Come on, we’re better than this!

TWO people have written to the Sentinel-Times in the past week to make a complaint about a ‘Letter to the Editor’ we published during the lead up to the ‘Voice to Parliament’ referendum.

The letter provided a commentary on racial issues but was it racist? That may be a matter of opinion but clearly, we didn’t think it was or we wouldn’t have published it.

However, it was almost inevitable, over such a long campaign, where one specific racial group was the focus of attention, that there would be a difference of opinion about the narrative and even some people prepared to take advantage of the situation to push an unwanted agenda.

But, by and large, people in Australia aren’t racist and we resent being characterised as racist.

The same goes for politicians picking sides in the Israeli and Palestinian war. The NSW Government, for example, should not have raised the blue and white flag of Irael on the Opera House sails, thereby inviting protests by the Palestinian and Islamic communities.

What they should have done was condemn heinous acts by whoever perpetrated them and offered whatever humanitarian support they were able to offer while encouraging restraint from within our own community.

Both Issues, the Voice to Parliament referendum, and the response to the Israeli and Palestinian conflict, highlights exactly the sort of division we don’t want to see in this country.

While celebrating our cultural diversity, we want everyone who choses Australia as their home to commit to Australia; one people, one flag, one country – everyone equal under the law.

And, wherever disadvantage or injustice exists, it should be addressed regardless of race, creed or social status.

And on that score, it’s time we changed our flag, became a republic and embraced our unique heritage and if that involved recognition on the flag of the importance most people ascribe to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, as the First Peoples of Australia, all the better.