The Guardian 31 January, 2007
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Letters to the Editor
Spirit of Bonhoeffer & human rights
I find it interesting to observe how the Leader of the Opposition, Kevin Rudd, is publicising the life of the anti Nazi martyr, Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and citing him as an example for all to follow.
Bonhoeffer was a leader in the underground church in Germany during the Nazi years and was prominent in the anti Nazi resistance. His philosophical and theological writings contributed greatly to liberation theology and to the God is Dead debate of the 1960s.
As a younger person, I read several of Bonhoeffer’s books and thought that he was a very inspirational human being. The fact that he was executed by the Nazis for his resistance work indicates to all that he was a person who was truly dedicated to his belief in the politics of social justice and human rights.
In this current historical epoch in which we find ourselves, when human rights are not valued highly, I think that it is very important that we are made aware of the life, teachings and courage of Bonhoeffer and others like him.
It is therefore a very positive sign that a significant leader of a major political party is making the facts about this very important individual known.
Can we be hopeful, though, that Kevin Rudd’s position means that this will lead to a more positive attitude towards human rights by ALP members in Federal Parliament?
Could it mean that the ALP will give greater priority to human rights in our region of the world? To do so would mean ceasing its support of the Indonesian military (TNI), the major causes of human rights abuses and destruction in West Papua, East Timor and Acheh.
Several years ago ALP senators shamefully voted with government senators to oppose a Greens’ motion not to resume support for the TNI. More recently, ALP senators opposed a Democrats motion calling for the Australian Government to implement the recommendations of the East Timor Truth and Reconciliation Commission which called on Australia to provide extra support to East Timor because of Australia’s long history of support for the TNI, which led to so much death and destruction.
The ALP and other politicians who voted for this should have the moral courage to reverse their decisions on these issues. It should not be too much of a problem as they would not need to worry about having to forfeit their lives like Bonhoeffer did for taking a morally responsible stand.
Over to you Mr Rudd!
Andrew (Andy) Alcock
Forestville, SA
Flying the wrong flag
Australia Day and the flag’s big day out. Only problem is it’s the wrong flag! Surely we are mature enough to recognise that we are only going to survive as a species if we reject narrow, bigoted nationalism and embrace internationalism, We have to acknowledge that we share more similarities than differences with all the cultures of the world; we are one family.
So this Australia Day let Australia lead the way and ban the national flag — no more Hansons using it as a bath towel.
Instead let us have the UN flag with a small national flag in the NW corner and let us push for this standard to be adopted by all countries.
With only blue flags flying maybe this would stymie jingoism and make it more difficult to wage war. It would also signal the end to hundreds of years of colonial exploitation.
We should remember that our soldiers did not die to defend the Flag but to try and achieve the ideal of a world without war characterised by fair play and justice. The blue flag is a step in this direction.
Gareth W R Smith
Byron Bay, NSW
Housing policies failed
Poor past policies prevent poor people purchasing personal homes today. Both major parties promote negative gearing which discriminates against many prospective home buyers today.
In the past decade well-heeled dinks (double income no kids) invested in Perth’s available cheap homes as a second investment home. Other forms of investments appeared far too risky and with the help of taxation people bought their second and even third home investments.
The consequence has been, twofold. One, a greedy state government imposed high taxes on home buyers further inflating house prices. Secondly, fewer homes are now available on the market for first home buyers.
Negative gearing is yet another policy introduced to benefit those who are already well off to the detriment of those who are forced to pay high rents. Those forced into poverty are people on low income, casual workers and university students, with huge HECS debts on entering the workforce.
Today these are the folk unable to buy a home at present inflated prices. It is time both federal and state governments changed their policies that only offer tax concessions to those at the top end of the "ladder of opportunity". The old Australian dream of owning your own home, is unobtainable to so many Australians today.
Mary Jenkins
Secretary of the Organisation of Underemployed People
Spearwood, WA