Folk Festival
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I WISH to publicly record my deep appreciation for the experience of participating in the recent Tamar Folk Festival at George Town.
I have travelled all over Australia as a bush poet/entertainer and I can honestly say the Tamar Festival is one of the best I have ever seen.
The Festival organisers, the George Town community volunteers, and the George Town Council deserve to be congratulated for putting on such a high class event.
The standard of musicianship was really terrific.
At a Bush Poet's breakfast I was truly impressed by the excellence of your local poets.
They were among the best I have seen, and it was wonderful entertainment for a large and appreciative audience.
The small community of George Town punched well above its weight, and was ably supported by friends from Launceston.
I noticed your newspaper was also very supportive, and I thank you for that.
I just wonder how many in Northern Tasmania, (a beautiful part of the world) understand what a gem this festival is.
To all involved, thank you.
- JIM BROWN, Victoria.
Government cliches
AS IT is expected it has not taken long for the state government to trot out the same tired mantras and cliches about everyone with a differing opinion being extreme, or any of the other words they use for their list of insults. It doesn't really indicate much depth of intellectual debate from the Liberal Party, when all they see are dollar signs for trashing the state.
- MAX WELLS, Sorell.
Councils
IN regards to council amalgamation in Tasmania, let me ask you one thing.
If it was a private corporation in charge of the council duties for all of Tasmania, would they have 29 head offices and chief executives?
- JAMES BIRD, Launceston.
Cricket
SOMETIMES sporting administration bodies get power crazy with their position of importance.
And grossly overstate their value to the game.
The banning of George Bailey from playing because of an over rate violation is nonsense.
You are depriving the cricketing public of watching this magnificent athlete.
Physical or racial altercations understandable, but for a game violation?
Without the cricketing public there would be no commercial interest, no sponsors, no media coverage.
You have other punishments in your power, match fines, allowances, etc.
Do not spoil the enjoyment of those who love and support the game so well, watching their favourite athletes.
- PETER DODDY, Trevallyn.
Tourism
HERE we go again, to the followers and believers of the Magic Pudding Party, you told us that blueberries, eco-tourism and electric cars would save our state from total economic disaster.
Unfortunately some blueberries have now been infected with an imported disease and the electric car is a luxury that is far out of reach financially for most Tasmanians.
The one thing that we can do and do well is eco-tourism, but, no, now that it is proposed all the MPP supporters are screaming out against any development without even knowing what is being proposed.
They are already trying to create the usual hysteria by claiming that four lane highways will be built up and over the Walls of Jerusalem and Cradle Mountain will have a wet and wild water park built in the saddle. To suggest that our wonderful wilderness will be destroyed by allowing small, low impact development on the fringe of some of Tasmania's wonderful attractions is just plain wrong.
Sensible environmental development can be achieved to create very unique tourism opportunities for Tasmania, so please to all the non believers either stop the constant bleating without offering any alternative or hop on your magic carpet and fly away.
- STEPHEN HARDCASTLE, Riverside.
Ratepayers
MOST ratepayers do not know how efficient their council and government are.
For instance what is their policy on paying accounts?
Do they insist, as do large private corporations on cash and settlement discounts for prompt under seven day payment?
Do their own staff do their own maintenance, or do they employ an expensive contractor to do the maintenance?
Do they insist on clauses in the tendering documents setting out deadlines for completion of a project, and enforce the guarantee if a problem occurs?
The above measures should be standard business practice, but alas many local and government bodies do not operate efficiently at all, and the lost discounts have to be paid by us the ratepayers.
In the case of Gunns Limited, they lost thousands of dollars, through not paying earlier, and getting the discount offered.
Small business is strengthened if they have their accounts settled within seven days, saving the fees on an overdraft, and allowing them to pay for their stock, promptly often gaining discounts along the way.
Tasmania needs to use the best business practice if we want to do business in a way we can improve our business rating.
- JIM CAMPBELL, Ulverstone.
Marriage Equality
I CHALLENGE Pat Gartlan to produce a professional poll from the last five years that backs up her claim of strong public opinion against marriage equality (Letters, January 20).
Every single poll I have seen, including one commissioned by the Australian Christian Lobby, shows the reform has majority support.
It's a long shot to claim that the current state and federal government were elected on a platform of opposing marriage equality, especially given how loudly opponents of the reform claimed before the election that it was "a non-issue" for most voters.
It's also a long shot to declare that a majority of federal MPs oppose the reform given all federal Liberals are bound by party policy to vote against it even though quite a few of them personally support it.
As for the parliamentary inquiries into marriage equality she cites, the two inquiries in 2012 received over a quarter of a million submissions, 64 per cent of which were in favour of allowing same-sex couples to marry.
The final word should go to the Liberal Party's own research company, Crosby/Textor, which found 72 per cent support for marriage equality.
- ANDREW BADCOCK, Convenor, Tasmanians United for Marriage Equality, Hobart.
NBN
NBN chief executive Bill Morrow says it all.
It was a waste of time, effort and money to service Scottsdale and George Town.
For those of us who live there and were promised a service two years ago we know that.
Rural areas are always dismissed as not worth the effort.
It is refreshing to have a corporate manager.
- DR. MICHAEL POWELL JP, Springfield.
Politicians
WATCHING President Barack Obama giving his State of the Union address, I wondered just who we have in politics, both state and federal, who would be as inspiring a speaker as the US President.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott doesn't exactly rock one's boat, especially as he needs to repeat phrases ad nauseam.
Then, heaven help us, we have the Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, who always look as though there is an unpleasant smell under his nose.
He only has negative things to say about the government, which would be fair enough if he put forward other policies that he is asked repeatedly to do.
If we do have intelligent, charismatic pollies please come forward.
Otherwise the electorate is going to be in a moribund state of utter boredom.
- GLENNIS SLEURINK, Launceston.
US
IS IT true that members US Congress and others in attendance for Obama's State of the Union address were given Barf Bags?
- JACK SONNEMANN, Lucaston.