Anti-Australia Day brigade is indulging in gesture politics

Actvists expect citizens to shell out while calling them racists.

Jennifer Oriel has shown how January 26 has become a touchstone for all that is wrong with the attitude of the grievance brigade, who remarkably believe that you can demand yet more money and sympathy from citizens while calling them racist and accusing them of taking pride in genocide (“It’s our modernity and prosperity the activists hate”, 28/1).

Now that the snarling and seething of the Australia Day protests have subsided, even a glance at the black armband paraders revealed some of the most egregious displays of gesture politics and hypocrisy in recent years.

For the sake of future generations, it is time to let the national apology stand for something and move on with an eye to the future.

Peter Waterhouse, Craigieburn, Vic

Before activists get too carried away with eliminating Australia Day from our calendar or changing the date on which we celebrate the foundation of the British colony and the many achievements of what has become the Australian nation over the past 231 years, perhaps we should ponder what might have been had the British decided to leave it to others to address the future of New Holland.

Peter R. Graham, Sydney, NSW

Barnaby on song

Barnaby Joyce is right when he says minorities have too much clout, and that Labor is sitting back watching them doing the job Labor should be doing (“Reasonable people must confront vigilante vandals”, 28/1).

With an election approaching, the electorate should understand that the role of government is to work in the best interests of the nation, not to bow to the demands of noisy minorities, not to fashion policies around the latest cause doing the rounds.

This election is of enormous importance. Its outcome will determine our future. Voters must ignore the noise of left-wing activists and concentrate on the policies of the Coalition government and Labor. Which of these two will work to maintain a strong economy, to help businesses and industries flourish, thus ensuring we all have jobs, to keep our borders safe, and to protect our life savings? These are the matters Australians must deliberate on.

Dale Ellis, Innisfail, Qld

Cut the hogwash

People are fed up with ministers talking out of the side of their mouths. Foreign Minister Marise Payne assures us that her representations to China on behalf of arbitrarily detained writer Yang Hengjun “will ensure that the matter is dealt with transparently and fairly”.

When I heard that I said “hogwash”, or something stronger. It’s this hackneyed language that makes people so cynical about government.

Why not the truth: “Australian officials are doing all they can to help Yang Hengjun who set himself up for a hiding to nothing by coming back to the communist dictatorship of which he has been a long-time critic. Still, we will do all we can for him.”

Paul Everingham, Hamilton, Qld

Case for coal

The last coal-fired power station built in eastern Australia at Kogan Creek, is 12 years old. We should be building new plants on established coalfields near existing transmission lines.

But greenies prefer to scar the hills with wind towers, plaster the flatlands with solar panels, and waste money on roads, transmission towers and power lines. Then when it becomes obvious that this ramshackle system will not produce reliable energy, they waste even more money on lithium batteries, pumped hydro, thumping diesel engines and “load shedding”.

Greenies oppose coal exploration, mining or power generation. They also impede gas exploration, timber-getting and fishing. No industry has escaped their green shackles. Who will rid us of these yokes?

Viv Forbes, Washpool, Qld