Taking up Yvonne's suggestion that My Country is indeed "food for thought" may I contribute another inspiring Australian poem that I 'discovered' while doing an assignment, many years ago now, for David Gilbey's Australian Literature course at the old Riverina College of Advanced Education:

Sons (and daughters) of the South, aroused at last! Sons of the South are few!

But your ranks grow longer and deeper fast, And ye shall swell to an army vast,

And free from the wrongs of the North and Past, The land belongs to you.

(Last verse of A Song of the Republic by Henry Lawson)

Now that we have, in this progressive Labor government, a Minister for the Republic maybe Lawson's plea for change can at last be realised.

The headline to Ray's Reasoning "Nuclear power will never be the answer" (The Daily Advertiser, June 21) was probably not devised by the writer - sub-editor's usually create them. But it was true, nevertheless.

It depends on what the question was and delving deep into the opinion piece we find it in the second last paragraph: What is "the way to a green and peaceful world?"

I'm unclear as to who thought up such a nebulous question but it's probably true that the answer isn't "nuclear energy".

A better answer might be "the road to Nimbin." Or to the nirvana of whatever people's dreams consist: herbal tea perhaps.

A more scientific question might have been "what form of energy is the cheapest and most reliable in providing a constant supply and a dependable baseload?"

The only answer to that is "nuclear power". The second best answer is "coal and/or gas". But I doubt that Mr Goodlass or the Greens want to hear real questions, let alone real answers.

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I wonder how returned service veterans would feel about Adam Bandt's refusal to stand in front of the Australian flag?

I wonder how the families of fallen soldiers would feel?

I also wonder how wounded veterans would feel.

If I was any one of these I would be thoroughly insulted to see the flag being treated in this manner.

The last Senate seat (in WA ) went to Labor's Fatima Payman.

So we have the delightful prospect in the Senate of Fatima with her Muslim hijab sitting with Pauline Hanson who mocked Muslims by wearing hijab in the Senate a few years ago.

Fatima was eight years old when she and her parents fled Afghanistan. At 27 she is the third youngest Senator in history.

Also, according to election analyst Antony Green, Fatima's win gives Labor plus the Greens a majority of 38 seats. When you include Pocock that's 39 seats presumably.

Conservatives in the Senate can't block progressive legislation. With democracies under threat around the world Australia's national election result is an inspiration to progressives.

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