I say that as a good Catholic boy who flirted with entering the priesthood, still pops into the odd Sunday service and maintains strong friendships with schoolmates who are also still in the Catholic community. A few of them are even Catholic school teachers.

Surveys show Catholic Australians are the most moderate/progressive of Christian communities in Australia. Sadly, the archaic views of the church leadership aren't reflective of their congregations.

Maybe it's time the Archbishop and other so-called Church leaders practised the tolerance they espouse from the pulpit.

Maybe it's time bigotry was no longer given the coverage of being labelled "religious freedom" or "free speech". And maybe bigots like Tony Abbott should stop using their Catholicism as their excuse for attacks on the LGBTIQ community.

You've given us real Catholics a real bad name.

Good men like the late Father Phil Buckley and the recently retired Bishop Pat Power advocated for the poor, the down-trodden and the vilified. If they weren't calling for better treatment of refugees, they were extending comfort to gay men and women who felt attacked by society.

You know, like Jesus said they should do.

Kel Watt, Braddon

It is mind boggling that some leaders of the Catholic Church in Australia are threatening lay workers with dismissal should they marry a same-sex partner.

According to the leaders, lay workers are expected to follow the teachings of Catholic Church in relation to marriage.

A deviation from these teachings will result in loss of employment. A severe punishment for doing nothing illegal at law, should the "yes" vote get up. Let's juxtapose this position against the action (or lack thereof) taken against non-lay employees such as convicted paedophile priests and brothers.

One who springs to mind is the convicted pervert Christian Brother Robert Best. Best has been convicted again of serial sexual assault of young male students with the Victorian County Court Justice Chettle telling Best it is likely he will die in jail.

Tellingly, Judge Geoffrey Chettle said it "just blows me away" that the Catholic Church was still picking up the legal bill for Best, more than $1million since 1996, and that he remained a Christian Brother.

Put in simple terms, if a lay male or female Catholic School teacher was granted the right to marry their same-sex partner at law and chose to do so they risk the sack. On the other hand, if an ordained teacher commits serious sexual assaults on students they will be protected.

T.J.Farquahar, Ainslie

The RSPCA has compromised its stated mission, which is "to prevent cruelty to animals by actively promoting their care and protection" by supporting the very industries that exploit and kill animals.

A clear example of this is the current fundraising activity, Cupcake Day.

Every year it encourages supporters to, "fight animal cruelty" by baking and selling cupcakes. To this end it has published seven recipes on its website, the first four calling for the use of eggs (in one case described as "cruelty-free eggs").

The RSPCA is well aware that every chicken hatched by the egg industry is cruelly killed – male chicks usually by being minced alive at one day of age, and their sisters at 18months of age (by being crammed into crates and transported on open trucks to the abattoir to have their throats cut by spinning blades) so it knows that there is simply no such thing as "cruelty-free eggs".

Having nearly half of their published recipes egg-free shows the RSPCA knows that the use of eggs is entirely unnecessary. So why is it still promoting their use in the majority of the recipes?

Mike O'Shaughnessy, ACT

Stopping doctor shopping by a real-time drug monitoring system ("Overdose victim's family query delay in ACT drug monitoring", August 18, page 10) will not of itself avoid the heartbreak of the mother who lost her son to an overdose.

Simply denying access would only drive such a person to criminal sources of supply. Monitoring will work if doctors and pharmacists heed the system's flashing red light and grasp it as an opportunity to reach out to people who need help rather than turning them away as so many addicted to illicit opiates have been.

And this requires that doctors and pharmacists have the capacity to offer proven effective treatments for opioid dependency. Alas they do not. A prime minister 20 years ago, against the advice of the medical profession and our then ex-pharmacist chief minister, denied heroin assisted treatment now benefiting more than 1500 in a score of countries with whom we like to compare ourselves.

On July 24, the Canberra Times reported that "68 per cent of the 668 overdose deaths in 2013 were related to pharmaceutical opioids". These are "affecting a broader range of people who want to manage their pain". The medical profession that has generally got patients into that fix must not be blocked by zealous monitoring and politicians from denying first-class treatment.

A monitoring system is important, but alone it won't stop the deaths.

Bill Bush, Families and Friends for Drug Law Reform, Turner

November 29 this year will mark the 50th anniversary of when Australian joined the "Space Club", being only the fourth nation to launch a satellite, WRESAT, independently.

In National Science Week it is fitting to reflect that Australia relies on other nations and private organisations to launch our satellites today and just how far we have declined as a nation from a leader in space in 1967, to a mere bystander today.

Some leadership is required now or we will miss the next great leaps.

Rohan Goyne, Evatt

My rates assessment notice is wrong. It says that the Valuation Based Charge for my unit is found by calculating the rates for the whole complex and multiplying that by my unit entitlement.

The rates for the whole complex are found by multiplying the Average Unimproved Value for the complex by the marginal rates. The rates notice shows the AUV for the complex is $8,660,292.04 and my unit entitlement is 0.81%. The latter figure I know is correct.

If I multiply the AUV by the marginal residential rates shown on the notice I get a total rate bill for the complex of $51,133.69, and that is also what the rates calculator on the ACT Revenue Office website gets. If I then multiply that by 0.81%, I get $414.18. However, my rates notice shows a Valuation Based Charge of $2,506.06. Whether that charge is correct I cannot tell, but I do know that it is inconsistent with the figures provided on the rates notice.

A phone call to the ACT Revenue Office (an hour on hold), an email and a follow-up after three weeks have elicited no response beyond computer acknowledgements of my emails.

I urge all residents of multi-unit complexes to check their rates notices and attempt to hold the Government to account.

R. F. Shogren, Barton

Your editorial ('Time to end the farce', August 21, p14) and the letter alongside it ('God save the Queen...') deserve a joint reply.

It is time to end the farce that is Constitution 1901. All the faults of Section 44 and the undermining of and confusion about our national leadership, loyalty, patriotism, democracy, political structure and standards, constitutional amendment and many more such clauses were written into that one undemocratically drafted document bequeathed to us more than a century ago.

Although there are more than 100 lobby groups (supporters of some arrived with the invasion fleet in 1788) continually seeking constitutional amendments, clause by clause change is not the way to go to produce a professionally based, 21st century, relevant, replacement based on the wishes of the people, the cooperation of our politicians and their parties, and the avoidance, at the same time, of the acrimonious divisions such as pro-monarchy vs republic, that usually emerge at such times.

The process must not be rushed.

It should take at least a decade, must be properly and professionally planned on the basis of past experience – particularly the abject failure of Constitution 1901, democratic debate, and not based on misguided voter correspondence, political vote winning, or commercial gain.

Geoff Armstrong, Monash

This matter regarding Australian citizenship is a mess and has been for decades.

Up until the early 1980s we were both Australian citizens and British subjects, and people from other Commonwealth countries could, and did, come to Australia and join our armed forces, or join the Public Service, and they were not Australians.

Up until at least the 1960s-70s Australians could travel overseas on either a British or an Australian passport; my sister, born and raised in Australia, travelled to England in 1954 on a British passport.

We need to remember that the Constitution was written some 118 years ago and it is now, in very many ways, out-of-date.

However, it is quite interesting to note that Section 34 (i) of the Constitution states that a member of the House of Representatives " ... must be a subject of the Queen, either natural-born or for at least five years naturalised ...".

Current politicians fit this criterion, they are subjects of the Queen, and Sections 34 (i) and 44 contradict each other.

This citizenship matter is an absolute mess and needs to be re-written.

However, in the meantime the relevant politicians, on all sides, should be allowed to remain in Parliament.

This current matter also means that I can't be elected to Parliament; I was born and raised in Australia, I fought overseas for Australia and I pay Australian taxes, but my mother was English.

Christopher Jobson, Monash

Greg Cornwell is demonstrably ignorant of the few aspects of the American Civil War and American history he touches on in his letter ('Take pride in the grey', August 18). What is more disturbing is his assertion "the wearing of the grey" justifies retaining the various memorials to generals and soldiers of the former Confederacy now being removed or destroyed.

My predecessors "wore the grey" in the Civil War.

My great-grandfather owned slaves.

In common with the descendants of others who "wore the grey" I say these monuments should be removed.

The monuments were not erected for the purposes Mr Cornwell believes.

They were created with much fanfare during the shameful "Jim Crow" era of the early 1900s and the resurgent resistance against the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

They were part of a revisionist mythology whose dogma was that the South's instigation and prosecution of the Civil War was somehow "noble".

That is a lie that cannot survive the light of truth.

Thomas M. Boyce, Hughes

Ridiculous idea

The Prime Minister's assertion that Australia should "urgently consider" an anti-missile shield for protection against North Korea should be resisted. The idea that a tiny, fragile country like North Korea will start nuking the rest of the world is ridiculous. What North Korea is doing is issuing a warning: "Leave us alone, or you'll get hurt." Leaving them alone costs nothing.

Reg Naulty, Hawker

FLAGGING VIEWS

I see our leader has approved flags to be flag poled around Civic.

I totally disagree with this flag approach so when I get my "Vote No" flags can I fly them alongside his coloured flags? That is quite democratic isn't it?

Mark Urquhart, Palmerston

BETTER LOOK

Perhaps Senator Hanson should wear the burqa more often. It does rather soften her appearance.

Jack Monaghan, Lyneham

RAILING ON RATES

Just received our rates for this year, noticed water rates up by approx 56per cent and land rates up 22 per cent approximately; a rise of about $230.

Not a bad increase. I suppose we have to pay for the light rail.

Morris Muscat, Isabella Plains

LOOKING BACK

Will the TV show Who Do You Think You Are? now be broadcast from Parliament?

Thos Puckett, Ashgrove

A LOST CAUSE

Perhaps the statue Stepping Out (Lady in Pearls) that was stolen from the Hughes shops in 2016 could be replaced with Al Grassby's statue. With any luck he will suffer the same fate as her.

Felicity Chivas, Scullin

ONE-SIDED STATEMENT

What gives the Chief Minister the right to spend our money promoting one side of the same-sex marriage debate?

Paul Kringas, Giralang

ALLIGATOR BANNON

Does Donald Trump sacking Steve Bannon mean at least one alligator has left the Washington swamp?

It's a good start anyway. Now for the impeachment.

M. Moore, Bonython

NO JOKE

A New Zealander, a Scotswoman and an Italian walk into a bar.

Unfortunately, it's the bar of the High Court.

Nigel Thompson, Queanbeyan East, NSW

NOT MY FAULT, TRULY

I wonder if the plea of ignorance used by Barnaby Joyce and Matt Canavan would satisfy the Centrelink robot or the Taxation Department?

Worth a try.

Ray Armstrong, Tweed Heads South, NSW

HOMELESS GET PRIORITY

I do not want my taxes being used to prosecute either a yes or no vote, Mr Barr.

I want them used to help provide for the homeless.

Ric Hingee, Duffy

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