Religious Beliefs
SO SOME people believe a baker should have the right to refuse to bake a cake for a same-sex couple because they do not agree with their beliefs?
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What nonsense are we promoting here?
Is that really any different from someone refusing to give service to a Labor voter because their belief follows Liberal or Green mantra?
Many people hold a number of views with religious conviction and those views do not necessarily have anything to do with any traditional religion.
So we open the doors of discrimination to anyone who disagrees with another opinion or conviction?
That would be a slippery path without any logical boundary and one that makes one wonder about the mental capacity of those promoting it as it effectively promotes bigotry.
Hopefully commonsense will prevail, even if it does not suit a minority in our midst who use religion as a smoke screen for their prejudices.
John Coulson, Dilston.
Motorcycle Rider Training
NICK Moore had a letter in (The Examiner, November 8) regarding proposed increases by the MAIB for Tasmanian motorcycle riders.
Of course the state government has decided to come up with a new plan to keep learner motorcycle riders on the road without any thought whatsoever about actually teaching them anything.
If the instructors were doing their job properly we would not be seeing riders on their L and P-plates (and other riders as well) riding around in shorts, T-shirts and joggers.
Bitumen and skin do not have a happy relationship when they get together at 10km/h let alone 60km/h.
It wasn't that long ago I observed a P-plater get on his motorbike and take off without doing up his helmet strap.
Some years ago now, probably the late 1970s or early 1980s, everyone in Tasmania that held a full motorcycle licence had to pay a $10 fee on top of their licence fee which was supposed to go towards rider education courses. I think they managed to spend a few dollars of that on "witches hats" in the rider training venues. So for at least 30 years the licenced motorcyclists paid for other motorcyclists to train other motorcyclists using our money.
As part of the current motorcycle learner rules, we are told that it is alright for a learner rider to carry a pillion passenger as long as that pillion passenger has had a full bike licence for more than three years. How ridiculous is that?
John Denne, Longford.
Upper Houses
I HAVE written before about the uselessness of the Senate, due to it being a house of obstruction if controlled by the opposition and cross benches, and a rubber stamp if controlled by the government.
The state Legislative Council was a shining light on how democracy should work. Unfortunately now both parties field candidates in the upper house it has diminished its value.
With Labor now having four MLCs it will be almost impossible for the Liberal government to get legislation through.
If Labor wins the next state election it will be a rubber stamp.
Ivan Dean is correct when he mentions the shortcomings of the present system.
The only way to avoid the problem is to bar parties from standing for the Legislative Council or do away with an upper house, as in Queensland.
Graeme Barwick, Riverside.
Craft Fair
THE annual Deloraine Craft Fair was an amazing event.
So too was the Meander Valley’s once a year spruce up of the town.
A.R. Trounson, Needles.
Large Electric Batteries
SILLY me for assuming enlarging those electric power batteries implied they would be useful on calm, drizzly days.
But even I was able to spot the con of a supermarket claiming it had doubled its size. All I could detect was a doubling of the width of the entrances.
Gordon Thurlow, Launceston.
Dual Citizens
I AM the son of British parents. My father and his four brothers fought in World War I,and only four returned home, they put their bodies on the line for their country. They all immigrated to Australia in the early 1920s to take on a soldier settlement farm in Victoria.
Three droughts put an end to their dreams. All remained in Australia battling through the depression raising families of "Aussie boys and girls". Should my bloodlines be questioned on the legality of voting in a federal election? Red, white and blue, what does it mean to you? One word comes to mind for dual citizenship – cranky.
Hugh Boyd, Prospect Vale.
Marriage
EVERY person on the electoral roll was asked "should the law be changed”? Less than 50 per cent of all those people said it should be. So much for Australia votes yes. They did not.
Raymond Smith, Newstead.
One Nation
PAULINE Hanson’s One Nation has applied for registration as a political party in Tasmania. In the forthcoming state election and if it wins one seat or as is conceivable looks like holding the balance of power, the governor will have to excuse herself from the vital function on whom to call upon to form government, as the governor spoke and versely about Pauline Hanson and therefore would not be seen as impartial. The role would fall to the deputy governor, namely the Chief Justice.
One member of parliament implied One Nation was not welcome in Tasmania, that was unwise as such comments resonate with those disaffected by the major parties and there appears to be many in that position.