Your say: week beginning January 26

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Your say: week beginning January 26 Published: January 25, 2026 8.24pm GMT Judy Ingham, The Conversation

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Judy Ingham
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Darren England/AAP, The Conversation https://theconversation.com/your-say-week-beginning-january-26-274297 https://theconversation.com/your-say-week-beginning-january-26-274297 Link copied Share article

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Every day, we publish a selection of your emails in our newsletter. We’d love to hear from you, you can email us at [email protected].

Monday January 26

Bushfire warnings

“Australia has world-class fire agencies and sophisticated warning systems, but many alerts rely on mobile phones, power, or internet access. During extreme conditions, these systems can fail – or simply go unnoticed at the worst possible time. That’s why I’ve put forward a simple, complementary idea to emergency authorities: using drones equipped with audible sirens to warn communities located in predicted fire-spread paths. This wouldn’t replace Emergency Alert, VicEmergency, or official advice. It would add a physical, place-based layer of warning, particularly valuable overnight, during power outages, or when fires move faster than expected.”

Robert Simons

Will it help?

“With the Coalition drama overshadowing this conversation, I find myself confused about what these new hate crime laws will achieve. Can The Conversation please ask someone to explain how the laws make Australians safer from individuals who choose to go mad with a weapon to intentionally kill people indiscriminately because they don’t like or are offended by the beliefs or actions of people they don’t even know? That, after all, is what we need protection from.”

Lynda Paterson, Eden NSW

Editor’s note: Constitutional expert Anne Twomey explains hate crime laws here.

What about the Falklands?

“With all the justifiable noise around Greenland, another unresolved territorial dispute in the Americas is getting little coverage – the dispute between UK and Argentina over the Falklands/Malvinas. Regarded as resolved by Britain (with US support then) following the 1982 war, I suspect the chips would fall differently if Trump fan-boy (President of Argentina) Javier Milei chose to act today. It has political attraction for Milei both as a way of distracting from his economic policies and mobilising nationalist support.”

Jeremy Baskin