That’s not true. Nor is their claim that they only change the constitution by public referendum.

Here’s the rub: our “servants” in parliament used the Common Informers

(Parliamentary Disqualifications) Act (1975) to knock out Section 46 of the constitution which provided heavy daily monetary penalties for members holding dual citizenship while sitting in our parliament.  

Everyone in Parliament knew, at a time when there were more than seventy known members with dual nationality sitting illegally.  

Parliament knowingly breached the constitution to be rid of s.46.

The change shows they could see what was coming down the track while their pants were still up.

That was all they did about the problem – remove the penalties.

In so doing, they cheated the public in order to keep their mates in a job in breach of our highest law.

This beats the Disney Channel or any Goons script.

Here we see evidence of lies and law-breaking in our highest law-making institution.  

Just as alarming is the fact that the free Press rarely detects such abuses and tells us.

What’s wrong, fellas?

The truth no longer important enough or commercially viable enough to report?  

Greg Hamilton, Hyland Park

Peter Dutton  should be ashamed of himself for the remarks he said about the ABC sending a special crew (Illawarra Mercury, 18 May) to cover the royal Wedding in the UK.

He is just like all the rest of the government ministers  who think that going overseas on taxpayers’ funds is alright for them but not for people doing the job that they are paid to do.

They think that the junkets they go on a fine.

And often, I might  add, cost the tax payer thousands of dollars more than it is going to cost the ABC crew.

The study trips that they do to all places of the globe and all the trips that they use on RAAF flights because they say that they could not get a commercial flight leaves the taxayer bewildered.

The Ministers want to start using video conferencing  a bit more and bring themselves into the real world and not a pretend world like they live in.

So Mr Dutton until you fix up your own backyard and that of your colleagues keep your poisonous remarks to yourself.

Bob Newhill, Wombarra

The mother responsible for the recently publicised case of child neglect was clearly not capable of caring for the children on her own.

 Whether the cause was mental illness, drug dependence or intellectual deficit, she was not fit to carry out parenting duties.

Whatever enabled her to be capable of living in squalor would also make her, and people like her, unable to respond to the threat of a jail term.

Members of the community shocked by what they have seen in the Mercury would be wise to look beyond 'tougher penalties' as a means of preventing these types of situations.  

We must, as a society, be vigilant in ensuring that parents who are incapable of caring for their children properly are giving the help they need.

Threatening inadequate parents with jail sentences is not the answer.

Bronwyn Bryceson, Mangerton