Wildlife
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FERAL cats and wildlife, I agree that these animals feed off our native wildlife, birds and animals, but how many of our wildlife, birds and animals are killed in the "Bush Burn Off” which also claims nests with young and burrows in logs and ground with young.
— RITA BLAZELY, Longford.
Cats
OH No! Not another cat breed in Tasmania.
Cats should be classified as a dangerous introduced pest species, in that they are 100 per cent lethal to wildlife.
Domesticated or not, they are natural born killers day and night and should be restricted to owners who have cat enclosures to house vaccinated, desexed and microchipped felines.
Unless this happens, Tasmania will remain a ``feral cat empire”.
We lose enough wildlife on roads without adding cats into the equation.
— ELSA de RUYTER, St Helens.
Ferries
A FULLY refurbished Spirit of Tasmania 1 is set to operate for the first time on August 1 (The Examiner, July 16).
And they’ve spared no expense, lashing out a massive $15.75 on both Spirit 1 and Spirit 2.
— A. R. TROUNSON, Needles.
Babies
It was seven degrees and yet more babies in town without warm covering on their dear little bald heads.
What's going on?
Surely, their ears and eyes are affected by the intense cold.
Generally, babies in strollers are covered but it appears the ones taken from warm cars on CBD rush visits, maybe, are affected.
And, don't get me started on bootees that fall off and are not replaced.
Hats, hats, hats, mothers; you appear to have plenty of hair, they haven't.
— PAMELA KENDRICK, Hadspen.
Energy
IT IS obvious that we cannot continue to keep using, polluting, non renewable sources to produce our energy, yet what is being done about it?
The previous government introduced a carbon tax but all that happened was that the power companies just passed it on to the consumers.
The present government seems to be in denial about it, but it is obvious that something must be done eventually.
The thing that all parties seem to have missed is that Australia probably has more solar energy available than most places, if only we can find a way to harness it on a large scale.
Instead of penalising people for using the only source of power available at present, the government should be offering incentives to those willing to take the risk of developing new technologies to harness solar power on a large scale.
— MALCOLM McCULLOCH, Pipers River.
Accommodation
THE Utas student accommodation block now being erected at Inveresk is nothing more or less than a blot on the landscape, and to say that they have been architecturally designed beggars belief.
Not only are they cheaply made but by stacking them as they are, on what should be public land, they are excluding and dividing the city from Inveresk by deleting the city scene from public eyes.
Raised up off the ground, presumably in case of flood, should be considered unnecessary with the flood levy in place, for which the University cunningly paid.
Surely some of the vacant land and historic cottages on Inveresk, some of which are being demolished to make way for cars and warehouses, could have been utilised as more pleasant accommodation for foreign students, integrating them into the community rather than isolating them in a ghetto, as well as giving them private outdoor space i.e.gardens, in which to relax, study, entertain or even grow their own food.
A great deal of taxpayers and ratepayers money was poured into the university buildings at Newnham with roads etc. being built to accommodate them and even a school having to be moved to clear the site.
Had these been properly maintained, as the normal householder is expected to do with their property, then we may not be in this current situation and more buildings could have gone up on that site.
— A. C. GREEN, Norwood.
GST
THE OLD “hardy chestnut”, Tax review and GST is again elevated to critical status.
There was a period when our politicians went from dinosaurs to statesmen.
Today many are simply egotistical materialists concerned only with a political and financial gain and devoid of their civic responsibility.
The government alleges Australia’s financial position to be dire, at the same time ignores potential additional revenue from non profit organisations, pseudo religious groups, environmental groups and the extreme wealthy that enjoy odious, although legal tax relief.
The government attempts to convey the message there will be “no new taxes” at the same time massively seeking to increase existing taxes.
The proposed increase to GST from 10 per cent to 15 per cent represents an increase of 50 per cent.
Australian workers will no doubt be the loser.
— WALLY REYNOLDS, Perth.
Legislation
BARRY Prismall is correct in his editorial from July 18, several points do need to be made in regard to firearms legislation.
Firstly, he requires that the common sense test be applied to potential political vote catching, quite correct, as the changes to the Act actually achieve very little in practical terms and do not correct existing problems within the Act; in other words it is a vote catching exercise.
Secondly, antique weapons are part of our heritage, whether his anti-gun views like it or not.
Would we for instance destroy the edge of a Viking sword or remove the tip of a roman spear to make them safe, they also are weapons and only for viewing.
I wonder if he had a very expensive and historical item such as a car whether he would mind it being welded up.
If stealing firearms is the new "designer crime" surely making such a crime less attractive is the issue, not vandalising what is after all only a finely crafted piece of machinery.
The enlightened who feel that recidivist criminals should not receive a mandatory prison term for making a living off law abiding people are quite vocal about criminals right to justice, it seems the law abiding firearms owners are less worthy of such consideration.
Quite correctly he states that an operational antique weapon is still a weapon in the wrong hands, so are knives, axes, shoves, bats, golf clubs, etc. What does he propose we do about those?
As to long overdue reform on handguns he perhaps subscribes to the Bob Brown and Greens theory that there are several thousand machine pistols hidden away in the glove boxes of firearms owners cars.
In reality, handgun ownership is already very heavily proscribed through legislation.
— RUSSELL MONTGOMERY, St Helens.
Crime
ONE of two assailants punches a man in the head, who falls to the concrete floor and subsequently dies from his injuries.
Regardless of which man delivered which blow, how much provocation was involved, or how much time the two men, one of whom has a previous criminal record, have spent time in custody, both assailants receive less than three years in prison.
This means both could be out and roaming the streets again by this coming Christmas.
What an absolutely insulting and offensive travesty of justice to the dead man, his family and the rest of society, who are only too happy to pay taxes to keep criminals like these off the streets for much longer.
What on earth is happening to sentencing laws, especially for repeat offenders?
— CARMEN FRELEK, Launceston.
Firearms
I READ with mixed emotions, the Editorial (The Examiner, July 17 ) by Barry Prismall, who continues to demonstrate both a bias against firearms and a complete lack of knowledge of firearm values.
He assumes that there exists a problem with all firearms and his leanings would serve to punish all law abiding firearm owners.
Both modern, vintage and antique values are at their highest when fully operational and in new or near new condition; to permanently deactivate a firearm reduces the value to some 10 per cent of its prior value.
Who is going to compensate owners of such firearms?
Let us spend the money needed on eliminating the criminal element in our society, or is that too hard a problem for government to solve.
Police and government need to demonstrate that a public safety issue exists and define how law changes will eliminate or reduce that issue.
We hope that both will fully confer with interested parties next time, unlike the recent introduction of the Firearms (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2015 when much controversial subject matter was included without prior consultation.
A weapon is not necessarily a firearm or a knife; it is something which is used to injure, defeat or destroy and could be a household brick or a hot cup of coffee (Merriam-Webster dictionary).
Motor vehicles have been used as weapons in the past too, but we don't advocate restrictions on any ownership.
I agree with him that the commonsense test must be applied to any proposed changes.
— JEFF BLACKMORE, Firearm dealer, South Launceston.