Climate change
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AUSTRALIA needs to take action as soon as possible to bring about higher emission targets.
Our politicians, by now, must know that climate change is real and needs to be tackled.
— STEVEN JONES, South Launceston.
Catholics
HALF a million Catholics have signed a petition to condemn same sex marriage as unnatural.
They say they have the backing of senior clerics.
There was no mention of the unnatural acts hundreds of priests have committed around the world on innocent children.
— DAVID PARKER, West Launceston.
Ashes
THE Poms and Aussies played like dumb and dumber during the Ashes.
The greater and more critical disappointment was of the umpires.
Their inept judgement not calling numerous and obvious no balls was laughable.
Why did they stand so far back from the stumps?
The call of not out to a Peter Siddle lbw appeal against Wood said it all.
As the review showed, it would have hit middle stump halfway up.
It's time for crickets’ rich decision makers to abandon the so-called independent umpire rubbish in favour of competence.
— RON MANSON, Old Beach.
Employment
GOVERNMENT spokespersons stock reply when asked to comment on various issues is “I’m more concerned about jobs, jobs, jobs” which is totally true.
However, they appear to have omitted vital words and it should read my job, the prime Minister’s job and others who can help me hang onto my Cabinet position.
— A. CARTER, Mowbray.
Fuel
IF YOU had filled your car with premium petrol at a Bathurst Street, Launceston service station within the last few days, you would have found the price had dropped over the weekend from $1.52 to $1.50.9 a litre, that is a 0.7 per cent reduction.
Considering world oil prices have dropped by between 18 per cent and 25 per cent you would be allowed to question, what happened to the savings?
A cynic could be exempt for believing some recent representatives scrutinising the fuel industry were oil company representatives.
We protest, but are directly responsible for the prices we are charged, by the fact we continue to support these monopolist type capitalistic approaches.
There is a way to receive a fairer deal from these companies by collective public communication.
Failing to provide reasonably priced goods and services could result in collective customer boycott of an individual business or company.
Would it be worth a small inconvenience to support an alternative store for one week?
It would possibly only take the threat of avoidance to change company attitudes and abuse of customers.
— WALLY REYNOLDS, Perth.
Health
THE National Health Report published in The Examiner gives rise to serious concerns.
It states that about one half of all Australians have at least one chronic disease and over 1,000 with a second disease.
Even more distressing, one Australian is diagnosed every minute with diabetes. If this is not treated will develop serious kidney disease, limb amputation and blindness.
Why are we in such a poor state of health?
A number of factors contribute to this sad state of affairs, primarily our lazy lifestyle.
We smoke heavily and abuse alcohol.
We drink far too much coffee and tea, take a number of highly addictive drugs and fail to drink sufficient fresh water.
Our diet is highly processed, far from fresh and wholesome.
It contains excessive saturated fats, refined sugar, salt, preservatives, chemical additives, colors and flavours, white flour products, including bread and cakes in place of wholegrain cereals.
We have allowed most of the food industries to fall into the hands of overseas owners that are more interested in making a profit than the welfare of Australians.
This situation is well established.
Change can only be made through legislation, which will be strongly resented.
Self interest rules the day.
Surely in the name of knowledge and intelligence we cannot allow this deplorable state of affairs to continue.
— REGINALD TREBILCO, Norwood.
Religion
CLAIRE van Ryn’s article has a fair degree of common sense.
Be careful not only of what you look at but also how you look.
Beware of the lust of your eyes! But one thing she writes needs correction for some may stumble because of it for she writes that our souls are born of light.
If this is so why does she also preach salvation?
Why did King David in the psalms write, “In sin my mother conceived me”?
It was not that his mother was unmarried or involved in an affair, but it was because the power of sin is so endemic that we are all born in blindness and in need of light.
Hence Jesus, the light of the world, came to give men the opportunity to see.
If we were already seeing, He would have had no need to come.
The things we think we see are the very things which blind us the most deeply.
Jesus spoke in parables, ‘for seeing they see not, hearing they hear not, lest they hear with their ears, see with their eyes, understand with their heart and turn and be saved.’
He said to His disciples, ‘walk while you have the light for darkness is coming in which no man can walk.’
There is far more to seeing than meets the eyes.
— GREG MANSELL, West Ulverstone.
Same-sex
I AM one Australian citizen that is sick of hearing the continuous debate in relation to same sex marriage.
The only positive thing I have heard so far is that it should be the people that make the decision and not the politicians.
Whether the people have a say through a plebiscite or a referendum or a simple question contained within the next census due within the next 12 months.
As for the Prime Minister to say we, the citizens, could not handle a plebiscite or referendum in conjunction with a general election, we are not that thick.
If the present Liberal Government and their leader continue to deny the Australian people their rightful say purely for political purposes, you the leader will become known as One Term Tony.
— DAVID B COX, Evandale.
Australia
THE government repealed the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act because it apparently provides a red carpet for radical activists who have a political, but not a legal interest.
Political or legal interests do not come into Australia caring about the future of our country on a whole.
Climate change and global warming are having a detrimental effect on Australia, so it really does not need more destruction to its foundation with mines and pulp mills etc that will most surely cause further destruction.
The Federal Government needs to stop focusing on ways of money making schemes that in the end will not benefit Australia because nothing can be benefited from a dry, polluted, baron country for our future generations.
The Coalition repeal everything they don’t agree with, done solely as an attack on those who fight for Australia’s overall future.
— SUSAN GOEBEL, Invermay.
Emission
I OBSERVE that emission targets were devised by mainly intensely-populated advanced economies that are resource poor.
Thus no account for the huge discrepancy in distances between our large cities and theirs is made, though this will lead to higher transport fuel consumption.
And the imposition of penalties, rather than giving credit for our supplying developing countries with gas and clean coal, not withstanding this, leads to significant global carbon reductions defies logic.
Surely the simplistic "per capita" model should not be used to assess Australia's effort.
— GORDON THURLOW, Launceston.
Vision
TASMANIA’S newest member of parliament insists we need a "100 year perspective about climate change" (The Examiner, August 19)
If only the early settlers had the 'advantage' of a "100 year perspective" on that and many other issues, it is quite likely there would be no Tasmania as we know it. (Mind you, the Greens would probably love that).
When Dr Rosalie Woodruff takes her mind back 100 years - 1915 - a significant year - what is her vision for 2015?
The newest Greens member of Parliament will join with the other two Greens in seeking to bind this State to a visionless vision for those next 100 years and given the opportunity, will bind us by miserably constricting legislation.
Being forced into draconian measures - a Greens preferred method - to meet a 'threat' we little understand, will bring much more harm than benefit, and the electorate should be alert to the policy priorities of the 'three smiling amiga' (The Examiner , August 19).
— TREVOR COWELL, Perth.