YOUR SAY GCB readers to write in and express their views on what the Royals do for Aust, and why they think we should remain in the Commonwealth. ROY JOHNSON, ROBINA

THE Queen has been laid to rest, the ceremonies and pageantry concluded. No disrespect intended, but the past two weeks has got me thinking why Australia is still in the Commonwealth.

During WW1 and WWII we were part of the huge Allied forces, and rightly so. But now it seems like Australia is the oldest and grown-up adult child that is still living at home with the parents and hasn’t gone out into the world on their own yet.

It is 2022 and perhaps Australia is mature enough now to look after ourselves without having to ask Mummy or Daddy for permission all the time. I’m confident if we now cut the Royal apron strings that we would still prosper, and our economic, political, trade, military, social and cultural ties with the UK would remain exactly the same as they are now. I would love other PERSONALLY I think that global warming/climate change is almost as big a con as the Y2K Bug. Having said that it appears we are stuck with it as governments all over the world scramble to find the right solution to remedy it.

We only need look at what is happening in Europe, with Russia invading Ukraine all Putin needs to do is cut off the gas supply to Europe, and many thousands will basically freeze to death during the European winter.

No country big or small can rely purely on renewable energy including Australia. As an island nation we are isolated, and cannot rely on other countries for our power supplies. The obvious answer is nuclear energy to power our electricity grid. This could be largely paid for by scrapping the proposed $243B in tax cuts to the rich and mega rich.

At the same time we also need to ramp up our oil, petrol and steel industries. If Albo and his bunch of greens and teals don’t realise and make some hard decisions to benefit all Australians, we will be plunged into darkness. MICHAEL TAYLOR, LABRADOR IN response to a complaint to the Transport Minister about the large number of adults evading fares on buses and light rail, TransLink advised that in the last financial year they issued 666 Penalty Infringement Notices of $287, many of which won’t be paid, to passengers on 700 bus services. That’s fewer than two infringements per day. Do TransLink managers really think that’s enough enforcement to make evaders pay their way? I have personally seen more than two evaders get on at just one stop.

And to try to get students to pay a fare, TransLink have created a “Step Up” program. This involves a TransLink employee, a bus operator and a Queensland police officer providing “... a short presentation at a school assembly and talk about the importance of paying fares”. I’m sure that encourages the students to stop simply walking on the bus without paying. The practice of fare evading will become increasingly common while management just sit on their butts in well-paid jobs. IAN TIMMINS, MERMAID BEACH