LetteroftheWeek

Have strong opinions, write in an engaging way? You could win our Letter of the Week, and with it a book from our friends and sponsors, the publishers HarperCollins. This month’s book prize is In a Great Southern Land by Mary-Anne O’Connor. It’s 1851 in the new colonies and Eve Richards and Kieran Clancy face the decision of a lifetime: whether or not, when it comes to love, will blood remain thicker than water.

IF recent polls are any indication close to 60 per cent of all Australians are increasingly alarmed with the frequent occurrences of climate change, as in heatwaves, bushfires, floods, extended droughts and increasing cyclonic activity.

People are not stupid, they take note of what is happening around them.

Those surveyed were also dismayed with the political parties’ efforts to announce effective policies to counter this warming planet.

Two decades ago I was considered a lunatic by some for suggesting that as many people as possible instal solar panel systems. The acceptance of more than two million Australian homes with solar panels in 2019 seems to suggest that my judgment was sound.

Much more still needs to be done, not the least of which is vehicle emissions and renewable energy generation in the form of solar farms and pumped hydroelectricity and wind to name a few.

We are feeling the devastating effects now, not in the future, but in the present.

The need for action has become urgent and we are not acting fast enough to address the situation.

All levels of government need to act now because the situation has reached crisis level. SHAUN NEWMAN

AS a Nasho vet, I acknowledge with full compassion Karen Bird and famly’s suffering due to the cold, brutal, bureaucratic indifference he faced seeking assistance which never came.

As the Leon Russell song goes, coming home was “Just another battle for a soldier”. DAVID HALL, COOMBABAH BILL Shorten caught “short on” Adani. What else has he been caught short on? FRED ERICSEN-MILLER, TAMBORINE MOUNTAIN

ON the day that a nation remembers and commemorates its losses, Australia’s military history started before we federated our colonies in the 1890s and continues to today.

The nation’s modern history was born with an English outpost in 1788 with a few hundred people, and now in 2019, there are now more than 25 million walking the streets and the land. From British outpost, colonies developed and so a nation the Commonwealth of Australia was created on the First of January 1901.

Between these dates, 1788 and 2019, Australian military men and women have served across the world starting with the Maori Wars and are still in many countries across the world.

What is not realised by many Australians is that every military deployment away from Australia’s shores were to assist and defend the people of the other countries involved in a war.

This changed in 1990 when Australia joined the Coalition Forces that invaded Iraq in what was named the Second Gulf War that deposed Saddam Hussein when Australians joined the Coalition.

So please remember that we have a proud military history and except for the Second Gulf War our men and women left our lands to help and defend others. ROBERT S BUICK, MOUNTAIN CREEK

THERE is no doubt the incident on Fraser Island was extremely unfortunate. It could also of been a lot more serious.

I didn’t get to read Ken W’s letter in the GCB, however I did read Mark from Nerang’s letter in the

GCB on April 24.

I shook my head in utter disbelief.

Shoot every Fraser Island dingo is his answer. Mark, these are native wild animals. If we chose to enter their territory it is up to us as humans to make the necessary adjustments. We are meant to be the most intelligent creature.

I read your comment and think do you also feel, as an example, that every shark should be killed to make the surf safer?

We as humans pose a far greater risk to ourselves than dingoes or sharks.

We enter their domain knowing there is an inherent risk.

You also can’t look at pet dogs as the same as a dingo. One is trained, hopefully, and the other is wild.

This greenie bagging is nothing but a political word used to pass blame on to someone who disagrees and usually the person or persons who use the term lack understanding, intelligence and have an agenda. PAUL ZIEMS, NERANG

SELF-FUNDED retirees who have worked hard, paid their taxes and saved for their retirement are now going to be penalised by the Shorten Government for their prudence.

The only option for many will be to go on the pension to survive thus adding to the costings of the Shorten budget. FRANCES AGUGGIA, CARRARA

I WISH to thank the Gold Coast

Bulletin for printing my tribute to Anzac (25/4) despite my late posting of the letter to the paper.

As an ex-serviceman, thank you again for recognising what this day means to us. RON NIGHTINGALE, GOLD COAST