Just a thought for those volunteers and junior coaches, such as Trent Hadley at the Riverside pool, who was the first swim coach of both.  

Are there more of these dedicated people who contribute to raising up of the potential, so they can climb the maintain these athletes have done.

Is this the last generation of volunteers who for generations have provided the stepping stones for our elite?  

SURELY when a police officer takes a person into custody he or she has a duty to also protect that prisoner from harm of any sort.

What we saw on that video from Victoria Police was brutality of the worst kind, to my mind no different to the treatment received by the residents of Dondale or of all the other institutions –  for which hundreds of thousands have been paid in compensation.

Perhaps some legal firm needs to get involved in this fast signed.

I RECEIVED an undated letter from Liberal Senator David Bushby headed: “Labor’s attack on your savings” and expressing concern for pensioners, retirees and low income earners.

How absolutely ironic.

On October 13, 2015 I received a letter from Centrelink headed: “Changes to the assessment of income from defined benefit income streams”.

In 2015 the Coalition and very surprisingly with the support of the Greens voted to pass the “Defined Benefits Income Stream Act” in the Senate.

I doubt the full implications were fully understood.

It was supposed to affect millionaires, but many, many thousands of low income pensioners, like myself, had their Centrelink payment viciously slashed, because they had paid sacrificially into a pension fund all their working life.

I lost $27 a fortnight or $708 a year.

It drastically affected my standard of living.

Senator Bushby’s letter shows that politicians are out of touch and have very short memories.

THE ban on the Australian cricketers is seen by some as too steep for the relatively minor offence of ball tampering when compared to penalties for similar offences in the past.  

But this was not just a rush of blood in the heat of battle, it was not a spur-of-the-moment lapse of judgment, but a premeditated conspiracy to enter the ground with the intention of tampering with the ball in an effort to cheat.

It is this unsportsmanlike behaviour that offends Australians more than the mere act perpetrated.

It is for this that the harshest penalties are given and rightfully so.

Most Australians would prefer that the Australian team retain their dignity, honour and reputation even if they have to lose matches to do so.

LABOR’S policy to train jobseekers for jobs that do not exist is just as big a waste of money as the Work for the Dole program.

Employers would need more workers if the federal government was to introduce a shorter working week.

IT WOULD appear the civilised world has come to an end since we have found our cricketers to be nothing more than sinners, this is especially poignantly so in this Easter week.  

How different they are from the rest of us, for they actually are in need of salvation, so unlike us.

I wonder if we can possibly find it within our hearts to forgive them, as I seem to recall something about forgiveness underpinning Jesus death and resurrection.

HAVING just spent 16 days at the Launceston General Hospital I cannot speak more highly of the place.

Not the place for a holiday, but the best place in Launceston when you are ill.

Personally I didn't encounter one grumpy face from the domestic staff to the medical experts.

This is a teaching/learning establishment and it was incredible to watch the mature staff nurturing and encouraging the more junior to gain confidence and expertise in their roles.

As a retired educator I was absolutely delighted to meet seven former pupils who are working in their chosen profession - well done ladies.

I do not want to return in the near future, but if this happens I know I will be in safe,caring, capable hands.

IN RESPONSE to Dick James’ glowing account of Tamar Barrage I say ‘all that glitters is not gold’ (The Examiner, April 8).

Do people really believe that the ramifications will all be positive?

Here is a reality check folks from an estuarine scientist, there are too many negative consequences to mention here and they far outweigh the positives.

I implore people to do their own research and by that I mean read the scientific papers (search Google Scholar).

While we wait for their recommendations, let us hope that the Tamar Estuary Management Task Force have had the good sense to do just that.