No-deal Brexit doom is misplaced

EU’s prospects are spiralling down due to soaring welfare costs.

A superb article on Brexit by Adam Creighton (“Quitting Europe without a deal will hardly sink the UK”, 1/1). As an Australian living part of the year in The Netherlands we see the gradual, but rapidly increasing disintegration of the moribund European Union on a daily basis. Merkel instigated unfettered immigration that is causing a massive drain on welfare systems and citizen unrest. Britain will be free to negotiate trade deals all around the world and, as Creighton so accurately states, European businesses are not going to cease trading with the world’s fifth largest economy because a bunch of featherbedded bureaucrats see their gravy train disappear.

Peter Jacobsen, New Farm, Qld

Xi’s dream

I could not believe Geoff Miller’s accommodating view on China (Letters, 1/1). China has a long-term plan to dominate Asia and reduce the rest of the world to tributary states. It bullies smaller states who object to its destructive activities and plays diplomatic weiqi and martial arts with the US. It will provide Donald Trump with “photo op” victories in the short term (watch the trade concessions), while keeping its eye on the prize over the next three decades.

The principal weapon China uses in its global strategy is deception, as it buys, spies, lies and denies its way to Xi’s China Dream in 2049. George Orwell may have got the date wrong, but he was right about everything else. Lifetime President Xi intends the Middle Kingdom will rule the world and he loves people like Miller telling us that Fergus Hanson and Peter Jennings are wrong. They are not.

Jim Wilson, Beaumont, SA

Loss of Costello

It may be a pointless exercise but it’s interesting to speculate on the shape of Australia had Peter Costello become leader of the opposition in 2008 (“It was an era of stability, unity and clear purpose”, 1/1). With Costello as leader the revolving door of Nelson/Turnbull/Abbott would have been averted, materialising in a win for the Coalition in 2010. Assuming a Costello government for two terms, we would currently be in the first term of a Labor government but the country would have been spared the ignominy of the Rudd/Gillard years. It’s also fair to say — with a fiscally prudent Costello at the helm for six of the past 11 years — the nation’s balance sheet would have a much different look.

Kim Keogh, East Fremantle, WA

Games we played

Reading “Downtime from screen time” (31/12) I am so thankful for my childhood years in which I was allowed to just “be”. Our screen was a black and white TV which did for the whole family. In our street, boys and girls played together and mostly outside. We climbed trees, built cubby-houses, caught yabbies and tadpoles, rode our scooters and bikes and played endless games that began with the words, “Let’s play ... ”.

As the instigator of our boyish, physically active, adventurous and imaginative activities, these days I might be “encouraged” to consider which gender I identified with. In our street, we didn’t stop to consider if we were playing boys or girls games, or what this might say about our gender choices. We didn’t have our own individual screens, networked to others’ screens. We just played. We just were.

Deborah Morrison, Malvern East, Vic

New year wish

As a Muslim, I am shocked to learn about another terror attack in Manchester (“Three seriously injured in UK terror attack”, 1/1) . I pray for the speedy recovery of the victims and punishment of the perpetrator. Murder in the name of religion must stop, as no religion permits violence against our fellow human beings. I pray the new year brings peace to the whole world and an end to terrorism.

Usman Mahmood, Sth Bowenfels, NSW