Letters: Anti-Adani activists’ Nazi slur on miners attracts ire

Today readers have their say on anti-Adani protesters calling coal miners Nazis and the dingo danger on Fraser Island.

Protesters during a Stop Adani rally in Brisbane. Picture: AAP Image/Dave Hunt

MY FATHER, while not a miner, worked in power stations his entire life, designing water-cooling treatment systems.

His career relied heavily on the coal-mining industry.

I wonder what my dad would have thought opening the paper to read his work colleagues being compared to Nazis (C-M, Apr 22).

What a repulsive and disgusting analogy by a group of Australians, many of whom probably have made a conscious decision not to work and who are paid the dole from hard-working coal miners.

They are the national disgrace, not the miners.

Shani Doig, Coorparoo

MINERS in Queensland, by their hard work, provide royalties that help fund schools, hospitals and everything else that the Government provides to assist citizens.

The protesters in Bob Brown’s convoy, on the other hand, provide nothing, but disrupt the lives of everybody.

These are the people who call our hard workers Nazis.

Those who disrupt, provide nothing and cause hardship are the ones who should be called Nazis.

Tony Miles, Chermside

IT WOULD be interesting to know how many of the activists protesting against coal mining and animal farming are welfare recipients.

Owners and workers in the mining and farming business are taxpayers who fund welfare benefits.

Activists who are welfare recipients have the right to protest, but if it is not lawful, they must be punished, and what better way than for them to lose their benefits.

Ernest Colin Lee, Kenmore

YOUR double-page photo of hundreds of Stop Adani protesters had me studying what type of people they were.

Looking for and expecting the usual suspects in CFMEU yellow vests, kids in school uniforms and vegans in black and white outfits, I was disappointed to not see any.

Reporter Nic Darveniza described the crowd as a sea of mostly retirees, including hippy “knitting nannas”.

Instead, what I saw in the photo was a sea of smiling faces, comprising young and old, male and female protesters, who look like my friends and neighbours.

Resources Minister Matt Canavan has accused the Greens of bringing a rent-a-crowd to oppose the Adani mine.

Yet it was reported that a crowd of 3000 attended the Mullumbimby showgrounds on Sunday to welcome Bob Brown’s convoy.

This time Canavan can’t accuse schoolkids of wagging a day off school to protest.

Instead we saw thousands of Aussies give up their Easter Sunday to exercise their democratic right to have their say.

Valdy Kwitowski, Salisbury

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A dingo scavenges for food on the beach at Fraser Island. Photo: Lachie Millard

DINGOES NEED A VIABLE HABITAT

HOW quickly we assume our superior position at the top of the food chain in suggesting dingoes be fenced off for viewing by humans (Letters, Apr 20).

By free camping on Fraser Island, people invade the dingoes’ natural territory.

Dingoes lying around near camp sites and scavenging for food scraps could indicate their malnourishment and overfamiliarity with humans.

If camping sites were fenced, visitors’ safety would be ensured, especially overnight, as dingoes tend to be more active at dawn and dusk in warmer climates.

Relocation to the mainland may be an alternative as the limited island environment could reduce food sources, lessen genetic diversity and increase susceptibility to disease.

The dingo is considered a top predator. Their ecological role on the mainland would help control feral animals such as foxes, wild pigs, kangaroos and hares.

This assists landowners, who are required to take steps to keep their land pest-free.

There are plenty of free-camping areas in other parts of Australia.

If we genuinely want to preserve the species from extinction, a viable habitat is needed for this protected native animal.

Ros Smith, Middle Park

FRASER Island is no longer safe for humans, as it is now dingo territory.

Early last century, the Aborigines of Fraser Island were forced by the Queenland Government to leave the island and were relocated on the mainland.

The authorities should have removed the dingoes, not the Aborigines.

The dingoes could be accommodated in a custom-built premises on the mainland, leaving Fraser Island free for humans.

Irene Shanks, Mareeba

SURELY the Department of Environment is aware that the dingoes on Fraser Island are hungry because of the lack of natural food.

So either feed them or severely cull them.

Why save all dingoes at the expense of other environmental life?

Lance Pietsch, Bayview Heights

THE recent devastating and ferocious attacks by dingoes on Fraser Island should put to bed

any lingering doubt what happened 39 years ago to another unsuspecting family.

Time for a mass cull. We need to protect people.

Jillian Bennett, Alexandra Hills

I WENT on a paid tour of Fraser Island in February, specifically to see the natural beauty of the island, including the dingoes.

I saw a lot of drunks strewn out along the pristine natural waterways and beaches, boozing alongside their four-wheel-drives.

Justin Page, Stafford Heights

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