Mr Pervan is one of the country's most experienced, skilled and trusted health administrators. There is nobody else who could do the job he has done in the department.

He has steered through its most difficult times in living memory, it will be impossible to replace him. This can be seen as nothing other than an undeserved demotion.

Of course, it avoids a substantial payout which would have been likely for someone only part-way through a contract.

Michael Pervan has fought a brave and unremitting battle to preserve as much of this state's hospital system as possible under the onslaught of savage budget cuts that have seen the system he has served for so long reach such a state of dysfunction.

But without Mr Pervan at its head, it would have been very much worse.

This is a man who has been prepared, repeatedly, to tell the truth to power.

Now, those in power have struck back.

This valuable and decent official is being set up by his political masters as the scapegoat for the wrongs they have inflicted on Tasmania's public hospitals, on their staff and, above all, on patients. It will solve nothing, and make matters worse.

CITY of Launceston's general manager Michael Stretton's audacious initiatives flagged in (The Examiner, August 20) should be welcomed by anyone concerned about where local government is headed in Tasmania.

Given that the elected representatives on councils are so constrained by outdated and outmoded legislation, it seems that the only way forward is to act decisively and do so directly. Councils' governance roles, it seems, need their operational wings to step up to the plate and become increasingly proactive as City of Launceston's general manager seems to be doing. His action should be understood for what it is.

As they say in the classics, the GM is giving the status quo "a bloody good shake" and it is about time.

Now is not the time for residents and ratepayers to stand back, as it is now that they need to engage with council's to get transparent and accountable governance.

I READ in (The Examiner, August 19) that only 9 per cent of northern suburbs residents have a university degree.

So the powers that be at UTAS decide to solve the problem by moving the campus further away from those areas.

Students will need to spend more on transport when their income is already stretched. Do the people who made this decision have any sort of degree?

IT is with much excitement that I await the skyway at the Launceston Gorge.

What a wonderful Idea.

It will proudly show off an amazing place that not everyone can access until now.

Finally some progressive tourism.

Love it, good job.

I THINK meatless Monday is an excellent idea to give people an idea of how delicious food can be without meat. So many health benefits, no cruel slaughtering of animals and it will reduce carbon emissions.

SERIOUSLY, these people cannot be for real thinking that events that were meat-free would even be engaged by the community.

What is this country coming to with all these minorities trying to control things on their little misguided power trips?

We have far greater issues in our communities than if we fire up the barbie for the iconic Aussie past time. What, tofu snags?

I don't think it will cut it with the wider community - come back to earth.

I HAVE one question for PETA.

What are all the people that rely on our farms and other associated industries supposed to do when they are getting no income from the farms that this lot of idiots want to close down?

They are living in la-la land to think this is the answer to all the world's climate change.

IN M. Chugg's letter (The Examiner, August 12) the mysterious M Chugg chooses to insult those of us that accept the science of climate change. It is to respond in a similar vein. Although not a doctor or climate scientist, I strongly believe that M. Chugg presents as someone with a serious case of advanced myopia.

Causation can be attributed to continued failure to recognise relevant information.

It is typically a deteriorating condition as evidenced by many letters from the afflicted over the years. Unfortunately, no known cure for willful ignorance has yet been found.

M. Chugg also believes that no reader of this paper is aware of the case of Professor Peter Ridd. How contemptuous given the multiplicity of news and information sources readily available.

Not all of us live in our own little bubble oblivious to the wider world.