SOMEONE must remind Bob Katter and his recruit that in Australia, terrorism is carried out by Christians. All of our attempted aircraft hijackings, for example, were done by Christians. It was also a Christian in Australia who invented the technique used at New York’s World Trade Centre. In 1977, an Australian Christian stole a plane at Wyndham airport, took it up and brought it straight down on the office of a local airline. He killed six people, including himself. Only Osama Bin Laden took any notice. It was Christians who planted bombs along Sydney’s George Street, who murdered the Turkish consuls in Sydney and Melbourne, who ran a terrorist army in Perth which blew things up and committed murder, who committed the Port Arthur massacre, the Belanglo State Forest killings and the mass burnings of backpackers at Childers and Kings Cross. And then there’s the little problem of child abuse.
It doesn’t matter whether any of these Christians was a regular church-goer or not. As we all know, it’s the radicalisation caused by the religion which is the central difficulty.
If Australia acted years ago against Christians, we wouldn’t have had all these terrible things happen. We also wouldn’t have creatures like Bob Katter’s newest mate trying to draw attention away from Australia’s Christian problem by attacking Muslims. I can already hear Katter’s little mate and other Christians jumping to their feet to bellow about the siege of Sydney’s Lindt café in 2014.
I’d like to remind Christians everywhere of what Reverend Fred Nile had to say about it: “The only real man inside the Lindt café was the gunman”. Nile is a Christian leader, and no Christians dispute this, so we have to assume that all Christians agree.
G.T.W. Agnew, Coopers Plains
SENATOR HAS MY SUPPORT
I HAVE to say that I agree with the sentiments expressed in Senator Fraser Anning's first parliamentary speech. It's time the government and opposition started to listen to the people and stopped forcing mass immigration of people who have no interest in assimilating to our western lifestyle.
I believe we as a nation need to heed the lessons of the UK and Europe before it's too late, and I think it's obvious that Islam is incompatible with Western liberal democracy. As an example, there are 10 countries where male homosexuality is a capital offence. Unsurprisingly, they're all Islamic countries. Why do the trendy inner-city progressives defend this religion?
Peter Jones, Rathmines
A LONG WAY OFF THE MARK
DESPITE Parliament being in session, Bob Katter chose to Cairns to conduct the press conference in which he supported the maiden speech of Senator Anning “1000 per cent”. Is Mr Katter unaware that the winter recess is over or, as I suspect, is he continuing with his arrogant disregard for the parliamentary process by having its worst attendance record? Either way, I think it says a little about his willingness to appropriately represent the constituents of Kennedy.
Ian De Landelles, Murrays Beach
DECENCY IS THE FIRST TEST
RECENTLY federal ministers Alan Tudge and Peter Dutton have been spruiking the need for a test on ‘Australian values’ for people seeking citizenship in this country (The Australian 20/7). Given a recent maiden speech from a new senator in Parliament this week, perhaps it is time to institute a test on Australian values for politicians. It could include respect and human decency.
Susie Johnson, Adamstown
GOALPOSTS MOVE TOO MUCH
Well, the ACCC has done it again. Some years ago, we were encouraged to purchase Telstra shares , at the time when, the Federal Government required funds for their Commonwealth Superannuation Liability. Everything was fine until the NBN came onto the scene and, with the ACCC's help in introducing competition,we see that the rug has been well and truly pulled from under the Telstra Mum and Dad investors.
The ACCC has also allowed other phone providers to cherry pick the populated areas with competitive pricing . Telstra has had to pick up the rest under the ACCC's rules and regulations and federal legislation. Is it any wonder that Telstra shares have halved?
We see exactly the same scenario today with solar. Ten years ago the federal government realised that a power shortage was developing. Once again mums and dads were encouraged to install rooftop solar in order to elevate the looming shortage. Mums and dads invested in the rooftop solar in order to save the government the embarrassment and the expense of having to construct a power station. There were lucrative solar incentives and credits to begin with, but now that the big companies have joined the grid the process has begun to eliminate the small producer by lowering the feed-in tariff for all but the new solar farms.
The ACCC has advised that the tariff should drop to about 8 cents per kilowatt. Keep in mind that electricity providers charge 32 cents a day for the hire of the smart meter. On an overcast day, a five-kilowatt system would struggle to produce enough power to pay that, let alone produce power. I believe there is an obvious pattern here, and mums and dads are being screwed again. Beware of future recommendations from federal governments where the ACCC has an overriding position.
John Alterator, Hawks Nest
MUSIC TO OUR CHEERS
IN THE last two weeks, I’ve been to a fabulous Australian Chamber Orchestra concert featuring The Goldberg Variations at our City Hall. This was followed by the brilliance of violinist Ray Chen and his talented pianist Julian Quentin at the Conservatorium. Three days later, two of my granddaughters enjoyed Ab[intra] with me when the Sydney Dance Company visited Newcastle. Last night my son-in-law and an old friend accompanied me to Madame Butterfly at the Civic by the travelling arm of Opera Australia. The Art Gallery has the Kilgour Prize and the Newcastle Music Festival is in full swing. I am inhibited by age and some mobility problems from seeing everything, but I am very impressed by the quality and variety of the city’s offerings.
Denise Braggett, Hamilton South
MAKE THE SETBACK TERMINAL
THANK goodness for common sense (‘Container plan ‘didn’t stack up’”, Herald 16/8). Apart from the proposed area having far better potential, one can only imagine the nightmare of the already congested M1 with the possibility of hundreds of extra trucks carrying a container, especially when they all bank up one after another.
Let Port Botany keep it because I believe very few jobs beyond driving trucks would be created.
Carl Stevenson, Dora Creek
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