Have registered dietitians and scientists such as those representing the National Heart Foundation, Diabetes Australia, CSIRO, and the World Health Organization really misled us? I don't think so. They have consistently recommended we eat plenty of the complex carbohydrates of whole grain foods and vegetables, and the simple sugars of fresh fruit, and to confine highly refined foods and concentrated sugar products to an occasional treat. They have also said we should consume a lower proportion of our energy intake as fat, recommending the less than fully saturated varieties in fish, nuts, avocado, olive oil etc.

Dr Muecke's eminently sensible message is to avoid sugary products and processed foods to reduce risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Agreed, but excessive sugar intake is just one of several modifiable lifestyle-related factors which can increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Other risks are prolonged periods of physical inactivity, excessive stores of body fat, and psychological stress. Underlying physiology and epidemiology indicate that while the risk associated with each of these factors is independent and cumulative, one risk factor can also contribute to another.

The good news is that damage done is reversible...at least in part.

The horrific thoughts of E R Moffat deserve a nationwide strike in revulsion and repulsion. In "Knuckle down PM" (Letters, July 15) we are told, and PM Morrison is admonished, "the job is 24/7, not just when the kids don't need you".

No job is 24/7 to the exclusion of children. No job is "children or the job, not both". The battle of women to be allowed both has taken many decades. I do not like, or trust, Scott Morrison, but can easily defend him having breaks with his family. Indeed it might make him a better person. Send him on longer holidays and more of them.

The problem in the Coalition government is the lack of a competent deputy to the prime minister, someone to do the job not just occupy the title. This dilemma highlights the need for the Liberal Party to absorb willing Nationals and then to crush the remnant recalcitrants.

Australia deserves the wider talent within the Libs to fill the deputy role. It should be more than a bribe to guarantee the support of the Nationals.

Our car was damaged in the heavy hailstorm on January 20 and needed repairs. At the repairers' request, I removed all personal items from the car and filled the petrol tank before delivering the vehicle to them.

On collecting the car I found the petrol tank was less than half full. Alas, I hadn't noted the kilometres travelled when I left the car there, so cannot surmise whether the car was used or petrol siphoned off. But a white plastic funnel - which I had never seen before - was left in the boot. Have others had this experience?

If there is one common theme among today's gloomy headlines, it is the word ego (and all its connotations).

The thrust of many current news stories seems to highlight disparity rather than diversity. They epitomise opinions such as: "my race is more highly developed than yours; my culture is more advanced; my religious beliefs are more relevant; my gender is more aware; my political party is more intelligent; my language is easier to learn; my football team is more skilled; my state dealt with COVID-19 better than yours", and "my country (right or wrong) is a better place to live than yours".

In other words: "Why can't you be more like me?"

It seems to me the Scots were on the money (as it were) with their view that "We're a' Jock Tamson's bairns". Our sharing of a common humanity is more important than the things which we allow to separate us.

The extraordinary thing about the palace letters is not what's in them; it's that they exist at all, and in such volume. That Sir John Kerr felt a need for lengthy consultations with a foreign ruler on the other side of the world about a domestic crisis is the real surprise.

If Australia had been a former Uruguayan colony left saddled with an antiquated constitution from the heyday of empire, would he have felt the need to consult Montevideo? Presumably yes. Would the president of Mexico have consulted the king of Spain? Presumably no. The letters dent the notion that the governor-general is our de facto head of state.

From his close and prolonged engagement with the palace, Sir John was evidently not of that view. They also dent the argument that the monarchy is a stabilising influence.

It seems that the less the Queen knew, the better.

If we are ever to have a mature, self-reliant democracy, we need to update our constitution, and soon.

This could be done simply by deleting references to the Queen and putting beyond doubt that the governor-general is our head of state.

Rather than providing damning evidence of royal interference, the palace letters prove our unique system works as designed.

The palace is on record as saying "you're on your own mate".

The court time and public money wasted pursuing this non-story would be better invested in agitating for the release of cabinet papers in a more timely manner.

In the interest of true transparency and accountability, cabinet papers for the previous term of a government could be released when Parliament is dissolved prior to an election.

This would expose the deliberations of our leaders at the same time we are deciding the future direction of a country.

The present arrangement of waiting 30 years serves no one except those in power.

Recognising the fiction of royal interference in the crisis of 1975, Australia is better able to endorse the remarkable benefits of a civic system led by a neutral crown that is ambitious not for politics but for due process.

As Prince Charles is cut from the same cloth as Queen Elizabeth, the phrase "King of Australia" is one we may contemplate with every worthy expectation.

The release of correspondence between then governor-general Sir John Kerr and the Queen's secretary should put to bed the false claim that this country has a foreign head of state.

The decision to terminate the commission of Gough Whitlam was made by the Australian head of state. Sir John was an Australian. He was chosen for appointment to that position by another Australian.

The discussion of where the constitutional power lay makes it clear that the power lay with Sir John and not with Her Majesty. Sir John's decision was overwhelmingly endorsed by the Australian people in a general election. This shows the strength and resilience of the Australian constitution. Let's keep it that way.

If the government has the right to dismiss the governor-general, and if the governor-general has the right to dismiss the government, and it all comes down to who moves first, hasn't Australia got a problem with its constitution? Surely the answer must be that only the Parliament has the right to appoint and dismiss the head of state, whether that person be a governor-general or a president.

Last Thursday my elderly neighbour put her bins out for collection. On Friday morning, before the bins had been emptied, someone parked a car directly in front of the bins. When the collection truck arrived the driver stopped, got out of the truck, and wheeled the bin to where the truck could reach it. After emptying the bin he then returned it to its original place and continued his round. For community spirit the truck driver gets full marks. The unthinking/uncaring person who parked so as to obstruct the bins gets a zero.

It's pretty obvious we have lifted restrictions way too fast and this has allowed people to drop their guards. Get back under that doona.

Patrick Jones (Letters, July 14) thinks Collaery and Witness K have "undermined Australia's crucial interests".

They have not damaged Australia.

I do hope they have seriously damaged the reputations of some prominent politicians of the time.

They have shown that Australia as a nation is above what was done in its name.

Why do people refer to the ACT government as the Labor/Greens government? We have a Labor and Greens government, not a Labor or Greens government.

As the Vikings reached the New World before Columbus they must have been responsible for the introduction of the Viking clap into Europe. They certainly caused a lot of other trouble.

And I always thought "Tic Tocs" were an Arnott's line.

Hearing Trump claim the Native Americans are angry about the Washington Redskins retiring that name when, in fact, they have been fighting to have the racial slur removed for decades, proves beyond all doubt he is several sandwiches short of a picnic. His inability to grasp reality indicates he is incapable of rational thought.

When I was a girl "The Bluebells" were a dance troupe of long-legged, high-kicking, bare-breasted, females. And giving someone the clap of any nationality was considered to be reprehensible.

In regards to the spike in COVID19 case in Victoria, the NSW premier stated, "Our state has to be on high alert".

Now Gladys reckons NSW can't go on shutting down its economy.

What is it to be premier; lockdown to save lives or open for business to save face with your supporters?

NSW Police Minister David Elliot presented an authoritarian attitude towards the BLM demonstrators. But now, when the pubs and clubs are blatantly ignoring the physical distancing requirements, where is he?

There was a miniscule $5000 fine for the Star Casino and no strong-arm actions against those flaunting the regulations. Sounds like the Clayton's police minister.

There seems to be a high positive correlation between North Face jackets (Letters, July 15) and bad news announcements. Fortunately, ScoMo doesn't seem to have one.

I totally agree with Mokhles Sidden (Letters, July 14) that Karl Stefanovic is all talk; he has not an iota of the sense and sensibility of Daniel Andrews and reveals egotistic traits whenever he opines. Think first, speak later.

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