Past is gone

IN THE United States they are tearing down statues. These statues tell the history of the country and where will that history be if there is nothing to show for it? I just hope it doesn’t happen in Australia.

Tear down the statue of Colonel William Light who overlooks the city of Adelaide that he planned without asking the Aborigines for permission? Tear down the dog on the tuckerbox five miles from Gundagai because it represents European dogs that replaced the dingo?

Tear down the statues of our explorers who travelled over lands without permission? We may as well tear down all our towns and cities and blow up all our roads and bridges that were all built without permission from anyone.

And then all who are not full-blooded original inhabitants of the land we call Australia will leave because we “invaded” the country. Where will we all go? To the same place as all Americans will go who are not the original Indians or Eskimos of North America, and all in South America who are not the original Aztecs and all the invaders of Africa.

But history is time passed and you cannot change history. It happened and is gone. We can now only live and plan for today and hereafter. We can look back on history and perhaps regret some of the things that were done but we can’t change them We can only go forward - we can’t go back. Perhaps we should follow Japan and have Japan only for Japanese or China only for Chinese.

We have parliamentarians who we elect to change all this for us and make Australia a happy place. Unfortunately, instead of working for a united country with our many diverse cultures, and the correct use of our many natural resources for the benefit of all, and beneficial trade with other countries with our agricultural and pastoral wealth, and raising our standard of living and welcoming tourists to our wonderful country, the only thing they seem interested in is same-sex marriage and section 44 of the constitution or where the next terrorist attack from ISIS will come from.

What a mess our country is in as they continue to abuse one another in parliament instead of working together for the good of Australia.

Just imagine what people in 50 or 100 years will be saying and reading about today’s period of history. They will be shaking their heads is disbelief that we allowed this wonderful country to decline into such a mess. I am glad I will not be around to see the troubles of the next 50 years. — ERIC JERICHO, Highfields