Two letters in the Sun Herald of 4 March 2007 caught our attention. The first, from Allan Green of Leonay in NSW appeared under the headline: “Give Governor a house.”
“It is a sad state of affairs that the Governor of NSW does not live in the official residence. In all other states the Governor lives in Government House. NSW inflicts much indignity on our Governor. It causes the Governor inconvenience and expense due to the number of necessary journeys through heavy city traffic. Let’s hope the election on March 24 will bring us a government with a mature approach. We don’t need petty nonsense like playing chess with where our Governor resides.”
The second letter was from Ron Barnett of Lakemba, and was published under the headline: “The Queen v Cheney.” It read:-
“It would be interesting to know the cost of the short visit to Australia by US Vice-President Dick Cheney to Australian taxpayers. With him came assistants, security, even their own cars. Then there was the cost of the huge police and security presence in the city. Compare this to the quiet dignity and calm of Her Majesty. In London where huge crowds welcomed her 80th birthday, the Queen stood up in the back of an open car laughing and waving to the people. And hardly any security in sight.”