Israel Folau has managed to raise over $2 million for his Rugby Australia court case.

I'm wondering what this tells us about us as a nation. It has told me that the "quiet" Australian Christians have rallied behind a self-centred millionaire sports star and showed very little concern or compassion for a humble good bloke who has suffered through no fault of his own.

I believe it has also shown me how many Christians are anti-gay.

If you consider yourself to be a decent human being think about go funding Brendan Clark, however small your donation is. Show some compassion.

AS Newcastle Jets fans contemplate the purchase of their membership for the new season, I believe the news that Joey Champness will miss a month of preseason training to chase a recording contract in the US ('Joey hip hops it to LA', Newcastle Herald 3/7) is hardly the sort of story that fills us with great hope.

This, coming on top of the release of our only genuine left-sided player, the highly promising Ivan Vujica, and a statement from the club that in my opinion indicated they are unlikely to replace him, would seem to suggest that we may have retreated to the bad old days.

The fans have a lot of time for Joey Champness, and rightly so. He is a very promising young player, however I think he has some technical deficiencies.

This, coupled with the fact that he missed the biggest part of last season through injury, is concerning in my opinion.

The case of Ivan Vujica is a major concern for the simple reason that good left-sided players are like hen's teeth. It is difficult to name a successful team that did not have at least one left-sided player.

These decisions bring into question not only where the Jets are at, but the standing of the professional game in Australia.

Are we truly professional, or bit players on the sporting landscape?

THE new Australian Parliament has opened ('High hopes as nation's 46^th parliament officially opened', Newcastle Herald 3/7), with both sides talking grandly about at last getting constitutionally recognised representation for Aboriginal people. Yet less than a year ago Scott Morrison, among others, was whining about no third chamber and the problem of getting things approved at a referendum (The Guardian, 26/9/18).

There's no need for a third chamber. I believe the cheap, easy, totally effective thing for Scott Morrison's government to do is to create a separate electoral roll for indigenous Australians so that they may elect their own senators and members to the two existing chambers.

There's also no need for a referendum. Section 121 of the constitution allows the parliament to establish new states on any terms it thinks fit. Scott Morrison's government may therefore create a new state of Aboriginal representation, the existence and purpose of which is limited to allowing indigenous MPs to be elected to the Commonwealth Parliament from a separate electoral roll. That would keep the existing states happy.

To give indigenous Australians the protection they would want for their separate representation, the establishing act need only require a referendum for any amendment or repeal of itself.

And, thank heaven, there's no need for any original thoughts from Scott Morrison's government about this. For many years an arrangement very like it has existed in New Zealand, where it works quite well.

YES indeed Henry Wellsmore (Letters, 5/7), several Lake Macquarie councillors were elected touting Labor values of fairness for all. We have many Labor councillors who are now in support of a high-rise building on what the Toronto community overwhelmingly agrees needs to be kept and maintained as public foreshore and recreational space.

A statement on the council's website indicates our mayor is soon to accompany a small group of teenage athletes to the World Youth Games in Russia. One can only hope that she is not seeking architectural inspiration from the post communism cement apartment towers built there.

One wit in our Toronto community recently pondered that perhaps the council wants to build high rise on this foreshore site because the connection to sewerage would be very cheap. After all, it is adjacent to a Hunter Water sewerage station.

Toronto refuses to give up its fight. We are determined to be given just treatment in our quest for saving public foreshore, recreational land. Toronto folk also love the Lake, and remember: the council election looms.

SCOTT Hillard (Letters, 8/7) takes Michael Hinchey to task regarding his criticism of Donald Trump.

It's your turn now, Mr Hillard.

He uses that old ploy "there are lies, damn lies and then there are statistics". However, Mr Hillard is using the adage in reverse, using statistics to prove the lies.

Firstly the statistics on oil production, African American employment, wages growth and violent crime appear on the surface to be correct but I believe Mr Hillard fails to give us the real story.

The US became self sufficient in petroleum products in 2014. No Trump influence there. African-American unemployment, and overall unemployment, has been steadily reducing since 2011. Again, well before Trump.

Wage growth in the US has been a steady increase since 2014.

Finally, if Scott believes that playing nice with a North Korean cold blooded murderous despot is okay, I am disappointed.

I THOUGHT Kyrgios played well with his show pony performance against Nadal ('Nick cops Nadal serve', Newcastle Herald 6/7). I liked the little trick shots he tried to perform. If he stood up straight, he would be more than 15cm taller. I think he would be wise to try to obtain contract with the Harlem Globetrotters as he enjoys playing basketball.