Coalition
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IT WOULD seem that whenever Coalition supporters create satisfactory working outcomes this is then referred to as an 'Enterprise Agreement'.
Yet when Labor achieves exactly the same thing, in exactly the same way, it is called 'Corruption'.
— DAVE ROBINSON, Newstead.
Power prices
DID I imagine it or was there an article in The Examiner several months ago about a price reduction for power prices to come this year?
Apparently so according to The Examiner, June 20.
— NEIL BURDON, Youngtown.
Cyclists
An article on the Tasmania Police Facebook page pleads for cyclists to follow road rules as motorists are expected to do.
When are cyclists going to be licenced so we can get their number when their on-road behaviour puts motorists at risk?
A letter along similar lines was in The Examiner in the last week about two cyclists and one headlight riding in the dark.
These people aren't and shouldn't be above the law.
Licences for all I say.
— F. O’SULLIVAN, Riverside.
Skylift
NOTICED the adverts from the Joe Chromy Group regarding the proposed gondola and asking for comments on the council website.
We live opposite where the gondolas would go and have no problem with this project at all.
Anything to attract tourists to our lovely city and, hopefully, entice them to stay longer and spend more money.
Anyone who is willing to invest an enormous amount on money in our city should be applauded.
Afterall, we have the chairlift in the Gorge itself, which doesn't detract from the overall beauty of the area.
Go Joe.
— GLENNIS SLEURINK, Launceston.
Hansard
I REFER to the story "Public will click with records" (June 20) about the commendable digitisation of Tasmanian Hansard.
It suggests that Premier Robin Gray's request for a second dissolution in 1989 was refused by the then Governor, General Sir Phillip Bennett.
This is not correct.
No such formal request was ever made to the Governor.
Mr Gray resigned and the minority Labor government of Michael Field was commissioned and supported by the then five Green Independent MHAs.
It is important to correct the record.
— DON MORRIS, (Research Assistant to the Governor 1989-93), South Hobart.
Auction
PAUL Lennon will no doubt be delighted to hear that a bottle of wine bearing his signature was sold for $450 at an auction to raise funds for Tasmanian Greens.
The signed bottle of 2004 Pinot Noir from Meadowbank Estate at Cambridge, had been collecting dust in Senator Christine Milne’s office for several years.
The bottle of wine (which Senator Milne assured bidders ‘has been sitting by a window for years and is probably vinegar by now’) was the subject of enthusiastic bidding.
The auction was part of a packed farewell dinner for Christine Milne, held at Franco’s restaurant on Saturday night.
— JOY ELIZABETH, Newnham.
People smugglers
PETER Fox (Letters, June 19) questions the outrage over paying off people smugglers when airlines are paid to return illegal immigrants.
The answer to that is airlines are not typically involved in mass murder, as we learned several weeks ago where camps people smugglers use were uncovered and included mass graves.
For this reason alone we should all feel rage at those behind the massacres being essentially rewarded by the government.
Why would they care about what happens to the asylum seekers they are smuggling in?
They had already been paid.
If they had killed to get to Australia, why would they be concerned about disposing of asylum seekers after being paid again to get rid of them?
— DAVIS SEECAMP, Launceston.
Politics
I AM tired of having the Prime Minister of our country shouting nightly from parliament whilst threatening me with terrorists at my back door.
He seems to enjoy playing fast and loose with statistics as he bandies around his one-liners for the benefit of the press gallery.
However, his job is to reassure the general public not to terrify it, and in any event his rhetoric will not stand up to significant scrutiny.
In Australia far more people die of mental illness, anxiety and depression and domestic violence frequently leading to suicide and homicide.
In the last decade they numbered over 25,000, and yet the Abbott government continues to remove or reduce funding to agencies desperately trying to manage and support people caught in these cycles.
Doesn’t sound to me like a Prime Minister trying to keep people safe. It sounds to me like someone trying to detract attention from the real issues.
— SANDY HEALEY, St Helens.
Elderly
WITH the help of funding many nursing homes are upgrading their facilities.
To meet the needs of potential clients, it is important to realise many people are living longer and their needs will be different.
The arbitrary 65 year age for retirement needs replacing or the concept of retirement needs to be more flexible.
Many people are very active beyond 70.
There is now a growing cohort with good physical and mental health continuing a loved career or are developing a new one. They are becoming the norm.
With ageing there is a slowing down of physical processes but this is not always the case with the brain.
Many at 90 plus are as mentally active as ever and will not be content to sit and wait for death.
Nursing homes will still need to provide their basic needs but in addition stimulating activities such as finance talks, updates on computer skills and technology generally each day, science, literature etc.
Aged care needs reinventing.
— M. CAMPBELL-SMITH, Launceston.