MICHELLE PARKER, GOLD COAST
I AM 81 years old and because my GP is not doing vaccinations I have phoned all the ones that are on the Gold Coast, and get the same response: “Are you a patient? Sorry we are only doing our patients, call back in a month.”
I feel I am getting discriminated against through no fault of my own and I want the jab, meanwhile the Prime Minister is spouting about doing over 50s.
How about getting on with it and doing 1Bs as promised.
I notice he got it and I would not count him as vulnerable – more disorganised.
Let’s do the aged and frontline workers before we get concerned about the under or over 50s or athletes, VIPs etc.
DES WILSON, CURRUMBIN
“SHELL shock” they called it when men seemingly lost all reason in the trenches of Europe in World War 1.
“Battle fatigue” was another term used when fighting men returned home, quiet, distracted, bad-tempered and turning to alcohol before ending the torment with a permanent solution to the war still going on in their heads.
Now we say “nervous breakdown” and “PTSD”, but while we use these terms to recognise the well-known problem of terrible mental health outcomes for defence personnel, we don’t seem to be any closer to a remedy.
I wholeheartedly welcome Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s announcement of a Royal Commission into veteran and defence suicides because we all
want to do better by our veterans and serving personnel.
This announcement is particularly timely leading up to Anzac Day but I am incredibly saddened by a growing antimilitary mindset that seems to gain more traction each year.
We don’t glorify war, but we should certainly glorify those who put on their country’s uniform, and we should prove we value their service by fully investigating the struggles they go through.
Suicide is the leading cause of death in Australia for people aged between 15 and 44, and former and serving defence personnel are over-represented in this sad statistic.
I would like to thank all the government and non-government support services working every
day to provide counselling and support for Defence personnel and their loved ones.
And I sincerely thank all Defence Force members – past and present – for their service. SUSAN MCDONALD, NORTH QUEENSLAND-BASED LNP SENATOR FOR QUEENSLAND
REGARDING the debate on allowing dogs off lead on Nobby Beach, we’re not asking for an exclusive area, simply the liberty to let our dogs run about freely between the hours of 5pm and 7am. Is this really too much to ask?
The majority of us diligently pick up after our dogs and are very respectful of others. Council, please consider our request.