Compulsory Cat Confinement
IT IS highly disappointing that the state government has decided to not legislate for compulsory confinement of pet cats. Instead, the government intends leaving it to each council to implement local by-laws (which is the case now) if they want to have powers to confine pet cats.
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When the draft Tasmanian Cat Management Plan was released in April 2016, Primary Industries Minister Jeremy Rockliff supported a phase-in of legislation to require pet cats to be confined to their property.
In response to a relatively low level of criticism from cat owners, the minister has now done a complete turn-around and wants no role for the state government in regulating cat confinement.
The minister's plan to leave it to councils to create by-laws is a guarantee of inaction. Even councils who are keen to control cats will probably not want to go down the lengthy and costly by-law process.
The Tasmanian Conservation Trust supported the proposal for compulsory confinement if the government phased in the ban, could provide low-income cat-owners with assistance to construct enclosures, ensured that penalties were fair and that councils were not forced to police containment laws.
The state government has ignored our recommendations and has instead given up taking any responsibility for cat confinement.
Perhaps the Legislative Council can take up these ideas and save the minister from a big mistake.
Peter McGlone, Director, Tasmanian Conservation Trust Inc.
Disconnect
RICHARD Hill in his letter (The Examiner, June 29) points out there is a serious disconnect between the minister and his highly paid bureaucracy in health.
The said reality it is not only in health, but also in education and human-community services manifest all too frequently.
What is going on?
It appears simply to be a breakdown in effective communication. Something needs to be done and soon, it can’t go on. It is pathetic in a state whose population is less than some municipalities in Melbourne or Sydney.
The late Bruce Proverbs of Launceston wrote an excellent book “Effective Business Communication”, it is in the state library and should be consulted urgently, it has a wonderful “Wizard of Id” cartoons that hit the nail on the head over and over again.
Malcolm Scott, Newstead.
Planet Abetz
THE ARTICLE on Senator Eric Abetz (The Examiner, July 1) gives us a glimpse of what it’s like to live on Planet Eric and it’s a baffling place to put it politely.
He condemns Christopher Pyne’s comments last week as being “singularly unhelpful for party unity” whilst conveniently forgetting all the policy positions he has helped to torpedo since the last election.
He talks of the need for conservatives and moderates to “learn to coexist” but ignores his own constant undermining of the moderate Liberal leadership.
Apparently, it is important to avoid skewing the party away from the centre, which is exactly what the Senator and his band of followers have been doing for the past 12 months.
Then there are his comments on marriage being about the children and the importance of having a biological mother and father for socialisation purposes.
Is he suggesting that anyone who grew up without a mother or a father, for whatever reason, are somehow inferior or incomplete?
His comments are an insult to anyone who doesn’t/didn’t have a happy, average, 2.4 children nuclear family.
The good senator is clearly living a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
Cody Handley, Hadspen.
Council
THE CITY of Launceston council needs to be congratulated on their decision to not contribute $40,000 to the Local Government Association of Tasmania for their so-called fighting fund to take the state government to court over their planned takeover of TasWater.
Money well and truly saved for better use. The more councils that take Launceston’s view and action the better.
David Parker, West Launceston.
Home of Hope Meander
ON BEHALF of our entire family all of whom are residents or ratepayers of the Meander area we would like to endorse the comments made by Annette Daffurn (The Examiner, July 2).
The former Meander School is an ideal site for the proposal put forward by Teen Challenge to provide a home for young women and their children in a time of need.
The local hall, sports oval and tennis court are all in close proximity and available for use as was the case when the school was operational.
For more than 120 years Meander School was a place of education and nurturing within a caring community, let us continue to do so into the future.
David and Christine Chilcott, Meander.
Political advertising
I NOTICE that over the past month a series of full page advertisements have appeared in The Examiner from the Tasmanian Liberal Senate team.
I would imagine that such advertisements are not cheap, even when a series of them is run.
I rang the Launceston office of the Senate team and asked why it was necessary to run these advertisements.
I was informed that they were run as the end of the financial year was approaching, so they were using their parliamentary allowance allocated for the financial year.
I would have thought that saving money rather than a use it or lose it mentality would benefit us all.
John Goold, Longford.
