To confirm, TasTAFE has not cut teacher numbers.

We have collaborated with industry to find solutions, including five additional trades teachers and four new nursing teachers, with more teaching positions in the final stages of recruitment.

The resignation of 10 teachers over two years is simply natural attrition for an organisation that employs over 800 staff.

Significant investment is being made to improve TasTAFE facilities through establishing two new centres of excellence for agriculture and water and trades - as well as $5 million in upgrades and refurbishments at Alanvale campus and nursing facilities statewide.

Drysdale South's restaurant will also be upgraded over the summer period.

TasTAFE was recently re-registered for the maximum period of seven years by the Australian Skills Quality Authority, which means the national regulator have confidence in the quality of training being delivered by TasTAFE.

I congratulate all our staff who contributed to this fantastic achievement. Our overall student satisfaction with training stands at 89 per cent and overall employer satisfaction at 87 per cent. These are excellent results for an organisation delivering to over 20,000 enrolled students each year.

TasTAFE is proud of the important role we play in delivering Tasmanian's skilled workforce and we will continue to work with industry and the state government to meet the state's skills needs.

TasTAFE is far from being an organisation in crisis - nothing could be further from the truth. TasTAFE have worked extremely hard over the last two years to provide quality services to the people of Tasmania, its industry and community.

AFTER reading so much about the location of the proposed new prison, I wonder how much thought was given when choosing Westbury?

Westbury is a very small village with no bank, no local buses or taxis, no fully manned police station and only a very small potential workforce, and no hospital.

Surely Burnie or Devonport would be more sensible if the prison has to be in the North?

MENTAL health in the wild fishing sector Australia wide is twice the Australian average according to Dr Tanya King who says it is a different kettle of fish dealing with mental health strategies for Australian fishers and farmers.

The Tasmanian Living Marine Resources Management Act 1995 and species-specific management plans have failed to recognise the value and importance of fishers who elect as their profession to catch state-owned living marine resources.

Management of state-owned living marine resources is being impaired by the non-recognition of fishers as an important management tool.

How many fishermen need to take their lives before the government will take notice?

While mental health issues in farming may be principally directed at mother nature, the issue of fishing mental health in wild fisheries is directly related to poor government policy and lacks responsibility in governance in state-owned living marine resources.

IT IS bitterly disappointing that the state government refuses to stand up to those Canberra politicians who want to weaken our state's gold-standard anti-discrimination laws. The laws threatened by Canberra have helped return dignity to the many Tasmanians who are vulnerable to hate and stigma. In 1994, when Canberra intervened to override Tasmania's former anti-gay laws, the Liberal government loudly screamed "states rights".

Why isn't it doing the same now?

Why isn't it defending the right of Tasmanians to make our own human rights laws?

Clearly, it doesn't care about "states rights" at all. As in 1994, its interest is in giving free rein to bigotry against minorities.

I WOULD like to say a big thank you to all the medical professionals who took care of me in the hospital recently, particularly in the cardiology unit.

Their care, teamwork and skills were so impressive and I am very grateful.

FOR once I find myself agreeing with Donald Trump's opinion that the US should not have been involved in the Middle East conflict, but that should include all members of the collation of the willing, including Australia and the UK.

However, having chosen to invade Iraq and other Middle East countries to now abandon the Kurds and leave them at the mercy of the Turks is unconscionable.

So what does our Prime Minister do?

He blames the Turks for accepting the invitation from the US to invade the Kurds, the former allies fighting against ISIS.

Talk about policy on the run.