IT HAS been suggested that elderly drivers number plates begin with the letter S for seniors.

Why not go all the way. ``M” for middle aged, ``Y” young and ``H” for hoons.

— B. HABNER, Launceston.

Republic

PERHAPS it would be a good idea if Australia did become a republic after all.

This may allow us, although I can’t see why we can’t do it now, to drop our membership in the U.N.H.C.R.

What right does this organisation have, whose members don’t even live here, to lecture other countries on how they choose to deal with people claiming to be genuine asylum seekers and refugees?

If becoming a republic means we can finally determine, and make our own decisions in this regard, then Malcolm Turnbull gets my vote for President.

— CARMEN FRELEK, Launceston.

UTAS

UNIVERSITY lecturer Michael Powell is worried about the “systematic stripping of the university” in terms of services staff and courses (The Examiner, November 10).

And that Launceston university was not a branch office of what takes place in Hobart.

So even though lecturer Powell is worried, Launceston City Council still goes ahead and gives away $4.5 m worth of assets.

I hope we the ratepayers don’t end up paying for that through rate increases.

— DAVID PARKER, West Launceston.

Drought

MY God, Ms Julie Bishop what cheek you have.

You are borrowing millions of dollars from international bankers to help the drought affected people of Papua New Guinea.

This has to all be paid back with interest with our money.

The people of Australia elected you to look after them, not foreigners.

Imagine the bankrupt and drought devastated farmers in Australia.

You know, the ones who feed us?

How do you think they feel?

— JACK SONNEMANN, Lucaston.

Driving

I WOULD like to thank the driver, who during very heavy traffic at 4.30pm on Monday, November 9, whilst travelling south on Wellington Street, at the corner of Elizabeth St, decided that they had to make a right hand turn from the left lane into Elizabeth Street.

When the lights changed to green they turned in front of two lanes of traffic.

Also in another frequent occurrence recently, is there any chance that when it gets dark, those vehicles with the new optional extra of headlights, can please turn them on.

Please remember that park lights are for parking.

— KEVERALL WAKELING, Trevallyn.

Gay marriage

WHAT right have people to say we all agree with this?

We do not all agree with gay marriage.

Stop trying to push us all into your mind-set.

How many people I wonder in that crowd down in Hobart were actually from Tasmania?

Looking at the size, it would seem that many had been imported from the mainland to boost the numbers.

If so how wrong would that be?

But for sure, God knows for in Galatians ch:6vs7 we are clearly told: Do not be deceived, God is not mocked. For whatever a man may sow, that he will also reap.

— VERONICA DAVIES, Beaconsfield.

Water

WITH all the never ending talk about global change and rising sea levels, why don't the goverment and TasWater get together and build a desalination plant to pump the fresh water in to drought stricken areas.

We can build gas pipelines and power transfer lines to the mainland.

It was not that long ago that TasWater and Aurora was draining our lakes to sell power to Victoria and then making us buy it back at inflated prices.

Let them spend their money on sustainable infrastructure for the future, instead of the huge profits they’re making out of every Tasmanian family and business.

It might even create much needed employment.

— S. HANSON, Ravenswood.

Food tax

THERE is no government policy that would hit the people of Bass more than an increase in the GST to 15 per cent.

Slugging families with increased grocery bills will only lead to more stress on the family budget.

Stress which will put many families at breaking point.

Too many of us know how costly essential foods have become.

You can go into the grocer and buy six items and it can cost as much as $50 or more.

A 15 per cent tax on fruit, vegetables, milk, bread, meat and seafood will force families to look for cheaper and unhealthier alternatives.

There is nothing fair about increasing the GST.

Promises to "compensate" families for the increase expense don't hold water when later governments talk about reducing "benefits".

NATSEM modelling shows that increasing the GST to 15 per cent would hit low income Tasmanians the hardest.

Small businesses in Bass also know that in order for them to do well, low income Tasmanians need to have money in their pockets, to meet more than just daily necessities.

Andrew  Nikolic, the Liberal member for Bass, needs to fight against this new tax which will hurt everyone in Bass.

— ROSS HART, Federal Labor Candidate for Bass, Launceston.

Climate change

CONVENIENTLY overlooking  the fact that the proponents of the theory of global warming have vested interests - job security and research grants, Dr Andrew Glikson (Letters, November 10) chooses to argue that deniers of the reality of climate change have vested interests.

But, in the words of former millionaire, now reputed billionaire, Al Gore, it is an inconvenient truth that opposition to climate change comes from observable evidence as opposed to computer models.

Contrary to the predictions of the scientists, and despite the fact that the CO2 content of the atmosphere has risen, there has been no global warming for almost 18 years.

The sea level has not risen and drowned the Maldives as predicted, and the people of Tuvalu are not showing any interest in accepting offers of relocation to New Zealand, evidently not concerned about the predictions of a catastrophic rise in sea level.

The polar ice was supposed to have disappeared in the Arctic and reduced in the Antarctic -  the very opposite has taken place.

Where droughts were predicted there have been floods.

The computer models clearly have a severe case of GIGO (garbage in, garbage out).

Finally, if human activity is causing global warming, how does this square with the fact that the ice on Mars is also disappearing?

— M. CHUGG, Prospect.

Recycling

I FIND it interesting to read the article in (The Examiner, November 10), "No changes planned in use of biodegradable bags".

The ban on the use of lightweight bags two years ago has, in my opinion, only benefited the large supermarket chains by lining their pockets with money.

Caught short when shopping, if one has not brought along a bag, shoppers are then forced to purchase a thick plastic shopping bag.

Where is the benefit to the consumer or the environment here?

A large supermarket chain in Newstead did at one stage have a bin of recycled thick plastic shopping bags  which they have now removed.

When I inquired as to why the bin had been removed, I was told too many people were using it.

Was that not the reason it was there, or was the supermarket just missing out on 10 cents each time shoppers forgot their bag?

If supermarkets, local and state governments were serious about the environment they would bring back the brown paper bag.

It is 100 per cent biodegradable, is made from recycled material and can be recycled over and over.

— VICKI HUME, Sidmouth.

Nikolic

TRADE union leader Ged Kearney’s latest attack on our local member Andrew Nikolic (The Examiner, November 10) is based on a double false premise.

First of all, the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement passed the Senate on November 9, meaning that both the Labor and Liberal parties support this trade deal.

So Ms Kearney’s reference to the deal “Mr Nikolic’s government did with China,” is actually the deal that Labor has also endorsed.

Secondly, the misleading advertisements about Mr Nikolic’s attendance at these fake union debates, reinforces public perceptions of a union movement off the rails.

Why would you support a union movement that so wilfully wastes its member’s funds?

While Australia’s two major parties continue a long-standing tradition of bipartisan support for freer trade, the unions continue to work against the national interest.

— DAVID HECKSCHER, Newstead.