Are we really serious about "Sirius"? Both sides of this "debate" need to step back and take a deep breath. The Sirius was a ship - an inanimate object that played no role, good or bad, in what happened after its passengers and those of its sister ships landed. Nor do we need ex-prime ministers complaining of "petulance" by those who are arguably going overboard about changing the name.
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There are enough real and urgent problems we should be focusing on rather than getting into a frenzy about the name of a wooden sailing ship. And maybe the media ought to not feed these blood pressure-building beat-ups. I'd bet that a journo somewhere rang Howard and asked him for a comment. How surprising that he willingly obliged.
Eric Hunter, Cook
Historical perspective
Funny how some Canberra public servants are offended by the naming of a building after the flagship in the First Fleet.
What is more ironic is that there were no buildings before the First Fleet arrived in Australia in 1788, so it makes perfect sense to honour the arrival of technology with a concrete building that houses government officials that work under a British-based system modelled on the Westminster system and United Kingdom's Civil Service and earn currency based on that system.
What should happen is for all of those public servants that are offended by the ship's name to have their names engraved somewhere on the building outlining the reason why they are offended by working in the building which bears an important part of our history.
Maybe this would keep them happy. Then again, maybe not.
Ian Pilsner, Weston
Time to change direction
The latest mass coral bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef corals is confronting news ("Time to face up to the cost of ignoring the great barrier grief", April 10). When a problem is happening beneath the surface, it can be easier for us to ignore. But ocean warming has far-reaching impacts, from the effects on marine life to how it is affecting our weather patterns. Young people are now faced with the loss of their natural heritage and a safe climate, due to global warming. The approval of new fossil fuel projects must cease for us to have any chance of reversing this trend.
Anne O'Hara, Wanniassa
Consider the alternative
So we have a fine building in Woden that reaches for the stars. We know that even if the HMS Sirius had not sailed into Botany Bay, European settlement would certainly have happened, probably led by people from France.
Let's all resolve to read or reread Eleanor Dark's The Timeless Land by Christmas, and ponder. And is there a French word for Sirius? Just wondering if people might feel better with that.
R McCallum, Higgins
What do the experts think?
Penny Wong has, in my view, received much deserved criticism for her recent comments on the Gaza situation but should we also be looking at her departmental advisers?
Do the senior people in DFAT agree with her, or were they unable to put more balance in her comments?
If so, they either don't reflect the views of many Australians or have failed as specialist advisers. Either way, this is yet another thing for Peter Dutton's people to fix when they get into power - and the sooner the better.
Doug Hurst, Chapman
Birmingham predictable
Simon Birmingham's cliched response to Foreign Minister Penny Wong's call for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would make one think Birmingham was an Israeli state official.
After 70 years of Israeli occupation and oppression in Gaza and the West Bank there is clearly an urgent need to "fast-track" the much-talked about two-state solution. And not the meandering nonsense Birmingham advocates.
All right-thinking people the world over want to see the two-state solution happen now, and not in the hypothetical future of Birmingham.
It is the only pathway to peace.
Rajend Naidu, Glenfield, NSW
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