Dung Beetle Research
Charles Sturt University will lead a $23 million program for dung beetle research.
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Full recognition should be given to Mr Doug Kershaw OAM, who lived in North East Tasmania.
Mr Kershaw received his award for the introduction of dung beetles into Tasmania and posted them all over Australia.
He was a quiet unassuming man who believed in the power of these incredible beetles that reduce the need for artificial soil enhancement.
Thank you for your foresight and your legacy.
Wendy McLennan, Bridport
Racism
FATHER Brendan Lee asks if we are confused about racism (The Examiner, September 12).
The answer is yes, some people are.
However, there are some who use it as a club to beat up, metaphorically speaking anyone with a different viewpoint.
I am in theory a Christian, this religion is in many countries taking a beating from Islam, in fact some would like to see my head separated from my body.
Am I being racist?
Of course not, just being truthful, but not everyone can handle the truth.
Ron Baines, Kings Meadows.
Sealed Roads
CAN anyone tell me if the company who sealed the north end of Franklin Street, George Town between Main Road and Victoria Street (twice) are the same company who sealed the Cimitiere Street section of the road heading towards Kmart.
Very similar, both have big holes in them.
Steve Clark, George Town.
GST on second-hand goods
GST on second hand goods such as cars greatly disadvantages the less wealthy as the proportion of the product’s value in GST rises well above 10 per cent.
A car selling new for $20,000 attracts 10 per cent GST, 9.1 per cent of the cars value.
If it then resells for half that the GST will be levied on the $11,000 sale price so that the total GST will include $1000 residual from the first sale and $1100 from the second sale, a total of $2100 or 17.4 per cent of the cars value.
Resold for half again the total GST rises to $1655 or 21.5 per cent of the car’s value.
One might argue that the GST is simply added to the car and is not part of its value, however a $20,000 car only costs $3000 to build, markup, duties, profit, transport and taxes make up the rest.
Why does Labor tolerate gouging of the poor who pay far higher GST than the wealthy who can afford to buy new?
Robert Karl Stonjek, Kings Meadows.
AFL
GEOFF Lyons’ letter dated (The Examiner, September 14) regarding the AFL’s rule changes misses the target.
The primary objective is to free up the biggest blight on the game – congestion.
This season’s record breaking attendances up by a projected 300,000 fans is a healthy stat indeed.
Now the burning question is can the AFL get lucky with the long-suffering Demons and make it a third fairytale finale in a row, following the Bulldogs and Tigers.
Rob Booth, Riverside.
Question time
RECENTLY I thought it would be a good idea to listen to federal parliamentary question time on my way home from Hobart, nothing’s changed I noticed.
Personal attacks, avoidance of answers to questions asked, (instead they chose to fill in the allotted response time with complete diatribe so as to avoid answering them) and while this is going on they are consistently being told by the speaker to settle down or he will remove the main protagonists from the house.
These are the very same people we elected to represent us as leaders and in doing so one would think they would demonstrate values, ethics, compassion and most importantly, common mutual respect, despite their many differing views and policies.
Often they have school children in parliament watching on, what an example to set to our future leaders.
In such a politically correct era, why do we still accept this behaviour from our elected members?
This regular question time debacle appears to achieve very little and as usual it’s mostly about themselves .
If only they would grow up and be the leaders that the public, in good faith, elected them all to be.
I, like many others, are over the lot of them at the moment .
Todd Lambert, Devon Hills.
Appeasement
DESPITE all the promises of loyalty to our new Prime Minister by appointing opponents of Malcolm Turnbull into the cabinet, I assume Scott Morrison believes that he can heal the huge rift in the Coalition.
How can our politicians change allegiance so easily, and will they be just as willing to push for a change when times get tough again?
A. Carter, Mowbray.
No comfort
I NOTED recently in a letter to the editor someone taking great comfort from the fact that Scott Morrison is a Christian.
Sadly, I get no comfort at all from that fact.
In the first place, most politicians (notably Scott Morrison, like Tony Abbott before him) have made it very, very clear that they do not intend to let their Christianity interfere with their political lives.
So, did Jesus say “Love one another as I have loved you, except when it might damage your political career”?
No, don’t think so.
But they do.
And the absolute proof of that is the treatment of vulnerable people in our society, the old, the sick, the unemployed, the homeless.
In the treatment of asylum seekers it has reached criminal levels.
Only the very naïve could believe a new dawn will arise because Scott Morrison (or any other politician) is a Christian.