Standing up for Joe
I SUPPORT Joe Williams for taking the opportunity to make a statement on behalf of Indigenous Australians.
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Likewise, I support the idea of choosing a new date for Australia Day, since January 26 is clearly unacceptable to Aboriginal people. Glenn Elliott-Rudder suggested August 10, the day in 1967 that laws were passed granting citizenship to Indigenous Australians. Alternatives could be May 26 (National Sorry Day, renamed to Australia Day) or May 27 (the day the houses of parliament were opened in Canberra).
A day towards the middle of the year is desirable because I can't see Australians celebrating the Queen's Birthday for much longer?
Ted Wolfe
Kooringal
Joe was out of line
I TOTALLY disagree with Joe Williams’ actions on Australia Day by not standing for the national anthem.
I can hear you now screaming racist.
Throughout my school and sporting career, I had contact and became friends with Indigenous and Pacific Islanders.
My favourite footy team has always had a high content of Indigenous and Islander players.
I love Aussie country music and I am a fan of many Indigenous artists.
While sitting in the very crowded Post Office Hotel in Tamworth, there was one empty seat near me.
A man asked if he could sit their and we immediately struck up a friendship.
There are many buskers at the Tamworth festival.
The man I gave the most money to and who I spoke with was Indigenous.
The man in the hotel was also Indigenous.
Our three sons, during school years, had friends of the same heritage and visited our home.
They were treated like family.
Two of my eldest sons closest friends are Muslim and Indigenous.
I grew up in a large family where black and white meant a “piebald horse” and not much more than that.
Because I disagree with Joe, there are people that will consider all of the above irrelevant and maintain that I am a racist.
I know who I am and how I feel. You do not.
Robert French
Wagga
Say no to a republic
ONCE again it is time to say "no" to a Republic of Australia.
There is a new campaign by some of our politicians to make Australia a republic and in doing so, give those politicians more power over the Australian people.
To make Australia a republic, it will require a change to the Australian constitution.
The constitution is the "set of rules' by which our elected government must govern the Australian people.
Our founding fathers, late in the nineteenth century, from all the states, were able to agree to the tiers of our Australian constitution to protect the rights of both the people of Australia and the states.
This gave us the Westminster system.
The Westminster system of government has proven to be the best in the world at protecting a country's people from overzealous politicians and dictators.
When a government chooses to act outside the rules set out in the constitution, the governor-general may choose to use the reserve powers to dissolve parliament, break the deadlock and give the power to the people to elect a new parliament.
Should there be a re-write of the Australian constitution, under the guise of a republic, we must ensure that these reserve powers remain.
As many have said in the past, "if the system is not broken, why change it".