Cancelling fireworks will only widen gap

The decision by Fremantle Council to cancel the annual Australia Day fireworks will only cause resentment towards the Aboriginal community and widen the gap, not help to close it.

Australia Day is about celebrating the country we live in here and now for all, not about the landing of the British so many years ago.

What has happened in the history of Australia has happened and each generation criticises the well-intended efforts of the previous generation.

We can be sorry for things that have happened but we need to deal with the present and do what we can to support the Aboriginal community, and others that come into our community, to live in the modern Australia.

Easy words for a very complex issue but the decision to cancel something like the fireworks that give pleasure to so many is not going to help anybody.

MARLENE RANDALL,

East Fremantle.