mungoven, Stirling

SHORT SIGHTED

What nonsense! ("School suspends student crusader", June 1, p.1) claiming his actions bring the college into disrepute. Punishing the lad for using the thought processes you helped to shape. How very Catholic!

Ashley Stanley, Kianga

EXTINCT GROUP?

I wonder if it is too late to mount a campaign to save we few remaining white heterosexuals from extinction? Shoulders braced for the vitriol.

Norman Lee, Weston

Email: letters.editor@canberratimes.com.au. Send from the message field, not as an attached file. Fax: 6280 2282. Mail: Letters to the Editor, The Canberra Times, PO Box 7155, Canberra Mail Centre, ACT 2610.

Keep your letter to 250 words or less. References to Canberra Times reports should include date and page number. Letters may be edited. Provide phone number and full home address (suburb only published).