Do you have an opinion to share? Submit a Letter to the Editor at Sunshine Coast News via news@sunshinecoastnews.com.au. You must include your name and suburb for accountability, credibility and transparency.
- Read the story: Developer confirms construction plans for Yaroomba site
Yahoo! Such a good outcome for the community!
Lucy Wittholz, Yaroomba
- Read the story: Local MP welcomes outcome on Voice referendum
In the week following the referendum, Indigenous leaders sent a message: “We are 3 per cent of the population and you are 97 per cent.”
Those words should speak directly to the conscience of the 97 per cent. There is a long history of disadvantage in this nation that cannot be ignored. The Human Rights Commission reports that Indigenous families in Australia suffer grossly disproportionate rates of disadvantage against all measures of socio-economic status.
Infant mortality in Queensland is twice the non-Indigenous rate and for Indigenous children aged 1-4 years it is 2.2 times as likely. With statistics like those, how can anyone claim that there is equality in this nation? ‘No’ voters should ask yourselves if this is okay in a first-world country.
At the other end of the scale, there is also a significant reduction of almost a decade in longevity. A fair country is one that is inclusive: the referendum was a process of integrity that sought to overcome the gap in Indigenous disadvantage.
The Voice was initiated by Indigenous elders to bring about consultative representation: politicians listening, instead of dictating, being responsive to Indigenous communities, rather than foisting unwelcome policies upon them. In taking a proactive stance for a level playing field, the referendum is not a failure: it is a beginning in a long overdue process towards social justice.
Christine Bennett, Woombye
Waleed Aly is wrong. It wasn’t a lack of education that gave a no to the Voice. It was the ability of Australians to sniff out an attempted con job.
Our PM resolutely declined to detail how the Voice would work, leaving us with the undeniable view that we were being conned – no rules, no costings, no restrictions.
Some might suggest this was the same planning that Whitlam tried and which ultimately saw his political demise. He was certainly an intellectual but, just like Albanese, unable to appreciate that we are not totally stupid.
After all, white men had been in Australia for hundreds of years and, despite controlling the laws and lawmaking machinery, they had done nothing about really giving Indigenous people an input.
Whitlam got his comeuppance and, hopefully, Albanese will get his too.
I am not stupid Prime Minister, but I am insulted and very mad.
Brian Bolton, Twin Waters
- Read the story: Film festival’s future under threat
Film is the art of our time.
It is the equivalence of jazz, blues, fashion, theatre and interior design because it incorporates all those genres. We should be embracing film as the modern form of art: with painting, sculpture, stagecraft, design and dramatic interpretation.
It’s the written word, photography and musical all in one.
I think film festivals are the venues that give voice to new and interesting points of view within the vehicle of communication, which is specifically ours. Our time, our cultures, our society. Support the Sunshine Coast film festivals.
Jeff Tuttle, Caloundra
- Read the story: Six events a year, 35,000 people a day in site plan
Is this when Roys Road becomes the new Bruce?
We can’t deal with today’s traffic: what are their plans for moving all these people?
Spare me.
J.M., Beerwah
- Read the story: Going up: expansion proposed for major shopping centre
Can we please get a Myer or David Jones, it’s a long way to go to the plaza at Maroochydore.
Carol Thomsen
Do you have an opinion to share? Submit a Letter to the Editor at Sunshine Coast News via news@sunshinecoastnews.com.au. You must include your name and suburb for accountability, credibility and transparency.
