our flag - as it will STILL be after we vote 'yes'republic oz

Letters to the editor

One way of getting others to think about the future republic and the current monarchy is by writing letters to the editor of the major newspapers. You can also spark discussion in your community by writing to your local paper.

These days, writing to the editor is a far easier task than it used to be. All major Australian papers accept emailed letters to the editor and a few also publish the letters on their websites (The Australian, The Age, The Canberra Times and The Sydney Morning Herald).

Such letter writing is intended to prompt a response. In some readers, that response may be to chew on the ideas for a while and then accept or reject them - or they may just sit in the mind without swaying the reader one way or the other. Other readers will reply to the paper with their own letter; again either for or against the views you express. This gives you the opportunity of a further response. Some discussions can go on for weeks in a paper's letters columns.

But at the extreme end of the spectrum there are some nutters out there. If your surname is not that common, the publication of surname and suburb can be enough for these cranks to track you down and use the phone or mail to vent their spleen. In general they are cowards - they hide behind anonymity.

I attract a particular type of nutter due to my Irish surname. Don't let anyone tell you that religious and racial hatred no longer exist in Australia. These people are also off the mark - I am not Catholic and, while I am very proud of my Irish heritage, my Irish surname reflects only my paternal ancestry. My mother's family were very much English - of which I am also very proud.

I had one old dear ring me prior to the Queen's visit a couple of years ago to say "We're watching you - you Irish bastard! Don't go near our Queen." Another caller who did give at least one of his names ("Howard" - don't know if it was his first name or surname though) more recently rang one night and screamed at me that I was indeed Catholic and did I know of all the damage that the Catholic Church had done. Had I been able to get a word in I might even have agreed with him on some points but in the end I told him I was hanging up - I didn't have to put up with some idiot screaming at me. At that point he had the cheek to call me a coward!

I've also received some hate mail - the latest is reproduced below. This one arrived after I had a letter published in the Adelaide Advertiser around the Queen's Birthday weekend (always a good time to write). I am at least grateful to this particular idiot as I would not have know that it had been published otherwise - he even included a clipping of it for me (left). It was sent in an envelope with no stamp, addressed only to my suburb. So I had to pay the postage in order to read the insults. If, by some strange quirk of fate, the author reads this page then 'mate - by all means send me a letter with your rational arguments and I'll respond in kind'. But this cowardly letter deserves to be ridiculed.

Some stalwarts from the Monarchist side make a point of responding to letters in the paper by mailing the writer directly. I don't know why - to me it is a misuse of resources to try to convince a person who is actively campaigning for the other side unless you do so publicly where your message will be seen by others who may be convinced. But at least these people usually supply their name and address (as well as reams of printed material).

Finally, some racist mail is even printed in the letters pages - such as this one in the Sydney Morning Herald:

No surprise, to be sure

Someone by the name of O'Shaughnessy (Letters, June 6) not too keen on the British monarchy! Surprise, surprise!

Jan Mc......, Bowral, June 6.

I sent another letter saying that I saw that as racist but my letter was not published though a similar reply from someone else was. Fair enough.

Get involved - despite the occasional nut case it's a good way of stimulating debate.