Australia Day long weekend

RUNNING THE COUNTRY

I WOULD like to get in early and start the debate. Until 1993 Australia Day was held on the last Monday in January regardless of the date. That way we always had a long weekend in summer to celebrate our nation. It was changed in 1994 by the Australia Day Council. Well they got it wrong didn’t they. It was what began the invasion day mentality. This year especially, lots of people will take Monday January 25 off work as well, to make a four- day break whereas if Australia Day was still the last Monday in January everybody would go back to work on the 26th.

Australia Day should not be a date to celebrate but a time to bask in the joys of living in the wonderful country that we do. Much better a long weekend in summer.

JOBSEEKER BOOST

Colin Corney Beaumaris

AT the end of March, JobSeeker supplements will be wound back, and unemployed and low- paid families again have to choose between paying rent or buying food; rely on school breakfast clubs to feed their kids; and be unable to afford transport or clothing for interviews ( in the unlikely event they get to the head of an impossibly long queue for limited jobs). In spite of state and federal governments that tout themselves as good economic managers, the government seems oblivious to the fact stimulus comes from spending and people on low incomes recirculate money as they spend all their income, whereas those on higher incomes save their money, or worse, invest it in housing, which puts further pressure on low income earners. Instead of offering tax breaks for the wealthy who don’t need it, government should be listening to economists and community leaders and increase support for the people who will keep the economy moving. Beth Rees

Rosny

WORK WITH US ON ANTHEM

“ADVANCE Australia Fair”, more like “Advance Australia, Fair?” Takes away nothing? Adds nothing. Morrison’s minor tweak of the white Australian anthem is hardly a change igniting a spirit of unity and should be viewed as tokenism and a failed attempt by the nation’s leader. By promoting the idea of one national community, this anthem completely disregards the history, continuing struggle our community faces and the journey ahead towards self- determination. We will not ignore our identity to fit into a monotheistic idea of this nation. Further, through ludicrous claims to freedom for all Australian citizens, the anthem ignores the reality that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are the most incarcerated people on Earth. In the spirit of unity perhaps Morrison’s energy would be best channelled into real change like working with us to change the song, constitution and the date ( for a start). That’s what more we could want. Zayden Rainey

Brighton

POVERTY AND JOBLESSNESS

TRY living on JobSeeker, writes T. Farrell ( Letters, January 5). That’s exactly what Liberal and Labor parties expect people not to be able to do. It’s been their strategy all along, to get people off the dole and back into the gazillions of jobs both claim to create while they’re in government. There was even a time when a Labor minister claimed to be able to live on $ 40 a day.

Now there’s the virus to contend with and the government, which decided it was no longer fair to treat unemployed like recalcitrant bludgers, believes it’s time to do so again, because of the millions of jobs it has created. The virus is still there and demand for jobs vastly outstrips supply so the economy can only be damaged. When people who aren’t able to get a job suffer in poverty, crime and the cost of fighting it can only increase. Anyone who doesn’t think so should join the Liberal Party. Michael McCall Primrose Sands

LYRICS THAT MAKE SENSE

IF we’re going to change the lyrics to our National Anthem, could they at least make sense. “Our land abounds in nature’s gifts/ Of beauty rich and rare”. How can we abound in something if it’s rare? Still, I suppose “Our land abounds in nature’s gifts/ That has 93 per cent of our land mass nothing but arid scrub” doesn’t have the same ring. Or have I been hearing wrong, and it reads “In beauty rich and bare”. An Indigenous elder said changing one word at a time is not the way to go about change. However, changing rare to bare is more apt. Having crisscrossed the continent half a dozen times by vehicle, I assure you it can be very, very bare for very long distances. That’s what makes it so beautiful. We should acknowledge that if with Indigenous peoples’ consent. Ardie Larsen

Sandy Bay

ASIA OUR DESTINY

HAVING lived in Australia for 60 years, I am disappointed governments have not fully used Australians of Asian origin to propagate interest in Asia where our destiny is. Most Asian Australians get their qualifications from Australia. They could play a key role in trade and cultural exchange. Economists tell us this part of the world will grow fastest economically. Unless we become part of Asia culturally we will not achieve our potential. Learning Asian languages will help forge a closer relationship.

Ike Naqvi Tinderbox