Dredging
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WOULDN’T you think the Launceston City Council would take a leaf from Devonport with dredging the Mersey River and clear the Tamar once and for all.
— B. WOOD, Legana.
Bullying
A REPORT found that public high school students were more likely to be bullied than private school students (The Examiner, July 16).
Tasmanian Association of State School Organisations president Jenny Eddington said "all schools should have bullying management strategies in place”, including the cane.
— A. R. TROUNSON, Needles.
Pluto
HOW GOOD is that?
A 10 year journey of some 4.8 billion kilometres, the piano size space craft New Horizons is sending back some amazing pictures of the `delisted’ planet Pluto.
Fantastic up close photos (of a part of the cosmos that’s so incredibly far away) boggles the mind and shows how far this craft has gone and how far the human-race has come in understanding Gods creation.
Well done NASA.
— ROBERT LEE, Summerhill.
Tamar
THE Examiner must certainly take a bow for their article on the critical state of Launceston’s Tamar Basin (July 15) bringing attention to what is perhaps the greatest hidden shame in Tasmania’s rather bleak history.
Having watched the decline of what was once Launceston’s greatest asset our now stricken river has been transformed into mainly an effluent catchment pond, very much aligned with the worst of third world standards and by far the worst in any city of Australia.
Many caring people have attempted to speak out about this terrible dilemma but always their voices are met with ignorance and scorn simply to protect the total lack of knowledge that has been hiding under many guises all pertaining to be carers of the river.
The Examiner’s article and vision cannot be denied, the damage is done and our river has been destroyed and to bring it back from the image shown is today far from the capabilities of any involved today.
Hydro Tasmania killed the Tamar, and structures built to interfere with the delicate flow system have today opened up the results of so many errors carried out in bold ignorance that should a crisis of 1929 proportions come along in this new and extraordinary weather pattern then many red faces along tears and suffering will be the headline no doubt.
— GEOFF SMEDLEY, Launceston.
Finances
IT beggars belief how politicians are so divorced from the financial burdens of everyday living.
They call for restraint but show none by example.
A $5000 helicopter ride to a fund-raiser is an absolute nonsense, when the message is clearly out there, that due to Australia’s debt problems we all carry the responsibility.
The alternative was to sit back in a chauffeur driven car, a lot cheaper for the taxpayer.
Tasmania also Houses a Senator who believe it is her right to hire private planes to attend events, at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars, when it is only two and a half hours by road.
It is an abuse of privileges, and inexcusable.
Well paid politicians get us into these financial dilemmas, but show no personal effort of restraint or consideration, and expect the Australian taxpayer to carry the heavy load.
— PETER DODDY, Trevallyn.
Pulp Mill
WITH the greatest respect to the financial analyst, the proposed Tamar Valley pulp mill was never economically viable (The Examiner, July 15).
If it had been Gunns wouldn't have had so much trouble attracting an investor.
It tried for 10 years, and spectacularly failed to do so.
It should also be remembered that no risk assessment has ever been conducted for the project.
Without also looking at this side of the equation, it is quite false to trumpet the mill's viability.
No consideration has ever been given to the many existing and thriving businesses and tourism ventures that would be seriously and negatively impacted by a massive, stinking and polluting chemical factory.
Yet these are the businesses that provide so much of the incentive for tourists to visit our region, and which contribute so significantly to our local economy.
And quite apart from anything else, how exactly is this mill going to operate successfully, with so much of the plantation feedstock Gunns planned to use having already been sold?
The pulp mill is, was, and always will be an ill-conceived and economically unrealistic idea, and Tasmanians would be far better served if we had a government - and an Opposition - that showed us it had some imagination, vision, and creative 21st century ideas, to carry us all into an economically brighter, more secure, and united future.
— ANNE LAYTON-BENNETT, Swan Bay.
University
EVERY man and his dog that play no part in the education system always tend to have ample opinions on how it should be run.
This can lead to very basic oversights.
I refer to Mark Baker’s editorial piece (The Examiner, June 15) on the Newnham to Inveresk campus reshuffle.
The whole idea of this move is to bring students into the CBD so they spend money.
However, this view neglects one very basic factor that seems to have been forgotten and would become clear if one but asked any student.
One of the core characteristics of being a university student is that we have no money.
This is a period of life when most juggle full-time study and casual work to pay bills, rent, grocery and petrol costs, not to mention the exorbitant price of university textbooks.
We are hardly going to go on rampant cash-splashes that would make any significant difference to business in the CBD.
Mr Baker also suggests that the Newnham campus was never designed as a tertiary learning centre, but I would like to point out that a few ancient buildings cluttered together on top of a swamp is hardly the Taj Mahal of university sites.
This move will be an utter waste of money and a pointless abandoning of a perfectly suitable, if not quaint, university campus.
— CODY HANDLEY, Hadspen.
Entitlements
FREQUENTLY we hear politicians evaluate and compare their occupations with that of private enterprise.
Private enterprise businesses could never survive if they were obtuse enough to instigate such brainless financial temptations as exist within our political and public service.
The solution is straightforward.
As politicians wish to be comparable to the real business world, let them start by negotiating an adequate salary, after which no other automatic financial entitlement or benefit will be available.
Establish within the finance department a “procurement department”.
This department will to be similar to a private enterprise “purchasing department”.
Each working department will have a petty cash float for immediate incidentals, expenditure from such to be recorded into a petty cash ledger.
Rules and laws will be established, documented and become the expense control process. A limit would be established for automatic acceptance and recorded.
Regular internal audits to be carried out by an independent body.
Anyone requiring additional expense applies to the procurement department for an official order.
The order, after examination to be issued only by the procurement department recording full details of that purchase, then filed for audit.
All benefits derived by the procurement department such as frequent flyer points etc will be accumulated and used to minimise future procurements.
— WALLY REYNOLDS, Perth.
Aminya
THE public meeting in Scottsdale Wednesday night this week showed that we really are a caring community. The community absolutely will not allow Aminya to be closed.
Thank you Tania Rattray for organizing this public meeting and thank you to our elected representatives who explained the situation.
Do not be mistaken, the situation is dire.
However, the willingness of local, state and federal representatives to collaborate appears genuine and gives me great hope that a solution will be brokered.
It appears sensible that James Scott and Aminya should be combined to offer a financially viable total aged-care management package.
The amount of money involved in the transition of Aminya is commercial-in-confidence, but I imagine the combined liabilities of staff entitlements and recent upgrades and maintenance to Aminya are substantial.
I think it unlikely that offering a loan to an incoming Aged-care provider would be accepted, and I am concerned that Council may have to buy us out of the situation.
I would like to see the federal government stepping up with a grant to assist Council.
However, a long-term solution is needed if rural regional Australia is to maintain aged care services.
We need to recognise that residents in rural regions have less average asset wealth than big city residents and cannot fund these services to the same level.
A new Commonwealth funding model needs to be found.
Perhaps there should be an addition to the Medicare levy that recognises the need for Australians to contribute in advance for their aged care.
— DR CHRISTINE BOOTH, independent candidate, Dorset.