ECONOMIES OF SCALE 

Dear editor,

Australia, like other nations, is facing challenges amid global uncertainty because of the US president’s illegal war with Iran, which has affected many lives, oil supplies, and the international economy.

Geopolitical tensions could disrupt oil supply chains for many months, making the future uncertain.

While the latest 4.5% inflation rate is unwelcome, it is far from simply being “homegrown”.

The Albanese government has reduced the inherited six per cent inflation rate left by the Morrison Coalition while avoiding higher unemployment.

The IMF has judged the Albanese Labor Government’s budget management to be one of the three strongest in the G20. Australia has now risen in the global rankings, up from 14th under the Coalition.

Also, Australia has a lower gross debt-to-GDP ratio than any major advanced economy.

Australia is now positioned ahead of advanced economies like Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The IMF reports that “The Commonwealth has built a strong fiscal position that can help buffer future fiscal headwinds.”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says “…This Budget will be focused on fuel security and supply chain resilience, addressing inflation, boosting productivity and managing global economic uncertainty.

It will be a responsible Budget which balances the pressures in the here and now with our intergenerational obligations…”

A budget with emphasis on fuel security and supply chain resilience will boost domestic production, reduce oil dependence, and support a shift toward clean energy. This will help us better manage future global disruptions.

Thank goodness we have a responsible financial team in charge focussed on what is best for the nation and not on themselves.

Robyn Deane,
Nambour.

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WHAT IS LOVE? 

Dear editor,

In this hard world, it’s getting harder to love. Yet love remains the one thing we still long for, even after we’ve stopped pretending it’s simple.

In classic literary romance, love rises like a tide – as when Jane Austen wrote, “You have bewitched me, body and soul.” But real life is far less tidy and far more demanding.

Enduring love has never been a polished arrangement between perfect people. It is a lifelong duet between flawed souls who keep choosing each other, even on the days when choosing is hard and life is harder.

Think about how we fall in love. After thousands of years, you’d imagine we’d have perfected the process. Instead, we still tumble in like toddlers chasing bubbles – arms outstretched, and hearts wide open, no thought of a hard landing.

Leonard Cohen understood this when he sang, “I know there is no cure for love.”

Humans – for all our charms – are emotional typos. We trip over our own feelings. We misread each other’s intentions. We fall in love with someone’s laugh, then spend years trying to change their habits. We promise patience, then lose it in the Woolies car park.

But love – real love – is the gentle, daily decision to forgive. It is the courage to stay soft in a world that rewards armour.

Good friends of mine in their eighties say, “It is knowing, truly knowing, we are always there for each other, reliably in each other’s corner, no matter what.”

Finding our forever isn’t about perfection. It’s about finding someone whose errors harmonise with ours, someone who still reaches for our hand in the dark without searching.

In the end, love is the most human thing we do. And no matter how dark the world becomes, we must persist – by reaching out to each other.

Garry Reynolds,
Peregian Springs.

PRIVATE JETS 

Dear editor,

What’s happening? High flyers- the Mad King was gifted a plane, now the Red Queen’s been gifted a plane. Who’s next – the Mad Hatter or the Rabbit? Just asking.

Margaret Wilkie,
Peregian Beach.

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OZ VALUES  

Dear editor,

Our annual Anzac Day ceremonies evoke emotions in all Australians, whether born here or having immigrated. Thousands of foreigners come to Australia to start new lives unique to anything overseas. Our lifestyle allows personal freedoms and opportunities for all. We are the envy of the world.

Those who believe Australia is the “Lucky Country” must be prepared to align with its values and respect its freedoms. By honouring our flag and systems of government, we realise living here has no comparison anywhere overseas. But restrictions on immigration numbers must be a reality, when Australians are suffering from world events outside their control. We cannot home the countless thousands allowed to come here, without ensuring they do not just crowd our major cities, creating more homelessness.

We do not need to bring world conflicts into our homeland.

Our anthem, “We are one, but we are many”, must be pledged. Disrespect openly displayed at our sacred Anzac ceremonies on Anzac Day by “hecklers” needs a history lesson. Hecklers need to be reminded that lack of respect for those who served and sacrificed their lives, despite their ethnicity, gave us all the freedom and lifestyle we enjoy and tolerate today. It was bought at a price.

Such is not common in many nations, where democratic life is denied, but in autocratic nations run by self-serving dictators. Our laws need to address and consequently deport those who disrespect by open conflict, creating disharmony and tension. “Advance Australia Fair”: You are a  guiding light a dark world.

E. Rowe,
Marcoola.

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HOUSING AFFORDABILITY  

Dear editor,

The current government’s obsession with the ‘intergenerational equity’ buzzword serves as little more than political cover for a cycle of failed market interventions.

Time and again, the use of short-term policy ‘levers’—such as first-home buyer grants and government deposit schemes—has proven that these quick fixes will fix nothing, instead serving only to inflate property prices and keep housing perpetually out of reach.

True housing reform cannot be achieved within the confines of a three-year election cycle through rhetoric that promises immediate results. The government needs to stop counting how many homes it has built and instead produce long-term, structural plans for the future that will actually work.

Genuine affordability demands a transition to a ‘future-vision’ model that prioritises the delivery of foundational infrastructure.

By investing in high-speed transport links that connect regions like the Lockyer Valley, the Moreton Bay region, and the Western Downs to core employment hubs, we can decentralise our housing supply and create sustainable growth that addresses the root cause of the crisis, rather than perpetuating the failed, interventionist policies of the past.

Colin Caudell,
Coolum Beach.
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