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HOW out of touch is the Prime Minister with his statement that he was unaware of the level of backbench unrest and potential revolt?
He could have followed it all in the media like the rest of us did.
— MAX WELLS, Sorell.
Frozen berries warning
PEOPLE are being urged to dump a brand of frozen berries that were packed in China that have been linked to hepatitis A infections in Victoria and NSW (The Sunday Examiner, February 15).
Another good reason to buy Australian made products.
— A. R. TROUNSON, Needles.
Windsor Community Precinct
I WOULD like to congratulate West Tamar Council on the great new facility they have built at The Windsor Community Precinct.
The whole venue offers a wealth of services and facilities for the local community, including a medical centre, café and childcare, function rooms, football, cricket and soccer clubs, little athletics and orienteering, an off-leash dog exercise area and numerous walking trails.
In other words, something for everyone.
Well done West Tamar.
— JILL CLARK, Riverside.
Abbott
I DON’T know why people keep complaining about Tony Abbott.
He just has to be the most exciting Prime Minister that we have ever had mainly because you never know what he is going to do or say next and I don’t think he does either.
Remember, however, that the alternative Prime Minister is ‘back-stabbing Bill’ (Shorten).
May the Gods save us from that.
— MICHAEL SCOTT, South Hobart.
Bali nine
WHILST hoping that Chan and Sukumaran are granted clemency and their death sentences are commuted, it should be remembered that the other seven recruited by the pair are still in prison.
The impact on their lives must be tremendous and whilst the focus is on the rehabilitation of the two ringleaders, they must bear the responsibility for ruining seven others lives
Is the government also attempting to have their sentences reduced if Chan and Sukumaran have theirs commuted to life in prison?
— A. CARTER, Mowbray.
Citizenship
THOSE of us fortunate to have been born in Australia are different from others.
Nowhere on our birth certificate does it say that we have an obligation, duty or whatever you want to call it to be good citizens.
We are here, we didn't know we were coming here, but we're here and that's that.
Only if we take certain office do we swear allegiance.
People who come here from other countries, my father was one, are different.
As knowing and consenting adults, they willingly swear an oath of allegiance to Australia and, by default, to our laws.
Our government can and should revoke the citizenship of those who change allegiance.
— JOHN CHIAROTTO, Trevallyn.
Josef Chromy
I WRITE to applaud the project put forward by Josef Chromy and associates to build a Gorge chairlift.
I believe that the project would be a valuable asset to our community.
However, I must ask if the project would be viable without the requested government input.
If so, I suggest that my taxes should only be utilised by offering a loan at commercial rates.
Or by the government taking the appropriate 50 per cent equity in the venture, with proportional board of management membership.
If the project is not viable without free input of 50 per cent of the funds, then it should not go ahead, as it would be a financial burden on the community.
— STEVE BARNARD, Norwood.
Teacher education standards
C. HOWARD of St Helens (Letters, February 18) presents a mess of assumptions, judgements and biases in his assessment of teacher education standards.
I have taught for more than 20 years in several Tasmanian schools, and for five years I lectured in the field of Literacy Education at the University of Tasmania’s Faculty of Education.
Teaching is a considerably complex profession.
It frequently comes under attack from those who almost certainly have spent little or no time in a modern classroom.
Education should not be delivered to the lowest common denominator; concepts of differentiation can be applied in classrooms to ensure that as many students as possible have a fighting chance of some success.
Expanding networks of factors, many of them beyond a teacher’s control, inform how students are able to participate in their education, and the ongoing excellent work of teachers is not enhanced by a shopping of list of grievances.
— C. HINDRUM, Launceston.