Until such time as the pre-selection practices for both major parties replace emphasis on TV persona and baby-kissing, with demonstrable professional skills, we are likely to be stuck with the same genre of media-savvy incompetents of which the TCCI implies complaint.

EVERY utterance by former prime minister Tony Abbott shows why his removal from office was of benefit to our nation. He has criticised Malcolm Turnbull for calling a royal commission into the abuse of children in a Northern Territory juvenile prison. Tony Abbott’s own royal commissions were certainly calculated, but only for political gain. In contrast, he steadfastly opposed the investigation of child sexual abuse by his religious mates.  This inquiry has found case after nauseating case of protection, willful ignorance and cover up of utterly heinous crimes. The sooner the hard right of the Liberal Party realise that their priorities, ‘values’, and their preferred national leader are odious to the decent majority of Australians, the better.

I GET the distinct impression from the media that to many people the concept of multiculturalism is for us to divide ourselves into groups. A Muslim group, a Chinese an Aboriginal group, a women's group and so on. Some even go as far as to say that our parliaments should have people representing these different groups, in proportion to their number. These people would look after the particular needs of their group. We should, for example have 50 per cent women. What about gay, lesbian and transsexual representatives too? Not just plain, dull Australians, who don't understand. Why can't we all just be Australian?

AN excellent letter from John Denne (The Examiner, September 13) regarding the move of the university to Inveresk. Why do we have the mentality in Tassie that anything over 30 to 40 years should be done away with? What would have happened if Oxford and Cambridge had a use-by date the same number of years after they were built. Instead, 800 years later, people are honoured to be able to study there. I can't see anyone having the same urge to study at University of Tasmania when the courses they offer don't give one the same prestige as at other universities. As for 10,000 extra students coming and then spending money they don't have in the city, whoever thinks that hasn't been a student living on the smell of an oily rag. It's a bad move dreamt up by people who have nothing better to do.

HOORAY, we are getting a pay rise if you receive a Newstart or a pension of about $3-4 a fortnight, just don't tell our treasurer.   He's making noises like some pollies do every so often that the newstart allowance is too high and yet when he goes to Canberra, he can claim well over $200 a night while he sits in parliament. A lot of people would like to see if just one of them could survive on the allowance for a week, not for a day for publicity, because that's all we are doing is surviving and if you are lucky to get a low paid job for a few hours a week, you disappear from the statistics and more than likely your job service provider will make you jump through more hoops just to prove that you need the job.