Depressing time
LEADING up to this time of year can be very depressing and emotional for my people. Not only are we fighting to change the date of Australia Day, but we get abused for doing so. We see people celebrating, laughing, wrapped up in their Australian flags, temporary tattoos, purchasing merchandise to have a barbie on the beach.
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It's shoved in our faces at the local shops with streamers and balloons, and we see the cars driving around with flags proudly waving in the wind.
I ask myself, what are all these people celebrating on this date?
January 26 is the date that Sydney Cove was claimed in the name of King George.
This marked the start of dispossession, murder, rape, genocide, and over two centuries worth of inherited trauma, stolen children, deaths in custody, racism and injustice for Aboriginal people all over the nation. This is not a day that I think should be celebrated.
Let's make this day, a national day of mourning and move the date of Australia Day to a date that we can all celebrate.
The choice of alternative dates is almost endless: March 20 - the day Canberra was selected as our capital city, April 11 - the day the White Australia policy was abolished, May 27 - the day Aboriginal people were allowed constitutional rights.
Come on people, change the date so we can all celebrate.
Luana Towney, Kingston.
Just Get Over It
EVERY year we as an Aboriginal community are stuck debating with the wider community (mostly) around the importance of changing the date. Many have a perception that "you can't change the date, it's always been that date", well no.
Australia Day was celebrated on different days across the states and territories until 1994 when it was declared a federal holiday.
Whereas, it's been declared the day of mourning within all communities since 1938. Then we get "it was 100s of years ago, get over it".
Why should we have to get over it?
After all the trauma and torment my people have suffered, why are we expected to turn a blind eye to events that represent genocide. We took care of this land for 1000s of years, whereas "Australians" have been here a short time.
We made the land what it was, for colonists to come pillage the land and destroy it. Perhaps it's time white Australia acknowledges their true history, changed the date and just got over it.
Bianca Templar, Mayfield.
Petrol Saving Ideas
HOW much thought did Peter Needham (The Examiner, January 21) put into his ideas on how we can all save petrol?
His idea of dropping the TT-Line ferries ordered and going to an older design. Does he mean going back to sailing or just old-fashioned diesel engines in a ship with a low draft to save on friction? That would be an interesting crossing in a ship less stable than the "Sea Cat". The idea of passenger trains, would that be steam trains? That would upset the Greens with the amount of trees needed to fuel it. To build up fuel supplies by banning motor sport though got my back up. The biggest users of fuel for a race meeting would be in the spectator cars. So, if you want to save fuel start with the big users. Ban horse racing, football and cricket before motor sport.
Right from the beginning of motor sport, around 1900, nearly all car and bike development has come from bright minds experimenting at motor sport events.
The list is long with just a few being, supercharging, turbocharging, cam placement, drum brakes, disc brakes, aerodynamics for better fuel efficiency, fly by wire controls, better tyres and vastly improved fuel efficiency from endurance racing.
Does he not know that F1-E car and MotoGP-E bike racing, that is E for electric, would mean that electric cars would still be in the development stage if not for racing.
Some of our brightest minds have come from racing like Launceston's George Wade who raced bikes on Greens Beach in the 1950's before heading to Melbourne to join the Sir Jack Brabham Repco Racing Team before leaving to set up Wade Cams, the supplier to the Holden factory.
Ken Young, Summerhill.
Council Prison Land
SEVERAL years ago the City of Launceston council purchased a large farm between Rocherlea and Ravenswood. I believe the farm is still owned by Launceston ratepayers and to my knowledge.
At time a close friend of mine asked the then City Manager why the farm was purchased and was informed for three reasons. One being a northern prison will be required some time into the future and the other two reasons were it has a lot of useable rock on it and I think the other was for growing turf. I believe the property is currently being leased to a tenant.
I therefore ask the council: (1) has this property been put forward to be considered as the alternate site for the new northern prison and; (2) if not, why not?
It would appear an ideal place for a prison and is central for most of Northern Tasmania and could be built where it would be unseen from highways and suburbia.
Tony Le Fevre, Bridport.
Bushfire Charity Funds
WHAT is happening to our country when so much is given to help the fire victims, yet the money donated is siphoned off by so-called charities. Apparently for fire victims to get money, it is like trying to start a bank account, so many forms to fill in.
The government has to come to the rescue and force the people who run the charities to pay the donations given by the public.
These victims are suffering.
I was quite shocked to see on the television that a certain charity was putting part of the money aside for future disasters. The suffering is now, not in the future, so pay up.