This results in a large repair bill or you have to purchase the same product again,maybe for the third or fourth time, all a part of globalisation or free trade as it’s laughingly called.

Free? No way. We all thought being able to purchase fresh fruit and vegetables out of season was wonderful, however, we didn’t consider the carbon footprint of those products that have travelled thousands of kilometres from their point of origin, in the process of which many thousands of litres of black fuel oil and AV gas have been burned.

Is food that has travelled for four-five weeks on a ship actually fresh? Do we really need grapes from the US at $15 a kilo or bread from Ireland? When you travel by ship  for up to 11 days without sighting land is when you realise just how immense our planet really is.

I OFTEN wonder why many Tasmanians flee the winter and head for places like Queensland. To me winter is the best season of the year.

I can read, watch television or play my CDs and DVDs in the warmth of my unit, insulated from the cold and can listen to the rain on my roof. There are throngs of tourists, the tourist attractions are uncrowded and you don’t even need to book for restaurants, concerts or the theatre.

I have lived through five English winters and the Tasmanian winter is child’s play in comparison. The stark beauty of St George’s Square, which I consider to be one of the most beautiful squares in the world, causes the man-made high rises of the Gold Coast to look very ordinary in comparison.

Fortunately the run of seemingly intelligent people like school principals, selling up when they retire and moving to Queensland where they know nobody, seems to have stopped. Queensland may have milder winters, but the rest of the year the climate is hot requiring full or partial air conditioning.

IN relation to Australian’s opinion to determine whether same gender couples should be extended the same marriage rights as heterosexual couple, The Examiner headline (Thursday, July 21) “Poll slams plebiscite” should not go unchallenged.

The Galaxy poll referred to in the article was the one taken of 1000 people from July 14 to 17. In fact, the poll showed 48 per cent supported a plebiscite, 30 per cent opposed it, while the remaining 22 per cent were undecided.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is right when stating “a big majority of Australians support having a vote on it, rather than leaving it to politicians”.

One can only imagine that the sensationalist headline by The Examiner suited their views on the issue, for many previous articles within the paper have suggested just that.

ABOUT 293,000 animals fall prey to vehicles each year, an average of 34 animals each hour of the year or one animal each three kilometres (Viewpoint, The Sunday Examiner, July 17).

Imagine if it was “human loss”. I reckon the government would be doing something about it. Viewpoint reports “In many circumstances, animal deaths on our roads is unavoidable”.

It is “highly avoidable”. It’s called “proper fencing” and property owners (including the government) providing animals “access to water and habitat”.