School memories
WATCHING the news on October 24 I felt sad for the great and dedicated teachers I had at school. Riverside Primary, Longford Primary, West Launceston Primary. All public schools. I went to Brooks High School and become an electrician.
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In my time I cannot remember when a teacher said: “I want more money to teach these kids.” I cannot remember a strike. Their dedication and knowledge was unbelievable. Blackboards and chalk, no computers, no photocopiers.
These teachers today seem to have very little dedication to their job. I am thankful I was educated when teachers had substance and knowledge.
This strike by teachers both disappoints and disgusts me. It’s also a sad day to see members of parliament showing their support to gain political traction from the unions .
Steve Rogers, Launceston.
JBS
ARE the employees at JBS Devonport who are going to lose their jobs also going to lose any wages and benefits they are entitled to?
Will the company just hire new staff six months later? Is any form of support going to be taken from them, because this is exactly what happened at Longford.
How can we believe a word JBS says when they show they do not care about their staff?
Davis Seecamp, Trevallyn.
Church Sales
THE whole debacle over church sales and now alarmist statements by the Bishop over graveyards have given the Anglican Church an atrocious image in the eyes of the people of Tasmania.
The whole sad saga of a naive very poorly conceived money grab by the church, has caused great distress to many people especially in rural areas where mental health is a very real problem.
I remind readers, that only $6 million of the $20 million that is hoped to be raised will go to redress
I hope most sincerely that Saint Martin’s Church, which is partly war memorial, in the isolated distressed community of Queenstown will not be sold.
Malcolm Scott, Newstead.
Aboriginal Seat
IF THE size of the Tasmanian parliament is to increase then room should be made for an Aboriginal seat. The electorate would be statewide, enabling Aboriginals to stand or vote for their people or vote in the general electorate. They could not vote twice - for an Aboriginal as well as general candidates.
NZ originally began with four Maori seats in parliament 170 years ago and now has seven Maori seats. The makeup of parliament is meant to reflect the people they govern. There is no Aboriginal among the 40 members. For 200 years the electoral system has ensured Aboriginals could not vote an Aboriginal into parliament.
Imagine an elected Aboriginal raising issues of dispossession, genocide and responsibility. The person would add a spark to dull proceedings and give young Aboriginals something to aim for as representatives of their people and issues.
All that is required is an amendment to the Greens proposal to increase the number of politicians to accommodate an Aboriginal seat. Aborigines either have a right to govern, or a right to be governed - which is it?
Michael Mansell, Launceston.
Mall Upgrade
IN THE Examiner, (October 8) Geoff McLean suggests that one would have to be incredibly careless to trip over the Tasmanian tiger sculptures in the mall.
I would suggest that for the visually impaired, that they are incredibly dangerous.
John Boyle, Riverside.
Tourist Attraction
USE volunteer labor to build the world's largest pyramid at the Tamar pulp mill site.
This structure can be made from used car tyres, filled with earth and planted with flowering shrubs.
Leon Cooper, St Leonards.
Progressive Politics
WHAT a topsy turvy world we live in.
That appealing label “progressive” has been hijacked by the left hell bent on returning us to the past.
That’s not to suggest we try to make the term “regressive” equally appealing but rather deter both sides of politics from using ambiguous terms.
Gordon Thurlow, Launceston.
Political Leaders
WHEN I was a kid, many years ago now, we used to play musical chairs at birthday parties.
Now, Australian political parties play musical leaders.
Richard Hill, Newstead.
Program switch
AM I the only one who was caught out on October 18 by 9Gem.
I was watching my usual programs, then after one finished there was a switch to Nine Sports to a netball game.
What the hell is going on here, or, have I missed something?
Richard Cooke, Invermay.
Missus
REFERRING to the name Missus (The Examiner, October 18) until women’s lib kicked in, the ’70s married women were always called the missus, I was one of them.
I didn’t even rate a name, just the missus when introduced to anyone.
We just expected it then even though we didn’t like it.
Thank heavens for women lib coming along because that’s when we questioned the way we were treated.