Cemetery Management
IT was admirable of the Anglican Church to offer Tasmanian properties for sale in order to raise money to compensate abuse victims.
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Communities were concerned about what would happen to their beloved churches and cemeteries. In response to this, the Burial and Cremation Act was amended in late 2018, but this has had repercussions for a select group of homeowners in Tasmania which were not taken into consideration.
We are trying to sell our lovely converted church in Bracknell after 14 years of private ownership. One part of our backyard includes a cemetery.
The law dictates that only a body corporate with perpetual succession can purchase our property. The idea behind this is that in the case of illness or death there would be another person able to continue managing the cemetery.
Ours was officially closed in the 1970s.
We only receive visitors sporadically and a body corporate is completely unnecessary.
Even the government are unclear on exactly what we need to do and all options we have looked in to are not feasible.
Communities across Tasmania are struggling trying to acquire their local cemeteries in line with the legislation.
It doesn't need to be this hard.
If things don't change, nobody will want to purchase converted churches and cemeteries will lie neglected. The Anglican Church will have a very hard time raising funds if they can't sell their properties.
I have been reassured that the act is being reviewed later in the year. Fingers crossed.
Lucy Poulton, Bracknell.
Solomon Islands visit
How come the Prime Minister of Australia can give away some $250 million dollars to the Solomon Islands and our hospitals in Tasmania are in distress from lack of funds.
Come on Scott Morrison or whatever they call you, get your priorities straight.
And while I am at it, why is the government of Australia talking about bringing in foreign workers from the Solomon Islands or anywhere else to fill so-called job vacancies here. Why are not the unemployed here given those jobs, if they exist?
Wake up Australia.
Terance Weeks, Westbury.
AFL Application
IN (The Examiner, June 5) it was announced that the personnel to advance Tasmania's bid for admission to the AFL have been chosen.
Seems strange that this could not be achieved until after the federal election.
That is until it is realised that the Coalition propaganda perpetuated the blatant lie that it was to be a team for Hobart.
If this should occur, the sole reason would be that the ground in question is in the electorate of the premier. As this was a calculated mistruth, perhaps the person who endorsed it should be held to account. Incidentally, it is my prediction that most of the said personnel will be long gone before admission becomes a done deal.
D Palmer, Newnham.
Freedom of Speech
LEICA Wagner states in (The Examiner, June 3) that freedom of speech has limits, well sorry Leica, if there are limits it's not freedom. Because you don't like what is said, is not a justification to stop the comments made.
Ron Baines, Kings Meadows.
Brendan Lee Column
BRENDAN Lee (The Examiner, May 29) seems to be living in a self-generated delusional bubble. What a long-winded fiction just to say he thought the losers of the federal election were saying silly things.
He then went on to dream up scenarios imagining conservatives abandoning their conservative allies under duress, but that Liberals would support each other.
The research suggests the opposite ref. J. Haidt. Lee seems to describe his own personality rather than anything to do with conservatives or Liberals in general.
Then it was on to youngsters being "horrid" because they passively played dead in the street in a responsible attempt to attract the attention of our conservative, climate-denying government.
Finally, he confounded Liberals with vegans and claimed that Liberal ideas are only held by a minority of people.
Show me the data. He claims this playing dead was aggressive intimidation of the majority by a minority. Well, claiming that religiously-based myths provide justification to single out minority groups for persecution and/or exclusion is a far more aggressive and indefensible act. I know it was an opinion piece and it is my opinion that this article is absolute nonsense.
Mark Fyfe, Riverside.
Tamar River Funding
WOW, $180 million dollars for TasWater in the latest state budget for its infrastructure program which will include improvements to the Launceston combined sewerage and stormwater system bringing the total invested into sewerage and water infrastructure to $300 million over a 10-year period (The Examiner, May 25).
Treasurer Peter Gutwein says "TasWater in it's 10-year plan has a further $280 million costed into it to do the Launceston Integrated Sewerage Plan," while describing the Tamar, quite rightly, as "the jewel in the crown of this city".
Sounds wonderful, but is it really especially given the long 10-year time frame involved following calls for over 100 years to make this happen, and will it completely stop sewage from entering the river or merely reduce it to what some consider an acceptable level?
Such a shame TasWater, and it's masters, didn't see the need to approach both major political parties prior to the recent federal election for additional funding to both speed up the programme and introduce a sewage system (tertiary treatment?) which will fully eliminate sewage entering the Tamar (Kanamaluka) River.