When to celebrate Australia

The Editor,

I have had positive feedback from people I know who read my article and the sentiments contained within. [“The family home exemption from Pension Assets Test: Is this in Australia’s best interests?”, Dubbo Photo News, Weekender section, February 1.]

The feedback in the Letters section of last week’s Dubbo Photo News from Michael Cannon gives me the impression he may have misunderstood my position, so I would like to clarify.

I am NOT an advocate for taxing the family home. What I am saying is that, by excluding the family home from the assets test for welfare assistance, a massive skew occurs in terms of painting a picture of where private wealth throughout Australia occurs.

This, in turn, creates a situation where welfare becomes misdirected.

The present situation massively disadvantages most of those in rural Australia and this needs to be discussed to the point that our Federal member is forced to act on our behalf.

Please be assured that I am not pursuing this with the hope for any personal advantage. My wife and I receive a small part pension, but given the fact that we can afford to travel overseas on holidays and we drive (what many would term) a luxury car (a 2011 Mercedes), I am the first to question whether we should receive any welfare support.

But I am opposed to losing this whilst people, living in homes I could never afford, retain their welfare support.

I am pursuing this for two reasons. Firstly, the fairness issue, but also the fact that the present situation is NOT in the longer term interests of our country.

Alan Nelson,

Dubbo The Editor,

Here’s an idea... instead of choosing a specific DATE for Australia Day, why don’t we make it the last Monday of January.

That means no more mid-week public holidays, and instead it would always be a long weekend just before the kids go back to school.

That way we aren’t celebrating a specific day, but our Aussie lifestyle.

The date is decided for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day using this method, so we could do the same for Australia Day.

Lyn Burge,

Dubbo