Our country deserves to be loved
AUSTRALIA has changed.
Arriving in Australia in 1969 after escaping communist Czechoslovakia with wife Jo and two small boys, $7 in the pocket, small suitcase with all our possessions, no English, I expected tough times. Two days later I started working in a freezer in an ice cream factory in Adelaide on minimum wage – $40 – but enough overtime to support family, Jo could stay home.
We believed we were in paradise. People were friendly, helpful and tolerant. It lasted for some 50 years. Then it all changed. Political correctness made people watch what they were saying, hatred, in many cases, replaced kindness and tolerance. Dobbing on others, which used to be condemned, is now being encouraged. Love for Australia was replaced with hatred from many groups.
Many traditions which make Australia the best country in the world are under attack. Many of us who experienced totality and lack of freedom are very concerned about the direction we are headed. But I still hope that the majority of the good people will help to turn this around and reclaim the old Australia, with the freedom of speech and tolerance that existed for many generations. Australia deserves to be loved, not hated.
Vlastislav Skvaril
Burnie
Referendum needed
ONCE again the divisive issue that is Australia Day fills the media. It is about time the Australian government had a referendum on the issue, same as same-sex marriage. That was decided by a referendum back in 2017 and was as divisive an issue as the date we celebrate our national day. The referendum could be held in conjunction with the Aboriginal Voice referendum, thereby saving taxpayers having to pay for two.
The question is an easy one: do we celebrate Australia on January 26? Yes or no. In addition, alternative dates could be suggested and the one that gets the majority of votes is deemed the national day date.
Those alternative dates could be submitted to a committee, same as the Aboriginal vote process, and maybe the three highest suggested dates would be included in the referendum. Finalise this divisive issue once and for all, instead of being a national issue every January.
Alan Leitch
Austins Ferry
We are one
WALK with my mind, if you will. Why is Australia Day on January 26? It’s the day the First Fleet landed in Australia, right? Nope.
In fact, a whole week before (sometime between January 18-20, 1788) men of the First Fleet had already set ashore at Sydney’s Botany Bay. On finding it unsuitable, they relocated further north to Sydney Cove – a small bay in the now iconic Sydney Harbour.
The 26th actually marks the raising of the Union Jack in Sydney Cove and the official declaration of British sovereignty on the land that would become Australia.
So, I’m not responsible for my being in the country I call Australia. I didn’t take land from those who occupied this land then. I didn’t suppress the Indigenous people of this land, nor did I suppress their being or their heritage.
To my mind, what is simply is what is, and suggest that which is, be embraced by all who are here; be they who are descendants of the First Fleet or convicts, or those who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Straight Islander, or those who have chosen to be here from another country.
I encourage all those who reside in this country of Australia to be one – Australians.
Stewart Edwards
Mount Stuart
Long and short of it
ALL the hoo-hah about Australia Day and the opportunity for employees to take another day in lieu is really about employers agreeing to demands for a long weekend. It’s as plain as the nose on your face. Got nothing to do with the mob supporting demands to change the date to please a minority group.
Gary Gillies
Geilston Bay
First things first
WE became Australia when: “The passing of the Constitution enabled Australia’s six British colonies to become one nation, the Commonwealth of Australia, on 1 January 1901.” The day of our birth, the beginning of our nation, and the start of a new year should be our Australia Day, not the arrival of a few foreign ships.
Nev Cooper
Dynnyrne