There is a channel running from Kings Wharf to Rosevears which was designed to get large ships up river in the early 1900’s.

Dredge the channel, which acts as a sump in which any sludge or sediment sinks to the bottom.

Dredging is the only way to clean up this slop, while extra water down the Gorge is only a waste with an incoming tide.

The Trevallyn Dam was built for two reasons -

Blow the dam out and watch Invermay sink.

To all politicians - keep the money from useless submarines and build a hi-tech dredge and watch the river change complexion.

As for the sludge, dump it in Bass Strait, the current will soon purify it and to dam the river, what a laugh.

I WOULD encourage Bass MHR Andrew Nikolic to closely examine what has been achieved with the mud raking. I  would suggest zero. This is nothing more than an exercise of endeavouring to garner support.

It is a waste of money to try and convince the community that the raking program has provided real benefit.

It could not be further from the truth, the mud may travel down to Tamar  Island then it returns. To spend $500,000 a year on a self defeating exercise is wrong. Save the money and put it towards the new Ti Tree Bend tertiary plant.

SCOTT Morrison sees himself as looking at the big picture, but he’s dismissed the little person and the smallest state.

Tax benefits for those on more than $80,000? Tasmanians would love that boost – but 80 per cent of us earn less than that. That shows just how disconnected this government is from our state.

For Tasmania, the things we really care about – health and education, infrastructure and investing in our environment to create new tourism jobs – continue to face major cuts from previous federal budgets or are completely ignored altogether.

For a treasurer spruiking innovation, talking up the new economy, this budget is damp squib,  a deep disappointment. Where are the real ideas for a post-boom Australia? The drivers of the next decade? The underpinnings of an equitable, fair future?     

What else is Mr Morrison holding back? Half a million Tasmanians would like to know.

HOW low have we gone when our government yet again uses the excuse of balancing the books to cut funding for Australian aid to the point where we are now the least generous we have ever been?

We hand out tax cuts to people wealthy enough to creep into the next tax bracket while ignoring the needs of the world’s poorest people struggling live on $2 or less a day.

Last September our government was great at talking up Australia's support of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and in December their willingness to combat the global effects of climate change.

This year it was the need to support the fight to eradicate the debilitating effects of malaria and tuberculosis. But when it comes to doing our fair share by contributing the necessary funding to achieve these goals they just don't step up.

Lawyer, Tim Dick  (The Examiner, May 4) is right to question whether Australia’s actions live up to what we expect of a good neighbour.