Anzac Day protest was wrong, but Welcome to Country an insult

Every sane Australian would be appalled at the booing of the Welcome to Country at the Shrine’s dawn service. But it is time for us to have a conversation about this. There is a place for Welcomes to Country when somebody important arrives in this country, but it became farcical during King Charles’s visit when it was endlessly repeated at numerous events. It becomes a meaningless token. The smoking ceremony was usually reserved for when someone had died. But a Welcome ceremony is not acceptable at an Anzac Day service.

Robin Retchford, Hobart

The hecklers at Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance Day on Friday want Anzac Day dedicated to Australian war veterans, rather than politics. A CFA lieutenant at a similarly disrupted event in Perth said: “It’s a place for remembrance. You should leave all that political stuff behind.” Here is a suggestion. The Department of Veterans’ Affairs should have a confidential poll of all veterans on whether or not they want a Welcome to Country on Anzac Day.

Chris Lloyd, Parkville, Vic

Few would condone the extreme lack of respect and general crassness exhibited by the hecklers at Melbourne’s dawn service. But can someone please explain to me the reasons why this ritual is continued at this ceremony? Quite clearly we are not Welcome to Country. So why do we continue to roll this out, time after time, event after event? I challenge someone to offer a convincing response.

Katherine Reid, Mt Elphinstone, WA

I am no advocate for any form of neo-Nazism or far-right politics – or far-left for that matter – in this country. But I am somewhat concerned at the venom with which our PM attacks those that may be construed as questioning the Welcome to Country issue, when the gentleman welcoming the assembly says “welcome to the land of my father”. Given the context of the Anzac service, does this claim not strike a somewhat jarring note for the families and descendants of those we were there to commemorate? At a gathering that is honouring those thousands of men and women who died or were destroyed in wars protecting the freedom of a land they were told belonged to all Australians.

Shaen Egan, Toowoomba, Qld

Renewable risks

Commenting on the Albanese Labor government’s renewable energy transition plan, The Australian’s editorial observes: “It’s sobering to think it may not work” (“Still flying blind on power plan”, 26-27/4). But already there are signs. The cost of power is going through the roof, reliability of supply is faltering and energy security is waning. Australia’s pristine wilderness is being hit hard. Prime agricultural land is being marked out for the installation of transmission lines and solar factories, and regional communities are being forced to bear the brunt of this wanton destruction and upheaval. Don’t expect our coal-fired power stations to get us out of this mess. They’re being kicked out and the renewables flag hoisted in their place. If Labor wins the election, that will be the signal for Energy Minister Chris Bowen to go even harder with his renewables rollout.

Dale Ellis, Innisfail, Qld

More than two decades after the implementation of renewables that destroyed reliable generation facilities and grid integrity, the experts at the AEMC think it would be a good idea to have a plan (“AEMC calls for plan”, 26-27). Somehow a bit of scientific chicanery has managed to distil a dynamic climate system into a single number that is used to justify the actions taken to save the planet. Renewable rent-seekers bleed the public dry courtesy of a politically designed market. The best plan for cheap electricity is not to withdraw coal plants but to increase their use. The tiny bit of emissions from them would be insignificant when the global total is considered.

David Bidstrup, Plymont Park, SA

No leaders, no ideas

Chris Uhlmann sums up the Australian election well: “At some point this pantomime will end. It will come with a crisis. But we will not be ready.” (“Gotcha media kills politics of big idea”, 26-27/4). It seems Australia has hundreds of politicians but no leaders. No one with big ideas to boost our abysmal productivity; ideas to build long-range offensive and defensive weapons.

They don’t have ideas for national baseload 24-hour electricity; ideas to replace complex company and personal income tax with a simple consumption tax. Sadly, big ideas remain ideas. And another election enables Australia to drift. To let politicians avoid hard decisions and to kick the debt can further down the road. Until, of course, the inevitable economic or military disaster strikes. As Uhlmann writes: “Let’s hope our political class and we, the people, can rise to meet it.”

Paul Eveleigh, Nunawading, Vic