1 month ago
10
The adoption of the Australian flag by right-wing protesters as a rallying symbol surely shows that it’s time for a new, more inclusive national flag (“PM’s forceful message to new citizens as Australia Day marred by Nazi chants”, January 27). The minister for the republic should announce a design competition to create a new flag that’s more relevant to all Australians. Ignorance should not be represented by our national flag. Jonathan Atkin, Thornleigh
The wonderful ABC coverage of the Australia Day concert in Sydney beautifully showcased the enormous talent and amazing locations Australia has to offer. Unfortunately, the elephant in the room was our national flag. Including the Union Jack represents the colonial past and does nothing to unite our multicultural society. We need to stand on our own feet and send a message that the flag must change. Robert Antill, Lake Conjola
After watching the stunning Australia Day concert it occurred to me that we ought to do away with the old national anthem Advance Australia Fair and instead use Bruce Woodley and Dobe Newton’s beautiful song I Am Australian (I am, you are, we are). It’s far more meaningful and appropriate for multicultural Australia. Heather Haisman, Winmalee
After an alleged fake bomb was thrown among Invasion Day protesters in Perth (“Chemicals found at accused’s house after bomb scare”, January 27) and neo-Nazis chanted hateful slogans in Sydney and Melbourne (“Neo-Nazi chants at anti-immigration rally”, January 27), it has to be asked why the premiers and prime minister won’t end this division by simply making it an Australia Day long weekend, like Thanksgiving in the US, with the date changing each year? We all want to celebrate what’s great about Australia. One day to recognise First Nations, one day to acknowledge the contribution of our colonial past, and one day to welcome all the immigrants who have helped build our wonderful country. Legislation banning hate speech does little to improve social cohesion. Here is a simple practical way to return to what we had before 1994 – a long weekend that everyone can enjoy. Colin Hughes, Cottesloe (WA)
Shame on you, Steve Christou, for leading a chant of “send them back”. I remember well when people of your own heritage were on the receiving end of racist abuse and discrimination. Doesn’t that mean anything to you, or don’t you get the irony of your loathsome take on being an Australian? Andrew Cohen, Glebe
Good luck to Anthony Albanese and Sussan Ley in explaining how Australia Day unites us. All the press ever does is look at what divides us – a menu of racist history and empty jingoism (oi, oi, oi) with a bit of hate added for extra heat by neo-Nazis. I don’t find it a wholesome meal. John Rome, Mt Lawley
Enough is enough. We can’t go on like this, year after year. If the purpose of Australia Day is to unite the nation and celebrate all things Australian, it is clearly failing if the occasion is hijacked by neo-Nazis. Why does the date need to be January 26? Why can’t we all agree to make the holiday, say, the last Monday of January. It just takes a bit of will on both sides of the argument to find a solution. David Boyd, Bondi Beach
Nazi chants at rallies? Those concerned ought to suffer the full force of the new hate speech laws, though I’m not hopeful. Keith Binns, Goulburn
Don’t forget DV
Liberal leadership aspirant Andrew Hastie said on Australia Day: “We’ve seen very recently that there are people in this country who not only don’t support [‘Australian’] values, they’re willing to use violence” (“PM’s forceful message to new citizens as Australia Day marred by Nazi chants”, January 27). Is he unaware of the long-standing rates of violence against women in Australia, where a woman is killed on average every seven days in domestic violence but also in public places by male strangers? How long until this crisis is no longer a blind spot to MPs? Meanwhile, migrants stand to be unfairly scapegoated. Hastie has reportedly crowd-funded $260,000 for his own “immigration blitz”. Other right-wing figures also plan such campaigns. The prime consideration is clearly not the creation of a cohesive, inclusive society but the expected ease of winning votes from disaffected constituents, regardless of any social fracturing or other detrimental consequences. Barbara Chapman, South Yarra (Vic)
As politicians commit to doing something about domestic violence, we might note that 20 per cent of NSW prisoners on remand are there for DV offences yet cannot get psychological counsellors, except those working for the Department of Corrective Services (“Sophie Quinn’s death ‘shows justice system is running blind’”, January 26). If we want perpetrators to change, they must be given the chance to address their mental health issues and violent behaviour by having counsellors they trust. Dr Arthur Chesterfield-Evans, Woolwich
Right leader, wrong time?
I, for one, hope Sussan Ley continues as leader of the Liberals (“Ley allies taunt leadership rivals: ‘This isn’t a spill; it’s a joke’,” January 27). She has emerged from the last week as a person who at least has some principles. As leader of the Coalition she has applied discipline when required, under the conventions of our parliament, in accepting the resignations offered by the recalcitrant Nationals shadow ministers. Sure, she has made mistakes, such as her petulant, desk-slapping complaint that Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong had not (publicly) shed a tear after Bondi. She also failed to provide bipartisan support, after initially promising to do so, in the immediate aftermath of the Bondi atrocity, though I suspect she was under enormous pressure from the right wing of her parliamentary party to distance herself from the PM. But her dignity in remaining silent on the day after the Coalition split on the National Day of Mourning, unlike her less respectful colleagues who ignored her request, at least suggests that she has the right characteristics to lead a major party. Her problem, I suspect, is that she is a leader of a party that is peering so far into its own echo chamber that it can no longer see what is best for it in the long term. Perhaps it’s a case of the right leader at the wrong time. Dale Bailey, St Leonards
The recent articles, social media posts and public comments by prominent Liberals and Nationals bring to mind the Portuguese word saudade, which loosely translates as a deep and nostalgic yearning for the heroes and successes of the past. One expects they will soon trot out tired old Johnny Howard to sprout his usual platitudes and invoke the rose-coloured legacy of Robert Menzies. With the inevitable coup against Sussan Ley increasingly imminent, either Angus Taylor or Andrew Hastie will renew the Liberal march to the political right, and any hope of future successes will recede even further. Rob Phillips, North Epping
Unfortunately, I must agree with Renos Ross that the Coalition (or whatever it’s now called) can’t win the next election and almost certainly won’t win the one after that (Letters, January 27). Why people are lining up to lead the group in opposition for the next decade is beyond me. The next conservative prime minister of this country is probably in year 12 right now. Ross MacPherson, Seaforth
More Carneys please
While Donald Trump was quick out of the blocks to point out the decline of “Sleepy” Joe Biden, it’s clear that he’s ill-equipped to realise his own descent into physical and mental decay (Trump’s decay imperils the global order, us included”, January 27). Unfortunately, he’s surrounded himself with a gang of yes-men too obsequious to point out the bleeding obvious. The world desperately needs more leaders like Canada’s Mark Carney to tell it like it is. The days when lining up to kiss the presidential ring was viewed as smart diplomacy are long gone. Nick Franklin, Katoomba
Correspondent Neville Turbit suggested making January 26 “Glad We Are Not America Day” (Letters, January 27). The truth is, Australia started to lose its identity with the introduction of television in 1956. Since then, there has been a steady erosion of Australian culture and an introduction of faux Americanisms. So, given the rise of the extreme right at home and abroad, it would seem to me that we will soon no longer be able to say “glad we are not America”. If Australians think Barnaby Joyce and Pauline Hanson in their marriage of convenience are the answer, then what is the question? Chris McKimm, Karangi
Jack Almond hasn’t quite got it right when he says the killing of Alex Pretti by ICE agents reflects a dystopian nightmare (Letters, January 27). Dystopian and nightmare suggest imagined worlds. Trump’s second term is brutal reality. Ross Duncan, Potts Point
Absurd legal loopholes
What madness is this? The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission is tasked with investigating police corruption but there is absolutely no legal compunction on those being investigated to provide any or all relevant information (“Police brothel probe demands a watchdog with real teeth”, January 27). Yet how many times have we, the tax-paying public, been assured that when the police force investigates itself, all allegations are scrutinised to the fullest degree? This is a total absurdity and disgrace. Pauline McGinley, Drummoyne
Exorbitant uni fees
The eye-watering fees charged for international students by Australia’s publicly funded universities are corrupting our higher education system (“International student fees hit $850,000”, January 27). International student fees are becoming a de facto method of charging wealthy people to migrate to Australia. How many of these rich students return to work in their countries of origin to help raise the standard of living in these often relatively poor countries? Not many, I suspect. And on what do our universities spend their exorbitant fees? Instead of employing academics in career-making tenured positions, the universities continue cost-cutting using unreliable contracts and casual employment. Advertising, recruitment and real estate investments make up an increasing proportion of their budgets, while teaching and research decline. Philip Bell, Bronte
We all pay. The outrageous costs overseas students are charged, particularly for medical degrees, (which subsequently provide a pathway to citizenship here) are then passed on in the exorbitant fees specialist doctors are charging patients. Heather Johnson, West Pennant Hills
Let’s cut to the chase. The so-called premier universities are basing their full-fee degree costs on how many students they can enrol; to fulfil their budgets. The charges are nothing to do with the actual cost. And how can you offer a double honours degree before even seeing the standard of the student? Michael Blissenden, Dural
Rose Bay resistance
Rose Bay residents seem to be under siege from excessive development on land and sea at the moment (“Rose Bay fury at ‘damage’ from project’“, January 27). Apart from the planned apartment development, the latest proposed marina extension will add a new permanent marina arm and remove 55 swing moorings, which are more visually appealing and in keeping with the character of the bay. It will exacerbate serious traffic and parking problems in the area, detrimentally affect public views of the harbour from the Rose Bay promenade and lead to further unwarranted privatisation of the harbour. Previous applications to extend the marina have been refused by council and the Land and Environment Court on multiple grounds. It is to be hoped that all of the current inappropriate development proposals in and around Rose Bay will be similarly scuttled. John de Bres, Rose Bay
Bottom line
Economist Cherelle Murphy asks a good question about Australia’s manufacturing industries (“Are we going to be a county that still makes things?” January 27). The answer depends entirely on corporate greed. Australia’s manufacturing capability has ossified as companies off-shored jobs under the rationale of neoliberal economic theory, and a global economy. From high-rise corporate offices the only thing that is clear are the profit margins, not the cost to workers and the economy. Governments have cut funding for the CSIRO and TAFE, ensuring that scientists move overseas and insufficient trade apprenticeships are completed. Slowly and imperceptibly, a mortal rigour has set in as the number of service industry workers doubles and redoubles. Manual workers, engineers and the like have been replaced by investors, insurers, bankers and market prognosticators. The only thing of interest to them is the bottom line – the security of supply to the nation and its citizens isn’t even a blip on their radar. Barrington Salter, Elanora (Qld)
UK passport perks
If Gary Nunn decides to renounce his British citizenship that’s his loss (“Brits in Australia are shredding their passports. I think I know why”, January 24). I, for one, see so much pleasure in the beauty of Britain on our visits there, especially in the spring. Just consider the magnificent spring flowers, the lambs, the endless public footpath system, Devon, the South Downs, Dartmoor, the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales, the Peak District, the Cotswolds, Cornwall, the Welsh valleys, the Dartmouth Estuary, the National Trust, the pubs, London, Oxford – I could go on. To pay for a UK passport every 10 years is worth every penny. To tire of England is to tire of life. Martin Player, Tintenbar
European queue
Gerardine Grace’s anecdote about Aussies abroad (Letters, January 27) reminded me of the time I arrived in a certain Middle East country. At the passport check area there were separate queues under the banners of Local, CGG (Gulf countries), European and All Other. I joined the last queue. An Indian traveller in front of me turned and asked why I was in this queue and not the European one? With some pride I said, “I’m Australian.” He looked me squarely in the eye and said, “It doesn’t mean that.” Brian Collins, Cronulla
- To submit a letter to the Sydney Morning Herald, email [email protected]. Click here for tips on how to submit letters.
- The Opinion newsletter is a weekly wrap of views that will challenge, champion and inform. Sign up here.
