Lobbyists, many with conflicts of interest, suggest that the legislation will not allow people under the age of 21 to sell tobacco.

This is incorrect and not part of the bill.

They also suggest there will be an increased burden on retailers due to the need to check identification at the time of purchase.

However, this is current practice, so the proposed change requires no extra effort.

Research into the impact on retailers of other changes related to tobacco sales, such as plain packaging, has shown a minimal impact on the time taken to process sales.

Tobacco is a significant issue for Tasmania with at least 550 deaths each year due to smoking.

It costs us over $400 million per year through health and social costs.

Who can forget the recent data about 40 per cent of people being smokers in some of Hobart's suburbs?

Retailers will benefit from a productive and healthy population with greater disposable income to spend.

I urge them to support efforts to reduce the impact of tobacco in Tasmania.

The Tobacco 21 legislation will not be a silver bullet, but it will be a step in the right direction by de-normalising and reducing access to tobacco.

EVERY day we hear the police and other organisations reminding us to drive to the conditions.

But how can anyone get through to idiots?

Wednesday morning was very foggy around Cressy and Longford.

I was driving behind a blue Holden Rodeo leaving Cressy.

Visibility would have been no more than 100 metres at the most.

This idiot driver overtook a vehicle in front of him on double white lines (there is a T-junction there).

The line of traffic was moving along at about 85 to 90km/h.

Stupidity at its best.

One wonders how to get through to people like that?

STUART Roberts spoke the truth when he called out the City of Launceston's utter mismanagement of the QVMAG.

This latest effort of closing down two gallery spacers holding important works in a significant component of the collections is a diabolical exemplar of inappropriate management.

Anyone with the opportunity to dig deeper will discover that this council operation is functionally unaccountable with almost all its decision-making made in a rather dark place somewhere. Anyone who has looked at museums and art galleries around the world will know that there are other ways to achieve whatever the QVMAG is supposedly attempting to achieve.

What is lost is that the QVMAG costs each and every ratepayer well over $150 a year and as often as not they might ask, for what?

The councillors are the trustees of important cultural material valued at something in excess of $240 million and the institution's policies are far from best practice.

In fact, the QVMAG looking forward, given the chance, could be the city's most valuable asset rather than one of its largest non-performing liabilities.

This institution is not a fiefdom nor a theme park. It belongs to Tasmania and Launcestonians and it is past time for some real accountability.

HOW fortunate Launceston is with the confluence of two rivers to form the Tamar estuary. Consequent to this is that a large flood plain was created.

Until recently with the completion of a comprehensive levee system, this was land not available for development.

Now it provides opportunity being capitalised on a university planning relocation, major retailers such as Bunnings and other exciting developments.

In spite of Geoff Smedley's reservations, relocation of the motor museum to this site will see a greatly expanded facility.

And then there is Errol Stewart, Launceston's fairy godfather.

Errol is really capitalising on exciting possibilities and his latest two apartment towers are both adventurous and fortuitous.

We must all wish Errol every success as his success has very much become our city's success.

A VERY real issue for the people of Launceston is the giving over of our beautiful city park as a playground to the mass of students of the poorly thought through university site.

It is very clear our learned boffins, with their short-sightedness, have given little thought to the very real consequences of the damage of this unhealthy decision. It will undoubtedly cost Launceston by losing access to one of its most beautiful public gardens by instead becoming a school ground with just what all that entails where people will refrain from going.

This whole saga reeks with so many real problems that education standards for such an institution must surely be in question.

Before we enter into yet another dramatic chapter of change, let us reflect on the calamities we are now experiencing through previous bad decision making rather than building to improve the future.