WIN TV News
THE WIN management decision on its Tasmanian news displays a total lack of regard for our island state.
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How can someone based at Wollongong exercise editorial judgement and control on a Tasmanian bulletin when they could not be expected to have an understanding of our state's politics, social issues and other matters of concern?
To abandon any local weekend coverage across our state is appalling given that both major commercial networks have covered weekend news and sport in Tasmania since starting operations in the early ‘60s.
To offer a TEN Network bulletin from Melbourne to Hobart and Launceston and the rest of Tasmania is an insult and shows a cavalier attitude to viewers.
WIN management must reverse this ridiculous decision.
Paul Murphy, Former News Director, Southern Cross Television Launceston.
Vaccination
WHATEVER was the rationale behind Premier Will Hodgman and Health Minister Michael Ferguson's decision to have Australia Post circulate details about the meningococcal vaccination program to households in the state's North?
The letter we received clearly states this program is for the greater Hobart area, and for those aged six weeks to 20 years.
So why exactly was it considered necessary to waste goodness knows how much taxpayer money sending this information to households outside greater Hobart, when for the vast majority of Tasmanians, it's not remotely relevant? It would seem to be another example of the Liberals' very poor economic management.
Anne Layton-Bennett, Swan Bay.
Council Amalgamation
IT IS not really surprising that pressure for forced council amalgamations is increasing in the North as it is long overdue (The Examiner, August 5).
While Local Government Minister Peter Gutwein may not wish to pursue forced amalgamations saying the policy has failed in other states “because it hasn’t been supported and driven by local communities,” but when prominent bodies and people such as Neil Grose of the Launceston Chamber of Commerce, Michael Bailey of the Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, supported by City of Launceston council Alderman Danny Gibson, call for forced amalgamations, not forgetting the over 80 per cent who voted in support of such a move in a recent Examiner poll, Minister Gutwein, and the state government, should really start to listen to the growing call for decisive action in respect of council amalgamation.
Jim Collier, Legana.
Bath or Not
WITH all due respect to whoever filed the report about the toilet closure at Newstead, as an occasional user I can vouch for the fact that there are no baths there.
Having seen the confusion that Americans cause in Europe when needing to answer a call of nature - asking for the "bagno" in Italy instead of gabinetto and my wife having to explain to an American lady in desperate need what WC on a door on a Swiss ferry stood for I submit that, not being Americans, the average Australian does understand what a toilet is.
Richard Hill, Newstead.
Attraction enough
TOURISM Industry Council CEO Luke Martin is right about the proposal to dump HMAS Darwin in the pristine waters of Skeleton Bay, there are other projects that should take priority over the scuttling.
One that comes to mind is to hire divers to get rid of the crown of thorns starfish infestation in the North-Eeast, an ongoing and devastating environmental disaster. Recovery of the disappearing kelp beds will provide better habitat for fish than a pile of metal.
Funding to build affordable housing for locals forced out of rental properties due to the rise of Airbnb properties for tourism is another more important option.
Break O' Day Council has already been granted $2.5 million for mountain bike tracks through sensitive environmental areas to increase tourism to an area already bursting at the seams with visitors in summer.
We don't need another attraction. The main attraction of the area is its natural beauty, which is slowly but surely being degraded with more car parks, huge holiday houses and other infrastructure to cope with extra visitation. Forget about the pristine waters of Skeleton Bay, it won't be pristine anymore with tons of dumped metal in it.
Beris Hansberry, Goulds Country.
Education vital
TEACHING tourists how to appreciate the ocean as it is, without needing to sink metal into its depths for their entertainment, is a much more sensible venture for the state government to invest $6 million into and far more respectful towards those who will need to live with the metal on a daily basis. Fish included.
Tani Langoulant, Scammander.
Bigger issues
GIVEN the problems associated with ambulance ramping and the statewide plight of the homeless, the sinking of HMAS Darwin cannot be supported.
A better use for the Darwin would be for emergency housing in Launceston or Hobart, until the state government catches up with demand for lower cost accommodation. Alternatively, sell it for scrap so the money can be used for our hospitals and or to accommodate those who find themselves homeless.
As a past commercial diver, who has dived this site, Skeleton Bay is a beautiful natural dive site and needs to be protected as such.
We don't need it to be turned into a false Disneyland for one person and a handful of tourist divers. Use HMAS Darwin, don't waste it.
Bill Manning, Four Mile Creek.