WAITING TO VOTE ‘NO’
In recent days there has been numerous articles in the Illawarra Mercury all supporting the "YES" vote in the coming same sex postal plebiscite.
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This reader has been waiting a long time to be given the chance to vote "NO" .
When my local Federal member for parliament had a survey on the issue it was only months later I found one of her mail outs in a West Wollongong address with the survey in the back of it.
I did not know that there was a mail out hence I had no chance to vote "No" then.
My union, the NSW Teachers Federation has supported same sex marriage from the start, yet I and a number of my former teaching peers can not recall ever being surveyed by the union, or asked by union reps if we supported it or not.
Now my wife has received communications from her nurses union to support the "Yes" vote and I don't recall her saying that she was ever surveyed by her union or union rep on this issue.
All I seem to recall seeing in my union magazine is support for same sex marriage and the appallingly named "Safe School program" and the bullying of any who might oppose the agenda by the use of terms such as " bigot " and " homophobe ".
So I wish to thank people like Ann Sudmalis, member for Gilmore for her stance on this issue, and wish to say I will pray for those attending same sex marriage rallies and the staff of the Illawarra Mercury.
Bob Patrech, Figtree
NOT ‘SPECIAL RIGHTS’
Some time back, Adrian Devlin complained that the LGBTI group wanted " special" rights.
We now have Richard Burtnett hyperventilating about how Australian culture is becoming " un-Australian" over the gay marriage debate.
When I last looked, Australia was an egalitarian, Democratic, western society, that didn't discriminate according to colour, race, religion or sexuality (well, the Catholic church and other conservative groups still discriminate against women).
Most similar societies have already legalized gay marriage, including Ireland, a very Catholic country. Human and equal rights should be universal.
The charter of the Liberal party agrees with this and it is only the extreme right wing nutters that are keeping the parliament from having a free vote on the issue.
Even the ABS has serious concerns about the postal survey (it's not a vote Richard) and Michael Kirby, whom you refer to as " completely unintelligent" is only expressing his views just as you expressed yours in your letter.
It's not Adrian Devlins " special " rights that the LGBTI community wants, it's " equal" rights which should be available to every member of our very "Australian" society.
William Bielefeldt, Kembla Grange
NO CONFLICT OF INTEREST FOR SOME IN DEBATE
Logically, Australia is a monarchy with allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II.
Canada, New Zealand and the UK owe allegiance to the same monarch.
Other than in the case of civil insurrection the monarch would not set one against the other.
Thus there is no conflict of interest if a citizen of one of these nations is eligible for citizenship of another.
They owe their ultimate allegiance to the same Head of State.
Where allegiances would be to different Heads of State, such as Australians eligible for Italian or Greek citizenship, the potential conflict of interest makes the person ineligible to represent Australian citizens.
They could be called on to act against Australia's interests and the citizens they were appointed to represent.
Ian Squires, Wollongong