Yes he made a mistake when he called a player a d****head.

If he is to lose the captaincy, it will be a sad day after what he has done for Australian cricket since the ball tampering scandal.

After the sledging that has gone over the years is this really that big a deal he apologised the next day.

Media again writing on the negatives instead of the great test match.

Having played cricket for a number of years, I have heard a lot worse and seen numerous acts on the field that were deplorable.

Finally he made a mistake, like all people do, and he has owned up and apologised.

I fully support any move to have a more enlightened government.

Troubled youngsters, abused and neglected youngsters can and do end up in prison.

Studies have shown how some of the most hardened criminals in a UK prison had unresolved issues from childhood.

With no dignity and respect shown me by mental health, after coming off the toxic drugs and the aftermath that followed, I have felt like an outcast in my own country.

For around 11 years I supported through correspondence a long term inmate in his 30s.

When interstate I did the extra mileage to visit him in prison.

From a poem he had written and sent me, I picked up his feelings.

The beautiful response I received upon reading it back told its own story.

Whether it's the prison or mental health system the real emotional issues are not being addressed.

It's all about punishment, a pretence, the right thing is being done.

WHEN I was a young person living at the mouth of the River Ribble in the UK.

I used to often see dredges clearing the river of mud so that the large ships could navigate their way to the Port of Preston.

This was a constant operation as the river soon silted up.

In Queensland last year a large dredger was working away near Pelican Waters to clear away the mud to allow the passage of boats.

So I ask the question, why is it so difficult to dredge the river Tamar?

The money wasted on commissions of enquiry could probably have bought a dredger by now.

I have been reading about this problem for years.

Meanwhile, the river becomes clogged with mud and looks unattractive compared to 30 years ago.

THE US are at the brink of civil war due to the unrelenting disregard of their president for democratic processes.

He calls it fake news, but in the good old days it was called lies. He certainly has a history of disseminating them in the thousands. It is absolutely dangerous hypocrisy when our acting Prime Minister McCormack and others from the far right side of the coalition are trying to defend that behaviour as his right to free speech.

We have never heard that side of politics to defend the right of free speech of the Australian journalist Julian Assange, who tried to alert the rest of the world to atrocities committed against civilians during American combat missions.

For that he has been suffering for years under harsh prison conditions without any help from his homeland.

HOW appropriate and gut-wrenchingly disappointing that politicians are the greatest supporters, indeed inventors, of the term "alternate facts".

Alternative facts are not facts. The very term has an inbuilt lie. These statements are opinions of people who do not like the facts.They are misinformation, that is not reliable or trustworthy information.

They are opinions from people with motivations to change reality, distort and confuse the perceptions of people (usually voters) about how the teller wants you to perceive them. The biggest crowd, or that freedom of speech is a universal right and above all else, that the election was fraudulent.

In a democracy when the representative lies to, misleads, distorts, or denies factual accurate information, they attack the very heart of the relationship that should exist between the citizen and the representative. An untrustworthy representative is a contradiction.

We see that the acting Prime Minister Mr McCormack is comfortable with, not promoting, the idea that politicians should present their opinions and ideologies as facts even when they are not supported by facts.

A rare moment of transparency about how some politicians treat their relationship with the people. Freedom of speech comes with the limitations not to cause harm to others, to not victimise others and to not promote illegal and violent acts.

Well done Twitter and Facebook. It seems even extreme capitalistic businesses can show a deeper understanding of moral duty and human rights than Mr McCormack.