Letters
Letters to
the editor
Mired in the past
The Liberal Party has been decimated and now has to seriously dig deep into its internal woes and its external disconnect with Australian voters. Nothing short of a total clean-out of the “old guard” from the Howard, Abbott, Morrison days, and a complete rethink and reset of direction and policy for a changed and changing world, is likely to turn around the diminished power of the Liberals. If they persist in electing a party leader from the old and stale, such as Angus Taylor, Sussan Ley, Dan Tehan or Andrew Hastie, the Liberals remain mired in the past. Unbelievably, there is even talk of trotting out Josh Frydenberg who lost his seat in Kooyong in 2022 to Monique Ryan, with a considerable swing against him. Surely the Liberals have some fresh talent to nurture over the next three years and can offer them a chance at leadership and the opportunity to rebuild a modern, progressive Liberal Party minus their baggage since 1996. If not, the Liberal Party is as doomed as the dinosaurs that failed to adapt to monumental change.
– Brenda Lines, Middle Park, Qld
Democracy masquerade
I envy nations such as Australia for their considerably more democratically representative elections, thus governance, and voters there should never take it for granted. Here in Canada, our first-past-the-post-ballot electoral system only masquerades as real democracy. And we may be forever stuck with it. But FPTP does seem to serve corporate lobbyists well. Low-representation FPTP-elected governments, in which a relatively small portion of the country’s populace is actually electorally represented, are the easiest for lobbyists to manipulate or “buy”. It always makes me somewhat cynically recall “Calamity” Jane Bodine’s memorable line in the film Our Brand Is Crisis: “If voting changed anything [in favour of the weak/poor/disenfranchised], they’d have made it illegal.”
– Frank Sterle Jr, White Rock, British Columbia, Canada
Soothsayer
After reading Mike Seccombe’s article “Where the election will be won and lost” (May 3-9), I couldn’t help but think he is both a superb journalist and a clairvoyant! Well done, mate.
– Alan Murgatroyd, Teralba, NSW
Wombat truth
As an older (migrant) Australian, I recall standing and singing “God Save the Queen” before every school assembly and standing for same before every movie screening, every sports event and every public event. Mother England, rather than the Australian bush, was our compulsory national and political identity. Welcome to Country is our landscape, seascape, flora, fauna, our Mother, our Country welcoming us (“Dutton, Advance and the Welcome to Country”, May 3-9). The “Yes” vote was about emotionally and spiritually recognising, wishing to be and feeling we are of this particular country: we are all Australians, no different spiritually to the wombats on “my” property, who are Australians to the core. If we had voted “Yes”, becoming part of Country, maybe we would also begin really relating to and looking after all of our peoples, flora, fauna and land as family.
– Tomas Scheimovits, Yarralumla, ACT
Paterson’s curse
I was somewhat bemused by your reference to Coalition campaign spokesman James Paterson as a “bristle worm” (Editorial, “The stick and the bristle worm”, May 3-9). Being unfamiliar with the species, I followed the anti-vaxxer’s well-trodden path and did my own research. The bristle worm images available on Google showed a rather cute and endearing little creature. I therefore feel that your analogy is misguided and inappropriate and that an immediate apology should be extended to the bristle worm community.
– Stan Wood, Upper Orara, NSW
Letter of hope
What an unalloyed delight and soul-lifting joy to read the letter of the 17-years-and-10-months-old Jamie Erak (“Voting for the future”, May 3-9). To read such a quietly impassioned, cogent and articulate plea for those of us who can cast a vote to not think of ourselves but with an eye to the future – not just our economic future or our material wellbeing but to the future of our wonderful planet and the onus on us of our stewardship for generations to come. Dear Jamie, you are 17 years and 10 months, I am 77 years and four months; I was born post World War II in the age of steam, you in the age of quantum physics, space exploration and uncertainty. Your thoughtful and quietly passionate letter fills me with hope and bodes well for future generations of Australians and, hopefully, for the world. Well spoken!
– Douglas Broad, Yeronga, Qld
Letters are welcome: [email protected]
Please include your full name and address and a daytime telephone number.
Letters may be edited for length and content, and may be published in print and online. Letters should not exceed 150 words.
This article was first published in the print edition of The Saturday Paper on May 10, 2025.
For almost a decade, The Saturday Paper has published Australia’s leading writers and thinkers. We have pursued stories that are ignored elsewhere, covering them with sensitivity and depth. We have done this on refugee policy, on government integrity, on robo-debt, on aged care, on climate change, on the pandemic.
All our journalism is fiercely independent. It relies on the support of readers. By subscribing to The Saturday Paper, you are ensuring that we can continue to produce essential, issue-defining coverage, to dig out stories that take time, to doggedly hold to account politicians and the political class.
There are very few titles that have the freedom and the space to produce journalism like this. In a country with a concentration of media ownership unlike anything else in the world, it is vitally important. Your subscription helps make it possible.
