Repeat your speech to the RSL, Mr Abbott
Upon what basis, and supported by what evidence, can Tony Abbott stand up in Parliament and deliver a speech that has been reported throughout our region
- the region terrorised and brutalised by Japan between 1931 and 1945 - ''honouring'' the murderous villainy of a wartime enemy that to this day refuses to accept fault and apologise (The Age, 10/7)?
Contrary to Mr Abbott's assertions, Australians do not admire ''the skill and the sense of honour that they [the Japanese mini-sub crews that attacked Sydney Harbour in May 1942, killing 21 Australian sailors] brought to their task''.Conservative prime ministers are often invited to address the RSL's national conference. I challenge the Prime Minister to inform the RSL at its conference in October that it is Australian foreign policy to admire the skill and sense of honour of the murderers of the Sandakan death march, the architects of the Thai-Burma Railway, the perpetrators of numerous other wartime atrocities.
Mr Abbott should resign in shame.
Gerard Ahearne, North Fitzroy
Lest we forget the dead
Tony Abbott says about Japanese submariners that ''Australians admired the skill and the sense of honour they brought to their task, although we disagree with what they did''.
He is half right. In 1941 I did not feel the slightest admiration, but I certainly felt overwhelming disbelief and sadness that one of them had killed my cousin in the mini-submarine attack on Sydney Harbour.
Noel Belfrage, Heathmont
Why we must learn from history
Did Tony Abbott ever share the experience of so many Australians, listening to stories of beloved family members involved in the Japanese ''theatre'' of World War II?
Some of our women who were forced to become ''comfort women'' for Japanese troops are still alive. But Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is unconvinced that the 200,000 comfort women from China, Korea, and other countries were coerced, and Japan has recently opposed a proposed statue in Sydney to honour these women.
Somehow our Prime Minister (aka our Minister for Women) does not ''get'' the problem: Japan has never really faced up to its wartime atrocities.
By contrast, it was refreshing to learn from young tour guides in Europe that all students in Germany are required to visit a concentration camp as part of their education, to see the Nazi horrors for themselves, in the hope such crimes will never be repeated.
Joan Reilly, Surrey Hills
What will the Prime Minister say next?
If Mr Abbott's reaction to meeting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is to praise the bravery of Japanese troops in World War II, let us hope he never meets German Chancellor Angela Merkel until he is safely out of office.
Pamiela Kaplan, Caulfield South
Undiplomatic, gauche comments
Oh dear. What have we done letting Tony Abbott and Julie Bishop loose on Indonesia and now China? Someone should buy them each a copy of The Art of War and the I Ching and throw in a few books about World War II in Asia.
Their gauche announcements in the last few days would even have the Japanese shaking their heads in disbelief and looking towards China for signs of retaliation.
John Coffey, Fitzroy North
Enough already
For a man whose discernment at one time included regarding Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe as a good friend, I am surprised that former prime minister Malcolm Fraser continues to regale us with his ''bon mots'' on anything topical.
In just one issue of The Age (10/7), he criticises speeches by Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and US President Barack Obama, and then offers Obama his ''expert analysis'' of US military capability. Then he accuses the government of ''piracy on the high seas'' in a matter currently before the High Court. Is Fraser suffering from relevance deprivation syndrome? Or am I the only one who is sick of hearing his continual carping?
Barry Noonan, Balwyn North
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