Although the nine-year-old was wearing a full-face helmet it didn't protect him from the sort of injuries sustained in a rollover.

Many years ago I lost a close friend in a tractor rollover.

Now they have rollover frames to prevent this.

Similar rollover protection should be made mandatory on these machines, otherwise we will continue to see these tragedies over and over again.

ONCE again the $5000 art prize at Eskleigh is flooded by amateur renditions of landscapes and portraits instead of conceptual work that makes people think.

The camera was invented in the late 19th century so what's the point in representing physical features of landscapes and portraits with a paint brush.

I would like to encourage many of the senior citizen artists involved to go back to knitting, bingo or crossword puzzles if they have no idea what art is all about.

HEALTH Minister Michael Ferguson's decision to not accept the ACT's health minister invitation to examine festival pill testing is a sad indication of evangelical zeal overtaking common sense.

No one wants young people to take drugs, but sensible harm minimisation will mean less stress on emergency services and loss to families.

Face it, we have lost the war on drugs now we need to save our young.

LET me get this straight.

Damage to property and arson hot spots are not considered a priority.

What is considered a priority?

Dangerous armed drug bust training in the CBD? Looking good for the cameras in Underbelly: Chopper?

Maintaining the quota of children strip searched?

I got it, new Tasmania police designs to make their vehicles look like a weapon of fear.

DID I read that correctly?

The government is spending $600,000 a day on advertising to tell us that the are the good guys.

I'm sure all the people on the hospital waiting list would like to believe that if they weren't on the hospital waiting list.

YOUR correspondent Malcolm Scott (The Examiner, April 12) shares my disdain for the ongoing folly that is Tasmania's Legislative Council. Their latest unwanted intervention into policy-making rather than policy review only adds to the prevarication, indecision, endless referral of issues to committees and inexplicable decisions for which they are renowned.

And while I share Mr Scott's alarm at any proposal to further increase numbers in an already-corpulent government, sadly Tasmania's Legislative Council can only be dissolved by dissolving itself, which is never going to happen while a gravy train exists.

THE recent outrage against slaughterhouses by the vegans brings to mind another connection to slaughterhouses which possibly few have bothered to question.

Electroshock (ECT) was derived from a Roman slaughterhouse after Italian psychiatrist Ugo Cerletti saw pigs being shocked with electrodes on the sides of their heads.

Whilst we have the right to express our outrage at the treatment of animals, what happened to our genuine concern for human life?

A QUIET revolution has happened with state education in the past few years.

The leaving age is now effectively 18.

Thus children are in schools and colleges for two additional years.

There is no way our eight senior-secondary colleges could cope with this influx.

Hence the decision to extend high schools to year 12. Not all students are desirous of or headed towards university education.

Thus this extension is not limited to offering HSC subjects. It is important that a wide range of TAFE courses be recognised so that high schools throughout the state can offer subjects leading to trade qualifications.

Here the sky's the limit with courses extending beyond the woodwork, metalwork, mechanics, needlework and office skills.

New courses in aquaculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, viticulture amongst others should be part of the mix.

Last Sunday I was fortunate to make the trip to the Penguin Sports Complex to see the newly formed Tasmanian under-18 team perform against the Calder Cannons.

The local Ulverstone-Penguin council are to be congratulated on a magnificent sporting complex for their region.

We witnessed a wonderful game of football featuring some of the AFL stars of the future. However, I was very disappointed with AFL Tasmania, Trish Squires and her team who should be showcasing these young players.

Some 2000 plus supporters were left wondering who these players were, as there was no program available detailing the players and their numbers.

In addition, there was no ground announcer to even give us some commentary.

Please, Trish if you want us loyal supporters to watch the future stars, lift your game and at least provide some details.

The team wasn't even published in the newspaper. How are we ever going to get our own AFL Team if you can't get the basics right?