Letter: Why Australians voted `no'

KATHY MARKS's report of the Australian referendum plumbs Murdochian depths of bias. We're told that Mrs Jones, the leader of the "no" campaign, has "heavily made-up features" and "painted on a smile" for her press conference; that the "no" campaign, with its "superficially populist message", was "stunningly cynical" and that the electorate "swallowed a lie". Malcolm Turnbull's tears are offered as proof that the result "broke Australia's heart", and we are told, as if it were fact, that "Australians with a sense of history" wanted a republic. With a final, infantile flourish, Ms Marks informs us that Australia will continue to be "ruled over" by the Queen.

We all know the Independent on Sunday favours republican government for Britain, and that "monarcho-scepticism" has always been a feature of the Independent titles. But we are entitled to expect it to be able to distinguish between news and opinion.

DAVID MILSTED

Gillingham, Dorset