Politics has no place as we sit back and enjoy the Olympics

The two recent wins by the Matildas and the Olyroos have reminded me that I’m very much going to relish settling in for the next two weeks in this most agreeable time zone to cheer on our Australian squad in what will be an extraordinary yet exhilarating Covid-19 Games.

I have only one humble request for all our athletes: please keep the politics out of the sports, and instead let the pool, the pitches, the playing arenas and the podiums do all the talking. The beautifully endearing aspect of sport generally is that it is our great social leveller, no matter your age, nationality, gender or sexual proclivity.

Flag-bearer Cate Campbell has affirmed that athletes should be free to express themselves. That is all well and good, but this shouldn’t occur if it inevitably divides supporters from afar into warring tribes.

There has already been enough heartache and hesitancy in making these Games of the XXXII Olympiad a logistical real­ity, so let’s allow every weary citizen the opportunity to enjoy the undiluted joy that competitive sport bestows and leave the culture wars for another day.

Peter Waterhouse, Craigieburn, Vic

John Coates was absolutely correct. How petty our politics are that the Queensland Premier is harassed for going to represent the state in Tokyo (“Coates and the Premier”, 23/7). I think the Olympics will become a black hole, but if you’re in it give it your best shot. Of course, the Premier should go to everything while she’s in Tokyo. Once she’s there, sitting in her room becomes a waste of taxpayers’ money.

Paul Everingham, Hamilton, Qld

Our woke ABC was reporting the bullying, confronting style of John Coates with Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. I was surprised the commercial channels didn’t lead with such an important item, as a headline story. When I saw the press conference it was two friends having some eye-rolling fun. Is there no longer any place for such banter between mates?

What a humourless, thin-skinned, un-Australian ABC.

David Cook, Drummoyne, NSW

At an international press conference conducted after Brisbane was announced as host city for the 2032 Olympics, John Coates’s behaviour towards Annastacia Palaszczuk was simply the conduct of a person who has exceeded his tenure as Australian Olympic Committee president.

Kenneth Gregson, Swansea, Tas

Science v leadership

Our political leaders, in their response to the Covid curse, are prone to tell us that they are following the science, meaning the advice of their medical advisers. Hence, as you aptly put it, our nation is plunged into a cycle of lockups and lockouts with their immense economic and emotional damage (“Risk aversion has put the nation in Covid-19 danger”, 23/7). Yet it was Winston Churchill who, with typical wisdom and wit, reputedly said scientists should be on tap but not on top, advice that some of our elected representatives may have forgotten. But it is elected leaders, not unelected experts, who must, by balancing all relevant risks, determine policy. For whatever motive, political or otherwise, an apparent readiness to shelter behind specialist advice suggests a dereliction of that paramount duty.

John Kidd, Auchenflower, Qld

Clearly the answer to Australians’ unique fear of the AstraZeneca vaccine is a means of treating the vanishingly rare blood clotting adverse reaction to neutralise the risk perceived by some in the community.

The last l heard from the experts was that the medical profession “can treat most patients successfully”. I’m not sure this will reassure many.

K. MacDermott, Binalong, NSW

I cherished the many years I spent serving in the army and was always conscious that my uniform represented righteousness, the apex of national power; the authority and ability to apply state-sanctioned violence to protect and help Australians in peril. Right now, uniformed ADF officers are entering properties and knocking on the doors of Victor­ians to check their compliance with house arrest/home quarantine orders.

I can imagine the effect this must have on those in a fragile and anxious state; of course the selfish and reckless few who are not at home and requiring menace never feel the effect of the uniform. Will we ever fully understand the damage done to the fabric of our nation and its treasures from this virus and our response to it?

Blair Barker, Box Hill North, Vic

Enough is enough. It’s time for the federal government to step in and stop the premiers from imposing hard border closures.

I live in Tweed Heads and at least half of my life, family, work, recreation, etc, exists over the border in Queensland.

Russ Fathers, Tweed Heads, NSW