Crazy thinking
The Owen Bartrop letter (The Sunday Examiner, December 30) is shaming when he defends the hotels and casinos who want paid employees to train unpaid to detect compulsive gamblers.
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These employees are often casual workers who are too often part of the working poor.
United Voice spokesperson Celeste Miller's stance against unpaid training is to be commended as it has huge costly legal issues for staff member who enact their assumption of a compulsive gambler.
Legal challenges will be at the peril of the employees wellbeing, costs and job security.
Ms Miller has duty of care for the union members and workers to avoid entrapment in named redress writs that could outweigh their annual income by alleged addicts who prove non addiction. Yes volunteers can train for free to help those who hands up declare compulsive gamblers problems.
Surely governments can increase any profit levy to cover this training and legislate protection for workers snared in court action?
Being a health matter, the minister’s history of not being proactive gives little hope to promoting protection of employees/staff.
Volunteers are in a tenuous position as they face being booted out of gaming venues. They remain at the other end picking up broken families after the the last dollar has been taken by the venue.
Given certification is needed to attain work in the first place, usually casualised jobs, it is little to ask the employers making the profit that help create these social problems to provide paid training.
One ponders Mr Bartrop's position or is it he just does not realise the potential legal costs for naming assumed compulsive gamblers.
An employer, manager or lawyer perhaps?
Mike Grey, Margate.
It’s not the 1930s
I read with some trepidation a letter written by Owen Bartrop. Does he really think we are better served by employers who can force their employees to work unpaid time, justified by calling it training to assist those who have a gambling problem?
For example, if an employee said to a patron ‘sir, I can not let you gamble anymore tonight’ what does he think would be the response?
It causes enough problems to bar staff with drinkers who cause fights inside and outside hotels.
Either they want staff who are trained to do their job or they don’t, we are not living in the 1930s.
Doreen Baker, West Launceston.
Health outcomes
A good honest assessment of Tasmania’s health system by Minister Michael Ferguson (The Examiner, December 30-31).
Unfortunately, there are those who stand on the sidelines and say, ‘more money, more money, more money’, but this will never solve problems self-inflicted by so many.
The health system does not create healthy Tasmanians; it merely tries to patch up the damage we cause ourselves by indulgent lifestyles.
I urge all to make New Year resolutions to do two things – moderate behaviours and be more active in your own best interests.
Know that excesses lead to health breakdown and activity, physical and mental, leads to good outcomes.
Don’t be a lemming indifferently rushing to the precipice of ill health.
As an 84-year-old enjoying good health, I believe I can now preach.
Dick James, Launceston.
Clive Palmer
For the last few weeks, we've been bombarded with a Donald Trump look-a-like, namely Clive Palmer.
He is urging we gullible voters to vote for his party to make Australia great.
Ring any bells?
Mr Palmer rails against the current for various reasons but isn't he the man who closed one of his businesses and left people in the lurch?
Donald Trump ran and, unfortunately, won, on draining the swamp only to fill it with relatives and cronies and to carry on as if he was still in the entertainment industry.
I guess he is as we all have a good laugh at his antics while wondering when world war III will start.
If Mr Palmer wants to be elected he should be willing to put his name to the adverts and tell us all of his past business dealings.
Glennis Sleurink, Launceston.
Bulk-billing lies
Malcolm Tilsley has correctly identified the elements of so-called fake news concerning bulk-billing for health services in Tasmania.
Both examples do not reflect Tilsley’s professional knowledge concerning this issue.
They are both distortions of the truth for base political purposes.
However, these are just two examples of the rampant distortion of truth extant in our nation let alone the rest of the world.
In Australia, we have witnessed the extent of this phenomenon revealed by the Hayne Royal Commission since it first started in March 2018.
Distortion of the truth (more commonly known as lies when Tilsley and I were boys) fabrication, deceit, misrepresentation and fraudulent and criminal behaviour are now commonplace.
Worse is the fact that this gross misbehaviour is now widely exercised by some of the most influential leaders of the nation; in government, in businesses and in many sectarian institutions.
I have no answers as to just how, as a nation, we turn this foundering ship around, however, I do know that it must be done.
Perhaps starting at the top is the answer, that is, leading by example.
All politician, in particular, should take note.