Returned service people
EXCELLENT contribution to The Sunday Examiner by Jo Palmer regarding returned servicemen and women. The article, while true to life, had a paragraph regarding service given by service women and men doing whatever had to be done to achieve the desired outcome in war-like environment.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
At various services, we, the people, are reminded to honour those who didn’t return and the ones with injuries be remembered for their sacrifice. After the 11am ceremony in Launceston, a lady came out of the crowd and sincerely said “thank you” and promptly disappeared into the crowd.
This was my first and only experience where someone who thought enough of a ex-service man wearing medals and the services he had given to his country, to offer simple appreciation. While this incident drew a tear, the pen of Mrs Palmer said the same but in print, and passed the same message to her young family and to her readers. Thanks Mrs Palmer, keep up the good work.
Des Taylor, Launceston.
Banks
IT HAS been rare for me to go into a local bank and find more than two tellers on duty. The banks, with one exception, have five or more places for their tellers. Result: more money for the banks, fewer paid employees and less customer satisfaction. Now they take up TV time in explaining how the new levy will hamper their activities and be a burden on customers and shareholders.
When they pay their senior executives multi-million dollar salaries, and are subject to parliamentary criticism about their activities, not to mention the threat of a Royal Commission, one is amazed that they still protest unfair treatment.
Mike Adams, Swan Bay.
Housing affordability
WE WERE warned the Budget would do little to help first home buyers and so it proved. It is difficult to understand the coalition’s position in respect of Superannuation, on the one hand they want retirees to be self sufficient but then wants to allow people to detach funds for a housing deposit which will reduce their return at retirement time and will have to rely on the Age Pension to plug the gap. As for elderly house owners downsizing probably they will look for a unit close to their existing home which are much sought after and are no cheaper and often more expensive than a house. After payment of agent's commission, moving expenses and stamp duty any gain will be hardly worth the upheaval. The budget has been described “Labor like” so why not go the whole hog and tackle the major problem of negative gearing after all most politicians have already built their portfolio of investment properties.
A Carter, Mowbray.
Safe Schools
RODNEY Croome, (The Examiner, May 10) is wrong to assert that the Australian Christian Lobby has “angrily denounced just about everyone who has sought to help LGBTI young people”. As I reiterated in my article, all forms of bullying are totally unacceptable. We have consistently said programs like ‘Safe Schools’ have a narrow focus and dangerous agendas that could put children and young people, including LGBTI students, at risk. When the author of the program says it’s not actually about bullying then alarm bells should go off. Australia’s peak anti-bullying body - the National Centre Against Bullying suggests – “a universal, whole-school approach, taking a multi-faceted approach, rather than focusing on one single component”.
World expert on bullying Professor Ken Rigby speaks highly of one such program - the KiVa program from Finland. One of its key planks is the focus on the bystander or witness to bullying and teaching them ways they can step in and support those being victimised. I have highlighted this program to our Education Minister.