Get ready for excuses, prevarication and delays

It's also in stark contrast to the previous government's "it's solvable" approach.

Labor is frightened of making and taking any decisions and actions until it has consulted every so called "expert" (and their dog), read the tea leaves and consulted their fortune tellers. That way, if things turn out badly, they have a long list of experts, advisers and others they can blame.

Watch how the promises made in the election campaign are quietly walked back over the next three years.

Labor's legacy will be "we can fix it - but not immediately, it will take some time, give us more time to fix it, trust us".

Maybe, in the next half of 2022 and for next three years, those voters freezing in their homes or on the streets, receiving ever bigger power, fuel and food bills, and realising personal, national and international security is fleeting or not improving, and who voted Labor, Greens, teals, and independents will ask themselves "why did I believe a change of government would be good for me or good for the country?"

The Platinum Jubilee celebrations have been a sensory reminder that our constitutional ties to the Commonwealth have civilly served us well. Ultimately, it is not about the individual but the institution - the Crown - which rightly keeps total power and authority from being exercised in an absolute sense by at times precarious politicians.

The semantic confusion concerning independence and an Australian head of state also requires clarity, especially with the recent federal appointment of an assistant minister for the republic.

We achieved independence in 1901, and today any Australian man or woman can indeed rise to be our Governor-General, our executive head of state.

Regardless of whether we find the Monarchy endearing or not, it has, by and large, brought about an enviable and unique form of both governmental and social stability, vitally keeping us connected to our historic, Christian roots. Has this nation ever had a Prime Minister assassinated? Or a strict banning of female education? Or a civil war? Or fatal persecution of religious minorities?

Our current system of rule ensures the people of Terra Australis can navigate their own unique cultural journey via what Aboriginal academic Noel Pearson called in his Declaration of Australia the three strands of our grand narrative: an Indigenous foundation, British institutions and a modern-day multicultural character.

Here's a novel idea to help mitigate the steep power price increases projected for long-suffering consumers. Perhaps the huge energy and power corporations could take a bit of a haircut on their massive profits, executive bonuses and shareholder dividends. Once that's done swines might take up aviation.

The claim by Felicity Chivas (Letters, May 30) that the Australian War Memorial has been "destroyed" is ludicrous, and her suggestion that the name should therefore be changed merely displays her ignorance of the origin and history of the AWM. Should she wish to do so, Ms Chivas can visit the memorial any day and see that the commemorative areas (the halls, the flame, and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier) are all totally unchanged. It has not been destroyed at all.

Ms Chivas should have known that the AWM has been a memorial, and a museum and centre of research since the day it opened, and was envisaged to be each of these things since Charles Bean started collecting records and war artifacts even as World War 1 continued. What is changing is an expansion of the museum and research areas, as occurs in all museums from time to time.

While the commemorative areas of the main building remain at its' centre, the Australian War Memorial should continue to be called exactly that.

That Richard Marles is now Defence minister in the Albanese government should be of great concern to both Australia and our traditional allies, such as the USA and UK.

On a "study tour" of China in 2019 Marles delivered a speech to the Beijing Foreign Studies University in which he said Australia must seek to build the relationship with China "not just in economic terms, but also through exploring political cooperation and even defense cooperation".

Marles, who at the time was Labor's defence spokesperson, said talk of a new cold war was "silly and ignorant" and that Australia did not have "an exclusive right to engage with the Pacific".

He went on to say, "The basis of Australia's interest in the Pacific cannot be about attempting to engage in the strategic denial of others".

We are living in seriously dangerous times indeed.

Bob Salmond (Letters, June 2) argues for a legislated Voice to Parliament as a sort of "try before you buy" option. The Uluru Statement from the Heart is an amazing invitation towards reconciliation offered by indigenous leaders to the nation.

It was penned five years ago now and at the time the Voice to Parliament was mischievously portrayed by the Turnbull government as a third chamber of parliament, which it is not.

It is high time we stopped procrastinating and engaged with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to accept the invitation offered. Establishing a Voice to Parliament enshrined in the constitution, instead of through legislation that could be repealed at the whim of the government of the day, really shouldn't be that hard. Carpe diem I say.

Eventually the euphoria of the LNP loss will wear off and we'll start looking for results. The release of the Murugappan family was a quick, welcome, and easy win, but now for the hard part.

Bernard Collaery and Julian Assange are both undoubtedly guilty of that most unforgivable of crimes: exposing the truth. If the new government drops the charges against Bernard Collaery and brings Julian Assange home free I'll believe that this Labor government really does mean to make changes.

Crispin Hull has made some very sensible suggestions on how Australia's taxation arrangements could be made much more equitable and simultaneously reduce the cost of government ("Time to reallocate govt spending", May 31, p25). I fully agree with the suggestion that the Coalition's stage three tax cuts, which largely benefit the wealthy, should end. Under the present arrangements, people receiving $200,000 a year will benefit from a tax cut of $9075 each year. After the Low and Middle Income Tax Offset ends on June 30, 2023, people with very low incomes will pay $1500 more tax. How is this fair and justifiable? The stage three tax cuts should be abandoned as soon as possible.

I phoned ACT Health about my procedure on the Category two list before the recent postponement of elective surgery due to COVID-19 issues. I had been on the list 227 days and the person at the top of the list had been there over 800 days or over two years.

The benchmark for Category two is 90 days so the ACT Government was already critically failing public patients. What are the initiatives to meet the benchmark? Are there any?

If not the current Minister should resign immediately. Also there should be more concerted reporting of this matter which is a fundamental competency for any government. Where is the opposition here? This is a free kick for them.

America's National Rifleman's Association has hidden behind the pernicious lie tighter gun laws would not have prevented the massacre at a Texas elementary school.

The gunman was able to celebrate his 18th birthday just a week before the Uvalde school shooting by legally purchasing two military-style assault rifles.

He was able to do so because the Republican governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, last September signed a law that lowered the age a person can buy a handgun without needing a permit from 21 to 18.

Not only did the gunman wait for the day he could turn 18 to take advantage of the new gun law, but the NRA, by placing the rights of gun owners ahead of young children, has covered its own hands with their blood.