Shame on those so quick to judge

Roberta Quinn Newtown A private school banning a samesex couple from a formal reflects the inherent contradiction in our antidiscrimination laws. Private schools will never be able to provide a legitimate, safe and supportive environment for samesex attracted youth while they are legally entitled to discriminate against samesex attracted adults. Samantha Chung Newtown Vigilantes too quick to judge, and too harsh I hope all the vigilantes feel good about themselves now that a young man has lost his job, his dignity and self respect ('''This is torture' deep breaths, stumbles highlight the distress and humiliation of a father's son'', November 10). While I in no way condone what Joel Monaghan did, it was nothing more than a boorish prank in the privacy of someone's house in an attempt to make his drunken mates have a laugh. The people calling for his blood are, among other lame excuses, saying he is a role model and should know better. I don't know of a better role model in the past few years than Joel. He has blamed no one; taken full responsibility for his actions; apologised to his club, its sponsors and his teammates; and stepped down from a lucrative job for the good of the game. We have all been ''guilty'' of doing stupid things in the privacy of our homes. How many of us would be prepared, having been caught, to cop it like Joel did? Shame on those so quick to judge. Greg Friend North Epping Joel Monaghan is a complete goose. But it seems to me the ones bellowing ''abomination'' and ''bestiality'' and milling about under the hangin' tree with a rope and stool are the ones who, by admission, couldn't wait to get a look at it, as well as Googling other examples, to reinforce their selfappointed righteousness. We need to beware the vengeful. If all the circumstances have been disclosed, Monaghan deserves reinstatement. Jody Bailey Kahibah Unfortunately, Jeff Thornton (Letters, November 10) is wrong to say bestiality is considered as offensive in the law as child abuse. In the ACT, where the ''offence'' was apparently committed, Rosetta Stone Latin America Spanish bestiality is not illegal. I wish it were otherwise. Mark Richmond Lisarow Julia Archer (Letters, November 10) suggests Joel Monaghan spend some time with the RSPCA learning to ''love animals''. Isn't that what got him into trouble in the first place? Andrew Howell NewtownA thoughtless bout of bank bashing So bank bashing has overtaken petrolprice whingeing. The big four banks are gouging money from the public, so we are told, without any competition. But of course there is Suncorp, Bendigo Bank, Bank of Queensland and ME bank for the unionists. Building societies and credit unions have been forgotten. Retirees relying on interest from the banks have been terrified into silence. The bank shareholders have been quiet, including all those whose superannuation includes bank shares, and who complained when the super balance went down during the global financial crisis. Variable interest rates are bad, we are now told. We should follow what other countries do, such as the US. So how are their banks doing? How much did they cost the taxpayers? Australians have had access to fixed interest rates for as long as I can remember. Of course, those who selected them a couple of years ago were complaining that they found themselves paying three to four percentage points more than those on variable loans. When the first home owners' scheme was in full flight, I recall financial advisers warning new home buyers not to overextend themselves. Now those who did are blaming the banks, rather than accepting their responsibility. Philip Dowling Turramurra Anyone seriously considering Anthony Phillips's proposal to borrow foreign currency to fund an investment or purchase at a lower interest rate should do some research (Letters, November 10). In the late 1980s many banks sold Swiss franc loans in Australia to unsuspecting borrowers, when the rate difference between the two countries was more than 10 percentage points. It looked too good to refuse, but when the dollar went into freefall, some borrowers found they needed $1.75 million to repay the original principal of $1 million.

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