Let us forever remember, how we, the celebrating population, committed genocide in order to be so proud of our accomplishments.

However we should not be swept up by the past, for which we must take responsibility but cannot accept blame. 

Australia stands today as an exemplary model to the world where people from all races and religions can live under one umbrella with tolerance and acceptance.

There are always the minority who will be bigoted, racist or intolerant but what I love about our country is that when that happens, when one person shows their unacceptance of others, 10 others will stand up to say that is not the way we do things here.

I love our country, not for the flag, not for the queen or the prime minister.

I love it for who we are, a proud and fun-loving, hard-working people with spirit and ambition; we cannot afford to lose that Australianess. We don't like elitism, we don't like to be taken down or belittled, we are compassionate and generous, and we look after each other and our neighbours.

The Southern Cross that we reside under should not be used as a symbol for misguided patriotism, but rather as a beacon of unity, one that can be seen by more than half the world and four continents.

To my Aboriginal countrymen, I share your sorrow.

Observe your Australia Day the way you want to, as Australians should.

IT LOOKS like Graham Burmeister won’t let sleeping dogs lie (Letters, DA, January 22).

Honestly, he’s beginning to sound like a cracked record.  

He’s lost his argument over racism and now he is trying to save face by firstly, referring to origins of Blind Freddy, and also back on the intolerance wagon again.  

From his latest letter, he apparently places considerable weight in what PM Malcolm Turnbull says.

I am astounded that anyone with even half a brain who reads newspapers or watches TV would ever place any credibility in what a politician says. People might remember that Malcolm Turnbull once stated that he would not be challenging Tony Abbott for the leadership of the Liberal Party.

We all know what happened there.

And who could ever forget John Howard’s promise that there would “never ever be a GST, it’s dead”.

Even those with short memories will surely remember that Mike Baird’s government made a clear pre-election promise to the electorate that there would be no forced council amalgamations.

This just goes to prove a point that most politicians cannot be trusted.

It would therefore appear that Mr Burmeister must be the most gullible on the planet if he believes in what a politician says or promises.

So whatever Malcolm Turnbull said about Muslims, you can take that with a grain of salt.

Mr Burmeister’s reference to Blind Freddy is not even worthy of comment.  

And finally, Mr Editor, I am growing sick and tired of name-calling know-alls like Mr Burmeister accusing me through your newspaper of being a back-stabbing, intolerant racist.

I fully realise that he is suffering from a badly bruised ego but that is no excuse for him to make such false and denigrating allegations against me.  

So, my advice to Mr Burmeister is – eat humble pie and move on.