Bard from Bunyah irked PC mob

The death of Les Murray marks the passing of an Aussie legend. The Weatherboard Cathedral and Poems against Economics presaged the arrival of a new literary giant in the Land Down Under to stand shoulder to shoulder with Henry Lawson, Banjo Paterson and C.J. Dennis.

While Murray’s poetic humour has put a smile on the faces of the baby-boomer generation for 50 years, his ability to cut through to the heart of social issues that affect us all, especially today, was illustrated profoundly in the book Killing the Black Dog.

Unfortunately, in this brave new world of progressive politics and Left-dominated academia, his work with John Howard and Quadrant won him few friends among the PC brigade. However, this larrikin of the written word thumbed his nose gently and brilliantly at the stuffy establishment.

He made the hearts of us average punters sing. Vale, Les. The bard from Bunyah is dead. Long live the bard!

John Bell, Heidelberg Heights, Vic

“There’s a fellow crying in Martin Place... ” goes the line from An Absolutely Ordinary Rainbow. Well, at least, there should be a statute of this most eloquent figure from the mind of Les Murray — in Martin Place, near the Pitt Street end.

Vale, Les Murray.

Keith Russell, Mayfield West, NSW

A rejection slip from Les Murray as poetry editor was a lesson. I recall one, neatly written on the margin of a 20- line poem, that he returned to me. It said, “The poem stopped here!”, with an arrow pointing to line two.

He was generous and encouraging, and critically honest in his appraisal of work sent to him at Poetry Australia. His own work was marked by the prefacing phrase, “To the glory of God” — whose poem we each may be, or become in some way, as the work is finished.

Ivan Head, Burradoo, NSW

Les Murray deserves a line from a poem he wrote about the death of his father, Cecil, called Last Hellos:

Snobs mind us off religion

nowadays, if they can.

F... them. I wish you God.

Martin Fitzgerald, Pennant Hills, NSW

Focus on Wahhabism

Brendan O’Neill’s excellent article (“Hierarchy of victimhood, 27-28/4) listed the 10 deadliest terror attacks since 2002, from Bali to Sri Lanka. The dead total over 3000. The culprits: “Islamist extremists”. This term is lazy and inaccurate. Every single attack on this list was backed by Wahhabists, those extremists of Sunni Islam whose spiritual and financial home is Saudi Arabia. There is not a single Shia on the list, nor any other sect of Islam. By saying “Islamist” the media unwittingly impugns hundreds of millions who may follow Islam but deeply hate the Wahhabists. And it leaves readers vulnerable to the deceits of Mike Pompeo and John Bolton and co, who also say “Islamist” but try to point us in completely the wrong direction, to Iran.

It’s been the Wahhabists, every time. Be brave, be specific. Call them out.

Peter Burke, Nedlands, WA

Power parking

I have followed the electric car debate with great interest. In Australia, those of us who live outside major urban centres tend to focus on the tyranny of distance and the potential non-availability of quick-charge stations in remote areas. An English friend has highlighted a practical problem that also applies (albeit to a lesser extent) in Australia. How are cars that are habitually parked in the street going to be recharged? In many countries, enclosed garages are the preserve of the rich and (as anyone familiar with inner Sydney or Melbourne can attest), a huge volume of cars are simply parked kerbside. Will city streets be lined with charging points like parking meters?

Paul Tooker, Bald Knob, Qld