GST
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THE Newspoll showing at least one third of people polled supported a GST rise to 15 per cent must give great heart to the Federal Government.
In my mathematically challenged mind, that must indicate two thirds of us therefore do not support this obscene rise.
— PETER TAYLOR, Midway Point.
Water
REGARDING letter from Mr Parker, West Launceston.
Does he realise the cost of building a desalination plant?
Wasn't there one built on the mainland at a cost of over a billion dollars?
For Tasmania to have that amount we would have to win the American equivalent of Powerball.
And the cost of running it.
During my time in national service in the Australian Navy we had a desalination plant on board.
This may be a joke but the cost can’t be compared but is still prohibitive.
— CECIL GUY, Youngtown.
Hospital
IT WAS really nice of Michael Ferguson to apologise to the family of that poor elderly woman who was left on the floor of Royal Hobart Hospital.
They must feel so much better now.
They are wondering why 195 people used the emergency department in one day.
Mr Ferguson could it have anything to do with people dropping out of the biggest con of all times called private health insurance?
Just a thought.
— LESLEY GILLIES, Blackwall.
Hospitals
IF THE Royal Hobart Hospital cannot handle a "particularly busy" night, what happens if we have a real disaster?
A plane crash or a bomb blast downtown.
If they can not cope now what hope in a real emergency?
The Launceston General Hospital is not any better prepared.
Yet the super rich pay no tax and the politicians keep feeding themselves.
Not good enough.
The lucky country, for some.
— MARILYN REIS, Ravenswood.
Conservatives
SO THE conservatives are concerned that the wording of the same-sex marriage plebiscite might be rigged by the moderates.
Do they mean like how the republic referendum was rigged by the conservatives?
Conservatives are, and will always be, on the wrong side of history when it comes to social issues.
Tasmanian senator Eric Abetz has indicated that he might vote against the bill regardless of what the plebiscite dictates.
So remember, at the next election, a vote for Liberal in the senate is a vote against democracy.
— CODY HANDLEY, Haspen.
Economics
COME ON Tasmanians and start acting in a mature and intelligent manner that will lift our state from kindergarten level to a top of the class ranking.
Our Australia Day saw a CommSec report put the state at the bottom of the economic pile when compared with all states and yet we continue to hand out accolades to one another in a manner which is beginning to become quite ridiculous.
We are continuing to depend far too much on the archaic industries, agriculture and mining to deliver us a prosperous future.
Agriculture has turned from being a great contributor to the state’s economy to now fast becoming a costly burden.
Too many large Tasmanian properties are under-performing and need to change their ideas.
Our highest paid personnel in politics and tourism plus other industry are letting the state down.
The state is known elsewhere for holding many conferences and workshops.
Let everyone concentrate on just work and forget the shops.
— BILL CHUGG, Campbell Town.
Wetlands
IT IS with delight that every Spring I walk the Tamar Island Wetlands track, aggressively hounded by proud native hens protecting their chicks.
They tailgate me closely making certain I steer clear from their young and nests.
It is then with great sadness that several months later, I too often see native hen carcasses ironed to the highway.
The position of their flattened and prone frames suggestive that a sadist behind the wheel has actually aimed for them.
I admire what they did at Bunnings Kings Meadows for the ducks, and call upon Parks and Wildlife to offer similar signage at our internationally renowned wetlands sanctuary, to protect our native fowl from the foul natives.
— JODI BLACKWELL, Riverside.
Australia Day
CHANGING the date of Australia Day, Carmen Frelek says, will not alter the “fact” Australia was “originally discovered” by Captain Cook.
Discovered?
So what were the original inhabitants doing for millennia?
Hanging around waiting to be “discovered”, like the Indians waiting breathlessly for Vasco da Gama to turn up so they could begin to exist?
These are the kind of absurd assumptions of Eurocentric arrogance that infuriates Indigenous people but what is sad is the ease of such assumptions, so I do not condemn but ask for a little insight from people.
It has been drilled into us at school.
The “explorers” who “discovered” the Australian interior were of course guided by Aborigines.
It was their backyard.
There was nothing to “discover”.
But of course we observe and construct our worldview through white eyes and a 19th century lens of militant geography and European “exploration” that proceeded Indigenous decimation.
— DR MICHAEL POWELL, Springfield.
Forests
THE forests are our treasures.
Let's leave it like that.
Locking up a forest is not managing, it is ignoring the treasure; similar to locking up your children - it just does not work that way.
The forests have been here for centuries and previously "managed" by our forefathers who created fire breaks and conducted the occasional back burn to keep the undergrowth maintained.
There were never any "out of control" fires during their management style.
Meanwhile, the learned ones tell us that that is not good for the trees and to promote their preservation, they should be locked up and untouched.
However, during this "lock up" stage, the undergrowth becomes a huge unmanageable overgrowth and inaccessible for fire prevention vehicles and workers.
Let's bring common sense back in vogue and take notice of what works.
Unmanageable fires destroy the trees and native animals and put at risk families, their properties and livestock.
Plus, the risk to those volunteer firefighters who, while loyal to their cause, also place at risk their family and property as the preservation of their livelihood is forced upon the person left behind by themselves to fend.
— SUZANNE WILKS, Mole Creek.
Bushfires
I WAS very annoyed to find that local fire brigades are having trouble dealing wIth the fire's burning in Tasmania at present times and I can safely say that due to the present and past Green's influence on the subject of environment protection in this State have caused this problem therefore I offer this solution.
My late husband (a fireman with the Launceston Fire Brigade) as recent as March last year and also my son who is employed by Forestry Tasmania both have advocated that we should still do what our original ancestors of this land did (the aboriginals) and that was mainly “burn off the undergrowth.”
Having survived a horrendous bushfire in Kings Meadows many many years ago at a much younger age and that time more able to deal with it I am not holding my breath.
I was very surprised that both Bob Brown and Christine Milne wrote to our current federal government regarding this matter of protecting` our heritage forests, as they are and not animals and humanity unique to Tasmania
— SHIRLEY LAWSON, Kings Meadows.
Fire Agenda
NICK McKim's concept of fighting fire after it has started is a zero sum game and shows a complete lack of knowledge of fire history.
It's treating the symptoms and not looking for the cure.
Fire doesn't know what a neighbour’s house, a national park boundary or world heritage boundary looks like.
Climate change is now part of our lives, no point blaming it for fires.
Mr McKim wants to put firefighters lives and equipment at risk to chase fire after it’s started. The costs are risks to lives and a cost to the taxpayer of about $10 a second for each major fire.
All the research from Aboriginal history through ‘til black Saturday 2009, that killed 180 people, tells us to manage the land.
Controlled burns inside and outside national parks and reserves will greatly assist in maintaining the lives and values that make Tasmania special.
The cost will be a decimal point of what it costs to fight fire after it’s started.
— STEPHEN MARTINI, Launceston.