Wattle Day is the perfect date to celebrate Australia Day

In my view January 1 is too close to Christmas and would be usurped by New Year's Eve celebrations. May 9, as Ms Sawer herself acknowledges, is close to Anzac Day, held as sacred by a large part of the population.

A less controversial date is September 1, Wattle Day. It does not have the political opprobrium associated with most other dates suggested at various times.

Moreover Australia Day would then be celebrated at the beginning of spring and signify a new start to life. January 26 could be renamed Foundation Day.

Those who suggest the date can only be changed by referendum are merely promoting their own agendas.

The Parliament should set up a joint standing committee to consider the issue and the Parliament as our representatives should vote on its recommendations.

It would be great to resolve this issue but as it will not be without controversy.

Let us make September 1, 2026, the date to work towards.

"The reality is that Australia's population will age and an appropriate level of permanent migration will be essential to manage the transition to a much older population."

Thus has Abul Rizvi ("If immigration must stay in Home Affairs, here's how to fix the agency", January 15) presented us with a cure to an ailment that does not exist but which itself is an ailment in need of a cure.

Merely to shave a few years off the average age of the Australian population Rizvi would condemn this country to a future of perpetual population growth, with nary a thought to the abundantly obvious social, economic and environmental consequences.

The folly is palpable. Rizvi has also noted that "immigration inevitably operates in a heavily politicised environment". Well, yes and no. The truth is that both major parties share Rizvi's hubristic "we know better" approach to immigration. It's great for big business and developers and GDP and that's always been great for coffers of each and the prospect of re-election. So, no room for politicisation there.

But, Rizvi must know his vision of ever more people consuming more and more is deeply unpopular with the Australian people. There is always a risk one side or the other will tap into the disaffection for short-term political gain.

Alas, it will all be smoke and mirrors. The will of the Australian people will be ignored, and their disaffection will be deflected toward refugees rather than massive, unsustainable, unnecessary, immigration-fed population growth.

Two articles in these pages this week might have startled us with their radical insights.

Firstly there was Sue Wareham's piece, "We're being sold a false choice on war" (January 20, p49) and secondly there was Mark Kenny's "Time to pull handbrake, fellas" (January 21, p15).

At first sight they may not be linked but let's face it, Wareham is one of our most prominent peace activists with her powerful argument that, historically, military technology has not proved a deterrence to war and she happens to be a woman, and Kenny is advocating more majority female leadership which, he claims, would be unlikely to have authorised the sexual violence on October 7 or the relentless targeting in Gaza of apartments, schools and hospitals etc.

As we develop our military industry, Wareham argues, "There is an unspoken [and usually male] assumption of victory for our side, despite the experiences of Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq".

Mention of the vast human cost does not seem to be the concern of military strategists or of Lockheed Martin executives who have profited enormously from recent wars.

As we face "new wars and resurgent authoritarianism" women majorities in these roles could pull the handbrake on such terrifying developments, as Kenny suggests.

Is it worth a try and how could we achieve it soon enough?

It is most unfair of people to ridicule Peter Dutton for castigating supermarkets who don't sell Australia Day bunting. The poor man is a politician, and has to find a burning issue to keep his name in the press.

The Arab-Israeli conflict is of no use to him as there are Jews on one side and people of colour on the other which leaves precious little space for your average right winger to manoeuvre.

Last Wednesday's letters pages (January 17) carried epistles expressing concern over the clear use of language; a frequent and laudable topic among The Canberra Times's correspondents.

Often dismissed as mere pedantry, James Mahoney and David Perkins's worries are important. Clear English is threatened daily by everything from AI and political extremists to glib promoters and - particularly - ordinary people who don't know or care about our key tool for conveying and contesting ideas.

Last year we had "ramp up" used every time anyone needed to say "increase". My pick for the linguistic abuse of the year: "ongoing" (which has displaced "continuing" or "further") used randomly and usually needlessly.

Sadly, Stanley's rule of linguistic degradation states "by the time you notice, it's too late".

Sue Wareham is right about one thing, that war crimes are being committed constantly in Gaza ("Gaza war posed a test and we're failing" January 13). But she's totally wrong about who is committing them. It's not Israel, as she claims. It's the Hamas terrorists.

For example, she says under international humanitarian law, healthcare and other civilian infrastructure must be protected. However, the Geneva Conventions state when civilian infrastructure, including healthcare facilities, is used for military purposes, it loses that protection. The war crime is using those buildings for military purposes.

Her claim Israel's leaders demonstrate no interest in obeying the law are simply baseless. Israel has made great efforts to evacuate civilians from danger. Hamas, by contrast, uses its civilians as shields, operating out of or storing arms in hundreds of thousands of civilian buildings, including hospitals. It fires rockets from Israeli-declared safe zones. So again, it is Hamas committing the war crimes.

Thank you Rosalind Bruhn (Letters, January 15) for reminding me about why I am a lifelong vegetarian.

Like Rosalind, I ate two-course lunches cooked on-site at an English government-school in the 1950s and 60s. Rather than teach me not to be a fussy eater, the gristle that I was forced to chew in stews made from post-war meat put me off meat forever.

On the plus side, as kids we enjoyed watching the hot custard as it slurped out of massive jugs. Had the cook chosen yellow, pink, blue or green colouring today?

The school meal program and construction of commercial kitchens in primary schools was a commendable response, at the time, to the dire, impoverished circumstances of a massive number of English children post-war.

I doubt it would be cost-effective in Australia today.

There is an untapped market for plane travel; the people who are concerned about aviation pollution and who have decided not to travel by plane for holidays.

I'm sure if some of these return flights could be powered by SAFs (sustainable aviation fuels) many in this group would be prepared to pay extra to achieve around a 70 per cent reduction in pollution.

Richard Branson recently completed a London to New York flight powered by SAFs. If for example you combined these flights with UK or European electric train travel it would be possible to have an overseas holiday with a greatly reduced carbon footprint.

These flights would also increase demand for SAFs, paid for by environmentally conscious travellers.

I recently I discovered what has been called the rarest of all diseases. It is "chrematophobia". Peter Bowler, in his book of unusual words, reminds us that it is the fear of money.

An epidemic of this terrible phobia would solve the problems of politicians everywhere. Help is at hand.

Send all your money, in small denominations and a plain wrapper, to the Treasury, and you need never know fear again.

While it is commendable, as some have pointed out, that Penny Wong met with survivors of the October 7 atrocity and family members of the hostages the question is why did it take so long?

Senator Wong's belated arrival in Israel was a day late and a dollar short.

As if on cue these pages report (January 18) restocking of fish in ACT lakes and waterways with an Indigenous perspective. Ryan Wilson (Letters, same day) will be chuffed. Of course, several lakes in our bush capital are modern developments.

It is embarrassing if, for some unexplained reason, you can't go into a supermarket and purchase our national flag. Rather than change the date of Australia Day it could be rebranded First Fleet Day and another day could be allocated to celebrate our Indigenous history.

Mr Barr how about spending some of our rate money down in Canberra's south? The Tuggeranong region in particular is in dire need of a government lawnmower or two. Also, can we borrow the whipper snipper? People vote down here as well.

The Canberra Times is concerned about Trump's victory in Iowa, and other right-wing advances, taking this as a sign that democracy is in danger. This means anyone who doesn't agree with the woke and globalist left is automatically un-democratic and a threat to society.

Re "In defence of VAD" (Letters, January 17). I absolutely and totally agree with you H Zandbergen. I don't want to be fed, showered, toileted by (well meaning but paid) strangers. I want to be free of embarrassment and humiliation. That is not "quality of life". It is "quantity of suffering".

PM Albanese has asked Treasury and Finance for ongoing advice about non-inflationary cost of living measures ("Far from happy new year" January 17, p1). Has he secretly been made a minister for Treasury and for the Finance department? Can the opposition now start directing questions to him on those portfolios in question time?

Nature is a harsh mistress. My local family of magpies launched three youngsters last year but quite quickly made one a victim. They have chased and even wounded it. It creeps in for breakfast after the others have left and sings me quiet songs. Could such gratitude soften the hearts of fighting humans?

David Littleproud has demanded the government remove the ban on nuclear power and let the marketplace decide what is the best form of energy. So why didn't the Coalition remove the ban during their time in government. Wasn't three terms totalling nine years sufficient to get their act together?

I needed for the first time, to use the facilities of Yass Hospital, Yass paramedics, Canberra Hospital, and National Capital Private Coronary units recently. The services provided were professional, caring, cheerful, and attentive. Thank you to all who were involved.