A great day for Ballarat and football
It's great that the AFL is finally hosting games in Ballarat. Country Victoria has long been AFL heartland and we've propped up the VFL and now AFL with star players for long enough without having our own representation. Good luck to country boys Murphy, Stringer, Dunkley, Dahlhaus, Cordy, Roughead, and Picken, playing in front of a home crowd for the first time. Pity Redpath couldn't be there too.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Saimon Boyle, Greensborough
Missing out
This weekend we were so looking forward to watching live streaming of the 2017 Victorian State Brass Band Championships. We live in Tasmania and have watched it for the last few years. The stream is run with professionalism, genuine enthusiasm and a large degree of panache by Tim Kelly and the team at Brassbanned. It is both entertaining and informative and has a global legion of loyal viewers. People log in from far afield, including the UK, Canada, Germany, New Zealand and Singapore. Some are proud parents and grandparents delighted at the opportunity to see their family musicians perform and some are brass band aficionados. This weekend, we were all denied that pleasure and like us they were asking why? So what is the reason that led to so many people being disappointed?
Yvonne and Brian Young, Tasmania.
Better days to celebrate
We do need a proper and mature debate about how and when we celebrate our nationhood. January 26 marks the beginning of British colonisation. It also marked the beginning of the spoiling of Indigenous culture and the genocides that took place. Little wonder Indigenous people find it a day that they cannot celebrate, but rather a day of mourning. Perhaps a better day would be the anniversary of the referendum that recognised Aboriginal people as citizens of their land, and marked a hope for a better and united future for all Australians.
Graham Reynolds, Ballarat North
