Americans, proud of their nation, remind us of what we are missing

In the words of Cameron Stewart, the US and the world will watch the inauguration of president Donald Trump with excitement and trepidation (“Brimming with promise and fear”, 18-19/1).

Unfortunately for us, all the excitement will be in the US and not here. They deserve to be excited because they are patriotic and proud of their country. Over here, we teach our children to be ashamed of our country.

The US will stop illegal immigration while we welcome those who hate our way of life. Trump’s rejection of diversity, equity and inclusion and censorship by social media means there will be a real chance of reuniting Americans, yet despite an overwhelming rejection of the voice we are still subjected to woke ideology and thus divided.

Trump is calling out China whereas we kowtow. We give enemies of the US moral support by voting in the UN and the International Criminal Court against one of its closest allies, Israel, then naively expect it to defend us.

Our government thinks renewables and a rejection of nuclear power is some sort of utopia, while Trump understands the stupidity of net zero and sees wealth for the US if he embraces the opposite.

We believe we are responsible for climate change while Trump ridicules our stupidity.

Ross McDonald, Gordon, NSW

I welcome Adam Creighton’s view that Donald Trump’s clear victory could prompt a greater focus on policy (“Bigger, bolder Trump set to launch new era”, 18-19/1). But I cannot see the emergence of a “real Trump, a pragmatic populist centrist”.

His actions during his previous presidency, his pitch to the electorate this time, plus the team he is building now all point towards him as certainly a populist but a right-wing one.

The checks and balances within American politics have been reduced, with the Republican majorities in the House of Representatives and Senate.

A majority of Americans think Trump will “do a good job”, but a good job for whom? Trump’s record is anti-union and his tax cuts favoured the rich. He tried to dismantle Obamacare and may attack other social security payments.

The promised “government efficiency drive” under billionaire supporter Elon Musk will show what “cut wasteful expenditures” means. I truly hope Trump will “make America great again”, but for all Americans.

John Hughes, Mentone, Vic

One thing seems to be agreed on about Donald Trump: he is unpredictable. No one including him knows what he is going to do next and that includes Elon Musk, who could be the real issue.

Jeff Stokes, Largs Bay, SA

Make us an offer

Donald Trump made his money from real estate development and chooses Greenland over Australia? What an insult.

There was a time we were the envy of the world. They called us the lucky country. Full disclosure requires me to admit that successive governments and some of our more radical tenants have trashed the place. It doesn’t help on the property description that synagogues are being torched and anti-Semitic graffiti is being sprayed about, but perhaps a strong leader could fix this.

One of best selling points was our unique and beautiful scenery, plenty of beach frontage. Sadly, much of this has been spoilt with wind turbines and transmission lines, but again this can be reversed. We probably need to downgrade our description from prime real estate to fixer-upper.

Trump needs to look closely at the potential of the place. All it needs is good management.

I suggest a starting price of $US10m and US citizenship for every living man, woman, child and non-gender-specific person in the country. Everyone could decide whether to stay or move as a millionaire to other parts of the world.

If Trump wants to wait until the place is completely trashed and get it for next to nothing, we could rustle up some interest from China or Taiwan or somewhere else in the world where they can see the limitless possibilities. Let’s open the bidding.

Chris Blanch, Spring Hill, Qld

Trouble with dog’s tail

The cookie-cutter, rubber-stamped profiles of Labor’s frontbench is telling (“In terms of experience, there’s a ‘real world’ of difference”, 18-19/1). It’s the reason Labor governments past and present have a tough time working out that most taxpayers are not members of a union and do not rely on unions to tell them what to do, what to say or how to live their lives.

Unfortunately, Labor’s shallow gene pool is enamoured of the unions and produces policy and legislation that reflect the total authority unions have over government. The host relationship between them is parasitic. The tail wags the dog.

Let’s hope the next election delivers us a government with a wide healthy view of Australians’ needs.

Lynda Morrison, Bicton, WA