Dear Editor,
The decision by National Party members to quit the Shadow Ministry will cause irrevocable damage and will only hasten the continuing decline in voter support for the Coalition.
Considering that the Labor Government is currently presiding over our country at a time of an extensive cost-of-living crisis, a $1.3 trillion national debt, questionable ministerial expenses, and widespread condemnation of their response to the Bondi massacre, Australia desperately needs a strong, unified, and focused opposition that holds the current government accountable and presents itself as a credible alternative.
Currently, the Liberal National Party Coalition is failing miserably on both fronts and is largely ignoring important issues confronting everyday Australians, including interest rates, electricity costs, home affordability, rent prices, food and commodity prices, immigration, law and order, among many others.
Australia urgently needs a coalition that looks at our needs, not theirs.
Ian Macgowan, Ceduna
Moneycare
Dear Editor,
The start of the new year brings with it an array of opportunities.
For us at the Salvos, it is an opportunity to reflect on the Christmas season that has just passed, and more specifically show our gratitude for the generosity shown by the Australian public for our Christmas Appeal.
Once again, Aussies came together to support their fellow Australians in need. If it wasn’t for your support, kids would have gone without presents under the tree, families without a special Christmas meal and many without hope and joy during the festive season. For this, we say thank you.
The new year also gives us all an opportunity to set ourselves up for the year ahead. That is why our financial counselling service, Moneycare, is encouraging all Australians to take a fresh look at their finances this year.
Our recent research found that 44% of Australians are starting this New Year in debt, 45% say they feel pressure to spend more than they can afford and 24% find it difficult to even create a budget. We know that people are struggling financially right now, but there is hope.
The Salvos Moneycare service offers free and confidential financial counselling to thousands of Aussies each year, helping them to get on top of their finances. They can help you create a budget, support you to get out of debt, sit with you to create realistic money plans, and everything in between.
Regardless of your financial situation, there is no better time than the start of a new year to take a fresh look at your finances and get on top of your financial situation.
So don’t start the new year on the wrong foot. Do a financial check up this new year to avoid stress later in the year. And if you are struggling to cope financially, please reach out to The Salvation Army’s Moneycare service. We are here for you, and there is no shame in reaching out for support.
If you or someone you know needs support from The Salvation Army’s Moneycare, please visit salvationarmy.org.au/moneycare or call 1800 722 363.
Kristen Hartnett, Head of Moneycare for The Salvation Army
Australia Day feedback
Dear Editor,
Your correspondent Ian Macgowan is fond of instructing your readers as to how they should feel about celebrating Australia Day on January 26th in the heart of summer.
Lecturing people about their pride or otherwise does little to disguise the fact that this day celebrates the landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove in 1788 where the Union Jack flag was raised and the wars of retribution began.
In the 1938 ‘Day of Mourning’, being the 150th Anniversary of white settlement in Australia a group of people representing ‘The Aborigines of Australia’ assembled at Australia Hall Sydney to protest against decades of prejudice and discrimination and appeal to the Australian nation to make new laws for the betterment of their people. It was not a day of celebration but perhaps it was a day of hope.
With this in mind and given the No vote for constitutional recognition of an Aboriginal and Islander voice in 2023, Is it surprising that many Australians are simply not comfortable with the present Australia Day set up and no amount of chiding will change that.
Kathy Bradley, Louth Bay
Nationals and One Nation
Dear Editor,
I’d like to comment on the fine letter you published last week 22 January, 2026 written by Ian McGowan of Ceduna.
The dear old coalition are in such a horrid mess and subliminally make the ALP appear better than what we know is actually the truth.
Australia is currently lacking any sort of strong leadership anywhere be it feds or state. Never in my 75 years have I had to endure such incompetence everywhere I look.
The likes of Ley, Albanese, Bowen, Burke and Wong we are in dangerous hands. These people hold positions equivalent to CEO’s of large corporations and I can assure you everyone of them would send their company broke. They are clueless, protected by self written laws, passed by their mates to make it all look honest.
When the Board of a major corporation asks the CEO for a please explain, they get one immediately. We the people being the board, and our political ministers being the CEO’s are forever holding us in contempt and delivering nothing but gobbledygook. A genuine CEO would be out, but they seem to enjoy not being responsible for anything other than improving their own benefits.
If Australian voters were more aware of what the ALP is doing shoring up electoral boundaries using immigration, they may change their vote but I doubt it. Although the polls are indicating that One Nation is surging, it will count for nothing if not expressed on polling day.
A coalition between the Nationals and One Nation would be interesting on election day.
Paul Buttigieg, Minnipa
Reading should be fun
Dear Editor,
Children learn to read most effectively when the process is based on enjoyment and curiosity.
When reading is presented as a fun and engaging activity rather than a chore, children are more motivated to explore books and develop a love of literature.
Stories that capture their imagination—filled with colourful characters, exciting adventures, or relatable experiences—help build their vocabulary, comprehension, and confidence.
Reading for pleasure fosters creativity and empathy, as children begin to see the world through different perspectives.
By creating positive reading experiences at home and in classrooms, we develop both the skills and the joy that turn young readers into lifelong learners.
With education experts now calling on parents to expose students, as young as preschool-age, to develop “critical consciousness” in a bid to counter their “normalised and oversaturated” exposure to white culture in their books (“Books ‘inflate’ white culture”, The Advertiser, 23/1), will only deter younger children from experiencing the joys of reading which enable them to develop a range of critical skills.
Schools and parents should ignore this new and questionable approach, based on “radical ideological judgment” rather than an educational one.
A consistent, methodical, and proven approach should be required for basic skills, even though it has been deemed by some modern educational theorists as being outdated, rather than student learning being an experiment to check the veracity of a new fad or trend.
Ian Macgowan, Ceduna
The Elephant in the room
Dear Editor,
Congratulations to the newly reformed Adelaide Festival board in making an apology to Palestinian/Australian author Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah and extending an invitation for her to speak at the 2027 Adelaide Writers Festival.
The pressure placed on the previous board was unrelenting, led by Premier Peter Malinauskas who has a very selective view as to what constitutes ‘ community harmony’. His vindictive contribution to this blacklisting will taint the Festival state for a long time to come. Bigotry and bias – not a good combination for a leader.
The issue of political censorship has now been highlighted by the rushed passage through the Federal parliament of ‘The Combatting Antisemitism Hate and Extremism Bill 2026’.
This was a knee jerk reaction to a tragedy, with consequences downstream that will not aid the much parroted phrase of ‘community cohesion’. Why is this so? Because the difficult questions are not being asked re: foreign interference and the ongoing Gaza catastrophe
Kathy Bradley, Louth Bay
Heed warning
Dear Editor,
The adage ”only spend what you can afford” is unfortunately being ignored by incumbent governments in Australia.
Our politicians urgently need to acknowledge that it is not their money: they are only collectors of money, not generators of income, and much greater care should be taken when expending it.
For our long-term financial future, Australia needs a sustainable and responsible fiscal plan that reflects greater budgetary control where spending is needs-based, allows necessary cuts to be made, requires our government to live within its means, and avoids the deferring of expenditure to a growing line of credit.
Wage and salary earners, and both small and large business enterprises, all know what it is to live within their means and why they should.
Their expenditure is mostly focused on what they need, and at times, they accommodate and plan for purchases of things they want.
In doing this, it is necessary for them to scrutinise their budgets, make necessary spending cuts and prioritise the financial outlays they make.
The consequences for not observing and adhering to these essential requirements can result in insolvency, bankruptcy or financial ruin for their future.
Mathias Cormann, OECD General Secretary, in his recent warning to our Prime Minister and Premiers, highlighted that these principles do not currently apply to our governments, local, state or federal, but are needed.
Their default option is to either raise rates, taxes and charges or to put it on the National Credit Card, to be paid at a later date.
Whether our spiralling debt, $1.3 trillion, is paid by taxpayers today, tomorrow, or sometime in the distant future, it has to eventually be settled, but at what cost?
Ian Macgowan, Ceduna
