The happy photograph of Logie rivals Peter Helliar and Waleed Aly says it all: 21st century multiculturalism meets mateship, the time-honoured tradition established by the Anzacs which has grown to embrace all Australians, regardless of race, religion or gender. ("Grab for gold", April 23). While the threat of random terrorist attacks cannot be ignored, our greatest strength lies in the Anzac spirit of comradeship and courage in the face of danger.
A place for every child in their local public school is state government core business.
The national sport of two-up and the national anthem were preoccupations this Anzac week. Contributor Neil Radford must be a fine two up player many observed or else he had a two-headed penny when he threw his letter/column 8 contribution on the subject of two up into the air, and it ended up in both columns. With our usual editors either at dawn services or on holidays we do apologise for disruption to normal transmission. But it provides us the opportunity to remind readers not to double dip by making the same contribution to both the letters page and Column 8. Ditto for writing letters you have sent to other publications.
I am part of a community organisation known as Blue Bondi Green. Our objective was to have the Bondi Beach business district free of lightweight supermarket-type plastic bags by the end of last year. Of the 75 businesses I visited, 22 were plastic-bag free already. Some businesses had a mix of paper and plastic bags. But 50 per cent of businesses gave out single-use plastic bags as the only alternative.
For the 20 years of my involvement running a fifth-generation manufacturing business, the constant business risk has been a dire shortage of skills and young people prepared to take on careers and training in design and making.
Using mass production techniques in the first place could have eliminated the need for $5 billion school upgrades.
The federal government's threat to slap new export restrictions on east coast gas suppliers ("Malcolm Turnbull intervenes in gas market to tackle surging domestic prices", April 27) is an admission that a free market does not always work. Despite Australia having a massive gas resource, the free market in energy has failed to deliver, in the PM's words, "the gas Australians need at prices they can afford". If the market was working properly a host of entrepreneurs should be competing feverishly for our business and driving prices down. Instead, the profits have been retained by the gas companies and have not trickled down to the consumer in the form of lower prices. It is strange, therefore, that Mr Turnbull and his Treasurer are so confident that the market would perform perfectly if the Senate would only grant massive tax cuts to big business. Like saliva from Pavlov's dog on hearing the dinner bell, the business tax cuts would automatically flow down to the rest of us in the form of new jobs and higher wages. Yeah, right.
I'm wondering which of our current values Andrew Laming thinks we should sing about.
Peter FitzSimons' push for the Eureka Stockade as a rallying point for the celebration of what it means to be Australian rings a little hollow.
War is an evil thing, and it does not become less evil by claiming to be right.
By now it must be evident to everyone that our democracy has failed, given that our nation's politicians are incapable of addressing the housing affordability crisis by virtue of their monstrous conflict of interest ("Houses of Parliament: MPs on top in property game", April 22-23). That these very same real estate speculators have the effrontery to lecture Australians on what our nation's values should be is not only the height of conceit, but damning evidence of their collective sophistry. If ever the phrase "a pox on all your houses" was appropriate, this is surely the time.
Surely experiments in burying pigs could have taken place in a remote location rather than risk upsetting some with a present or future connection with burials at Rookwood.
Jingoistic claptrap is now being trotted out in the interests of nationalism.
I think my best mate ticks all the boxes for what represents Australian values ("Australian values testing starts at home", Letters, April 21). He was born in the outer western suburbs of Sydney, with a working class background going back many generations. He is passionate about all water and ball sports, fiercely loyal to friends and family, and loves a barbie.
I was born in Australia, as were my parents and their parents before them. When my grandfathers fought in World War II, I suspect they did so at least partially in defence of a clearly understood set of Australian values. These were the same values I was taught at home and at school.
Can this be the beginning of a range of future government decisions that ordinary Australians have known about for a long time?
It takes up to eight years to save for a deposit, little wonder many appear resigned to renting forever.
So it seems the real problem with housing affordability is that the Millennials' parents are selfish and vote for the wrong side of politics ("Locked out: Nation in grips of housing affordability crisis" April 17). Codswallop!
How stupid does the federal government think the Australian public is ("Adani coal mine would be a poor use of our taxes", April 15)?
The Australian public is not being fairly compensated for the extraction of a finite resource, which is being depleted while corporations are making huge profits.
It is quite obvious that the Department of Education is not playing the ball correctly.
The sale of the Land and Property Information registry is so against the interests of the citizens of NSW that this state government deserves to be dismissed.
The NSW government's failure to restore the ethics option to the school enrolment form itself raises a question of ethics.
I could not believe what I was reading yesterday when lord mayor Moore put forward her opinion of road traffic versus public transport.
The Turnbull government must be shaking in its shoes on hearing that the Young Nationals, through their support for a carbon trading scheme, are now effectively backing renewables. ("Young Nationals back emission trading scheme", April 11). The policy vacuum in Canberra is becoming clearer by the day: no recognition that "black coal Morrison" and friends' promotion of coal to India is out of step with India's move to cleaner energy; fearfully tiptoeing away from previously toying with the idea of an emissions intensity scheme for energy generators; sidling away from Labor's policy on negative gearing; floundering around trying to find budget savings – "Is Abbott's work for the dole scheme fit to ditch?" Oh yes, "Policy Vacuum" is the new normal in the conservative realm – just take a look at the US!
Scott Morrison does not get it. He is still claiming supply is the reason first-home buyers cannot afford a home.
How sad to read of the thousands of unclaimed boxes of remains stored at crematoriums and funeral homes ("Dust to dust: ashes of loved ones remain", April 2).
Is it wise for our political leaders and journalists to be so enthusiastically endorsing Trump's reflexive military response to a gas attack that has not yet been investigated?
Bernie Fraser's warning of growing inequality, like the shot heard round the world, is the warning that should be heard round Australia.
"Quite frankly there are worse people and you simply don't know what you'd get if he were to be replaced," is as chilling a thought as the actual release of chemical weapons against Syrian civilians.
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