Time to put aside differences and mourn the Queen

It is unfortunate that Anthony Albanese’s announcement of a day of mourning has provoked responses that focus not on the late Queen but on our own selfish interests (“Holiday totally appropriate response: PM”, 13/9). There are those who are bemoaning the need to pay double time, those who will have to look after their children, those who will lose a day’s pay, and so on. The medical profession has weighed in with the need to cancel operations and appoint­ments.

If it is to be a day when we genuinely mourn the passing of a great person then surely we should expect that normal activities would cease and we would, as a nation, respectfully mourn.

Of course where there are critical activities such as medical events that are life-threatening and normal public services they should proceed. Common sense should prevail.

It would do us little harm to forgo the cup of coffee, spend a day with our children, cancel the shopping trip, take a reflective walk or read a book about the late Queen. Like any other Australian I am all for a day off and let it rip for any reason, but this day is designated for mourning. We should mourn appropriately.

Jim Campbell, Fairlight, NSW

So we don’t get a public holiday on Tuesday so we can all watch the Queen’s funeral on TV overnight, grieve in our own way and sleep in the next day. We have to wait until our PM is back in the country on Thursday because it’s all about him.

Iain Rae, Palmwoods, Qld

As a Britisher spending much time in Australia, I have been struck by the amount of virulent anti-royalism some Australians exhibit (“Young royals to tour for King”, 13/9). However, I would say be careful what you wish for.

The extraordinary display of history and pageantry relayed from Britain is not just an outdated spectacle designed for the tourists. It demonstrates how the monarchy has been the bedrock for 1000 years of the most successful democracy in history. The UK has had no truck with ever-changing presidents and heads of state because, for all its ups and downs, the monarchy has represented a final stable authority when all else fails. If Australia became a republic, who would it choose today as president? Malcolm Turnbull, Clive Palmer, Gina Rinehart?

Robin Hawdon, Sunshine Beach, Qld

Well may we say “God save the King’’ because nothing will save the Governor-General’s office, which has become an anachronistic relic. Rather than dreaming of a “victorious, happy and glorious’’ reign, it’s time we stopped pledging our “faith and obedience’’ to a faraway monarch. It’s time to be mature enough to proclaim our freedom and independence. It’s time we had our own head of state. It’s time!

Kevin Burke, Mooloolaba, Qld

I was an avid republican until my Darling Point neighbour, Gough Whitlam, was dismissed by the Queen in 1975 and free elections held immediately. Labor was crushed in both houses, the Queen vindicated and not a drop of blood spilt, unlike 2020 in America, the land of the free.

Paul Haege, Darling Point, NSW

Peter Dutton, in urging the need for “impartiality” by the new King on climate change, wants to keep the Coalition’s narrative of climate being a political issue. It is an issue for all people. The Queen herself opened the world climate conference COP26 in 2021. She mentioned in her remarks the dire fate of our fragile planet if we did not tackle this issue urgently, and lauded both her husband and son, now the King, for speaking out on climate change.

If King Charles is to follow in his mother’s path as he said he would, he has plenty of scope to bring up climate destruction, along with a lot of other topics that our previous monarch addressed: Covid, poverty and war.

Elaine Hopper, Blackburn, Vic

The PM’s offer to help the leaders of some of the more isolated Commonwealth countries across the western Pacific get to London is a practical and gracious gesture.

I’m not sure how the RAAF’s B737 will be configured but can I suggest it includes a small economy class cabin comprising just the one seat for the Solomons PM, Manasseh Sogavare?

That is unless the PRC has offered him a ride to London that includes an upgrade.

John McHarg, Maylands, WA