It would be for the best if Philip Lowe did decide to stand down

Like you, and based on recent interviews I have seen of Philip Lowe, I think he does "seem like a really nice bloke".

The problem is that, speaking for the RBA, he has misled the public big time about future interest rate movements.

I thought bankers were usually cautious people. Yet his statements about future interest rate movements seemed to me to be surprisingly definitive and without the sort of caveats one might expect.

I am sure there are a lot of people who made decisions on house financing or on mortgage agreements, in terms of going fixed or variable, who are ruing the advice they took from his various statements.

So, sadly, I think he should step down.

The Reserve Bank of Australia has failed to communicate clearly with Australians regarding the nation's potential change of monetary policy during the peak of pandemic ("It's time for a shakeup at the RBA", canberratimes.com.au, July 7).

Back in 2020 RBA governor Philp Lowe advised several times "interest rates would not likely rise until 2024". While I understand the governor has used the word "likely", which might give him an out, the message to the nation was: "Go buy your property, you're good until 2024". Members of the public took the governor at his word.

At the same time the federal government started injecting cash into the economy, including a build or renovation grant of up to $25,000. This also directed people towards real-estate assets and borrowing.

The current war between politicians and economists, where government is trying to support people by injecting more money into the economy and the RBA is trying to get money out of the economy, is making the rich richer and the middle class and the disadvantaged suffer with increases in unavoidable bills.

As a finance broker, my office gets calls from people asking "is there anything you can do [to help us]?" every time the RBA increases the rate.

Do we have another solution? Maybe a slower process instead of this rush, or perhaps it's time for Australia to find a new RBA governor who can handle things better and more smoothly and communicate with people clearly.

The RBA governor Philip Lowe and his board badly erred when they said it was "very likely" that the cash rate would remain at its historically low level until 2024.

It was extremely foolhardy and irresponsible of him and the board to make such a statement when conditions were very volatile and expected to remain so.

Unfortunately many individuals made forward financial plans on that basis. They are now finding themselves in all sorts of financial strife and stress after several consecutive rate increases. And there are more on the way.

Given this it is only fitting Dr Lowe "do the right thing" and voluntarily stand down as RBA governor.

Andrew Barr might have thrown in the towel on fighting the virus ("'Unenforceable': Chief Minister Andrew Barr says no more interventions left to stop COVID spread", canberratimes.com.au, July 7) but there are plenty of us who want to do more.

Wearing a mask indoors in crowded places and being cautious about our interactions seems to be effective. It's also not that onerous for thinking Canberrans.

We are being particularly lax about this virus and it's revealing who the international stayers are in the fight: it's not Australians. The latest Worldometer figures show that we have 43,457 new daily infections, the fourth worst in the world behind France, Italy and Brazil. The USA had 34,502 new cases.

As for daily deaths, we are now the worst country in the world, on a pro rata basis. "Ah well, what can you do?" say our so-called leaders, having once fed us a daily diet of press briefings, and who encouraged us to panic in Canberra over one case. Just one.

When did we decide to stop "following the science"? Was it when it became economically inconvenient to do so?

It is clear the new COVID-19 variants BA.4 and BA.5 are more transmissible than previous ones and that having been infected by earlier variants will not protect people against being re-infected. We are told to expect another wave of infections. The daily number of new infections in the ACT has been higher than ever, hovering between 100 and 1500 new cases a day.

The World Health Organisation advises that "masks are a key measure to reduce transmission and save lives". This advice has been in place for some time.

I am dismayed therefore by the ACT government's stance in this situation ("'Unenforceable': Chief Minister Andrew Barr says no more interventions left to stop COVID spread", canberratimes.com.au, July 7). Yes, I can understand its reluctance to declare a mask mandate because of the difficulty of enforcing it. That said, what the government can and should do (at the very least) is to advise very strongly, via a high profile public campaign, that masks should be worn in all appropriate circumstances (the WHO advice spells these out).

Instead, I am dismayed to note that this lazy government's approach is to throw its metaphorical hands in the air, saying, essentially, "let it rip". This only serves to exacerbate what seems to be current community complacency about the virus. For the sake of all, not good enough.

I write in response to Crispin Hull's article "We're losing faith in the church. And that's a very good thing" (canberratimes.com.au, July 5). While religious identification has fallen, 44 per cent is still a considerable proportion of the population. There is an increasing body of research indicating participation in religious communities is associated with numerous aspects of human flourishing.

I appreciate aspects of Hull's criticism of institutionalised Christianity; there is much in the church's history that is shameful, and it is rightly criticised where it has participated in evil. But any level- headed criticism would also acknowledge Christianity has had a remarkable impact for good. It has given western society the best of its values. To this day in Australia the majority of charitable organisations can trace their origins to a Christian worldview.

Despite my different reading of the history of Christianity, I find myself in agreement with Hull's title: "Losing faith in the church [is] a very good thing". Why? Because our trust was never supposed to be in an institution but in a person: Jesus of Nazareth. Hull may be surprised to discover that Jesus would share his pessimism about religious institutions.

I think Jesus would agree that having faith in the church is a bad thing - but he would invite Hull, as he does all of us, into a relationship of trust, the experience of which, people throughout history have discovered to be a very good thing.

Gosh! What a spray from Crispin Hull ("We're losing faith in the church. And that's a very good thing", canberratimes.com.au, July 5). He mentioned Martin Luther's rejection of the concept that money could buy salvation, or at least divine good will.

Didn't Jesus do the same with the money changers? And didn't Mohammed and also Abraham rail against the sale of "religious" goods?

It is an old story; human institutions falling prey to greedy individuals who end up justifying their wealth despite the great prophets of the book.

But surely wealth is not their reward, it's their test. (If you believe that stuff).

I greatly enjoyed Crispin Hull's succinct piece ("We're losing faith in the church. And that's a very good thing", canberratimes.com.au, July 5) examining the rapidly diminishing Christian composition of Australian society, as revealed in the most recent census data.

I look forward with morbid anticipation to the tsunami of god-bothering missives that will flood the letters page, bemoaning the rise of the anti-Christ. None of course will address the fundamental dilemma of reconciling the cruelty and injustice in the world with the existence of a supposedly all-powerful but all-merciful god.

The data indicates that young Australians, once they have got over the Easter Bunny and Father Christmas, have no need of a patriarchy promulgating the ludicrous superstitions of a book written by people who thought disease was caused by evil spirits and that the earth was flat.

Some things are on the improve.

Dr Philip Lowe's backflip on cash interest rates gives credence to the well-known quip "economics is too important to be left to the economists".

If the wearing of a mask in public places might assist in limiting the spread of COVID why doesn't the Chief Minister, other ministers, and all MLAs lead by example and mask up for their public appearances?

Everybody knew months ago that interest rates must increase to combat the higher than expected inflation rate. Why didn't the governor of the RBA and his board know? Why didn't they start raising rates gradually six months ago, not suddenly and dramatically now?

Young people such as those in your article "Gen Z Australians suffered the greatest loss in life satisfaction during COVID-19 pandemic; study shows" (canberratimes.com.au, July) could perhaps arrange an exchange with similarly aged youth in Ukraine or on the Mexican border with the US. Alternately they could experience the day to day challenges in the Adolescent and Childrens Wards at the Canberra Hospital.

My religion is self-interest. The majority of Australian's practice the religion of self-interest. I like to call it "I'm alright Jack". Hence we have the Union Jack on our Australian flag. The Union Jack did not do much for Aboriginal society, but as Jack Lang once said, always back self-interest, at least it is trying.

By stridently saying it will fight for every inch of territory NATO is mindlessly begging for a major war with Russia in which millions would die. Let Russia have Ukraine, Finland, and the Baltic states as a buffer zone. Then peace in our time.

Ben Selinger is right, again (Letters, July 2). Sunscreen SPF matters, and we people understand it. Reject the marketing team's attempts to sell more dangerous stuff, again. Accept only high SPF sunscreens.

Minister Steel says raising London Circuit (which currently flows smoothly under Commonwealth Avenue) to create a major new traffic light controlled bottleneck with the Avenue is somehow "removing barriers for cyclists and pedestrians moving through the southern part of the city". Um, how, exactly?

If Robyn Leigh (Letters, July 4) has the luxury of enjoying a hobby with no concerns about costs of living and the dire threats of a warming planet, then good luck to her. The vast majority of Australians, however, are increasingly concerned about climate change and are more likely to be engaged than bored by a topic that poses an existential threat to our existence.