To put it in terms of Joe Hockey's crude dichotomy of economic contribution, many of the local Catholic schools have been leaners rather than lifters, bludging off other schools in greater need.

The fact they have historically received financial support to the extent that they have is neither here nor there.

The day of reckoning has arrived, at least if the government holds its nerve. There are students far worse off who need that money, based on objective, empirical standards. And, in case you suspect bias, I write this as the parent of a former Catholic school student.

Too many people in modern society expect their optional lifestyle choices to be subsidised by other taxpayers, be they non-public school enthusiasts or negative-gearing property accumulators.

Financial and moral responsibility dictates that this can't continue.

David Jenkins, Casey

Markus Mannheim ("Is this the year the Coalition stopped its attack on Canberra", May10, p2) applauds the requirement for greater analysis of performance data already collected on how agencies target services and regulatory activities when searching for efficiencies.

He implies the Treasurer is unhappy with the Nationals' "madcap" plans to decentralise some government activities, especially the move of the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority to Armidale.

A quick look inside the APVMA, and at the data already collected on its performance, will reveal an agency under so much stress that it is barely able to function. Even the chief executive has jumped ship.

The Treasurer should go a step further and stand up to the madcap Nationals and pull the plug on this initiative before all capability in this critical area is lost.

Malcolm Robertson, Chapman

Without debating the rights or wrongs of the proposed cuts by Malcolm Turnbull to the funding of the Catholic "elite" schools, I propose to send Malcolm and Simon a little light viewing – a copy of Phillip Noyce's 1978 movie Newsfront.

The Catholic Church may have been battered recently by the actions of a (relatively) few paedophile priests, but I suspect, as portrayed in Newsfront, some of the old political skills once displayed by priests might just return, either from the pulpit or at the post-service tea and bickies.

It would appear that, judging by his early expressions of concern, Senator Seselja had read his tea leaves and adjudged his Senate quota might now be under threat from angry parents of Catholic-educated children.

W.A.Brown, Holt

France's new president-elect Emmanuel Macron looks about to set a minefield for future presidential candidates if he pushes ahead with the announcement during his campaign, "that he wanted the position of first lady – which has no official status in France – to be defined and codified." ("Macron crushes Le Pen to become French President", May9, pp12,13).

The president-elect "has promised his wife a staff, a budget and responsibilities, but no salary". She "has been a constant" during [his] campaign, managing his agenda, editing his speeches and advising him on his stage presence. He said: "She will be at my side, as she has always been, but she will also have a public role."

Such a position for Mrs Macron would not only raise fears of nepotism, as Donald Trump has done, but codification of the role could raise problems for candidates whose partners wish to pursue their own careers, for same-sex couples and for unmarried candidates.

Gary J.Wilson, Macgregor

Now that Westpac has abandoned investment in the Adani mine, it is high time PM Turnbull and Queensland Premier Palaszczuk also abandoned the mine.

Each has paper-thin majorities, and no mandate to add to climate change, destroy prime agricultural land, precious wet-lands (mocked by country-loving Barnaby Joyce as "a duck shooting pond"), and, of course, what remains of the once Great Barrier Reef.

They have both swallowed Adani's lie that there will be "thousands of jobs" created. Apparently, he told his Indian investors there will be few jobs.

I have visited an open-cut coal mine: there were a handful of men pressing buttons and pulling levers on massive equipment.

Turnbull even wants to throw $1billion of our money at Adani, even though Adani has said he doesn't need it.

Spend this massive amount on "budget repair", education, health, social services and disabilities. Even restore some funding to cultural institutions.

Richard Keys, Ainslie

In a quirk of timing, Trivia (May5, p.13) asserted that (Answer: Japan) had "printed a new currency for Australia in anticipation of its planned invasion" on the same day that two letters to the editor were published refuting the idea that Japan had formed an intention to invade Australia.

Examples of the purported "invasion money" can be seen in the World War II gallery at the Australian War Memorial, along with an explanation that they were, in fact, for use in Japanese-occupied territories in New Guinea and elsewhere.

In the World War I gallery you can see Australian-printed Marks used for our occupation of German New Guinea territories.

I.Douglas, Jerrabomberra

Re: "Jack loses case over dog mauling", May 6, p10.

Dangerous dogs housed in an ACT government public housing property savagely maul a young boy, who suffers horrific and potentially life-threatening injuries.

He and his family sue the ACT government for failing in its duty of care towards the boy, because it would not be possible to obtain restitution from the tenant (who owned the dogs).

The Supreme Court finds against the boy and his family and awards costs to the ACT government.

So we have ACT Dog Control, which apparently did nothing to rectify the situation despite repeated complaints.

We have Housing ACT, which reportedly had included a provision in the relevant tenancy agreement prohibiting the keeping of dangerous dogs on the property, but apparently did nothing to enforce this agreement.

We have a tenant escaping any penalty for a disaster of her own making. Then we have the Supreme Court finding for the government in a judgment that, while apparently legally sound, seems morally questionable.

In the middle of all of this sit the real victims.

They are the boy and his family who now face a, presumably substantial, bill for the ACT government's costs in this case.

This is on top of heavy medical costs because of the attack in a situation in which no one, government or tenant, took responsibility for the safety of this boy and others present on the day.

The rest of us are left wondering how the ACT government sees its duty of care towards any of us. Why is it so?

Michael and Christine O'Loughlin, Griffith

Re: "Calm, solid, dependable... panicked", May 8, p1, I have just read Megan Doherty's article about Craig Allen's battle with panic attacks and anxiety over at least two decades.

My thanks to Craig Allen for sharing his story and opening the conversation further about this debilitating condition.

I found the article both informative and yet descriptive of how a panic attack feels physically.

Craig Allen could have been describing me in my first year of psychology at Sydney University when he was quoted as reading the news and "having these feelings of being totally disconnected from my body, feeling like I was going to faint, almost holding onto the desk. Not being able to breathe properly".

My recollection is that I did physically hold onto the seat in the amphitheatre where my psychology 1 lectures took place in 1960, so that I would not cause a stir by fleeing the lecture.

This was over 50 years ago and I had no idea at all what was happening to me or why.

It is only in the past three decades that I have come to understand the "why" of my condition, diagnosed in my case as post traumatic stress disorder, and to find a wonderful non-judgmental doctor who has worked with me to help me manage it with medication and counselling.

The article lessened my feelings of aloneness. We must keep the conversation going.

Elizabeth Mamchak, Weston

It was with sadness that we read Megan Doherty's story about Craig Allen ("Newsman's battle behind the scenes", May 8, p6).

In the minds of many viewers, Craig is one of the best Australian TV newsreaders. He enunciates clearly, which means he comes across well for those hard of hearing, or viewing TV with background noise in the room.

I join other TV viewers in wishing him well.

John Milne, Chapman

Rob Holesgrove would not have made his ill-informed assertion about the need for light rail (letters, May 10) if he had listened to the talk given by Canberra IT specialist Kent Fitch "Could self-drive cars be the death knell for city's light rail", May 4, p2.

Self-drive car fleets will replace buses and trams in Canberra in the next 20 years and become the public transport system. Building light rail now is a complete waste of money.

The reorientation of the major auto manufacturers towards building public transport fleets is already evident.

The battle is on in the US for control of the new public transport systems, involving the mega players Ford, GM, Google and others.

Contrary to Holesgrove's concept of cars clogging the roads, the use of a private vehicle in the populous urban areas will be an exception. Almost all urban travel will be provided on-demand by self-drive vehicles automatically dispatched just as taxis are today. Ride sharing will be very common, as with all forms of public transport.

The result will be fewer vehicles on the road, cheaper transport for everyone, less emissions and better road safety.

Travel in Canberra will be untrammelled.

John L. Smith, Farrer

It's obvious there are many advocates of the tram project – excluding those with a vested interest, of course – who have been so seduced by the colour and motion propaganda videos put out by the government's PR machine that they have not grasped the magnitude of what it is all going to cost.

The tram is a horrendously expensive folly that we will never be able to pay for.

The establishment of the tram system is, and will increasingly be, directly responsible for a real cut in everyone's income and will provide no tangible benefits to the community at large as would, say, an upgraded hospital, low-cost housing and so on.

By the government's own figures, patronage of the system will be minimal.

In reality, it will probably be a lot worse.

But we'll never know.

The government has suppressed the unfavourable report into the tram that it commissioned.

There was an eminently sensible, and relatively inexpensive option, that was ignored for political expediency (the Rattenbury vote) and that was to establish priority bus lanes.

Rather than a tram trundling down Northbourne Avenue with nowhere to go other than back the way it came, a bus could do the same.

It would also have the flexibility to go elsewhere when required.

Lee Welling, Nicholls

Close all Catholic schools on Friday and have 14,000 kids lined up on Monday to enrol in their local government school.

Then sit back and watch the panic from our local and federal governments.

Fairer funding might then become more of a focus for Birmingham et al.

Doug Hodgson, Pearce

Rod Matthews (letters, May 9) fails to appreciate that by placing the total cost burden of children attending religious schools on their parents, a significant number of these very children would likely flock back to the public sector, costing the government more than they do now.

Wendy Davis, Melba

Parents concerned about possible funding changes to Catholic schools should approach the Catholic hierarchy to release some of their own funds.

Nick Corby, Hawker

Why do we even have "Catholic schools"? We don't have "mathematics churches" or any others based on school subjects.

John Howarth, Weston

It would seem the 27 deals with schools struck by the (former) Catholic, Bill Shorten, as education minister must have included an excessively good deal for the Catholic ones.

Michael McCarthy, Deakin

According to the budget papers wages are set to rise to 3 per cent per year soon. The government could start by giving its own workers a pay increase, backdated three years?

John Passant, Kambah

70 Joint Strike Fighters went through the budget fairly stealthily.

Yvonne Francis, Apollo Bay

The party that brought us the White Australia Policy, Bill Shorten's ALP, apparently hasn't entirely given up on that idea. Its latest advertisement, clearly an attempt to nullify One Nation's appeal, should be subtitled "Make Australia White Again".

T. Leslie, Curtin

I have only one thing to add to Peter Dawson's fine letter in support of Yassmin Abdel-Magied (letters, May 10). She is entitled to exercise freedom of speech just as much as any other Australian.

Eric Hunter, Cook

Interesting story line: "Half of all crashes at intersections", May 9, p7. It could have read "half of all crashes not at intersections".

David J. Richards, Moruya, NSW

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