If we drive a car without a wearing a seat belt, we get fined. If we ride a motorbike without a helmet, we get fined. If we ride a pushbike without a helmet, we get fined. If we go boating without life jackets, we get fined. All sensible laws designed to keep us safe. Why then can't it be made compulsory to wear a life jacket or buoyancy vest when not swimming between the flags on a patrolled beach?
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If you swim in the flags, then a life jacket may not be needed. Outside the flags, these should be compulsory and, if caught, we are warned and then fined. I don't think this is a big ask; if it is going to save your life or that of a loved one. At least it could be tried for a while to see how it goes.
Steven Thomas, Shellharbour (former lifeguard, Australia and UK)
Amelia a young role model
Response to the article by Janine Graham, "Amelia's act of generosity" (Mercury, June 24), is a great story. At a time of widespread negativity and an uncertain future, an 11-year-old student has set a great example for us all. Amelia's generosity, kindness and charity towards others should inspire everyone to think of their neighbour. Amelia is a shining light, well done.
Adrian Devlin, Fairy Meadow
Australia a naughty teenager
I see today's Australia like a naughty teenager: full of knowledge, full of itself, and blindly attaching itself to every new "cause", like a fridge magnet to a fridge. It believes the nation's oldies and forebears don't or didn't know what they were doing: whatever they did was wrong because it was either motivated or influenced by bigotry and racism.
It is currently reinventing everything: the language, education, gender, racism, history, a legal system without the presumption of innocence - the list goes on. And just like a naughty teenager it is making mistakes. It will get away with those that don't cause permanent harm. However, the sixty-four-dollar question is: how much permanent harm has already been done? Harm that will eventually make this new progressive nation simply unliveable?
Richard Burnett, Wollongong
Labor's challenges
Richard Burnett (Mercury, June 22) does have a valid point; like most people in the over 45 bracket I know well that Labor is not what it used to be. Their amalgamation with the Greens and teals is alarming; Prime Minister Albanese knows this and I hope he can keep an eye on it. I think he can, Albo is a good man and I think he is going to go okay. He is definitely not a rorter,
To the contrary what have we seen over the last 10 years? The Liberal Party should be ashamed of their behaviour during their term in office.
Matty Ryan, Fairy Meadow
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