Bowel cancer
THERE have been quite a lot of different ways we have been made aware of being tested for bowel cancer of late. I saw where Bunnings North Launceston had an inflatable colon (The Examiner, June 5).
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
This being to make people aware of bowel cancer. Seeing this and reading about what it is meant to do, made me quite irate. I was sent a bowel cancer home testing kit, which I participated in.
In early January I received a letter regarding this test.
One of the two tests showed to be irregular, they suggested a visit to my GP who decided to do another two tests, which returned the same results, one being irregular. This resulted in my GP suggesting I see a doctor at the Gastroenterology clinic at the Launceston General Hospital.
As I don’t have private health insurance I have had to wait. This was early January. I have been given two appointments, both of which have been cancelled. I am now waiting to make my third appointment due at the end of July.
Early detection and medical procedures are recommended. What are my chances, six months down the track. It’s OK to push we have these tests by television ads, the big colon and home testing kits, but what’s the good when the health system is letting us down.
S. Williams, Waverley.
Council’s food van policy
EAT Street food vans are required to pay $2000 a year, be there four nights each week and renew licences every six months.
The conditions imposed by the council are so food-van-negative that only three vans have applied for the four available positions. Darren Alexander must be pleased.
At the same time a food van just outside the Town Hall, to service aldermen and council staff, less than 30 metres from the permanent coffee and food outlet in the library, seems to operate unimpeded with its biennial licence. Why is this so?
Eat Street vans meet the needs of families in a healthy open air environment and were highly successful before the council intruded. Does the council generosity towards its staff obviate its service to the wider community?
It is to be hoped ratepayers note the stance of individual aldermen in this sorry debacle, and remember when they vote in the October elections.
Dick James, Launceston.
Tasmania’s energy future
IT SEEMS the Basslink cable has been damaged by “cooking” and is likely to be unreliable. Tasmanian ownership should not be an option. We are being called the potential Battery of the Nation. If Tasmania became a guaranteed energy self-sufficient state, we could then sell surplus electrical energy at our shore, with profits directed towards reducing our power bills as well as filling state coffers.
John Snooks, West Launceston.
Unemployment stats
I AGREE completely with Ken Terry (Letters, The Examiner, June 12) that the unemployment figures put out by the government are a deliberate misrepresentation calculated to make the government look like it’s succeeding in creating jobs. A person can be deemed to be “employed” while working one hour a week.
This is deceptive and doesn’t reflect reality. The statistic we should be looking at is how many full-time jobs have been created during a particular time period and how many have been lost. Furthermore it is not the government that creates these jobs anyway.
It is the business community. If the full-time employment figures were published we could no longer be kidding ourselves that the government is doing such a fantastic job on our behalf.
The mantra of “jobs and growth” repeated ad nauseam, would be seen for what it is, an empty slogan.
Ed Tuleja, Meander.
Public Housing
I WONDER why when we have empty houses dotted around our city that are deemed as public houses for rent, that we can't place desperate families in these empty dwellings. Even if they are in slight disrepair. Surely if a family needs a roof over their head and agreement could be put into place that the new tenant could help with the painting and decorating for a reduced rent. Thus must be better than homeless people seeing houses empty that they could be living in.
Joanne Nevin, Youngtown.
Churches
I REFER to Ismae Quin’s letter (The Examiner, June 6). I fully endorse Ismae’s beliefs. I feel this whole fundraising is nothing more than stealing by another name. The fact that the leaders of the church allowed these actions to happen and continue without consequences is the biggest sin ever exposed. With regard to our little church St Michael’s and all Angels at Pyengana, with an attached active cemetery where generations of our families rest, and as mortals we will all look for somewhere to rest. I believe that if this action is to proceed it will only cause much anxiety, disrespect, anger and hatred. The church and cemetery, dare I say, are our own sacred ground.
Vaughan Oldham, Pyengana.
Unemployment numbers
I WOULD like to congratulate Ken Terry for his letter (The Examiner, June 12) pointing out the reality of unemployment figures. The government boasts about the jobs they have been created, yet the unemployment rate remains the same. And given the definition of employment, underemployment is obviously under-reported. That definition (one hour a week) is deliberately constructed to keep the headline numbers deceptively low. The really interesting thing is that the opposition don't dare mention these facts because, like the government, they have no answers to the big questions. It's because the solutions involve radical change, something they believe would frighten the electorate very much. If only they had vision enough to create ideas that are positive and exciting that would readily sell to the voters.
Geoff Mooney, Westbury.