Greens
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AFTER 25 years Christine Milne is stepping down as leader of the Greens.
Little surprise as there is little left in Tasmania for her party to destroy
— DONALD BODEN, Launceston.
AFL
HOW about the anti-Hobart newspaper mention how Hobart just had the biggest AFL crowd in Tasmania for the last two years.
You guys love sticking the boots into AFL games at Bellerive, how about you give it some credit and North Melbourne for having huge growth in membership.
But I guess you will find away to put a Launceston spin on things and defend the Hawks crowds on poor fixtures
Do you not understand they are one of the biggest clubs in the country now, they are not going to play big games in Tasmania.
— JIMMY RECARD, Lindisfarne.
Forestry
IN THE article headed Hope For Forest In Carbon Storage (The Examiner, May 3) a statement by Ecologist and U/Tas student Nick Fitzgerald requires comment.
His statement that, “ Clearing will release all of that carbon in the wood into the atmosphere”, is either a deliberate attempt to mislead readers, or displays a total lack of knowledge of carbon storage in wood products.
Felling a tree does not release all of the carbon stored into the atmosphere.
The carbon remains stored in the wood products produced from that tree for the life of that product. This could in some cases be in excess of 100 years.
Harvesting our forests on an 80 to 100 year rotation will ultimately store more carbon than leaving them uncut.
The regenerating forest will then store more carbon.
There may be good reasons not to harvest the Lapoinya coupe but carbon storage is not one of them.
— LINDSAY MILLAR, Hillwood.
Bali nine
IT SEEMS to me that there are some things that need to be said about the recent execution of members of the Bali Nine in Indonesia.
Firstly, I commiserate whole-heartily with the families of the men executed.
The agony of losing a child in this way is something I cannot even begin to imagine.
And the unfortunate truth that the Australian Federal Police in Australia could have prevented this particular event is one that also lingers in the mind.
But some general facts remain true. When people come to Australia, we expect them to obey and submit to Australian law.
I cannot see that Indonesia is at fault in expecting people who go there to obey and submit to Indonesian law, even though it is a very harsh law.
Now, the Indonesian Government could have made an exceptional gesture of mercy.
But we know that the Australian Government in recent years has insulted the Indonesian Government in quite a number of ways, and shown no good will about apologizing for doing the wrong thing.
Is it really surprising, or even difficult to understand, that there was no mood for mercy in the Indonesian Government, just because Australia wanted mercy to be shown?
And now, as I understand it, in a fit of apparent "temper" we have withdrawn our diplomatic relations with Indonesia.
I would have thought, myself, that it was especially important now to try and keep some diplomacy happening between Australia and Indonesia.
— ANNE BRELSFORD, Legana.
Rehabilitation
ON behalf of the members of the Launceston General Hospital (LGH) Ex-Trainee Nurses’ Association, we request immediate action to maintain funding for the John L Grove Rehabilitation Centre, Howick Street, Launceston and as a consequence of cessation of funding the closure of the centre.
The service provides specialised rehabilitation care not only to the residents of the Northern community but also to the North West and North East Coasts.
The first and most important effect of closure of the centre is to the members of these communities who require extensive rehabilitation following a range of medical and or surgical conditions.
The best outcomes for these patients/clients, is to have ready access to the skills and knowledge of health professionals, thus enabling them to return with the maximum function, to their place in the community and workforce.
The rehabilitation of clients in the centre is not limited to any one age group.
Head injury, stroke and chronic conditions requiring surgery can affect the young through to the elderly, all of whom deserve to be able to have the optimum outcome in relation to their ongoing health.
The effect of closure of the centre would have a domino effect on several departments of the Launceston General Hospital.
The first affected unit would be The Acute Rehabilitation Unit (3R) which currently operates at full capacity for the majority of the time.
The effect of this unit not having any bed vacancy means that clients requiring rehabilitation will need to be placed in acute care wards.
The flow-on effect from that action means that the Emergency Department cannot allocate their patients to acute beds.
The resultant bed block, ramping and lengthening surgery waiting lists that the community hear of daily will inevitably increase.
— DEANNA ELLIS, LGH Ex-Trainee Nurses Association president.
Death sentence
SOME people consider that 10 years in prison, then to be executed, is a cruel and unusual punishment.
I would probably agree that a death sentence should be carried out as swiftly as possible, but another side to this whole sorry mess is that as a deterrent to these crimes it would have a big impact on the greedy people who choose to make money from other people’s misery and addiction.
Surely, 10 years in prison and a firing squad awaiting you at the end, would give people much food for thought.
— RON BAINES, Kings Meadows.
Gorse
IN HIS letter (May 5), L. Carroll is quite correct in his observation that gorse is inundating farmland.
However, Mr Carroll appears to be chasing the white rabbit down a rabbit hole in expressing his concern that the release of gorse soft shoot moth larvae may "later come back to bite us as did the cane toad, prickly pair and the likes".
A long process of research and study now goes into identifying potential biological controls, their exclusivity to target species and testing their ability to impact non target species and that is before the biological control is brought into the country.
Trial sites are then established for populations to build up, with ongoing monitoring and management over a number of years, before further distribution.
All this of course needs to be funded and in the case of the gorse soft shoot moth, funding has been provided through the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture and Tasmanian Landcare.
There are four biological control agents in Tasmania acting on gorse, none of which attack any other species other than gorse.
Other examples of successful biological controls in Tasmania are the ragwort flea beetle and the recently released cape broom psyllid.
Also, myxomatosis and calicivirus have been successful as biocontrol agents for rabbits, although apparently not white ones.
— ROGER TYSHING, President, Tamar NRM, St Leonards.
Pensions
HAVING received my Centrelink Seniors magazine I noticed that on page 29, item 6, quote "As part of the 2014-2015 budget the Seniors Supplement for CSCH holders will not be paid.
This is subject to the passage of legislation CSHC holders will continue to receive the Seniors Supplement, each quarter until continue to receive the Seniors Supplement each quarter until this legislation is passed..
Mr Abbot has stated that The Childcare Package is dependent upon the Senate passing legislation already before them as quoted the above Age Pension Supplement.
Could Mr Abbot tell pensioners if the Seniors Supplement at $63.90 per F/N. single is one of the savings measures needed to fund The Child Care Package, or just another way of cutting pensions by stealth.
— JEAN HOLLIES, Penguin.
LGH
I WOULD like to publicly commend the Outpatients Rehabilitation service provided by the Launceston General Hospital.
Following a spinal cord injury I have been receiving a package of physical therapy treatments, and I cannot praise the services highly enough.
The NICS building in which Outpatients Rehab is housed is welcoming and uplifting to the spirit, the treatment regime I experienced is at the forward edge of therapeutic medicine and supported by sound research, and the therapists are professional, patient and persistent.
We are so privileged to be able to access this outstanding service when we need treatment – and to do so within a public medical system is quite amazing.
— ALLISON TRIMBLE, Prospect Vale.