to THE AGE
While one does not admire every statement attributed to spokespeople for the Alternative for Germany party, its success in the recent elections may have some benefits for Germany and for world culture. Peter Hartcher notes (‘Two elections, no shock’, 26/9) that ‘until now, Germans didn’t have a way of talking openly about the problems of immigration.’ The lack of free speech in Germany since World War Two has indeed become a scandal and needs to be addressed. The group shunning of the AFD by other parties is a hangover from that repressive period.
Quite plainly Germany needs to curb immigration, as does Australia; and the reinforcement of Germany’s national identity and pride can be achieved without a return to the errors of Nazism.
NJ, Belgrave, Vic