With particular interest was the finding that creating a freshwater lake in the upper reaches of the Tamar River was the only way to prevent sediment  accumulation.

The report has also shown that without radical change in the hydrodynamics of the upper Tamar, Launceston will be permanently saddled with a muddy, shallow Home Reach/Yacht Basin area.

While I will not make any comment on the benefits or otherwise of the barrage proposal I am aware that many experts share the same view regarding the effect  the hydrodynamics of the river have on the disposal of sediment  in the upper reaches.

I do not believe that we have time to wait for any movement on the construction of a barrage and therefore encourage all those in authority to seriously consider removal of the sediment as a first step to resolving the problem.

I applaud the efforts of the Member for Bass in obtaining large sums of money from the federal government however, strongly advocate that any further financial contributions for improvements to the health of the Tamar River be conditional upon removal of the sediment from the river.

Right now we have a situation where it is claimed many thousands of tonnes of silt have been removed by raking; I ask, where has it all gone? I believe some of it must have returned and some may well have been moved further down the river.

We must not allow  the situation to occur, where a problem is moved from one area to another place further down the river, hence my plea, remove the sediment from the upper reaches and it will be out of the river permanently.

AN INDEPENDENT analysis has revealed that Treasurer Scott Morrison’s massive budget cuts to aged care have been understated by at least $350 million.

His calculations were wrong and another $350 million is going to be ripped from residential aged care on top of the $1.65 billion cut in the 2015 MYEFO and 2016 budget.

It doesn’t matter how Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and his Liberals spin it, you cannot cut $2 billion from complex health care without having a significant impact on the quality of care older Australians receive in residential aged care.

How does the Turnbull Government expect aged care providers to provide the same high quality care with less money?

HERE we go again with call’s for aid to our dairy farmers who have fallen on tough times.   

In 2007 when travelling across England, one could see thousands of acres of farming land lying idle because the rest of Europe said it was not necessary to produce anything from such land.

The dairy farmers of Lancashire, dependent on artificial insemination of their milking herd, were unable to obtain female semen so the future of their herd was numbered.

Many believed England was being pushed out of agriculture production and was being forced to become more dependent on tourism.

At home here, politicians are still foolishly pushing agriculture as our leading industry. The farmers of Lancashire don’t have to irrigate all their crops and yet they are battling to compete in a world-wide market.

What hope is there for Tasmania’s farmers if governments have to keep baling them out of trouble.

I would ask our politicians to be far more precise when announcing new irrigation projects by telling all just what markets will pay for all this irrigation.